Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 9

ZENITH

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research


Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

EXPLORING CUSTOMER LOYALTY: A STUDY ON FAST FOOD


OUTLETS IN THE CITY OF CHENNAI

SIDDHARTHA BHATTACHARYA*; DR. PARTHA PRATIM SENGUPTA**;


RAMAKANT MISHRA***

*Assistant Professor, Disha Education Society, Raipur.


** Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, NIT, Durgapur.
*** Professor & Principal, DIMAT, Raipur.

ABSTRACT

It is now widely accepted among marketers and researchers that customer loyalty is one of the
most underlying factor determining the ultimate sustainability of the business. The current study
aims at establishing a concrete understanding of the relationship of customer satisfaction and
image of the firm with customer loyalty. Taking into consideration the fierce competitive market
which the restaurant sector is witnessing the researchers believe that the current study will serve
as a significant help to both academician and marketers equally. The investigation was carried
out to understand which variables of customer satisfaction and image positively determine
customer loyalty towards in the fast food market. The study used a data collected from fast food
outlets in the city of Chennai with the implications from the findings being loyalty is positively
influenced by image of the restaurant and customer satisfaction towards housekeeping, food &
beverages, reception and price.

INTRODUCTION

The restaurant sector is now considered as one of the most prominent and comprehensive sector
of them all. It has now become a global phenomenon with worldwide customers and marketers.
Visiting a restaurant is no longer an antecedent of purpose of satisfying the hunger but it has
taken the shape of lifestyle. Lately, restaurant sector has seen a mammoth growth owing to some
encouraging developments in tourism all across the globe; contextual factors like social and
economic situation of many developed and developing countries. According to an ACNielsen
study, about 37 percent of Adult Indians are eating at on of their homes at least once every week
and a staggering 71 percent of the urban Population does the same more than once in a month.
www.zenithresearch.org.in

This lucrative statistics and trend has caught the eye of many multinationals looking for their
pieces of share, making this sector one of the most competitive of all, which has been considered
as the most prominent challenge faced by restaurant operators, lately. This pace of competition
provides many repercussions to the customers like,

Myriad range of choices

Higher value for money

amplified and prompt levels of services offered


175
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

Interestingly, there is a very thin line of differentiation between the product and services offered
by one restaurant from its competitors. Hence, it is of utmost importance for every restaurant
operator to achieve a higher degree of competitive advantage over the others. For which the
marketers generally employ the following two strategies, appropriately:
1. Providing unique benefits to consumers and thus developing customer loyalty
2. Attaining a low-cost leadership through discounted pricing strategy
But there is a serious issue with the latter strategy, as there is a possibility of acquiring a negative
impact on the restaurants profitability on the course for improving market share of the restaurant
by offering low cost products. Hence, on a long run restaurant managements should look for
developing customer loyalty through quality product (also, service) rather than focusing on low
cost leadership.
Numerous literatures are available illustrating the importance of developing customer loyalty,
that not only relying only on various low pricing strategies but also through quality service and
product. A prior study conducted by Reichheld & Sasser (1990) reveals that, an increase in 5%
customer loyalty can generate an increase of profit to about 25-85%.
Hence a greater focus on building customer loyalty is not only important but also has become
mandatory for restaurant managers for their survival and growth in such a fierce competitive
environment.
The ever increasing erudition, classiness and sophistication of the consumers along with the fast
paced competition has created a new domain of challenges for the restaurant managers, who are
exploring ways to comprehend the various prominent constructs towards customer loyalty.
The current study aims at assisting the restaurant managers; by finding various antecedents of
customer loyalty and helping them implement necessary strategy to ensure increased level of
brand loyalty from existing as well as new customers.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK


LOYALTY
To serve the purpose of the study it is presumed that a customer become a loyal customer
when he/she makes repeated purchase from the same restaurant, constantly, and who persistently
www.zenithresearch.org.in
maintains a affirmative attitude towards the same service provider
Customer loyalty has two dimensions: a) attitudinal dimension, b) behavioral dimensions. Getty
and Thompson (1994) have referred attitudinal dimensions as the intentions of the customer to
repurchase and advocate about the service provider. Whereas, the study done by Bowen and
Shoemaker (1998) has indicated that behavior dimension refers to the intention of repurchase
from the service provider by the customer on account of superior preference towards that service
provider which he/she holds in her mind over a period of time.
176
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

Although very little literature has been carried out, illustrating the factors that lead to successful
development of customer loyalty, however, some prior researches have comprehended that
service quality and customer satisfaction are the two important prerequisites of customer loyalty
(Cronin and Taylor, 1992).

