“The relationship between Dining attributes Customer satisfaction and Re-patronage Intentions in Restaurants”

ABSTRACT

This Research is intended to study the relationship between dining attributes, customer satisfaction and customer’s re-patronage intentions in the perspective of the restaurant industry. The respondents were 105 restaurant patrons who completed the self constructed questionnaire. Optimal Scaling (CATREG) indicated that dining attributes and customer satisfaction has a positive association on customer’s re-patronage intentions. This analysis highlighted Dining Attributes and customer satisfaction is significant predictors to customer’s re-patronage intentions. As in comparison Customer Satisfaction is stronger predictor then Dining Attributes.

Key words: Dining Attributes, Customer Satisfaction, Re-patronage Intentions, Restaurant Industry

INTRODUCTION

In this research the main focused is to find the direct effect of Dining attributes Customer satisfaction on Customer’s Re-patronage intentions in Restaurants Industry.

The dining practice is the part of hospitality industry which is very complex as in term of customer satisfaction and expectation meet. This difficulty is due to the level of customer participation in the service procedure (Kandampully, 1997; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985).

Customer’s view of the dining perceptive is highly linked by intentions from the dealings with the service agent. Nightingale (1979). In the model in Figure 1, this shows the relationship between dining attributes customer satisfaction and Re-patronage intentions in restaurants. Also, the dining service classification is based in response of customer feedback, telling that service quality exist barely in the insight of the customer, not in that of service providers (Kandampully, 1997). As conclude that, understanding of customer wants about the dining practice becomes very essential part to in the success of restaurants.

The purpose of study fold in two parts: one suggests that how important is dining attributes in term of Re-patronage intentions and second part suggest the customer satisfaction which leads Re-patronage intentions in restaurants. The role of dining attributes and customer satisfaction is very important for knowing the customer intentions, would they will visit to that restaurants again or not.

Restaurants should focused not only quality food and service but to retain the level of satisfaction and like to delight the customer. Customer wants should be met and this way customer will feel satisfy and willing to come again in restaurants. In this dynamic environment meeting customer requirement is difficult task as it varies from customer to customer.

Achieving the customer satisfactions will leads towards market share as well as loyalty towards your restaurants. Restaurant is like a brand in hospitality industry and to maintain the progress of brand it’s necessary to keep the effective measure in terms of customer demands and fulfillments.

While considering the dining practice, dining attributes has large number of factors that influence the customer’s demands and satisfaction and in review of research there is food, service, ambience and convenience in corporate as part of research. Customer satisfaction is mostly measure as expectancy disconfirmation model which tells that “if customer’s expectation met that shows customer is satisfied.

To be in need of success of restaurants it’s very important for the manager of the restaurant to meet the customer requirements and demands should be fulfill as per customer’s perceptions. Dining practice is a combination of quality and service provided by restaurants providers.

Basically the restaurants industry based on valuing to customer and their wants should be met. The general concept of dining experience is most critical while considering influential factor cause it’s not necessary the review research focused on all factors which are treated as dining factors.

The point of view in this paper recommend that the customer’s dining decision whether to return back or not to revisit restaurant is the moment of final truth for the restaurateur, as contrasting to simply customer’s decision to revisit the restaurant. As Lowenstein (1995) conclude, it is one thing to be a magnet for the customers, but reasonably another to remain them returning. If we are to admit the notion, in consumer studies and marketing literature that come again or repurchase is an outcome of satisfaction, then the conclusion to revisit to the restaurant, while conducting this research observation made that customer decide to re-patronage on bases of performance met or expectation exceed.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Whether we live to eat or eat to live, food always plays a fundamental role in the lives of human being. The significance of foodstuff cannot be overstated from the physiological viewpoint; food gives us sustenance; while on the other hand from a psychological point of view food is classified as a basic need. Food can also characterize a product used to describe self-actualization. Therefore, individual can quarrel that above and beyond provided that nourishment food plays a variety of roles together at individual and group level (David Njite, 2005).

