Influence of Food Quality on Customer Satisfaction - Research Paper Example

Influence of food quality on customer satisfaction Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the influence of food quality on satisfaction of customers visiting Anita’s fine dining restaurant. Using a quantitative survey of respondents who had visited Anita restaurant in Paris over the past year, the study used systematic sampling to obtain the respondents. Email questionnaires were completed and submitted. A total 424 respondents responded to the study which was analyzed using descriptive, correlation and regression measures. The study found that that age and gender influences customer satisfaction in restaurants. Female customers tend to be more dissatisfied with restaurant food quality compared to male customers. Furthermore, customers aged above 50 years can become highly dissatisfied compared to those below 50 years. The study found that customers consider excellent food taste, freshness of food and proper food temperatures as important in their satisfaction. It also found that there is a relationship between food quality attributes and customer satisfaction in fine dining restaurants. The results showed that satisfied customers are characterized by tendency to be loyal to the restaurant. Particularly, the study showed that repurchase intention and capacity to become referrals or recommend to others signified their satisfaction with the quality of food served in the hotel. The study showed that freshness ranked highly followed by food temperature, healthy options and food taste in that order. Finally, the study found that food quality positively impacted or influenced customer satisfaction. Key words: Food quality, temperature, taste, healthy options, freshness Table of contents Table of contents 3 List of Tables 5 List of figures 6 1.0 Introduction 7 1.1 Background of the study 7 1.2 Aim of the study 7 1.3 Objectives of the study 7 1.4 Hypothesis 8 2.0 Literature review 8 3.0 Methodology 9 4.0 Findings and discussion 10 4.1 Findings 10 4.1.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents 10 Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents 10 Figure 1: Age group that frequent Anita’s restaurant 11 4.1.2 Influence of gender and age on customer satisfaction in restaurants 11 Table 2: Gender influence on customer satisfaction 11 Table 3: Age influence on customer satisfaction 12 4.1.3 The attributes of food quality in Anita’s fine dining restaurants 13 Table 4: Food quality attributes 13 Table 5: Food attributes and customer satisfaction 14 4.1.4 Characteristics of satisfied customers 14 Table 6: Characteristics of satisfied customers 15 4.1.5 Impact of food quality on customer satisfaction 15 Table 7: Regression statistics of food quality and customer satisfaction 15 4.2 Discussion 16 5.0 Conclusion and recommendations 17 6.0 Limitations and further research 18 References 19 Appendices 20 Appendix I: Questionnaire 20 List of Tables Table of contents 3 List of Tables 5 List of figures 7 1.0 Introduction 8 1.1 Background of the study 8 1.2 Aim of the study 8 1.3 Objectives of the study 8 1.4 Hypothesis 9 2.0 Literature review 9 3.0 Methodology 10 4.0 Findings and discussion 11 4.1 Findings 11 4.1.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents 11 Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents 11 Figure 1: Age group that frequent Anita’s restaurant 12 4.1.2 Influence of gender and age on customer satisfaction in restaurants 12 Table 2: Gender influence on customer satisfaction 12 Table 3: Age influence on customer satisfaction 13 4.1.3 The attributes of food quality in Anita’s fine dining restaurants 14 Table 4: Food quality attributes 14 Table 5: Food attributes and customer satisfaction 15 4.1.4 Characteristics of satisfied customers 15 Table 6: Characteristics of satisfied customers 16 4.1.5 Impact of food quality on customer satisfaction 16 Table 7: Regression statistics of food quality and customer satisfaction 16 4.2 Discussion 17 5.0 Conclusion and recommendations 18 6.0 Limitations and further research 19 References 20 Appendices 21 Appendix I: Questionnaire 21 List of figures Table of contents 3 List of Tables 5 List of figures 7 1.0 Introduction 9 1.1 Background of the study 9 1.2 Aim of the study 9 1.3 Objectives of the study 9 1.4 Hypothesis 10 2.0 Literature review 10 3.0 Methodology 11 4.0 Findings and discussion 12 4.1 Findings 12 4.1.