{"id":29823,"date":"2025-09-25T15:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/?p=29823"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:28:09","slug":"free-meals-motivate-frontline-workers-more-than-gym-perks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/free-meals-motivate-frontline-workers-more-than-gym-perks\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Meals Motivate Frontline Workers More Than Gym Perks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-e7eb3fc3 uagb-blockquote__skin-border uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">A new University of South Florida study finds that frontline workers are more motivated by free meals and social events than traditional health perks like gym memberships, leading to better service and increased sales.<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0dfbf163 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div style=\"font-size:16px;\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">The University Network<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-ee584a31\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-ec619ce7\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"facebook\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.8 90.69 226.4 209.3 245V327.7h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.3 482.4 504 379.8 504 256z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-32d99934\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"twitter\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M389.2 48h70.6L305.6 224.2 487 464H345L233.7 318.6 106.5 464H35.8L200.7 275.5 26.8 48H172.4L272.9 180.9 389.2 48zM364.4 421.8h39.1L151.1 88h-42L364.4 421.8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-1d136f14\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"linkedin\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Free meals and social events significantly boost the motivation and performance of frontline workers, such as cashiers and retail clerks, according to a new study by the University of South Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/00222437251384248\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Published<\/a> in the Journal of Marketing Research, the study examined how different company-sponsored wellness benefits impact customer-facing employees. Categories included food, social, mindfulness, physical and health benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research team discovered that perks involving food and social interaction made employees feel more valued and loyal. These workers then repaid their employers with improved service quality and customer assistance, leading to increased sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The recommendations for any business, small or large, is when you\u2019re having these wellness programs, the ones that foster nourishment and connection have stronger downstream effects on customer-related positive effect,&#8221; co-author Dipayan Biswas, the USF Frank Harvey endowed professor of marketing in the Muma College of Business, said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research showed food had the most substantial impact, followed closely by social gatherings. Mindfulness activities, such as a meditation room, also proved beneficial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, physical and health perks like gym memberships or flu-shot drives had the least effect on frontline worker motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings are based on five separate studies across various settings, including a significant sales study at a European supermarket chain, where wellness benefits related to food, social interactions and mindfulness noticeably boosted annual sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea for the research emanated from the growing popularity of wellness programs, now offered by more than 90% of companies worldwide, with global spending projected to exceed $90 billion annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usf.edu\/business\/news\/2025\/09-24-wellness-benefits-research.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">University of Southern Florida<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free meals and social events significantly boost the motivation and performance of frontline workers, such as cashiers and retail clerks, according to a new study by the University of South Florida. Published in the Journal of Marketing Research, the study examined how different company-sponsored wellness benefits impact customer-facing employees. Categories included food, social, mindfulness, physical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[454],"class_list":["post-29823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workplace","tag-university-of-southern-florida"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The University Network","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/author\/funky_junkie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Free meals and social events significantly boost the motivation and performance of frontline workers, such as cashiers and retail clerks, according to a new study by the University of South Florida. Published in the Journal of Marketing Research, the study examined how different company-sponsored wellness benefits impact customer-facing employees. Categories included food, social, mindfulness, physical&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29823"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29840,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29823\/revisions\/29840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}