Examining the Impact of Restaurant Innovativeness on Relationship Quality in Luxury Restaurants

ABSTRACT

Despite the importance of innovation as a determinant for the success of restaurant businesses, little research has been conducted on the postconsumption evaluations of the image of restaurant innovativeness as perceived by the customer. In order to fill this important gap in the literature, the purpose of this study is to examine the perception of restaurant innovativeness and the effect of this construct on relationship quality. Based on a review of the literature, a conceptual model was developed hypothesizing the effects of the overall image of restaurant innovation on three determinant attributes of relationship quality: trust, commitment, and satisfaction. The model was then tested using data collected from 398 luxury restaurant patrons. The results of data indicate that the overall image of restaurant innovativeness is positively related to relationship quality in the luxury restaurant setting. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are considered.     

Eating ants: understanding the terroir restaurant as a form of destination tourism

This paper explores the idea that there is a new form of restaurant that requires definition recognition that it fulfils a significant role in contemporary tourism. The adoption of foraged foods frequently reflects the historical and cultural foundations of place; in this respect, it is possible to adopt the French notion of ‘Terroir’ to conceptualize this new hospitality movement. The paper utilizes Noma in Denmark as a case study of this new gustatory movement and provides an exemplar of the terroir restaurant. The terroir restaurant provides a space in which the diner can consume tangible elements of both culture and landscape; often, this involves entry into a constructed visceral ‘sensescape’ where the dining experience becomes elevated to a higher level. The terroir restaurant provides the tourist with a gustatory concept and philosophy that move far beyond the notion of food as fuel, to one that is underpinned by a geographical and cultural aesthetic that reinforces the consumers ‘being in the world’ and their individual identities.     

How do foreigners perceive? Exploring foreign diners’ satisfaction with service quality of Chinese restaurants

China has received 138 million inbound trips in 2016. The purpose of travel may vary but these international travelers visit Chinese restaurants as an integral part of their travel experience. Our study tries to comprehend their dining experience and regional differences in service quality (SQ) perceptions. The findings indicate that food and process quality significantly influence satisfaction and behavioral intentions. More importantly, the results reveal that international travelers roving through all the six continents hold significantly different perceptions regarding SQ attributes of Chinese restaurants. Additionally, we found proficiency in Chinese language as a significant contributor in generating dissimilar perceptions.     

Effects of work status congruence and perceived management concern for employees on turnover intentions in a fast casual restaurant chain

The current study examines a proposed turnover intention model on hourly employees in a large fast casual dining restaurant chain located in the United States. High levels of turnover have been a consistent and costly issue in the restaurant industry. The study was developed to help restaurant owners and managers determine how relationships between variables influence the turnover intentions of their employees, in order to overcome the economic hardship that organizations face when their turnover rates are high. Many factors were found to influence employee turnover intentions, including work status congruence, perceived management concern for employees, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Hence, it is important for fast casual restaurant operators in the United States to develop their managers' human resource skills, in order to have satisfied and committed hourly employees, who should as a result develop lower turnover intentions. Managerial and academic implications are discussed in detail.     

Restaurant Authenticity: Factors That Influence Perception,Satisfaction and Return Intentions at Regional American-Style Restaurants

This study assessed perceptions of authenticity and its relationship with satisfaction and return intentions for regional American-style restaurants using randomly selected customers at a Southern-style country-cooking restaurant. Results showed that personal and restaurant attributes influenced perceived restaurant authenticity, with a restaurant’s food and beverage and local community marketing having the strongest influences. Results also showed that perceived authenticity influences restaurant satisfaction and return intentions. Findings suggest restaurants should ensure their food and beverage meets customers’ authenticity standards and that they should promote their community connections in order to enhance diner loyalty and return patronage. Implications are discussed in detail.     

Customer loyalty to newly opened cafés and restaurants in Malaysia

An extended review of the literature indicates that there is an insufficient number of past studies which test the SERVQUAL model (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) in the food and beverage industry. Therefore, this research attempts to provide new insight into the impact of service quality on customer loyalty in the food and beverage industry. The purpose of the research is to determine the impact of service quality and price fairness on customer loyalty in the food and beverage industry in Penang, Malaysia. This article surveyed the customers of newly opened cafés and restaurants in Penang, Malaysia, by using a structured questionnaire. The research revealed that service quality (tangibles, reliability, assurance, and empathy) and price fairness have a positive relationship with customer loyalty. However, responsiveness had no relationship with customer loyalty. This article includes an additional independent variable, price fairness, to investigate customer loyalty.     

Customer perceptions of “McService”’: Relationship with return intention

The fast-food restaurant segment has been a dominant player in the restaurant industry since the 1960s. The recent changes in the needs and wants of guests have affected fast-food restaurants' ability to keep up with the trends regarding healthy and high-quality food options served at reasonable prices. The service quality perceptions assessed in this study were divided into the following constructs: overall experience, employees, ordering process, receiving order, and food quality. The results determined that the construct that influenced repeat intention was food quality, specifically the individual items “fresh food” and “food taste.” The study also found that males tended to evaluate employees more positively than females. Moreover, frequent fast-food diners only tended to have favorable perceptions with regard to the overall ordering process. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Impact of brand recognition and brand reputation on firm performance: U.S.-based multinational restaurant companies’ perspective

Given the importance of a firm's performance, which is of significant interest to many groups of people including management, shareholders and governments, this study aims to examine the impact of brand recognition and brand reputation on firm performance within the U.S. multinational restaurant company context. The study findings suggest that brand reputation, in general, has a positive influence on a firm's value performance but no significant relationship with accounting performance. Brand recognition shows no significant relationship with both value and accounting performance measures controlling for the degree of internationalization of a multinational restaurant company.     

Perceived values,satisfaction, and behavioral intentions: The role of familiarity in Korean restaurants

This study examined American customers’ perceptions of values regarding dining experiences in Korean restaurants in the United States. Specifically, the effects of hedonic and utilitarian values on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions were investigated. This study also examined the moderating effect of familiarity with Korean restaurants on the relationships among perceived values, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Overall, the results indicated that American customers valued the utilitarian aspects of Korean restaurants more than the hedonic aspects. Additionally, utilitarian aspects had a stronger impact on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions than hedonic aspects. However, when considering customers’ familiarity level with the restaurants, hedonic aspects more effectively induced positive behavioral intentions in the low familiarity group, proving that familiarity has a moderating role. Conversely, utilitarian aspects appeared to be more influential in terms of the behavioral intentions of the high familiarity group. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.     

Risk return and cost of equity of small and large casual-dining restaurants

Although the financial performance of US casual-dining restaurants has been better than returns in other restaurant segments, it is not known how large and small casual-dining restaurant companies perform when their stock returns are adjusted for risk. The present study uses traditional and contemporary risk-adjusted performance and cost of equity models to fill the void in this area of research. The results indicate that large casual-dining restaurants outperformed their smaller counterparts on a risk-adjusted basis, and had a lower cost of equity for the 1998–2002 period. In addition, the findings demonstrate that the cost of equity estimates pose some serious challenges when sub-periods before and after September 11 events are included in the analysis.