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents 12 Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents 12 Figure 1: Age group that frequent Anita’s restaurant 13 4.1.2 Influence of gender and age on customer satisfaction in restaurants 13 Table 2: Gender influence on customer satisfaction 13 Table 3: Age influence on customer satisfaction 14 4.1.3 The attributes of food quality in Anita’s fine dining restaurants 15 Table 4: Food quality attributes 15 Table 5: Food attributes and customer satisfaction 16 4.1.4 Characteristics of satisfied customers 16 Table 6: Characteristics of satisfied customers 17 4.1.5 Impact of food quality on customer satisfaction 17 Table 7: Regression statistics of food quality and customer satisfaction 17 4.2 Discussion 18 5.0 Conclusion and recommendations 19 6.0 Limitations and further research 20 References 21 Appendices 22 Appendix I: Questionnaire 22 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the study Globally, rising incomes and limited time to prepare food at home has given rise to successful food-based service industry. Many people are now dining outside their homes in daily basis as a matter of convenience, good ambience and search for good quality food. Consumers frequent hotels and fine dining restaurants to relax, eat and unwind from stressful events. On the other hand, the restaurants have increased their brand value through interior design, ambience, decoration and good quality food (Rozekhi et al., 2016). People with perceptions of high social status tend to value impeccable services and will pay a premium for fine food. Fine dining restaurants lay emphasis on special culinary services applies, quality of ingredients used, outstanding taste of food and the visual presentation (Mohaydin et al., 2017; Namkung & Jang, 2007). While cutlery and tableware should be of good quality, diners and staff should observe service procedure and dining etiquette including proper dress code (Ramli & Ideris, 2014). People from different nationalities and cultures have different tastes and preferences when it comes to food preparation and setting. When food quality is perceived to be low or poor, customer experience is damaged (Danesh et al., 2012). As a result, the customers will damage the reputation of the restaurant through negative publicity and avoidance. However, several studies have been done on customer satisfaction but little attention has been given to food quality and its influence on customer satisfaction. Moreover, there is need to understand the characteristics of customers who frequent the restaurants. This study examines the influence of food quality on customer satisfaction of Anita’s Fine Dining Restaurant in Paris, France. 1.2 Aim of the study The aim of the study is to examine the influence of food quality on customer satisfaction on fine dining of Korean customers in Seoul. 1.3 Objectives of the study 1. To examine the influence of age and gender in customer satisfaction at Anita’s restaurant 2. To identify the attributes of food quality in Anita’s fine dining restaurants 3. To find out the characteristics of satisfied customers of Anita’s fine dining restaurant 4. To assess the impact of food quality on satisfaction of Anita’s fine dining customers 1.4 Hypothesis H10: Age and gender does not influence customer satisfaction of fine dining H20: There is no relationship between the attributes of food quality and customer satisfaction H30: Food quality has no impact on customer satisfaction of fine dining customers 2.0 Literature review Customers visiting restaurants value food quality as a means to meeting their needs and expectations. Yet, there is no consensus on the individual attributes of food quality in every restaurant. According to Ramli and Ideris (2014), the general description of the attributes of food quality is temperature, presentations, variety of menu, healthy options, taste and freshness. Although these attributes appeal to many customers, the meals have to be desirable and affordable to most of the consumers. Despite the possibility of repeat intention, food quality remains a significant predictor of customer satisfaction (Namkung & Jang, 2007). In restaurants, customer perception takes cognizance of service dimension of food quality because it has a relationship with the satisfaction of customers. Furthermore, customer satisfaction and loyal customers are impacted by food. Previous literature emphasized in temperature as a sensory element of food quality which interacts with other sensory properties (Kivela et al., 1999; Kahkonen, 1995). Similarly, taste appeals to the food savvy customers and influences future behavioral intention (Cortese, 2003; Kivela et al., 1999). According to Namkung and Jang (2007), presentation and taste have high significant impact on behavioral intentions and customer satisfaction. On the contrary, customers are drawn from various economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds which define the need for restaurants to offer variety of menus in food service. Healthy food influences the perceived evaluation of customers over restaurant experience (Rozekhi et al., 2016). Modern customers are becoming health conscious and the availability of nutritious food items becomes a core property of dining satisfaction (Sulek & Hensley, 2004). The