Level of Satisfaction with the Services among the Visitors of Lincoln Christmas Market - Research Paper Example

Evaluation of the Questionnaire

The research was carried out using the primary data. Primary data involve collecting data from live participants selected from the target population. In this case, the target population was visitors of the Lincoln Christmas Market, thus, the respondents were selected from among the visitors who were seeking restaurant services from the business. Questionnaires were used as instruments of data collection. There were 18 items in each questionnaire, consisting of both open-ended and closed-ended items. Questionnaires were advantageous because they helped in collection a larger among of data from several members of the population (Anderson, 2015; De Vaus, 2013). The questionnaires were researcher-administered because the researchers administered them and waited for participants to fill and return them within a short period of 10-15 minutes. Data was collected using 707 questionnaires and analysed quantitatively using SPSS software. Data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data is data that cannot be measured in numerical forms and quantitative data is that which can be measured and written down with numbers.

The aim of the research was to analyse the level of satisfaction with the services among the visitors of Lincoln Christmas Market. The specific objectives included: to find out if visitors are satisfied with the services provided by Lincoln Christmas Market; to investigate the extent to which visitors are willing to bring their family members to Lincoln Christmas Market; to establish the relationship between the levels of satisfaction and amount of money the customers spend at Lincoln Christmas Market. These objectives met the SMART criteria because they exhibited the critical features of specificity, measurability, achievability, realistic, and time-bound.

The sampling method the researchers used was simple random sampling. Upon identifying that the best source of data constituted Lincoln Christmas Market, the researchers sought written permission from the relevant authorities and accessed the premises of the market. They handed questionnaires to respondents indiscriminately without using any criteria for selection. Simple random sampling is preferred because it gives chances to all members of the population to be selected, thus, increasing the reliability and generalisability of the findings (Bryman & Cramer, 2006; Statsofts, 2010). Additionally, data consisted of categorical variables, whose test of independence was to be determined using Chi-square analysis. Therefore, simple random sampling was necessary because it is a requirement whenever the researchers want to perform analysis using Chi-square tests (Field, 2013).

I think the questionnaire needs some improvements. First, the questionnaire may lack validity to some extent. This is because the main focus of the survey was to establish if the visitors are satisfied with the services offered at Lincoln Christmas Market. However, I think items such as question 2 and 6 may be irrelevant in this context. Secondly, item 6 and 8 should be removed because they are not measuring any aspect of satisfaction. However, if the researcher wants to use the decision of parents allowing their less than 12 years and staying longer as criteria for satisfaction, 6 and 8(i) may be included, but 8(ii) should be removed. The third aspect concerns the arrangement of the questionnaire items. According to my observation of most valid questionnaires, demographic details are placed at the topmost section, not at the end of the questionnaire. Therefore, the demographics part may be relocated to the beginning of the questionnaire. Fourth, I do not see the necessity of having too many options in item 16; the ethnicity could be compressed to general aspects because they are not critically necessary in measuring the levels of satisfaction.

Analysis of Survey Data

Analysis of Sample Composition

Table 1: Sample Composition

Gender of the Respondents

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Male

242

34.6

Female

457

65.4

Age

22 years or less

137

19.8

23-35 years

118

17.0

36-50 years

187

27.0

51-64 years

153

22.1

65 years and over

98

14.1

Household Income(per annum)

£0-£14,999

96

17.8

£15,000-£25,999

143

26.6

£26,000-£44,999

170

31.6

£45,000-£59,999

60

11.2

£60,000-£79,999

40

7.4

£80,000 plus

29

5.4

Ethnicity

White

625

89.7

Gypsy or Traveller

3

0.4

Black or Black British - Caribean

2

0.3

Black or Black British - African

15

2.2

Other Black background

4

0.6

Asian or Asian British - Indian

5

0.7

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani

4

0.6

Other Asian background

8

1.1

Mixed - White and Black Caribean

5

0.7

Mixed - White and Black African

5

0.7

Mixed - White and Asian

1

0.1

Other Mixed background

1

0.1

Arab

2

0.3

Other Ethnic background

2

0.3

Chinese

7

1.0

Prefer not to say

2

0.3

18

6

0.9

Source: Survey data (2016)

The sample composition table enables one to know the demographic characteristics so as to know which age group, gender were the most participant and also to be able to understand your respondents thus draw conclusion on your findings. Most of the respondents were female (65.4%) while the male were 36.4% of the respondents. Majority (27%) of the respondents were aged between 36 and 50 years, twenty two percent of the respondents were aged between 51 and 64 years, those aged less than 22 years, between 23 and 35 years were 19.8 % and 17% respectively while those aged above 65 years (14.1) were the least. Most of the household’s incomes were those who earned (£15,000-£25,999) per annum while few respondents earned more than £80,000 as shown in the table 4.1. The whites represented the majority of the ethnic groups that is 625 of the total respondents while rest were evenly distributed.

Analysis of Satisfaction levels reported in the Questionnaire

The first part of question required use of the mean as descriptive statistics to describe the responses to each of the questions. The table below illustrates the mean of each responses ranked in ascending order.

