Essay

B

Table of Contents

Intoduction........................3

Article One.......................4

Comparison of Article One and Two.........................15

Analysis of a Service in the Hospitality Industry.........17

Kendall Cochrane 0820142

Service Marketing Assignment

Kendall Cochrane0820142

1

Findings Part One – Potential Customers.................19Findings part Two – Current Customers...................19Linking to Concepts...................................................19Recommendations....................................................19Conclusions...............................................................19Reference List...........................................................19Appendix...................................................................19Appendix One: Questionnaire...................................20Appendix Two: Results From Potential Customers...23Appendix Three: Results From Current Customers. .2325

INTRODUCTION:

This Essay explores a fast growing segment in the Hospotality industry known as

quick-casual restaurants. Two studies have been examined in order to ascertain

how to provide the best service quality to the Hospotality industry. These studies

are focused on resteraunt service quality and introduce theorys and concepts on

how to measure service quality and customers Behavioural Intentions


Primary Research has also been conducted to evaluate these studies and

provide an analysis of how the concepts and theories of the studies hold up in

real life senarios.

Article One

Article One was found in the Journal of Hospitality and Research and is based

around findings (both primary and secondary) researched by Kisang Ru and

Heesup Han. The study examines three main dimensions of service quality in

quick-casual restraunts.

Before going any further I feel it is important to address the definition of a “quick

casual restertaunt” as this is a new and fast growing category in the current food

industry.

Kisang Ru and Heesup define a quick casual restaurant as being

“a category that fills a restaurant niche between fast-food and full service”

People are beginning to eat out more and more and are looking for something

healthier then the main chain takeaways. Quick-Casual Restaurants provide two

options either healthy takeaway options or a full service sit down menu. Quick-


Sale restaurants generally have a high sales volume and target adult customers

with a middle to high income.

The three main dimensions studied in article include Price, Satisfaction and

Behavioral Intention

The specific objectives of the study were to:

(a) Investigate the combined influences of Perceived Quality of food, service,

and physical environment on customer satisfaction

(b) To examine the impact on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention

(c) To explore the moderating role of perceived price in relationships between

three dimensions of quality (quality of food, service and physical

environment) and customer satisfaction.

Kisang and Heesup conducted focus groups, pilot tests and a questionnaire to

asses the associations with food, service, price, physical environment and

customer satisfaction with quick casual restaurants. All items were assessed on a

7-point Likert scale and data quality testing and regression models were used

thoroughly in order to provide true quality results.


Results of the study indicted that customers of quick-service restaurants are most

influenced by quality of food followed by quality of physical environment and

quality of service.

This indicates that the taste and quality of food should be highly monitored in

order to provide the best customer satisfaction.

Therefore customer feedback is very important and quick-casual restaurants

should direct their focus to feedback about the food. This will also enable waiters

to develop relationships with the customers. Un-happy customers could be given

vouchers to the restaurant if they were not happy with their meals. This enables

the restaurant to get a second chance as the customer (depending on the amount

of dissatisfaction) will return to your restaurant to spend their voucher, where you

get a chance to persuade there thoughts of the restaurant and decline negative

word-of mouth.

When evaluating restaurants to eat for lunch or breakfast new customers

evaluate a restaurant on its tangible benefits, such as lighting, aroma,

atmosphere, and layout to analyze what they think the restaurant will deliver as

they are not able to actually taste the food until they decide to become a

customer.

Intangible benefits are difficult to monitor however Physical Environment is the

second most important factor contributing to customer satisfaction in a quick-


casual restaurant. For that reason quick-casual restaurant managers should

ensure that their décor reflects what the restaurant offers and has an inviting feel

to it. Clark and Wood argue, “tangible rather then intangible elements are of

greater importance in gaining customer loyalty and continued restaurant

patronage.

Although this conflicts with the results from the study (that quality of food is

considered more important then quality of physical environment) it is important to

note that results from the study were based on current customers rather then

potential new customers. I think it would be interesting to compare the two results

to see the difference in opinions, which can then be related to what the physical

environment is saying to both potential customers and current customers.