fresh taste of food highlights freshness described in terms of aroma, juicy and crisp as well as temperature, texture, flavor and color (Brown, 2004; Peneau et al., 2006). Food quality is psychological and thus subject to contextual effects. For example, the perception of food quality among children is different from that of adults. Besides, some meals are best served during breakfast such as cereals, toast and poached eggs than it does when served for dinner. The thresholds to customer satisfaction are critical in service marketing and loyalty. To ensure customer loyalty, it is important that restaurants bank on good worth of mouth and repeat purchasing habits. Positive customer experience and image are enhanced by food quality and other quality dimensions. 3.0 Methodology This quantitative research study was conducted based on surveys of previous customers who had visited Anita’s Fine Dining Restaurant in Central Paris in the past year. The respondents’ details such as mobile phone contacts were obtained from the restaurant database. A total of 500 emails were sent to the customers alongside the consent forms to ensure that they were voluntarily agreeing to participate in an email survey. Systematic sampling was used and the customers’ names appearing as odd numbers were incorporated into the study. To ensure validity and reliability, study piloted 10 questionnaires to Social Sciences students at the University of Birmingham. The email surveys were conducted within a period of 3 weeks after which the data collection exercise was closed. Respondents were required to access their mails and respond to the questions after which they were required to submit the questionnaire after completion. The questions were structured to make it easier to the respondents to answer (Newman, 2003). Moreover, the questions were presented to the supervisor to make amendments before being administered to the respondents in a bid to ensure high validity. A number of modifications were made based on the feedback from the pilot test. The questions were split into four sections. Section I featured the restaurant characteristics, the second section (II) highlighted the food attributes at the fine dining restaurant. This section featured food quality attributes based on previous studies of Ramli and Ideris (2014) and that of Kivela et al. (1999). These sections were measured based on a five point Likert scale of Strong Disagree (SD) to Strongly Agree (SA). The third section issues regarding customer satisfaction and loyalty. The last section was the classification questions that featured largely the demographic profile of respondents. The results of the study were analyzed using descriptive, correlation and regression statistical measures. 4.0 Findings and discussion 4.1 Findings 4.1.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents A total of 424 respondents completed the email questionnaires and submitted the results for analysis which indicated a good return rate of 85 percent. The features of respondents considered were gender, age, income and family composition as shown in the table below. Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents From the table above, the number of male respondents 252(58%) was higher than that of female counterparts 175(40%). Most of the respondents were aged between 35 and 49 years 219(51%) with at least one child at home 217(51%). The results show that majority of the respondents were earning between 20,000 and 30,000 Euros 113(26%). As shown in the graph below most of the respondents that frequent Anita’s restaurant are those aged 50-59 years despite those aged 35-49 years being the majority in the survey. Figure 1: Age group that frequent Anita’s restaurant 4.1.2 Influence of gender and age on customer satisfaction in restaurants Customer satisfaction of visitors to Anita’s restaurant was measured in terms of age and gender. We develop the following hypothesis. H11: Gender does not impact on customer satisfaction at Anita’s restaurant H10: Gender has impact on customer satisfaction at Anita’s restaurant Table 2: Gender influence on customer satisfaction From the table 2 above, 78 (31%) of the male respondents were not sure about their level of satisfaction with the food offered at Anita’s restaurant. On the contrary, 56% (99) of the female respondents were not satisfied of food offered at the restaurant. This shows that while male respondents were unsure about their satisfaction at Anita’s restaurant, their female counterparts were not satisfied with the food offered at Anita’s restaurant. As indicated in the chi-square tests (34.24; p=0.001), the hypothesis was statistically significant at (p=0.000) level. The phi (0.284; p=0.001) shows a good fit for the data. We reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis that gender has impact on satisfaction of customers at Anita’s