Table 2: Analysis of satisfaction levels

Descriptive Statistics

N

Sum

Mean

Std. Deviation

Christmassy atmosphere.

707

1212

1.71

.800

Safe.

700

1221

1.74

.665

Very enjoyable.

703

1241

1.77

.671

Welcoming.

705

1251

1.77

.682

Good fun.

703

1297

1.84

.638

An authentic experience.

701

1347

1.92

.830

Layout is appropriate.

705

1355

1.92

.811

Quality of stalls is good.

707

1362

1.93

.751

Range of stalls is good.

705

1410

2.00

.815

Good local produce.

688

1433

2.08

.836

Good entertainment.

690

1450

2.10

.816

Signage is informative.

675

1419

2.10

.868

Signage is visible.

702

1519

2.16

.930

Good number of toilets.

643

1478

2.30

.938

Toilets are clean and tidy.

527

1222

2.32

.857

Good announcements.

650

1510

2.32

.942

Overcrowded.

697

1874

2.69

1.198

Valid N (listwise)

475

Source: Survey data (2016)

From the above table, it is evident that scored the least while crowdedness scored the highest. 1.71 is closer to 1 (strongly agree) while 2.69 is closer to 3 (neutral). This implies that majority of the customers strongly agree that Lincoln Christmas Market has a Christmassy environment. However, majority of the visitors were neither agreed nor disagreed that Lincoln Christmas Market is overcrowded.

...................................................................................................................................................

The city of Lincoln Council wanted to find out whether levels of satisfaction with the market varied depending on respondents being residents or non-residents. Cross-tabulations between the independent variable and dependent variables were performed with the aim of identifying if any of them showed noticeable differences. The differences noticed were also tested if they were statistically significant using chi-squared tests and findings presented using the table below.

Table 3: Crosstabs of residence and satisfaction to various attributes of the market

Statement

Chi-square

p-value

Inference

Description

Welcoming

26.535

0.00,

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference.

Signage is visible

26.335

0.00

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Signage is informative

2.028

p=0.731

df=4

p>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Good number of toilets

10.654

p=0.031

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Toilets are clean& tidy

10.241

0.037

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

An authentic experience

14.054

0.007

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Christmasy atmosphere

12.930

0.012

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Layout is appropriate

1.601

0.809

df=4

p>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Quality of stalls is good

12.315

0.015

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Range of stalls is good

11.525

0.021

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Good local produce

2.242

0.691

df=4

p>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Good announcements

9.620

0.047

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Safe

2.400

0.663

df=4

p>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Overcrowded

9.095

0.059

df=4

P>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Good entertainment

4.077

0.396

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

Good fun

8.393

0.078

df=4

P>0.05

There is a statistically significant difference

Very enjoyable

8.635

0.071

df=4

p<0.05

No statistically significant difference

This analysis is informative to the organisers of the Christmas Market. The organisers can use the information to identify the attributes of the market that depend on being a resident or a non-resident and tailor their services in a way such that they meet the unique needs of both residents and non-residents.

The tests of difference show the independence between being a resident or non-resident of Lincoln and the level of satisfaction with the provided attributes of Lincoln Christmas Market.

Analysis of Expenditure

The areas of expenditure that customers spent their cash were identified. It was necessary to analyse areas where customers spend. Findings were presented in the table below in an ascending order.

Table 4: Descriptive Statistics of expenditure analysis

N

Sum

Mean

Std. Deviation

Entertainment

609

6085

9.99

24.549

Food and Drink

611

14206

23.25

30.489

Shopping

610

23096

37.86

43.502

Accommodation

107

8778

82.04

116.459

Total Expenditure

635

54636

86.04

114.137

Valid N (listwise)

106

Source: Survey data (2016)

The largest number of respondents (611) saying that they spend on foods and drinks. The second majority (610) of the customers went to Lincoln Christmas Market for shopping, which was followed by entertainment (609) and finally accommodation (107). This implies that majority of visitors who come to Lincoln Christmas Market visit for shopping while only 16.9% seek accommodation services.

The highest sum of money was spent on shopping (£23,096) followed by food and drinks (£14,206). The third and least amount of money was spent on accommodation (£8,778) and entertainment (£6,085) respectively.

The highest mean amount of money was spent on accommodation. Although the least number of people sought accommodation services, the highest mean indicates that the cost of accommodation per person could be very high. That is, each person pays £86.04 to secure a place for accommodation. Shopping scored the second highest, implying that each person was willing to spend £37.86 for shopping at Lincoln Christmas Market. The third highest was food and drink (£23.25) while the least was entertainment (£9.9). Considering that there are more people seeking entertainment, but paying lower than accommodation implies that entertainment services are cheaper in real terms than accommodation.

...................................................................................................................................................

The organisers were also interested in finding out whether is different among visitors and residents of Lincoln. Using Compare means, it was possible to establish the statistical significance of the differences as shown in the table below.