Eating is observably a daily action and necessity for all human beings. Depending on individual’s reason for eating at restaurants, individual intentionally or instinctively assess a multifarious set of attributes ahead of choosing a restaurant. The significance involved to these restaurant attributes is ultimately evaluated in the patron’s mind, leading to a decision of purchasing. Some factors, like age, company and even social division come into take part in to amplify these attributes as the customer makes a decision of purchase (David Njite, 2005).

In today’s fast rapidity and progressively more competitive market, the base line of a firm’s promotion and marketing strategies, tactics and procedure is to make profits and add to the growth of the company. Customer satisfaction, contentment, quality of the service, excellence and retention are global matter that influences all organizations. This include all type of organizations, it can be large or small, global or local profit or non-profit, services provider (Yap Sheau Fen, Kew Mei Lian).

The restaurant industry has undoubtedly not been free from either augmented competition or from increasing customer expectations regarding quality. In the greatly competitive food industry, large operators chain have a propensity to gain competitive gain in the course of cost leadership, likely only due to standardization and economies of scale beginning from large market shares, while smaller, independent restaurants on the other hand endeavor to gain benefit through differentiation (Yun Lok Lee and Nerilee Hing, 1995).

The food industry is highly aggressive and patrons have also become more demanding due to sufficient knowledge and information they have about the different trends in restaurant industry which causes increase the significance of effective marketing strategies to get the competitive advantage in order to understand the wants and needs of the customers (David Njite, 2005).

Numerous companies are paying attention in studying, assessing and implementing the marketing strategies with the aim of gaining maximum market share of customers and improving customer retention in analysis of the advantageous effects on the monetary performance for the organization. Customer satisfaction, contentment, quality of the service, excellence and retention are global matter that influences all organizations. This include all type of organizations, it can be large or small, global or local profit or non-profit (Yap Sheau Fen, Kew Mei Lian).

Customer satisfaction is defined as the consumer’s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that the service or product features, its attributes provided a delightful level of consumption associated achievement including levels of under fulfillment or over fulfillment (Jochen Wirtz, Anna s. Mattila, Rachel l. P. Tan, 2000).This definition of satisfaction proposes that the assessment method covers the whole utilization experience. This feature is essential in the learning of consumer satisfaction in services, given the empirical, interactive character of service encounter (Bateson and Hoffman, 1999).

Customer satisfaction is a key element for the planning of the marketing in view of the fact that satisfaction does sway customer’s intention to re-patronage the restaurant. Therefore, marketers are supposed to look into the issues that would have an effect on customer satisfaction intensity. Besides, as customer prospect are altering over time and it is advised to determine the customer satisfaction and expectation on regular basis and grip complaints timely and effectively (Yap Sheau Fen, Kew Mei Lian).

Customer satisfaction is regularly used as a sign of whether patrons will come back to a restaurant. Whereas there is no agreement of a satisfied customer’s repeat visit, it is nearly certain that a not satisfied patron will not return. A study of the basics or attributes of patron satisfaction be supposed to give indication concerning what action a restaurant service manager must take to raise the probability that patrons will appear back. It appears that study is not often concluded that the remarkable rate of malfunction in the restaurant service industry advices that the management can find the targets of converting patron satisfaction into financial achievement a vague one. We accept as true that restaurant failures are partially a consequence of management’s lack of strategic direction in determining and focusing on customer contentment and satisfaction (Dube, Laurette, Renaghan, Leo M, Miller, Jane M, 1994)

The majority of the preceding customer satisfaction researches are mentioned in the literature that has pay attention on recognizing the resource of customer contentment such as characteristic and attributes and on determining useful ways to establish consumer’s desires, wants and needs. On the other hand, significant dissimilarity comes out in the level of specify of the characteristic investigated (JaksÃ?a Kivela, Robert Inbakaran, John Reece, 1999).

