SERVICE QUALITY: AN ASSESSMENT OF GAPS IN RESTAURANTS OF BILASPUR CITY. (original) (raw)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the service quality gaps lies in the restaurants of Bilaspur city with respect to expectation and experience of the customers?. SERVQUAL scale is adopted and modified to suit the requirement of the study and survey in four well-known restaurants offering variety of cuisines was done. Mean score analysis was performed to identify the persists gaps with respect to expectation and experience of the customers? This study reveals that only services with respect to willingness to help customers and prompt services (Responsiveness) exceeds the expectation of customers? and gaps were identified in all other service dimensions which indicates poor service quality of the restaurants. Multiple regression analysis is performed to assess the impact of these service quality dimensions on satisfaction of customers and intention of their revisit. Significant but low impact was found on the satisfaction of customers (31%) and very low influence on intention of revisit was revealed (11%). Findings of this study helps the owners of restaurants to understand the gaps and take corrective actions for improving satisfaction of the customers?, thereby intending them for revisiting the restaurants and recommending the restaurants to others based on their positive experience.

Figures (6)

How much do you spend on eating/dine in restaurants (Monthly) Table 3:-Respondent Frequency of visit (n = 100)

How much do you spend on eating/dine in restaurants (Monthly) Table 3:-Respondent Frequency of visit (n = 100)

How often would you dine out (Monthly)? First a Mean score analysis is performed among all the attributes of service quality dimensions to assess the gap between expected service and actual experience of the services in the restaurant.

How often would you dine out (Monthly)? First a Mean score analysis is performed among all the attributes of service quality dimensions to assess the gap between expected service and actual experience of the services in the restaurant.

Table 4:-Gap Analysis of Perceived and Experienced Service Quality Dimensions (n = 100)

Table 4:-Gap Analysis of Perceived and Experienced Service Quality Dimensions (n = 100)

The above given table indicates the mean score of each attributes of service quality dimensions with respect to Expected service and Experienced services. With respect to the Tangibles dimension of the service quality, a gap with respect to neatness and cleanliness of the employees and visually appealing materials used in the restaurants was found. This shows that on the whole, restaurants were lacking behind in using different visually appealing materials in their restaurants and also need to give more emphasis on neatness and cleanliness of the employees. Well defined and neat uniform is required for the employees in majority of restaurants. Apart clothes, personal neatness and cleanliness of the employees should also be ensured by the management of restaurants.

The above given table indicates the mean score of each attributes of service quality dimensions with respect to Expected service and Experienced services. With respect to the Tangibles dimension of the service quality, a gap with respect to neatness and cleanliness of the employees and visually appealing materials used in the restaurants was found. This shows that on the whole, restaurants were lacking behind in using different visually appealing materials in their restaurants and also need to give more emphasis on neatness and cleanliness of the employees. Well defined and neat uniform is required for the employees in majority of restaurants. Apart clothes, personal neatness and cleanliness of the employees should also be ensured by the management of restaurants.

Table 5:-Predicting customer satisfaction, intention to revisit. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to assess the impact of various service quality dimensions on satisfaction of customers and intention to revisit at the restaurants. In identifying those significant variables accounting for customers’ satisfaction, it is found that all the service quality dimensions have a significant influence on satisfaction. The adjusted R2 of this model is 0.318, which indicates that these service quality dimensions create 31.8 % of the variation in customer satisfaction. Highest variation in customers’ satisfaction was created by Responsiveness (at 22.8%) and lowest by Tangibles (at 12.9%). The significant F-ratio (F = 8.778, p = 0.000) indicates that the results of the regression model could hardly have occurred by chance. Thus, the goodness-of-fit of the model is satisfactory. All the 5 dimensions of service quality significantly and positively influenced satisfaction among the restaurant customers. Based on the beta coefficient of each independent variable, it is possible to assess the impact of each variable on the dependent variable, satisfaction. According to Table 5, the variable

Table 5:-Predicting customer satisfaction, intention to revisit. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to assess the impact of various service quality dimensions on satisfaction of customers and intention to revisit at the restaurants. In identifying those significant variables accounting for customers’ satisfaction, it is found that all the service quality dimensions have a significant influence on satisfaction. The adjusted R2 of this model is 0.318, which indicates that these service quality dimensions create 31.8 % of the variation in customer satisfaction. Highest variation in customers’ satisfaction was created by Responsiveness (at 22.8%) and lowest by Tangibles (at 12.9%). The significant F-ratio (F = 8.778, p = 0.000) indicates that the results of the regression model could hardly have occurred by chance. Thus, the goodness-of-fit of the model is satisfactory. All the 5 dimensions of service quality significantly and positively influenced satisfaction among the restaurant customers. Based on the beta coefficient of each independent variable, it is possible to assess the impact of each variable on the dependent variable, satisfaction. According to Table 5, the variable

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