Table 5: ANOVA table for residence and mean differences in expenditures

Sum of Squares

df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Food and Drink

Between Groups

Within Groups

Total

21385.917

545675.818

567061.735

1

609

610

21385.917

896.019

23.868

.000

Accommodation

Between Groups

Within Groups

Total

46410.797

1391227.054

1437637.850

1

105

106

46410.797

13249.781

3.503

.064

Shopping

Between Groups

Within Groups

Total

41806.396

1110672.037

1152478.433

1

608

609

41806.396

1826.763

22.886

.000

Entertainment

Between Groups

Within Groups

Total

256.514

366146.445

366402.959

1

607

608

256.514

603.207

.425

.515

Total Expenditure

Between Groups

Within Groups

453477.679

7805748.047

1

633

453477.679

12331.356

36.774

.000

Total

8259225.726

634

Source: Survey data (2016)

Findings from the table indicate the statistical significance of the relationship between being a resident or not a resident and the mean amount of money spent in various expenditures. There is a statistically significant difference between being a resident or non-resident of Lincoln and the mean expenditures on food and drink (p=0.00; p<0.05) and shopping (p=0.00; p<0.05). On the other hand, there is no statistically significant difference between being a resident or non-resident and the mean expenditures on accommodation (p=0.064; p>0.05) and entertainment (p=0.515; p>0.05). These results indicate that expenditure on food and drinks and shopping are determined by being a resident or non-resident. However, expenditure on accommodation and entertainment does not depend on whether a person is a resident or non-resident.

Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Summary

The study aimed at investigating the extent to which customers were satisfied with the attributes at Lincoln Christmas Sunday. Data collection involved primary methodology using 708 questionnaires comprising of both closed and open items. The sample was randomly selected from the visitors at Lincoln Christmas Market. Data was analysed quantitatively through SPSS statistical manipulations.

Findings from the study revealed that majority of the visitors at Lincoln Christmas Market are females; this is evidenced by 34.6% males and 65.4% females. The ages of visitors were, however, almost uniformly spread across all the age-sets. The majority of the participants were middle-class citizens evidenced by the largest proportion (31.6%) earning £26,000-£44,999. This finding is consistent with Milovanovic’s (2014) and Pero’s (2013) assertions that majority of the people who visit social places are middle-class females seeking better services and buying basic commodities for family use. People with high income levels seemed not to demand the products of Lincoln Christmas Market. According to Lazari and Kanellopoulos (2007), high class people do not easily mix with middle and low class because of security issues. However, it could also be explained that high social class citizens may turn away questionnaires because of their busy schedules; hence, might have been unwilling to participate in the study.

Majority of the participants strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the Christmassy atmosphere of Lincoln Christmas Market. However, the least scoring attribute was crowdedness, which scored a mean 2.69; this still implies that majority of the visitors are agreed or were neutral concerning their view of the crowd levels of Lincoln Christmas Market. It was evident from the study that welcoming, visibility of the signage, good number toilets, cleanliness of toilets, Christmassy atmosphere, good quality of stalls, good range of stalls, good announcement, good entertainment, and enjoyability had p-values of less than 0.05; hence, there were statistically significant correlations between being a resident or non-resident of Lincoln and satisfaction with various attributes of Lincoln Christmas Market. On the other hand, informative of nature of the signage, appropriateness of the layout, goodness of the produce, safety and goodness of fun had p-values of greater than 0.05; therefore, they failed to exhibit a significant statistical relationship between being a resident or non-resident and such attributes.

Findings from the study revealed that majority of the visitors at Lincoln Christmas Market went for food and drinks. It was also evident that majority of the expenditures were contingent upon a person being a resident or non-resident. Most non-residents constitute greatest demanders of accommodation while residents did not demand accommodation because they would easily walk from their houses to the market.

Conclusions

Most of the people who visit social places are middle-class females. However, age of visitors is not skewed to one direction as evidenced by a uniform distribution of ages among the research participants. Customers are satisfied with all attributes of Lincoln Christmas Market the attributes scored a mean of between 1.71 and 2.69; all responses were either strongly agree, agree or neutral. The aspect of crowdedness seems to be evident because majority of the responses were skewed towards agreeing. The expenditures across various bases of expenditure differed widely and largely dependent on whether a visitor was a resident of Lincoln or not. An earlier study carried out by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2003) had revealed that customers to a restaurant were turned off by crowds that characterise social rendezvous during festive periods. It would be expected that visitors would prefer social places with many people; however, Wang and Chen (2012) argue that the tranquillity and privacy of social arenas are critical in attracting visitors.

Recommendations

Lincoln Christmas Market should prioritize products for middle-class female because they seem to compose a larger proportion of its visitors. However, male goods and services should also be enhanced in order to attract the untapped potential market of the men. The organisers should check the level of crowdedness of the market and make necessary adjustments because customers seem to be uncomfortable about this attribute. The organisers of Lincoln Christmas Market should concentrate on businesses that fetch higher profits from a small number of customers because of minimised costs of running them. For example, organisers should maximise accommodation facilities because although demanded by fewer visitors, the high mean expenditure implies raising more revenue at comparatively lower costs.