The Satisfaction on Food and Service in McDonald's - Essay Example

The Satisfaction on Food and Service in McDonald's 1.1 Introduction The objective of evaluating customer behaviour and customer loyalty in this study is based on two arguments: first is that quality and satisfaction are closely related, and satisfaction influences the intention for repurchase, which could consequently lead to loyalty. And secondly, it is always cheaper to retain customers than replace them with new ones. Replacing old customers consists of advertisements, promotion, sale expenses, and it will still take time before a new customer will yield profit. While retaining old customers on the other hand, increases positive word-of-mouth, which is one of the cheapest means of advertisement to attract customers. Loyal customers are also less-price sensitive (Fornell 1992). Loyalty in the restaurant industry context, is defined as the customers’ intention and actual behaviour to repeatedly purchase or avail of a certain product or service. It is very important especially in the marketing industry because it costs less to retain old customers than attracting new ones. It was also determined that high quality food and the availability of choices can greatly influence consume loyalty (Clark and Wood 1998). Cronin and Taylor (1992), on the other hand, stated otherwise. In the study conducted among auto owners, it was determined that although 85% to 90% of the customers are satisfied with the brand they purchased, only about 40% repurchased the same brand. Thus, it only implies that customer satisfaction is a vital antecedent to consumers’ intention and actual purchase behaviour. However, the extent to which it would influence loyalty or influences repurchase remains ambiguous. 1.2 Aims and Objectives The aim of the study is to identify consumer behaviour and product attributes that can directly impact loyalty among McDonald’s customers in the United Kingdom. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following research questions: 1) What is the rating of food attributes of McDonalds in United Kingdom, specifically in terms of: a) Flavour b) Temperature c) Food Presentation d) New Items in the Menu e) Portion size f) Variety of meals g) Price/Value 2) What is the rating of service attributes of McDonalds in United Kingdom, specifically in terms of: a) Cleanliness b) Friendliness of Staff c) Ambience/Atmosphere d) Location e) Availability of seats f) Availability of parking space 1.3 Significance of the Study Being able to ascertain the ratings of these factors is important because it shall serve as a framework for improvement and enhancement. It is also vital in construction of strategies, which is important especially in a fierce and competitive market. It is especially important because repeat patronage is behavioural in nature, thus it can be achieved with adequate knowledge on the factors that has direct relationship with it. Apart from its benefits on McDonald's UK, the study may also be of benefit to other fast food industry players who wish to maintain or gain competitive advantage. With cutthroat competition in the fast food industry, players must exhaust all means possible for increasing customer loyalty and patronage. The results of the research may also contribute to the literature and serve as a reference for other researchers who wish to pursue a similar topic. Review of Related Literature Food Attributes Quality of food is also differentiated into presentation, variety, healthy options, taste, freshness, and temperature. Presentation refers to the decoration and how attractively the food was presented to the customer. Kivela (1999) emphasized that presentation is a key food attribute that could influence satisfaction and repurchase. Variety, on the other hand, refers to the availability of choices or assortment of different menu items. As a result, restaurants and fast food industries continuously develop new menus to attract consumers. Almanza (1994) identified quality of food as the most important attribute among university foodservice programme consumers. It also determined food quality as the topmost important attribute among Chinese consumers. Raajpoot (2002) in a study identified variety as an attribute that creates satisfaction. Healthy options refer to the availability of nutritious and healthy food on the menu. A study by Kivela (1999) determined that the availability of nutritious food in a restaurants’ menu could influence satisfaction and encourage repurchase of products. Recent research has also determined that this attribute has been increasing in value since customers are becoming aware of the benefits of healthy living (Sulek and Hensley 2004). The most valuable attribute is taste. Majority of consumers are food savvy in nature thus giving more value to the taste of food products. It is also why gourmet restaurants experienced an increase in customers and customer loyalty (Kivela 1999). Freshness on the other hand, refers to the state of food and is commonly associated with crispness, juiciness or aroma. It is also the primary indicator of the quality of the food (Acebron and Dopico 2000). The last food factor that consumers commonly look into is the temperature. It is the sensory part of the food attribute. A study by Delwiche (2004) determined the influence of consumers’ perception of the quality of food. It can enhance or increase the flavour thus enhancing the food experience. Service Attributes Service quality has been defined differently by different researches. Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) defined it as the overall impression of the customer, which is based on the inferiority or superiority of the product or service. Parasuraman, Zeithamal and Berry (1985), on the other hand, defined it as a function of the differences between the customers’ expectations and performance. Brady and Robertson (2001) also defined it as the customers’ feeling of pleasure or disappointment based on the perceived outcome relative to their expectations. Cleanliness: Cleanliness is one of the major factors that can greatly influence dissatisfaction and decrease intention for repurchase, especially in the restaurant industry since cleanliness can impact the perception on the quality of the food product. A study determined that cleanliness is one the major determinants of customers’ preference, satisfaction, repatronage, and loyalty. Pettijohn (1997) also found that cleanliness, together with quality and value are the top three most important attributes that consumers’ value I the fast food industry. A study by Almanza (1994) among university foodservice program consumers says that out of the 17 attributes evaluated in the study, cleanliness is the second top most attribute greatly valued by the respondents. Value: Several studies identified value as a major attribute that consumers’ value especially in terms of satisfaction and repurchase. In fact, it has been identified to be the major and always the first concern of consumers. Consumers are satisfied and are more likely to repurchase when they feel that they are getting the value of what they paid for. Thus, it implies that if customers paid more for a product, their expectation on the quality of the food product is higher, whereas if they paid less, their expectations would be lower. Moreover, the price of a product is sometimes used as an indicator of its quality. This implies that some consumers tend to perceive cheaper products to be of low quality while expensive products are perceived to be of high quality. Pettijohn (1997) in a study determined value to be one of the major attributes that consumers look into and consider especially in terms of repurchase intentions. It was also found that loyal customers are less price sensitive than new customers. This is also one of the reasons why service-oriented industries like restaurants or fast foods always aim to gain and retain the loyalty of consumers. Location: Consumers consider several factors in this attribute. They can either focus on the convenience of the location, its accessibility, safety of the location, or the scenery offered by the location. Kim and Ok (2010) while focusing on university students found that they highly value the convenience of the location of the establishment. They specifically look for an establishment that is close enough from the university so they can have easy access. It was also determined that consumers with full-time employment status value accessibility. It maybe due to their limited time during lunch breaks, that they tend to choose what is accessible in terms of distance. A study by Almanza (1994) also identified convenient location as one of the top three highly valued attributes among university foodservice programme consumers. Ambience/Atmosphere: Another crucial factor in ensuring satisfaction among consumers is the physical environment or commonly termed as ambience or atmosphere of the restaurant. Its vitality has been shown to increase in time (Almanza 1994). Methodology The study uses a descriptive, correlational research design. This type of design is used when the goal of the study is to evaluate the effect of a potential cause. The term correlation refers to the interrelationship or association between one variable to another. Correlational research designs are based on the assumption that there is a causal relationship between two or more variables (Suen & Ary 1989). The study uses a non-probability convenience sampling method. A non-probability convenience sampling technique refers to the method of data collection where the researcher will use the most convenient and available people to participate in the study. Convenience sampling does not require that a researcher has sufficient knowledge about the population of participants or that they know the participants (Bryman 1992). To come up with an adequate sample size, the researcher will ask the permission of one UK McDonald's branches for him to deploy questionnaires to the customers of the branch. A total of 240 consumers will compose the sample. Moreover, the study used a questionnaire as an instrument to gather and collect data. One of the advantages of questionnaires is its ability to provide an opportunity for anonymity. This advantage comes handy especially when convincing people to participate in the study. Because of the absence of an interviewer, questionnaires can guarantee lack of bias on the answers of the respondents (McGoldrick, Stewart, and Watson 2002). The study uses a study by Juong (2009) entitled Evaluation of the Recipients’ Satisfaction with Meals and Service from Meals on the Wheels (MOW) as the theoretical framework of the study. The study uses SERVQUAL as a tool to evaluate food and service attributes, and service quality. SERVQUAL is one of the most widely used instruments in measuring service quality especially among hotel, lodging and restaurant industries. It was developed by Parasuraman et al in 1985 to measure service quality from the consumers’ perspective. The main questions of the questionnaire will be answered on a five-point Likert-scale, a widely used scaling technique that was constructed and named after Rensis Likert. A Likert scale uses declarative items as a means to express an individuals’ view point on the topic. Questions using Likert scales are commonly asked to rate the degree to which they disagree or disagree in a given statement (Gliner and Morgan 2000). The present research shall adopt a