Customer satisfaction is vital to the restaurant management for the reason that it is normally assumed to be a noteworthy determinant of replicate sales, customer loyalty and affirmative word of mouth. The more pleased the customers, the larger are their retention (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). The impacts of customer satisfaction on customer retention are bringing into being to be momentous and positive. Specially, the customer satisfaction will influence the re patronage intentions (Taylor, S. A., and Baker, 1994).

Quality is defined as a nil defects doing it right for the first time. Information and knowledge about goods quality is inadequate to recognize service quality. In customer’s mind when there is no defect in the overall dining service, then they consider the quality of the food is good enough for them (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

Quality is all about eliminating internal failures that means all shortcomings before the product leaves from the factory and the external failures are the defects after usage of the product (Garvin 1983).

In Early research and study efforts in measuring and defining quality were mainly centred in the tangible goods, whereas the apparently more complicated services products was ignored. Products quality was conventionally correlated to the technical stipulation of products, with the most description of quality coming up from the manufacturing goods sector where excellence and quality control has inward drawn out awareness and research (Gronroos, 1990).

The significance of elevated quality service given to business success, there are various prospective benefits for the management of restaurants from performing a customer-based assessment of the service quality veteran at their organization. In restaurant industry, the intangible nature of services means that particular specifications for the homogeneous quality of service are complicated if at all probable to set. This sometimes put together it difficult for restaurant managers, workforce and patrons to calculate, measure, assessment or confirm service productivity and service quality (Yun Lok Lee and Nerilee Hing, 1995).

A restaurant service engages a route or a performance in which customers are involved in the overall service production process. This happens due to the interaction of the consumers with the service surroundings and personnel throughout the utilization experience, understanding consumers’ sentimental response become vital in replicating satisfaction in a service locale. Earlier research in services has made known that affective processes throughout the consumption phase might play a straight, unmediated role in determining customer satisfaction (Liljander and Strandvik, 1996).

Quantifying service quality is a difficult task because the idea of service quality is intrinsically insubstantial in nature and complicated to define (Kandampully, 1997).The concept of service quality comprises the tangible and intangible fundamentals most essential to consumers. Service quality has been related to customer satisfaction, contentment and loyalty as well as the business performance, success and profitability (Lasser, 2000).

Branding and its orientation have been wicker strongly into the contemporary act of consumption in restaurants. Undeniably, the previous century will be considered as the century of brands in marketing (Caldwell, 2000).

As in numerous other industries, edifice brands have become a key focus of restaurant managers. Furthermore, restaurant managers are relating brand management theories and practices which have done so far, and lots of restaurants are redesigning their business missions to imitate branding orientation rather than they go for product orientation. There is also an influence of brand recall on consumers intensions in choosing a restaurant for dining due to the different discount offers through different mediums of advertising that mostly include the below the line activities that makes restaurants brands that diminish the perceived risk of pay for the food and also indicate the quality of the product that creates their willingness to make wider positive word of mouth, recommendations, and complaint intention (David Njite, 2005; Muller, 1998).

Branding keeps on gaining importance in the marketing of restaurants services and marketers have spent lot of money to create and give support to brand images. This have seen in the marketing of strong and well defined brands like Mc Donald’s and Kfc fast food restaurants which attracts the customer through their marketing , service and by making brand loyal customers of their products. This increases the re-patronage rate due to satisfied and loyal customer. Particularly, there is lot more to discern about patrons perceive restaurant brands and the comparative weight these links get during purchase decision as there is lot more to discern about patrons perceive restaurant brands and the comparative weight these links get during purchase decision (David Njite, 2005; Muller, 1998).

Researchers have acknowledged customer satisfaction, service quality and the loyalty to be similarly important for marketers, because they are responsible for determining dining satisfaction, and they must know the important of dining that must position restaurant functions competitively in the current and future marketplace (Bitner, 1992).

Customer satisfaction and the quality of food have long been acknowledged as a essential function for success and endurance in competitive marketplace that have been connected to consumer behavioral intentions as purchase and loyalty intention, their willingness to widen positive word of mouth, recommendation, and complaint intention (Olsen, 2002).