restaurant. Pearson chi-square in crosstabs was also used to test the effect of age on customer satisfaction at Anita’s restaurant. The following hypothesis was formulated; H21: Age does not impact on customer satisfaction at the restaurant H20: Age has impact on customer satisfaction at the restaurant Table 3: Age influence on customer satisfaction From the table 3 above, most of the respondents aged 35-49 years 76(34%) were not sure about their satisfaction levels while those aged 50-59 years 76(70%) were not satisfied with the food offered at Anita’s restaurant. Similarly, those aged 26-34 years were also not satisfied with the food offered at Anita’s restaurant 20(51%). The chi-square test shows that the hypothesis is valid (105.83; p=0.001) and has good fit for the data (phi = 0.498; p=0.001). We reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis that age influences satisfaction of customers at Anita’s restaurant. 4.1.3 The attributes of food quality in Anita’s fine dining restaurants Table 4: Food quality attributes From the factor reduction method used above, component one contains the most suitable attributes that are considered by customers visiting the restaurant. From the results, most customers consider excellent food taste (0.910), followed by freshness of food (0.888) and finally proper food temperatures (0.871). This shows that customers value food taste, freshness and proper food temperature the most. The study also established the relationship between food quality attributes and customer satisfaction and recorded the results in the table below. The hypothesis formulated was; H31: There is relationship between the attributes of food quality and customer satisfaction H30: There is no relationship between the attributes of food quality and customer satisfaction Table 5: Food attributes and customer satisfaction Attribute Correlation with customer satisfaction Freshness of food .552** Proper food temperature .523** Presentation .322** Excellent food taste .408** Healthy options .447** Variety of menu .287** *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). As shown in the table above, food taste (.408**; p=0.01), freshness (.552**; p=0.01), food temperature (.523**; p=0.01) and healthy options (.447**; p=0.01) have significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Furthermore, variety of menu and presentation also had significant correlation with customer satisfaction. We reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between attributes of food quality and customer satisfaction. 4.1.4 Characteristics of satisfied customers Satisfied customers are characterized by a number of factors such as loyalty; repurchase intention, and capacity to become referrals. As shown in the below, there is a strong positive correlation between customer satisfaction and the likelihood of return (0.751**; p=0.01) and the likelihood to recommend the restaurant to friends and family (0.668**; p=0.01). Table 6: Characteristics of satisfied customers From the table, it is evident that satisfied customers are likely to return to the restaurant in future and to recommend to their friends and family. 4.1.5 Impact of food quality on customer satisfaction The study established a relationship between food quality, prices, service and atmosphere on customer satisfaction. Through regression measures, the following table was generated from the following equation. Y = α + β1X1 + β2X2 + β3X3 + β4X4…………………………………….(i) The above equation yielded the following table. Table 7: Regression statistics of food quality and customer satisfaction Equation 1(Beta values) Constant 4.025** Service -.405** Atmosphere -.375** Food quality .664** Food prices .296** R2 .543 F-change 122.8 Std. Error of the Estimate .649 Sig. F-change 0.000 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). From the table above, food quality (.664**; p=0.01) and food prices had significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. On the other hand, service had a strong negative correlation (-.405**; p=0.01) with customer satisfaction. The earlier hypothesis adopted was as shown below. H41: Food quality has impact on customer satisfaction of fine dining customers H40: Food quality has no impact on customer satisfaction of fine dining customers The findings have shown that food quality has significant impact on satisfaction of customers. We reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis that food quality impacts customer satisfaction of fine dining customers. 