PurposeThe purpose of this paper is two‐fold: to enhance the tangible quality construct by considering cleanliness as a customer service quality dimension; and to assess customers' opinions on cleanliness by gender and education.Design/methodology/approachThe population under study is the general adult population of a Southwestern US city. The subjects voluntarily participate through a link to an anonymous online survey provided on a university's daily electronic news medium. Reliability and factor analyses are used to determine if the 32 criteria will in fact become an effective analysis measurement scale for cleanliness and multivariate analysis is used for the segmentation.FindingsThe results indicate that customers have made decisions to select, stay or return to an establishment based upon cleanliness. The results are meaningful because they suggest a scale that is reliable and valid and can be used to measure customer perceptions of cleanliness in a service organization. The results also confirm that education and gender are significant factors in assessing perceptions of cleanliness.Research limitations/implicationsThe sampling method is a limitation to this study, as the sample represents a limited cross‐section of the US population.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper provide service establishments that consider loyalty and repeat business key to their financial success, indicators that cleanliness is a critical component of the overall physical environment and influence customers' assessment of the service experience.Originality/valueThis paper examines the dimension of cleanliness in detail through the creation of a measurement scale and considers customers' perceptions and willingness to return.

There are many choices to make in restaurant dining, and for experienced consumers, the expectation of safe, quality food has increased. The foodservice industry is in a challenging and competitive environment. Determining what factors of customer satisfaction are important to maintain or increase market share is critical to success. For consumers, there are few opportunities to evaluate food handling, safety and cleanliness practices of a restaurant. Research has shown that consumers are concerned with restroom cleanliness, with a functioning restroom having a positive influence on customers' perception of the restaurant; and has also been shown to impact the choice of where to eat or whether to return to a restaurant. This study tested these assumptions by using a data set from the southwestern US, finding that consumers are concerned with restaurant cleanliness and food safety, with restrooms an important factor to consumers when assessing the cleanliness of an eating establishment.