This study begins to understand the fundamental rules around quick-casual

restaurants. The way to satisfy customers is to provide a pleasant Physical

Environment (e.g., attractive interior design and décor, comfortable seats, high

quality of furniture, professional appearance of employee, and pleasant music,

lighting, color) It is important to remember that people don’t nessacerily want to

go somewhere that feels like home. For this reason, National Restaurant

Association’s (2001) restaurant industry forecast, showed restaurant operators


are investing more than ever before in restaurant design and décor as they strive

to create a setting that will set them apart from the competition.

From this standpoint quick-casual restaurants are then able to (with little cost)

create ambience though music, scent, lighting, and layout to create a

personalized competitive advantage. According to this study, by providing this

kind of Physical and Ambient environment and teaming it with high quality food

and service will equate in the highest level of customer satisfaction. Therefore

customers will be loyal and provide healthy word-of- mouth.

ARTICLE TWO:

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

sid=9f88c892-294c-49a0-a3df-e669c296c511%40sessionmgr11&vid=4&hid=14

Dineserv: A Tool for Measuring Service Quality in Restaurants T. Vanniarajan

Article two looks at how current restaurants are offering high service quality to

ensure they have a competitive edge. “With increased disposable income,

growing urbanization and the impact of transport and communication have fuelled

a strong demand for restaurant services””. In a bid to provide customers with the


http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9f88c892-294c-49a0-a3df-e669c296c511@sessionmgr11&vid=4&hid=14

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9f88c892-294c-49a0-a3df-e669c296c511@sessionmgr11&vid=4&hid=14

high level of service quality restaurants are looking for any way to be noticed by

the crowd. Wait staff are also highly trained in there bid to receive repeat

customers.

This study focuses on one of the main concepts used today in service quality in

retseraunts. DINESEV. http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/36/2/56.abstract

DINSERV is considered one of the most reliable, relatively simple tool for

determining how customers view a restaurant quality. DINSERV is a concept

derived from the SERVQUAL model which is designed to measure service quality

in specifically “restaurants”. http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=qBXliZ6-

CBcC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=servqual+vs+DINESERV&source=bl&ots=AfLqg

zP9Dr&sig=TOyyG8TTzwy92Be7raVuGHRfDrg&hl=en&ei=-

f7STZy2Io7ksQOStLCUCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0C

CwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=servqual%20vs%20DINESERV&f=false

DINSERV is a 29 item questionnaire. It contains 5 categories. The 5 variables of

the DINSERV model are:

1.Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

2.Employee attitude: Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their abilty to

convey trust and confidence


3.Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and prvide a prompt service

4.Empathy: Caring individualized attention

5.Physical attributes of the facility: Physical facilities, equipment and appearance

of personnel.

By having customers awnser these questionnaires allows a manager to look at

how their customers view the restaurants service quality and allow them to make

changes to parts which need to improved.

Although, have you ever been to a café or restaurant and had to fill out a

questionnaire? This is because measuring Service Quality in restaurants is a

fairly new subject in the service quality sector. Many developments in Service

Quality in restaurants has been derived or can be compared to results from

Service Quality in Hotels.


This study also provides insight into how important Relationship Quality is to a

restaurant and (see figure one shown below)

Figure One was created by Kin et al. (2006) and examines the predictors and

outcomes of relationship quality with reference to the luxury restaurant industry.

Figure One:

Physical Environment Communications


Food Quality Relationship Benefits

Customer Orientation Price Fairness

i) Physical Environment: This demonstrates the importance of physical

facilities for achieving the perceived level of service quality provided by

restaurants. (Stevens et al., 1995). Tangibles such as décor, dinning

area comfort, and cleanliness, furnitures and fixtures, rest rooms and

parking areas were all shown to have impact on perceived service

quality (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999).

ii) Food Quality

This is indicative of the taste and freshness of the food supplied and the standard

of hygiene maintained in preparing the same by the restaurants (Mattila, 2001).