4.2 Discussion The study findings have shown that male customers mostly frequent fine dining restaurants more than their female counterparts. Most restaurant customers are aged between 35 and 49 years with at least one child and a family to care for. The results also show that majority of the customers in Paris earn at least20, 000 Euros. However, those who frequent the restaurant are aged over 50 years despite those aged 35-49 years being the majority. The study has shown that age and gender influences customer satisfaction. The study found that female customers tend to be more dissatisfied with food served than their male counterparts while those aged over 50 years seem to be more dissatisfied with food quality compared to those aged below 50 years. The study found that customers consider excellent food taste, freshness of food and proper food temperatures as important in their satisfaction. This is consistent with the findings of Namkung and Jang (2007) who found that presentation and taste have high significant impact on behavioral intentions and customer satisfaction. The study also found that there is a relationship between food quality attributes and customer satisfaction in fine dining restaurants. These results agreed with that of Ramli and Ideris (2014) and Rozekhi et al. (2016) that interior design, ambience, decoration and good quality food influence satisfaction of customers. The study showed that satisfied customers are characterized by tendency to be loyal to the restaurant. Particularly, the study showed that repurchase intention and capacity to become referrals or recommend to others signified their satisfaction with the quality of food served in the hotel. It showed that there is a strong positive correlation between customer satisfaction and the likelihood of return as well as the likelihood to recommend the restaurant to friends and family. The study showed that freshness ranked highly followed by food temperature, healthy options and food taste in that order. These factors had significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Furthermore, variety of menu and presentation also had significant correlation with customer satisfaction. Finally, the study showed that food quality positively impacted or influenced customer satisfaction. These findings were consistent with those of Namkung and Jang (2007) and Mohaydin et al. (2017) that food quality had positive influence in perceived customer satisfaction levels. The above authors had used food safety as a mediating variable for food quality. Customer satisfaction is becoming a significant issue among restaurant marketers and owners. When customers get satisfied, they become loyal and spread the positive message about the restaurant through word of mouth. It is imperative that restaurants take seriously survey results so as to positively influence customers and boost their sales figures and revenues. 5.0 Conclusion and recommendations The study has shown that age and gender influences customer satisfaction in restaurants. Female customers tend to be more dissatisfied with restaurant food quality compared to male customers. Furthermore, customers aged above 50 years can become highly dissatisfied compared to those below 50 years. The study found that customers consider excellent food taste, freshness of food and proper food temperatures as important in their satisfaction. It also found that there is a relationship between food quality attributes and customer satisfaction in fine dining restaurants. The results showed that satisfied customers are characterized by tendency to be loyal to the restaurant. Particularly, the study showed that repurchase intention and capacity to become referrals or recommend to others signified their satisfaction with the quality of food served in the hotel. The study showed that freshness ranked highly followed by food temperature, healthy options and food taste in that order. Finally, the study found that food quality positively impacted or influenced customer satisfaction. The study made the following recommendations; a) Food should be obtained fresh and maintained under proper temperatures to appeal to the female customer segment b) Attractive interior design should be modified to include neat tableware, lighting and table settings c) Skilled chefs should be employed to create more appetizing and mouth washing dishes that capture gourmet of different cultures and nationalities d) More publicity should be done to enhance the brand image and reputation of the restaurant by capturing the image of the loyal customers 6.0 Limitations and further research This study had a number of limitations. First, the study data collection instrument did not capture the origin or nationality of respondents. Second, the study was limited by scope and location which was confined to the city of Paris. Being an inner restaurant in the heart of Paris, it is probable that it has homogenous population which may not provide enough evidence of diversity in the respondents. This is because the study is about food quality served to people of different cultures and nationalities. Future research can investigate the effect of Anita’s restaurant brand proposition on revenue performance. This will help the company to discover its brand image, positioning and targeting initiatives. References Brown, A. (2004). Understanding food principles and preparation. 