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY


Customer satisfaction is arguably the most sought after outcome of any marketing initiatives.
Expanding business, acquiring higher degree of market share for improved long term
profitability is the main reason why marketers seek to develop and maintain a healthy loyal
customer base. Cronin and Taylor (1992) found that customer satisfaction directly leads to
purchase intentions. A study done by McAlexander et al. (1994) in the health care realm revealed
that satisfaction level of the outgoing patients and service quality are the two main factors
determining future purchase intentions. Getty and Thompson (1994) conducted a study on
lodging experiences of the customers and discovered that customers only recommended the
service provider to others, when they experienced a quality service and when they were
completely satisfied with the service offered with regards to the lodging experience. Hence, we
can presume that there exists a strong and positive link between Customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty.

IMAGE AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY


Zeithaml and Berry (1996), found that firms image is a major factor influencing the customers
perception about the firm. A firms image is one of the most prominent variables that influence
various marketing actions.
Sound number of literature is available pertaining to service industry which has identified a
number of factors that reveals image of service firm in the mind of the customer. Image is known
to influence the minds of the customer through a holistic effect s of word-of-mouth,
advertisement, servicescape and their actual experiences with the service firm (Normann, 1991).
Likewise, Grnroos (1983), with the help of many researches on various service organizations,
discovered that service quality was the most important factor determining the image of the
service firm. Hence, we can say, that the experiences which the customers have with the
product/services in the service environment is the most significant factor determining the image
which he/she holds in his/her mind. In their study on hotel industry while investigating brand
loyalty among customers, Heung et al. (1996) found that hotel image was considered as the most www.zenithresearch.org.in
important construct towards customer loyalty.
The investigation of the relationship between the customer loyalty and the two other constructs
i.e. image of the restaurant and customer satisfaction becomes vital for the purpose of the study.
the current study also tries to examine the following research questions:
RQ1: Does customer satisfaction has any meaningful impact on customer loyalty?
RQ2: Does restaurants image affect customer loyalty?
RQ3: Does Restaurants image and Customer satisfactions has any combined affect on the
customer loyalty, if yes then, How?
177
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

The researchers also propose a general graphical model in Fig. 1, on the basis of the above
discussed relationships, which envisages that image of the restaurant and satisfaction level of the
customer from that particular restaurant directly influence his/her loyalty. Accordingly, three
hypotheses are developed which are follows:
H1: Customer Satisfaction has a positive and direct impact on Customer Loyalty.
H2: Restaurants Image has a positive and direct influence on Customer loyalty.
H3: The customer loyaltys variance is significantly explained by the combined effect of
customer satisfaction and restaurants image.
FIGURE 1
Model depicting the relationship between image and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty

The current research concentrates on restaurants as the researchers believe that the loyalty of the
customer is the major and prime factor which determines the eventual market leader in the
restaurant sector. The researches have selected individual customers who visit the restaurants and
have at least a meal (lunch/dinner) in the particular restaurant from whom a cross-sectional data
was collected to serve the purpose of the study.
The researchers conducted an extensive literature survey in order to identify necessary and
suitable variables for the investigation on hand (Table I).
A 5-point Likert scales, were employed to assess the variables: Customer loyalty, Customer
satisfaction and hotel image. Fully self- administered questionnaires were employed to collect www.zenithresearch.org.in
data from a set of 227 customers (respondents, hereafter) of five fast food restaurants in the city
of Chennai, along with a 10 rupees free food coupon as incentive for the respondents, which
were delivered to the respondents on their service tables along with the final payment bill. This
survey method lasted for a period of three weeks. A total of 148 responses were received back
and out of which a total of 102 (69 %) were found fully usable and relevant to the study.
178
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

