Applying Choice Based Conjoint Measurement to Forcast Demand for a New Restaurant Category

Discounter operated supercenters are perceived as a major competitive threat to current food retailers. Their selection of both supermarket type merchandise and discounter general merchandise is perceived as an advantage to time pressed consumers. In this study, for consumers living within a five-mile radius of a Super Krnart Center, selection was a primary reason 16 percent of the respondents considered the center as their favorite grocery store but, location was the most important reason. This is one of the first studies to find that location is a primary reason for shopping a supercenter and supports the conjecture of locational importance by some industry observers. The profile of the primary supercenter shopper is a younger more educated shopper who lives close to the supercenter and values selection. Respondents who did not consider the supercenter their primary store still liked its selection but generally found the supercenter's prices high and location inconvenient.     

Relative Importance of Distributor Selection Criteria to Independent Restaurant Operators

Abstract

In this study, restaurant operators rated the importance of criteria used to select foodservice distributors. Overall, items related to logistics received the highest ratings, with various value-added services receiving much lower ratings. Differences in ratings were observed between groups of restaurant operators based on size of operation and number of distributors used. Awareness of these attribute importance ratings will benefit distributors by assisting them in decisions regarding value-added service offerings and core service emphasis.     

An Exploratory Comparison of the Casual Dining Experience

Abstract

Chain restaurants in the United States now represent the majority of dollars spent in terms of overall sales when compared to independent restaurants. As a result, independents struggle to remain competitive in the marketplace. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study that was conducted to compare consumer perceptions toward the casual dining experience between chain and independent restaurants. The results clearly show consumers view dining experiences at chain units more favorably than dining experiences at independent units. Food quality has the greatest impact on satisfaction levels in terms of chain restaurants, whereas, server responsiveness is the driving force behind satisfaction as it relates to independent restaurants.     

Foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants

Despite the tourism growth in Korea, foreign travelers remain dissatisfied with Korean restaurants. Accordingly, this research investigates the factors influencing foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants. Using a modified SERVQUAL scale, three dimensions of service quality (‘intangibles’, ‘tangibles’, and ‘food’) as well as expectation and value for money appear to positively influence foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants. In turn, foreign travelers’ satisfaction has a positive influence on both their intention to revisit and their intention to recommend. The results of this study are useful to help restaurants develop strategies to strengthen foreign travelers’ satisfaction with their experience at traditional Korean restaurants.     

Big social data and customer decision making in vegetarian restaurants: A combined machine learning method

Customers increasingly use various social media to share their opinion about restaurants service quality. Big data collected from social media provides a data platform to improve the service quality of restaurants through customers' online reviews, where online reviews are a trustworthy and reliable source that helps consumers to evaluate food quality. Developing methods for effective evaluation of customer-generated reviews of restaurant services is important. This study develops a new method through effective learning techniques for customer segmentation and their preferences prediction in vegetarian friendly restaurants. The method is developed through text mining (Latent Dirichlet Allocation), cluster analysis (Self Organizing Map) and predictive learning technique (Classification and Regression Trees) to reveal the customer’ satisfaction levels from the service quality in vegetarian friendly restaurants. Based on the obtained results of our experiments on the data vegetarian friendly restaurants in Bangkok, the models constructed by Classification and Regression Trees were able to give an accurate prediction of customers' preferences on the basis of restaurants' quality factors. The results showed that customers’ online reviews analysis can be an effective way for customers segmentation to predict their preferences and help the restaurant managers to set priority instructions for service quality improvements.     

Impact of sustainable management policies on tourism companies' performance: the case of the metropolitan region of Madrid

The adoption of sustainable management practices is booming among service companies, whether due to pressure exerted by external agents or the internal perception that not being aligned with sustainability distances companies from clients and puts companies' long-term prospects at risk. However, few studies have examined the combined effect of implementing environmental management practices and corporate social responsibility practices in the tourism sector. By analysing two surveys conducted with the managers of 370 hotels and 176 restaurants and using structural equations, this study concludes that sustainability practices have a direct and significant impact on the company's competitiveness and on the companies' financial results. However, a separate study of the two surveys shows significant differences between the two analysed groups. This article suggests that despite operating in the same sector, hotels and restaurants behave differently regarding sustainability practices, and they achieve significantly different results in their implementation. In addition, by focusing on the tourism industry, a highly competitive sector, this analysis sheds light on whether investing in sustainability is a good strategy for companies to differentiate themselves and survive in complex sectors.     

The role of organizational culture and HRM on training success: evidence from the Canarian restaurant industry

This research aims to analyse the influence of organizational culture and human resources management (HRM) practices on the success of training at restaurants. Effective training is especially important for modern restaurants that aim to gain competitive advantage by means of good quality service and performance of their employees. To achieve this objective, an empirical study was conducted on 137 restaurants in the Canary Islands. Results show that organizational culture does not influence the success of the training programmes unless HRM practices that support the training process are implemented. Specifically, the study reveals the full mediating role of HRM practices between a continuous learning culture and effective training.     

To Tip or Not to Tip,That Is the Question: Rewarding Customer Service Encounters

This instructional case deals with compensation schemes in service industries, specifically with managerial intervention in tipping schemes in a restaurant. The case provides an opportunity to explore the interaction of direct client feedback and management control systems in controlling service encounters and to develop an understanding of management control systems in a team production environment. While the case focuses on compensation issues and requires some quantitative analysis, it also provides an opportunity to introduce the concept of “management controls as a package” and an assessment of the linkage between organizational strategy and the overall package of management controls. Case guidance is provided for alternative approaches to using the case.     

An Examination of the Relationship Between Employee Behavior/ Non-Behavior and Customer Satisfaction in Quick Service Restaurants

ABSTRACT

The major objective of this research is to explore the relationship between employee behavior/non-behavior and customer satisfaction in quick service restaurants. Four behavioral components (employee reliability, employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and employee empathy) and one non-behavioral component (the physical environment) are identified.

The survey questionnaire included the modified SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1991) in addition to questions about satisfaction. A convenience sample of 125 participants was used to collect data by frequenting selected quick service restaurants. The results identified significant positive correlations between three of the five behavior/non-behavior constructs (employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and the physical environment) with three of the four identified dimensions of customer satisfaction (satisfaction with the food, satisfaction with the task/service, satisfaction with the price, and overall satisfaction).     

SOFTWARE AND BOOK REVIEWS

Abstract

MENU PRO 4.0. Softcafe, LLC. P. 0. Box 759, Silver Springs, MD 20918 USA, 1-800-747-3690 (e-mail: sofcafe@mazupro.com) (World Mde Web: http://www menupro.com). Reviewed by H. G. Parsa.