Mac Laurin and Mac Laurin (2000) concluded that food quality was one of nine

important elements for theme restaurants in Singapore. It is an important factor

for developing customer satisfaction and loyalty within the restaurant industry.

iii) Customer Orientation

This component represents the knowledge about customers, courtesy and


empathy

January - April 2009 Vol. 4 Issue 3

(Fornell et al., 1996) among the dining staff and customers loyalty (Gustafsson et

al., 2005). A customer oriented dining staff will have a positive influence on

customers trust and commitment (Bore and Johnson, 2000).

iv) Communication Level

It reveals the interaction and conversation with familiar receptionists (Scanlan and

Mc Phail, 2000). Jeyacharan et al., (2005) suggest that relational information

processes which enable customers to communicate easily with the organization

are likely to enhance customer satisfaction. The ability of customers to

communicate with a service provider enhances co- operation and trust between

them during the relationship building process (Parsons, 2002).

v) Relationship Benefits

This refers to the benefits that customers are likely to receive as a result of having

a long term relationship with a service provider (Reynolds and Beatty, 1999).

Gwrinner et al. (1998) revealed that risk reduction, friendship, personal

recognition, rapport and special treatment were all benefits of maintaining a long-

term relationship with an organization.


vi) Price Fairness

Price fairness indicates reasonable prices of the food items served in a restaurant

compared to those charged by the competitive firms which maintain the same

qualitative standards. Notably, it is the psychological factor that plays an

important role in determining consumers’ reactions to the prevailing price (Kim et

al., 2006). Oh (2000) suggested that price fairness has a positive impact on a

customer’s purchaseintention. Ramaweera and Neely (2003) observed that

‘perceived reasonable price’ has a positive influence on customer retention.

You may notice that these 5 factors are very similar to those in the DINESERV

model, this is because Relationship Quality heavily relates to DINESERV. The

relationship the restaurant has with the customer is very important in providing a

high-level of service quality.

When entering a new restaurant a customer will already have a perceived quality

in what they expect the restaurant can offer. By making the customer feel

comfortable, welcome, and by providing a price they feel comfortable with is a

great way to entice new customers to your store. Staff should also be trained in

giving the same service quality to EVERY customer. New customers are just as

important (if not more important) then current customers, they are the people who


are going to spread Word of Mouth nearly immediately after dining.

Comparison of Article One and Two

Article One focuses on the quality of food, quality of physical environment and

quality of service in a quick casual restaurant environment. This Article mainly

focuses on new customers and how to entice and keep them.

The study compares to Article Two by providing more information some of the

main variable in the DINESERV model in realation to new customers.

The results from Article One infur how important each factor if the DINESERV

model is. Quality of food being top of the list closely followed by physical

environment and quality of service.

However Article One did not look into the Relationship benefits that highly effect

service quality. This may be because the relationship with the customer is hard to

keep consistent, as there are many different cultures and such a variety of people

that one kind of service may not fit the next person in line.

I feel it important for the front of house staff to be able to distinguish the difference

between customers and try to meet there expectations as best possible.


For example, a family of four who arrive for lunch should be treated differently

then a person who comes in for a takeaway coffee. This does not mean that

because the family will spend more money that they should have priority of

service. Instead its about analyzing which type of service they expect.

For the takeaway coffee customer this may be a fast service, with quality coffee

at a good price, with a barista that they can trust every morning to make quality

coffee.

For the family of four they would most likely be expecting table service, a smiling

informative waiter, something to entertain the kids and a fair priced menu.

In conclusion both Article One and Two show similar concepts and Theories and

together show a good understanding of how to measure service quality in a

restaurant. By increasing effectiveness in the 5 variables of the DINESERV model

should allow both new and current customers to be continually happy ad for the

business owner gain a better competitive advantage.