2nd edition. Belmont: Wadsworth. Cortese, A. (2003, October 27). Fine dining? Just across the lobby: Some of the best new restaurants are popping up in hotels. Business Week, pp. 130-131. Danesh, S., Nasab, S., & Ling, K. (2012). The Study of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust and Switching Barriers on Customer Retention in Malaysia Hypermarkets. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(7), 141-150. Kähkönen, P., Tourila, H. & Hyvönen, L. (1995). Dairy fat content and serving temperature as determinants of sensory and hedonic characteristic in cheese soup. Food Quality and Preference, 6(2): 127-133. Kivela, J., Inbakaran, R. & Reece, J. (1999). Consumer research in the restaurant environment Part 1: A conceptual model of dining satisfaction and return patronage. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 11(5): 205-222. Mohaydin, G., Chand, A., Aziz, B., Bashir, M. & Irfan, J. (2017). Effect of food quality on customer perceived satisfaction level and mediating effect of food safety on them. International Journal of New Technology and Research, 3(1): 34-41. Namkung, Y. & Jang, S. (2007). Does food quality really matter in restaurant: its impact of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions? Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 31(3): 387-410. Neuman, W.L. (2003). Social Research Methods, Pearson Education. Péneau, S., Hoehn, E., Roth, H.-R., Escher, F. & Nuessli, J. (2006). Importance and consumer perception of freshness of apples. Food Quality and Preference, 17(1/2): 9-19. Ramli, K.I. & Ideris, M. S. (2014). Customer satisfaction in Malaysian food quality: The case of 1Malaysia menu. In: 2nd Tourism and Hospitality International Conference (THIC 2014), 5-6 November 2014, Langkawi, Malaysia. Rozekhi, N.A., Hussin, S., Siddique, A.S., Rashid, P.D. & Salmi, N.S. (2016). The influence of food quality on customer satisfaction in fine dining restaurant: Case in Penang. International Academic Research Journal of Business and Technology, 2(2): 45-50. Appendices Appendix I: Questionnaire I am a student at the University of Birmingham who is interested to know the perceptions of Anita’s restaurant customers on its food quality. This is a voluntary exercise to fill in options or provide your thoughts regarding the topical issue. The data collected will be kept confidential and will be used for academic purposes only. Kindly respond by ticking the right answer(s) in each question. Thank you and welcome to the study. Section I: Restaurant characteristics The measures range from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree represented as; Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Neutral (N), Agree (A) and Strongly Agree (SA). SD D N A SA 1 I like the services offered by the restaurant 2 The atmosphere at the restaurant is excellent 3 I like the quality of food offered at the restaurant 4 The prices of food are favorable at the restaurant 5 The restaurant offers large size portions of food Section II: Food attributes Kindly tick the most appropriate response in the table below. Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Neutral (N), Agree (A) and Strongly Agree (SA). SD D N A SA 1 Anita’s restaurant serves fresh food every day 2 The presentation of food and tableware is excellent 3 I like their attractive interior 4 The restaurant has excellent food taste 5 I can choose from their healthy food options easily 6 Anita’s restaurant keeps their food at proper temperatures 7 I love their variety in menu Section III: Customer satisfaction and loyalty 1. How satisfied are you with Anita’s Restaurant? Not Satisfied Very 1 2 3 4 5 At All Satisfied 2. How likely are you to return to Anita’s Restaurant? Definitely Will Definitely 1 2 3 4 5 Will Not Return 3. How likely are you to recommend Anita’s Restaurant to your friends? Definitely Will Not Recommend 1 2 3 4 5 Definitely Will Recommend 4. How often do you patronize Anita’s Restaurant? 1 = Less than once in last six months 2 = Less than once in last two months 3 = Less than once in last month 4 = 1-2 times a month 5 = 3 or more times a month Section IV: Demographic profile of respondents 1. What is your distance of driving to the restaurant? [1] Less than 1 mile [2] 1-3 miles [3] More than 3 miles 2. Do you recall seeing any ads in last month for the restaurant? [0] No [1] Yes 3. State your gender? [0] Male [1] Female 4. What is the no. of children at home? [1] None [2] 1-2 [3] More then 2 5. What is your age in years? [1] 18-25 [2] 26-34 [3] 35-49 [4] 50-59 [5] Over 60 years 6. What is your annual gross household income? [1] 15000-30000 euros [2] 30001-5000 euros [3] 50001-75000 euros [4] 75001-100000 euros [5] Over 100000 euros Read More