TABLE I
CONSTRUCT OPERATIONALIZATION
Variable No. of Items used Description

This is operationalized by the customer's


Customer loyalty 2 perception towards intention to
recommend, purchase intention and
customer loyalty
This is measured on the basis of customer's
perception of the restaurant's location,
Image attributes 6 Physical Settings (both interior and
exterior), quality of the services delivered,
performance of the staff and price
This is measured by the perception of the
customer towards the front office
Satisfaction towards reception 4 receptionist's behavior in terms of
willingness and ability to give a good
service
This variable is measured by the
customer's perception towards personnel in
Satisfaction towards food and terms of willingness and ability to deliver
6
beverages the service, working hours of the
restaurant, quality of food and beverage
and the ambience of eating place
This variable is measured by the
Satisfaction towards customer's perception towards personnel in
4
housekeeping terms of willingness and ability to deliver
the service, room amenities and comfort
This is operationalized by customer's
perception towards the price paid for the
Satisfaction towards price 3
hospitality, prompt services and food &
beverages

RESULTS www.zenithresearch.org.in
To test the hypothesis H1 and H2, a regression analysis was conducted between each identified
independent variable of customer loyalty (Table II).
The regression analysis indicated a strong substantiation to support the following two hypotheses
H1 and H2. The researchers employed a multiple regression analysis, to investigate the
relationship between the two variables: customer loyalty and customer satisfaction (Table III).
179
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

TABLE II
REGRESSION OF EACH VARIABLE (INDEPENDENT) TOWARDS CUSTOMER
LOYALTY
Variable R F *** T ***
Restaurant image 0.314 45.720 0.234 6.761
CS: reception 0.138 15.934 0.642 3.994
CS: food and beverages 0.149 17.412 0.145 4.179
CS: housekeeping 0.245 33.291 0.628 5.788
CS: price 0.131 15.070 0.451 3.880
Note: Significant at p < 0.01 (***)

Table III revealed that the satisfaction of customer towards house keeping was of significance
whereas, customer satisfaction towards food & beverages, reception and price were found to be
insignificant. To test the relationship between customer satisfaction, image and customer loyalty
(Table IV), the researchers have simultaneously tested, in one model, the variables with each one
of the dependent variables. Significant beta values were found of both customer satisfaction and
image with housekeeping. This reveals that the customers evaluate housekeeping services of a
restaurant as an important factor in determining their satisfaction (customer satisfaction) and fast
food restaurant image.

TABLE III
REGRESSION OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Variable T Sig.
CS: reception 0.211 1.214 0.234
CS: food and beverages 0.029 0.624 0.533
CS: housekeeping 0.431 3.205 0.003 ***
CS: price 0.184 1.399 0.154
Note: Significant at p < 0.01 (***); R = 0.295; F= 10.251 ***

As it is evident from Table IV, 33 per cent of the variance in loyalty is explained by restaurants
image and customer satisfaction towards food & beverages, reception, menu price and
housekeeping altogether. This illustrates that the customer loyalty is driven by a combined effect
of high customer satisfaction and restaurants image.
www.zenithresearch.org.in

TABLE IV
REGRESSION OF IMAGE AND C-SAT TOWARDS CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Variable T Sig.
Image 0.175 2.679 0.008 ***
CS: reception 0.024 0.110 0.911
CS: food and beverages -0.035 -0.814 0.429
180
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

CS: housekeeping 0.271 1.891 0.064 *


CS: price 0.101 0.819 0.418
Note: Significant at p < 0.01 (***) and p < 0.1 (*); R = 0.341; F= 10.153 ***