Analysis of a Service in the Hospitality Industry

From the findings above I have decided to take the DINSERV concept to the

Sitting Duck Café located in the West Haven Marina, Auckland. The Sitting Duck

café is a quick – casual restaurant, they sell pies, sandwiches, Panini’s, slices

and biscuits all to eat in or takeaway. They also offer a full sit down service and

which offers a range of delicious seafood chowders, venison sausage spaghetti

and ceaser salads to name a few which may be served with wine beer or fresh

juices.

This quick-casual restaurant is open from 7am till 4pm weekdays and 4.30 on the

weekends. This allows for the resteraunt to catch the early morning workers

around the westhaven marina to come in including suitable lunches for people to

take out on their yaughts.

I devised a DINSERV model to analyze The Sitting Duck café, I also am going to

include a pre purchase evaluation questionnaire to asses what new customers

pre expectations are to the café and continue to recommendations on what I think

would make improvements.


The DINSERV Questionnaire I have formulated is a 5 point Likert Scale. It used

the same 5 variables as shown previously (Reliability, Employee attitude,

Responsiveness, Empathy, Physical attributes of the facility)

There will be 3 questions per variable.

The Questionnaire can be found in Appendix One. The Questionnaire was tested

on 20 people. Ten of which were new customers, 10 who had been there before.

The Likert scale was used to be able to analyze customer’s feelings about certain

areas. The scale used in a Likert model is a bipolar scale respondents are asked

to rate the level at which they agree or disagree with a given statement. A Likert

scale is used to measure attitudes, preferences, and subjective reactions.

I chose The Sitting Duck Café as my establishment to do this assignment as I

regularly go there for coffee on a Sunday morning. I chose to evaluate the

business in 5 different encounters using the DINESERV model. In conjunction

with this I asked 10 current customers and 10 potential customers. I noticed that a

lot of people walk dogs, job and cycle around this area so potential customers

were easy to find. To define a potential customer, this is; a person who has a

similar need or want and who might be willing and able to in exchange satisfy that

need or want. http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/34042-who-

potential-customer.html


http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/34042-who-potential-customer.html

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/34042-who-potential-customer.html

Also potential customers are people who have not already been a customer so it

was interesting to analyze the difference between customer expectations and

Current Customer Evaluations. I decided to make two questinaares to cater to the

different respondents; current customers will be surveyed using the variables of

the DINESERV model, and potential customers will be evaluated using the

concepts focused towards customer pre perceptions and expectations.

Findings Part One – Potential Customers

A second questionnaire was made to analyse the pre purchase expectations and analysis of the physical environment at The Sitting Duck Café. The physical environment is an important indicator when selecting a new resteraunt.The questionaare and its results can be found in Appendix 3.The questionaare was tested on 10 potentail customers who had not eaten at the Sitting Duck Café.The Questionaare was tested using a 5 point Likert Scale. This questionaare was based around three concepts presented in Article one, customers are most effected by the quality of food followed by quality of physical environment and quality of service. This will be measured in terms of pre expectations. Find results below:

Potential Customer Questionaare ResultsQuality of foodPerceived food quality Poor/AverageFamily environment ExcellentImpress Friends PoorQuality of Physical EnvironmentInviting and comfortable PoorRelaxing AverageFurniture Quality PoorQuality of ServiceEmployee presentation Excellent

Helpful and SkilledAverage/Excellent

Happy Employees Excellent Results from these finding shows that customers pre perceptations and expextations are very low. When looking at the resteraunt potential customers thought it had poor food quality, cheap prices, poor furniture quality and would’nt show the place off to friends. This is a big worry for the sitting duck. If current


customers feel the same they are more likely to get small individual meals for people who cant afford much, rather then big tables of people who like to take there time and in term end up spending more money. When relating this to the reults from current customers you can see that the Physical Quality Attributes are very low on both scales. This is a cause for concern and is developed more in depth in the recommendations section of this assignment.