The relative significance of a service characteristic and attributes depends on how greatly the re-patronage purchase objective distorted as soon as the level of the attribute distorted (Dube, Laurette, Renaghan, Leo M, Miller, Jane M, 1994)

Testing customer demands mean that management of the restaurant must make an effort to deliver not only quality food stuffs and services, but at the same time a high level of dining satisfaction that will lead to increased customer return results in re-patronage of customer and greater market share(John Reece, Robert Inbakaran, JaksÃ?a Kivela , 1999). The consequence of customer satisfaction and contentment in relation to possession rates, return rates and equally management researchers and experts in the generosity field have long urged profitability (Almanza et al, 1994).

The amount of customer satisfaction study has improved considerably since the early 1970s, and for the duration of this era, customer satisfaction come into view as a genuine field of enquiry. Come up from this study, a number of theories involving to customer satisfaction contain emerged and were bring in to the literature. The majority of these were attached in cognitive psychology for the reason that of the narrow description of customer satisfaction in earlier research and studies and a few have received reasonable consideration in the literature (JaksÃ?a Kivela, Robert Inbakaran, John Reece, 1999)

Purchase behavior of the consumer in restaurants can be pretentious by the surroundings in different ways. We consider atmosphere, which is an attention-building medium that can make restaurant inkling. The center of attention is based on the collective possessions of those clues on customers idiosyncratic through design, sound, motion, and color. Customers are delimited by true rock and roll memorabilia. As a meaning- generating medium, the environment gives discriminative motivation to buyers that facilitate them to identify a restaurant’s divergences as a source for select that restaurant. For instance, snowy white linen tablecloths, the soft lighting, and crystal chandeliers of a chic restaurant communicate the level of service and a kind of food to customers that create a fine-dining experience (Berry, L, 2006).

The indication of Service in selecting by means of restaurant services, customers frequently act like detectives as they investigate for information and standardize their opinions into a set of mind-set regarding the resultant service. For example, the whole thing about the dining attributes of a restaurant or café starts from the dining table potential communicate to the customers, with the table top used, if practical sign concern the technical excellence of the service, mainly concerning to whether the service is carry out proficiently Eileen (A. Wall and Leonard L. Berry, 2007).

Customer satisfaction, preferences and re-patronage also depends on the taste and freshness of the food in a restaurant that is the main functional clue which is the suitable pacing of the food. Tone of voice, level of enthusiasm smile of a restaurant hostess, body language and sincere greeting of the service employees has a positive impact on customer re-patronage. Customer feels belongingness and sense of affection and importance which makes them satisfy which leads to the brand loyalty for that particular restaurant resulting in the customer re-patronage due to the above mentioned dining attributes which includes functional clues, humanic clues and mechanical clues (Eileen A. Wall and Leonard L. Berry, 2007).

Fundamentals such as surface and texture, smell, color, sound, and texture inducing intuitive reactions in restaurant atmosphere that persuades purchase likelihood known as the mechanical clues. For paradigm, the aroma of chocolate chip cookies baking generates affectionate feelings, and stimulates their enthusiasm for a treat (Berry, L. L., E. A. Wall, and L. P. Carbone. 2006).

The food and service dining attributes includes the assortment, quality of the menu and presentation of food and beverage offerings (Palmer, A., & O’Neill, M. 2003). Using this information, restaurant management should focus their efforts and hard work on ensuring an appealing assortment of drink offerings presented in appealing and unique ways. Food and drink quality is an imperative dining attributes to diners representing restaurant management should certify an aggressive quality control agenda is in place to make sure food and drink quality must maintained (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

Food quality is obviously one of the key success factors of any restaurant to satisfy the customer but if there is any rude, bored rigid or an unfriendly server can be the point of fact to spoil the customer’s restaurant experience still if the food was prepared appropriately (Parsa, H. G., J. T. Self, D. Njite, and T. King. 2005).