FINDINGS AND GENERAL DISCUSSIONS


RESTAURANTS IMAGE
This studys findings imply that restaurants image and customer satisfaction with reception,
food & beverages, housekeeping and menu price are highly influential in determining customer
loyalty. Substantiated with the earlier works; which decipher the importance of attitude of the
employee, facilities, image of the location and services rendered by a hotel ultimately postulate
the customer loyalty; we can understand that the customers exhibit repurchase behavior and
recommend about the service to their peers with a notion that it delivers with an assertion of
superior quality service by the fast food restaurant, each and every time.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
It was observed from the hypothesis tests that customer satisfaction with the performance of food
& beverages, reception, housekeeping and menu price plays a crucial role in determining the
repurchase and recommendation behavior of the customer towards the fast food restaurant.
However, upon testing the model, it is worthwhile to notice that the customer satisfaction with
respect to housekeeping was observed to be the sole significant factor determining customer
loyalty. This could probably be explained when we take into account customer perception of
house keeping as the main benefit which a restaurant offers, whereas reception, menu price and
food & beverages are perceived as factors that support the main benefit delivery of a restaurant.
Accordingly, customers perceive satisfaction with respect to reception, menu price and food &
beverages less important when compared to perceived satisfaction with respect to house keeping
when choosing a particular restaurant for purchase, re-purchase and recommendation to others.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND RESTAURANTS IMAGE
Upon testing the two factors namely: Customer satisfaction with respect to various variables
under study and Restaurants image, only the restaurants image and customer satisfaction with
housekeeping were found to be factors with high significance and perhaps the customers take www.zenithresearch.org.in
into consideration these two factors when exhibiting the purchase, repurchase and loyalty
behavior.
The following conclusions can be drawn, that the restaurant image and satisfaction level of
customer with respect to food& beverages, menu price, reception and housekeeping have be
found evident as the most important criteria while intending to purchase, repurchase and
recommend. Notably, Restaurant Image and Customer satisfaction towards housekeeping are the
top most considerations which a customer takes into account while exhibiting customer loyalty.
181
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
The importance of customer satisfaction to gain much of customer loyalty is widespread in terms
of popularity, belief and acceptance. However, a void has been found in literatures as very few
researchers have tried to identify the constituents for customer loyalty. The current study is an
attempt to fill this void by bridging with not only the identification of these constituents but also
understanding their extent of relationship towards customer loyalty.
The current studys findings, emphasize that customer loyalty can not be solely developed on the
basis of restaurants skills of elevating customer satisfaction but also on its skills to ascertain a
positive image. A positive and healthy synchronization of the Restaurants image along with the
7Ps of Services marketing namely: product, place, price, process, promotion, people and physical
evidence; may considerably boost up the clientele to a new heights. But precaution should be
taken in terms of compatibility when designing the above mentioned seven variables of services
marketing, as it may only alter the restaurants image negatively. For instance, reducing the
menu price greatly may attract a new set of customers but this could be unwelcoming to when
one is positioning its restaurant to an upward mobile class of the society. Hence, luring the
customers who are not congruent with the restaurants image may only deteriorate the current
and projected image of the restaurant. For example, a restaurant with contemporary image should
posses a good range of contemporary menu, failing to which it may loose its current clientele
who seek up to date and exiting food ranges.
This research accentuates on the necessity of a better customer satisfaction and the restaurants
image in order to build a healthy customer loyalty. However, this may pose even greater
difficulties to the managers and marketers, as the image of one restaurant would lead the
customer to quickly gauge on the same criteria with respect to other restaurants.
The researchers believe that the current study has contributed to some extent in, our ever
developing understanding of the services marketing and restaurant sector by bridging a void
between the much needed research investigation and a realistic and practical answer to the
questions of the restaurant managers. The researchers also conclude that the real success of any
organization lies in a healthy and sustainable customer base over a really long period of time.

REFERENCES
Bowen, J. and Shoemaker, S. (1998), Loyalty: a strategic commitment, Cornell H.R.A.
Quarterly, Vol. 2 pp 12-35
www.zenithresearch.org.in

Cronin, J.J.Jr and Taylor, S.A. (1992), Measuring Service quality: a re-examination and
extension, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, July, pp.55-68.
Getty, J.M. and Thompson, K.N.(1994), The relationship between quality, satisfaction, and
recommending behavior in lodging and decision, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing,
Vol. 2 No.3. pp. 3-22.
Grnroos, C. (1983), Strategic Management and Marketing in the Service Sector, Cambridge,
M.A.
182
ZENITH
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 4, August 2011, ISSN 2231 5780

Heung, V.C.S., Mok, C. and Kwan, A. (1996), Brand Loyalty in Hotels: an exploratory study of
overseas visitors to Hong Kong, Australian Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 3. No. 1,
pp. 1-11.
McAlexander, J.H., Kaldenberg, D.O. and Koenig, H.F. (1994), Service quality measurement,
Journal of Health Care Marketing, Vol. 14 No.3, pp. 34-40.
Normann, R. (1991), Service Management: Strategy and Leadership in Service Business, John
Wiley and Sons
Richfeld, F and sasser, W.E. (1990), zero defections: quality comes to services, Harvard
Business Review, September-October, p.p. 105-11.
Zeithaml, V.A. and Bitner, M. J. (1996), Services Marketing, McGraw-Hill International
Editions, New York, NY.

www.zenithresearch.org.in
183

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi