Consumer loyalty in the restaurant industry

Abstract

This article looks at the outcome of a questionnaire designed to explore factors relevant to engendering consumer loyalty in restaurant choice. The sampling frame comprises people with relatively homogeneous characteristics who dine out with some frequency. The overall objective was to question certain assumptions that have become current in academic discussions of consumer behaviour with particular relevance to consumer loyalty. Findings suggest that the quality and range or type of food are key determinants in consumer loyalty, but that the concept of “quality of food” offers a range of interpretations and thus requires more careful investigation. Additionally, the concept of the “meal experience” as a holistic abstraction in the consumer’s mind is called into question as a consequence of the analysis. Tangible rather than intangible factors are identified as being of greater importance in consumer loyalty.

Past Experience and Self-Image in Fine Dining Intentions

“…There has been a general lack of attempts to help restaurant marketers understand the underlying process of how patrons make decisions toward their future patronization as well as their intention of words of mouth. Further studies (e.g., Clark & Wood, 1999;Feinstein, Hinskton, & Erdem, 2002;Mattila & Wirtz, 2001) have tried to include additional variables such as the restaurant's physical environment (i.e., atmosphere, interior and exterior facilities, and servicescapes) in order to improve the predictive power of the model they employed. While new in the sense that these recent studies have attempted to predict patron behavior with improved precision, they have provided limited understanding about the intricate decision-making process of customers by including few selected attributes of the physical environment in isolation from other restaurant performance attributes.…”

The Effects of In-Store Environment Cues on Purchase Intentions Across the Three Types of Restaurants in Korea

“…Strategies should, in fact, depend upon the characteristics of each restaurant type. Most studies in the past have focused on the context of a single restaurant type, such as hotel Chinese restaurant (Lee, Lee, and Park, 2000), family restaurant (Auty, 1992;Clark and Wood, 1998), and supermarket (Sirohi, Mclaughin, and Wittink, 1998). Here, we show that the relative effects of restaurant environment factors on purchase intentions vary across the three types of restaurants.…”

“…Product characteristics were measured using four items; quality of food and beverage, their taste, variety of menu, and menu for children based on Auty (1992), Clark and Wood (1998), June and Smith (1987), Keyt et al (1994), Lee, Lee, and Park (2000), Lewis (1981), and Oh (1995). In-store promotions were measured using five items; the level of providing information of food and beverage, considerations for particular customers (e.g., birthday party, wedding anniversary), in-store event, display of food and beverage, and menu card based on Yoo and Lee's (2001) study.…”

“…Facilities were measured using eight items; music, lighting, scent, color, layout, appliance, convenience, atmosphere, based on Lee, Lee, and Park (2000), Milliman (1982Milliman ( , 1986, Ward and Russell (1981), Wineman (1982), Yalch and Spangenberg (1990). Employee service was detennined using five items; prompt responding to customer requests, having customers' best interests at heart, knowledge of food and beverage, politeness of employee, and plenty of employee based on Auty (1992), June and Smith (1987), Clark and Wood (1998), Keyt et al (1994), Mazursky and Jacoby (1986), Parasuraman et al ( 1988).…”

Selection criteria of customers of Chinese restaurants and their dining habits

“…Results indicated that taste of food was the main attribute of restaurant selection, followed by service, uniqueness, price, decoration, location, type of food, food variety and car park. Clark and Wood's (1999) consumers own preferences and tastes were the main determinants of restaurant selection and choice. It was suggested that the quality and range of food were the key determinants of consumer loyalty.…”