The importance of the perceived quality in order to get the re-patronage effect in restaurant industry is always considered as a main element to retain in the patrons and the business. The main reason behind that in this industry entry barrier are usually low and any one can easily enter due to investment required that is not on the higher side. So the point is that when ever consumer is satisfy from the arrangement by the management, the quality of the food provided by the staff members with the positive attitude than this result in increasing the loyalty towards the particular restaurant and increases the re-patronage intensions of the customers. This increases in the restaurant business revenue as well and this increases the word of mouth publicity (Bowen and Cummings 1990).

Evaluating quality awareness and price elasticity related to quality, suggested that buyers are generally steady in their evaluations of quality. The results of their study showed that there was a strong association between a product’s attributes and the quality perceptions of the customers (Saleh, F. & Ryan, C, 1991).The research also highlighted that customers who pay for high quality foodstuffs also had a low acceptance for deviations from predictable quality (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009)

In the restaurant perspective, this entails that customers who want superior dining quality are more sensitive to quality fluctuations and possibly will be less price sensitive but, for example in relation to the relative higher pricing of the menu items and marketing strategies that put together the quality image of the restaurant, ambience and service (Raajpoot, N. A. 2002).

Another attention-grabbing finding was that a product’s higher volume rate like for instance, fast food restaurants resulted in a lower sensitivity side to quality. This shows that management of restaurants must segment the market based on the food usage rate includes the repeat purchase of the particular item and quality preferred (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

The previous research shows the effect of physical quality construct on behavioral intentions for restaurant consumer and finds that influence is a strong moderator between tangible quality constructs and behavioral intentions when cognition affect actions archetype is applied to the restaurant location (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

It was found that tangible quality has a bigger circumlocutory effect than the straight effect indicates from a theoretical point of view; affect was a fractional mediator, facilitating the association among tangible quality and behavior (Wakefield, K., L., & Blodgett, J., G., 1996).

Tangible quality on its own may have a weaker influence and effect on behavior, but it helps in developing feelings and sense of attachment towards the restaurant, which results in a stronger influence on behavior. Restaurants supposed to strive for enlightening positive feelings to their brand name by maneuvering tangible attributes (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

An intangible service delivery element is not surprisingly the most noteworthy constructs influencing customer affect to restaurants are food and service, staff, and convenience (Sureshchander, G. S., Rajendran, C., & Anatharaman, R., N. 2002).

Customers craving high quality products suitably prepared and will reward restaurant management with their devotion and loyalty. The consumption of seasonal foodstuffs, awareness of existing trends in menu offerings and preparation, and the audacity to initiate new techniques of preparation of conventional stuff are some implication for restaurant management (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

As an outcome, the restaurant’s whole environment of service, the atmospherics of feelings of the surroundings is always very imperative in seminal both patrons and front line staff attitude about the procedures and service delivery outcome. This entails that, it was very important that the awareness of the tangible pressure on service quality, such as the substantial and physical facilities, and the appearance of personnel (Bowen and Cummings 1990).

The team build addresses the identical, approach, and gender mix. The importance of gender mix is important for management so that they understand the importance of diversity of gender in their service workforce. Member of staff serving at table received larger tips from patrons who are the opposed gender than from patrons comparing to the one who is same in gender (Hubbard et al., 2003).

It is likely to conclude from the larger tips received from server of the opposite sex that the restaurant patrons take pleasure in being served by the server of the opposite sex, so it is suggested to the management to make sure that there should be a mix of genders within the service staff. Therefore researcher believes that it is safe to put together the allegation that the selection of persons with an optimistic service orientation is in the superlative interests of restaurant management (Hubbard et al., 2003).

