Abstract
M.Com. (Marketing Management)
The restaurant sector caters for different market segments including tourism, leisure and business. There is intense competition among businesses in this sector. The ability of any business to succeed in this industry largely depends on its ability to successfully appeal to customers. A quality restaurant service is widely cited as the most important determinant of customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry. In addition to service quality, restaurant customers also want a dining experience that is emotionally engaging. Thus customer emotions play a key role in understanding service experience and customer satisfaction. In spite of this, there is a dearth of research in this area. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of restaurant service experience on customer emotion and behavioural intention to use restaurants among selected business customers in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The study is quantitative and descriptive in nature. The data collection process was carried-out through self-administered survey questionnaires from 163 business executives who go to upmarket restaurants for business meetings in urban areas of Johannesburg. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the characteristics of the respondents and the constructs deployed within the study. Furthermore, the data was analysed with simple regression analysis in order to determine the relationship between the constructs - service atmosphere, food quality, human service quality, and price fairness – and customer emotion; as well as the relationship between customer satisfaction and behavioural intention.
The findings reveal that all the constructs of service experience, that is, service atmosphere, human service quality, customer-to-customer interaction, food quality and price fairness are significant determinants of customer emotion. Customers‟ emotions also emerged as a significant determinant of satisfaction. Finally, the results reveal customer satisfaction as a significant determinant of their behavioural intentions...