By linking these results to a customer value model may help The Sitting Duck Management to work towards better results in potential customers.The framework below shows how to develop and deliver customer value

Choose the Value: Segments, positioning, marketing focus, unique value proposition

Creating the Value Service Quality, price, Customer Service, Website, Channel Strategy

Communicate Value Advertising, P.R, Selling, Website Service Encounters

Service estabishments are all about value creation, they work to provide a specific value which is also known as a compeditive advantage, this can be persued through many channels such as quality of food, quality of service, physical attributes. Although, I do advise that alll

Findings part Two – Current Customers

The Findings of current customers can be viewed in Appendix 3. From these results I have developed a table to show the major trends that the results have shown. Results have been divided into 3 categories:

Poor Average Excellent

This reflects the general outcome of each variable in the DINESERV model.Please find the table below:

Current Customer Questionnaire ResultsReliabilityQ1 - Quality of food Excellen


t

Q2 - ConvenientExcellent

Q3 – Price PoorEmployee attitude

Q4 - Helpful EmployeeExcellent

Q5 - Employee Knowledge Average

Q6 - Trained EmployeesExcellent

ResponsivenessQ7 - Employee Inichative AverageQ8 - Individual Needs AverageQ9 – Timely AverageEmpathy

Q10 - Felt welcomeExcellent

Q11 - Employee attentionExcellent

Q12 – TrustExcellent

Physical AttributesQ13 - Presentation, layout, aroma, music PoorQ14 - Quality Equipment Poor

Q15 - Presentable EmployeesExcellent

Although this is a very general reading (there would have been time and quality constraints if a proper sized survey was developed) however, it is obvious to see some problem areas at The Sitting Duck Café.The one major issue this survey returned was the Physical Attributes of the café, where presentation, layout, aroma, music and quality of equipment all had poor results. I agree with the feedback from this. According to Article One Physical Attributes are one of the most important factors in gaining the best customer satisfaction. So why is The Sitting Duck still running?You may also note that The Sitting Duck has excellent food quality. This is the most important factor in creating customer satisfaction, therefore fight food quality along with the great location, helpful and welcoming waiters provide The Sitting Duck with a good overall service quality.

Another main indicator of service quality is the Price. For me as a student price is the main indicator on whether I will be a repeat customer or not. Whether my expectations of the overall service is high enough to feel that is it worthy to spend my money on. Obviously everybody is not in my financial situation and therefore my opinion maybe varied then people who are in the yaughting and boating


industry. Although after doing the DINESERV survey it seems other customers feel the same way. It is important to note that Price was only just qualified as poor. This may be caused from the lack of perceived quality.This links to the concept of disconfirmation of expectations. Current customers feel that there expectations don’t meet what they actually received, Therefore there maybe maybe dissatisfied customers.Expectations represent what the customers realistically believe they will receive. The resteraunt industry is fierce and many establishments seem to over promise and under deliver. The Expectations-confirmation theory posits that expectations, coupled with perceived performance, lead to post-purchase satisfaction. This effect is mediated through positive or negative disconfirmation between expectations and performance. If a product outperforms expectations (positive disconfirmation) post-purchase satisfaction will result. If a product falls short of expectations (negative disconfirmation) the consumer is likely to be dissatisfied (Oliver, 1980; Spreng et al. 1996).The four main constructs in the model are: expectations, performance, disconfirmation, and satisfaction. Expectations reflect anticipated behavior (Churchill and Suprenant, 1982). They are predictive, indicating expected product attributes at some point in the future (Spreng et al. 1996). Expectations serve as the comparison standard in ECT – what consumers use to evaluate performance and form a disconfirmation judgment (Halstead, 1999). Disconfirmation is hypothesized to affect satisfaction, with positive disconfirmation leading to satisfaction and negative disconfirmation leading to dissatisfaction.