There is significance of the Costumes worn by restaurant service workers are considerable to customer satisfaction. They bring into being that service staff uniforms positively added to the overall player satisfaction (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

One more factor for the customer re-patronage which really brings customers back is that the customer likes to have a positive attitude of employee throughout the dining as a support for the disputation that employee approach is strongly linked with customer satisfaction. Ease and the location of the restaurant is also considerable and also the other factor influence customers to select that particular restaurant which satisfy their needs and wants regarding quality of the food and the restaurant environment. This leads in the increase of the re-patronage rate and the loyalty of the customers towards that restaurant diners have an effect on restaurant (Johnson et al, 2004).

The convenience of location includes the parking space, seating availability in the restaurant; the nearness to roof-tops like people’s residence, hotels, and motels is significant for the accomplishment of restaurants all through the dinner mealtime duration. The consequences of well-situated parking must not be the lost upon restaurant management. Often the cost of attaining parking near to a restaurant is sighted as a non-revenue generating expenditure. This specifies the value of given that well-located parking along with the direct consequence it has on consumer intentions to patronize a restaurant (Kuo et al. 1999).

The significance of the physical excellence raise of foodstuff and service and convenience to restaurant administration is to facilitate these constructs that have an affirmative association with influence which is completely linked with customer intentions to re-patronize a restaurant. The objective of most restaurants is to obtain and maintain customers; restaurant administration organized with the information get that will be better prepared to accomplish their aim (Dr. Clark Kincaid, Prof. Seyhmus Baloglu, Dr. Zhenxing Mao, Dr. James Busser, 2009).

The front line workforce should be well trained to be extra quick to responsive and susceptible to customer desires; accordingly providing services to facilitate that are more proficient, successful, effective and efficient. Adding up, the atmosphere of the restaurant can also be enhanced by make certain cleanliness and favorable ambience with suitable music and lighting (Yap Sheau Fen, Kew Mei Lian).

There is a intense deficient in understanding about dining satisfaction and pleasure and post-dining behavioral intentions in the customer literature reviewed studied so far away, and up till now, according to the literature allude to, aspects concerning to customer satisfaction and return patronage are elementary when put together business and marketing strategies of the organization. It is suggested that commonly and normally used indicators of customer satisfaction comprise repeat patronage behavior, brand loyalty and reliability and at last word of mouth recommendation (Lowenstein 1995).

The basics or attributes of patron pleasure be supposed to give intimation concerning what proceedings a food restaurant manager ought to take to raise the chances that patrons will appear back. Managing for most favorable buyer happiness requires that liking information is used to put forward those strategies that can help a restaurant business manager can boost up its performance (Dube, Laurette, Renaghan, Leo M, Miller, Jane M, 1994).

The features of satisfied patrons illustrated that the satisfaction with a food eaten results beginning a convergence of quite a few attributes, together with food superiority, menu assortment, environment, consistency of a food quality, and waiting time for a meal to deliver. For every potential development in service blueprint, managers must ballpark figure the marginal variation in satisfaction and reiterate purchase that would affect commencing a particular change in the standards of operations (Dube, Laurette, Renaghan, Leo M, Miller, Jane M, 1994).

In restaurants tangibles are appropriate to the restaurants physical facilities, paraphernalia and manifestation of personnel. While restaurant patrons do not take delivery of only serving of food, but also a huge component of service, they undeniably depend on erstwhile indication in the deficiency of tangible verification by which to measure service quality (Yun Lok Lee and Nerilee Hing, 1995).

Whenever we talk about Customer satisfaction, consistency refers to the administration 0f the organisation’s capability to execute the agreed service reliably and precisely. In restaurants this may well engage reservations of dining tables, obedience to patron requirements concerning the preparation of items listed in the menu and exact billing. This helps the management to retain their existing customers and at same time attracts the different other customers (Yun Lok Lee and Nerilee Hing, 1995).

In the case of customer satisfaction Receptiveness refers to the eagerness of service giver to facilitate patrons and make available quick service. Professed service quality may perhaps be improved if patrons are support with the mauve list and bill of fare and if a worker responds suitably to a patron’s asked for quick service. Customer always feel admire and important if they ge