purely quantitative approach in determining customer satisfaction on food and service attributes. A total of 240 consumers have been chosen to participate in the study through non-probability, purposive random sampling. Secondary data will be gathered to form a solid theoretical background for the study while primary data will be yielded through survey questionnaires. Data analysis shall come in the form of descriptive statistics. References Aceberon, I and Dopico, D 2000. The importance of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to expected and experienced quality: An empirical application for beef. Food Quality and Preference, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 229-238. Almanza, B 1994, Use of the service attribute matrix to measure customer satisfaction. Hospitality Research Journal, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 63-75. Bitner, M, Booms, B, and Mohr, L 1994, Critical service encounters: The employee viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 95-106. Brady, M and Robertson, C 2001, Searching for a consensus on the attendant role of service quality and satisfaction: An exploratory cross-national study. Journal of Business Research, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 53-60. Bryman, A 1992, Quantity and quality in social research. London: Routledge. Clark, M and Wood, R 1998, Consumer loyalty in the restaurant industry: A preliminary exploration of the issues. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 139-144. Cronin, J and Taylor, S 1994, SERVPERF versus SERVQUAL: Reconciling performance based and perceptions-minus-expectations of service quality. Journal of Marketing, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 125-131. Delwiche, J 2004, The impact of perceptual interactions on perceived flavor. Food Quality and Preference, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 137-146. Fornell, C 1992, A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience. Journal of Marketing, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 6-21. Gliner, J and Morgan, G 2000, Research methods in applied settings: An integrated approach to design and analysis. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Juong, H. (2009). Evaluation of the recipients’ satisfaction with meals and service from Meals-on-wheels (MOW). Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management, Texas Tech University. Kim, W and Ok, C 2010, Customer orientation of service employees and rapport: Influences on service-outcome variables in full-service restaurants. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, vol. 34, no. 1, p. 34. Kivela, 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, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 205-222. McGoldrick, J, Stewart, J and Watson, S 2002, Understanding human resource development: A research-based approach. London: Routledge. Nayga, R and Capps, O 1994, Impact of socio-economic and demographic factors on food away from home consumption: Number of meals and type facility. Journal of Restaurant and Foodservice Marketing, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 39-51. Parasuraman, A, Zeithamal, V, and Berry, L 1985, A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 41-50. Pettijohn, L 1997, An evaluation of fast food restaurant satisfaction: Determinants, competitive comparisons, and impact on future patronage. Journal of Restaurant and Foodservice Marketing, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 3-20. Raajpot, N 2002, TANGSERV: A multiple item scale for measuring tangible qualities in foodservice industry. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 109-127. Reynolds, J 1998, From the golden arches to the golden pond: Fast food among older adults. Marriage and Family Review, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 213-224. Shoemaker, S 1998, A strategic approach to segmentation in university foodservice. Journal of Restaurant and Foodservice Marketing, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 3-36. Suen, H & Ary, D 1989 Analyzing quantitative behavioral observation data. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Sulek, J and Hensley, R 2004, The relative importance of food, atmosphere, and fairness of wait. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 235-247. Williams, J 1997, The challenges that face restaurants in attracting and meeting the needs of the mature customer. Journal of Restaurant and Foodservice Marketing, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 49-64. Appendix A: Questionnaire Part 1: Demographic Profile 1. Gender: Male □ Female □ 2. Age: 18 and below □ 18-25 □ 26-35 □ 36-45 □ 46 and above □ 3. Marital Status: Single □ Married □ 4. Educational Attainment: High School □ College Undergraduate □ College Graduate □ Post-graduate □ 4. Employment Status: Student □ Unemployed □ Part-time employee □ Full-time employee □ Part 2 1. How many times have you dined at McDonalds within the past two months? 1-2 □ 3-4 □ 4-5 □ 6 or more □ 2. Who have accompanied you during your last visit at McDonalds? Spouse or partner □ Family □ Friends □ Relatives □ Co-workers □ Alone □ 3. Against each of the food and service attributes, please rate your satisfaction of each attribute, based on your experience with McDonald's from 1-5 (1= very dissatisfied and 5= very satisfied). 1 2 3 4 5 1. Overall Satisfaction with the meals 2. Flavour 3. Temperature 4. Food Presentation 5. New Items in the Menu 6. Portion Size 7. Variety of meals 8. Price/Value 9. Overall service 10. Promptness of service 11. Cleanliness 12. Friendliness of Staff 13. Ambience/Atmosphere 14. Location 15. Availability of seats 16. 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