A major debate within the marketing literature concerns the nature of the effect of disconfirmation on satisfaction. The root of the problem lies in the definition of predictive expectations as the comparison standard for perceived performance. In such case, the confirmation of negative expectations is not likely to lead to satisfaction (Santos and Boote 2003). To overcome this problem, researchers have proposed other comparison standards such as desires, ideals, equity, or past product and brand experience (see reviews by Halstead, 1999; Yi 1990 and analysis by Tse and Wilton, 1988. Also see Spreng et al. 1996; Woodruff et al., 1983).The model of the concept is presented below: http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/ect.htm

This model shows show important satisfying expectations and perceived performance are in creating satisfied of dissatisfied customers. If The Sitting Duck were to use this model they would most likely find that there lack of physical


attributes is the only major factor holding them from satisfied customers. This presses the issue on how important analyxing service quality is as it is easiler to understand what your missing, and why customers are continuously coming to dine with you.

Recommendations

Conclusions

In Conclusion I feel that the

Reference List

Appendix

Appendix One: Questionnaire

DINESERV: QUESTIONAARE

Reliability

Q1) I get the same quality of food/beverage every time I come

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither Agree nor DisagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Q2) The Sitting Duck Café is open when it is convenient for me


Q3) The Quality of food and beverage is reasonably priced



Employee attitude

Q4) The employee was helpful


Q5) The employee has extensive knowledge on the menu and can provide explanations


Q6) The employees are trained to a high level in their respective areas


Responsiveness

Q7) The Employee uses incitive e.g. dog bowls, high chairs, clearing tablesStrongly Agree

AgreeNeither Agree nor DisagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Q8) The Restaurant can cater to individual needs e.g. gluten free, dairy free, meat free



Q9) The Employee completes your required service in satisfactory time


Empathy

Q10) I feel welcome when walking into the Resteraunt


Q11) I have Employees full attention when ordering


Q12) I trust that I will receive my correct order


Physical attributes of the facility

Q13) The Restaurant is well presented and layed out with pleasant aroma and music



Q14) The Restaurant is has comfortable and quality equipment e.g. tables, chairs, lighting, floor.


Q15) The Employees are well presented


Appendix Two: Results From Potential Customers

Appendix Three: Results From Current Customers

DINESERV: QUESTIONAARE

Reliability

Q1) I get the same quality of food/beverage every time I come

Strongly Agree 8Agree 2Neither Agree nor DisagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree


Q2) The Sitting Duck Café is open when it is convenient for me


Q3) The Quality of food and beverage is reasonably priced

Strongly AgreeAgree 3Neither Agree nor Disagree 2 Disagree 5Strongly Disagree

Employee attitude

Q4) The employee was helpful


Q5) The employee has extensive knowledge on the menu and can provide explanations

Strongly AgreeAgree 3Neither Agree nor Disagree 7DisagreeStrongly Disagree

Q6) The employees are trained to a high level in their respective areas

Strongly AgreeAgree 10Neither Agree nor DisagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Responsiveness


Q7) The Employee uses incitive e.g. dog bowls, high chairs, clearing tables

Strongly Agree 2Agree 3Neither Agree nor Disagree 5DisagreeStrongly Disagree

Q8) The Restaurant can cater to individual needs e.g. gluten free, dairy free, meat free

Strongly AgreeAgree 3Neither Agree nor Disagree 4Disagree 3Strongly Disagree

Q9) The Employee completes your required service in satisfactory time

Strongly AgreeAgree 6Neither Agree nor Disagree 2Disagree 2Strongly Disagree

Empathy

Q10) I feel welcome when walking into the Restaurant


Q11) I have Employees full attention when ordering


Q12) I trust that I will receive my correct order



Physical attributes of the facility

Q13) The Restaurant is well presented and layed out with pleasant aroma and music

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither Agree nor Disagree 2Disagree 2Strongly Disagree 6

Q14) The Restaurant has comfortable and quality equipment e.g. tables, chairs, lighting, floor.

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither Agree nor Disagree 1Disagree 4Strongly Disagree 5

Q15) The Employees are well presented

Strongly Agree 1Agree 8Neither Agree nor Disagree 1DisagreeStrongly Disagree


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