SCP-relevance and class-effect in performance – A comparative analysis of restaurants and petroleum firms

The importance of industry-specific factors for a firm's performance has often attracted the attention of researchers, managers, and investment analysts. This research uses random-effect variance component analysis to examine the relevance of structure-conduct-performance (SCP) paradigm in the context of restaurant and petroleum/natural gas firms. The study further investigates class-effect in firm performance by analyzing whether the relative importance of industry-and-firm-level effects varies across different performance groups. Results suggest a direct relevance of the SCP paradigm and industry-specific factors for firm performance, and a distinct dominance of industry-effect over firm-effect regardless of the choice of accounting or value based performance measures. Results further reveal varying roles of industry and firm-level factors (corporate or strategic) across middle-of-the road and non-average (exceptional) performance groups. As such the importance of SCP paradigm and the strategic role of both industry-and-firm effect factors for value creation in US based restaurant firms is better understood.     

Matching visitation-motives and restaurant attributes in casual dining restaurants

This study empirically examines the relationship between the visitation motives and attributes evaluation in the casual dining restaurant context. Based on the focus group discussions, the visitation motives and the restaurant attributes that are considered relevant by the patrons in evaluation of restaurant experience were identified. Data on restaurant visitation motives and attributes importance was collected from 316 patrons of casual dining restaurants in India. A nonlinear canonical correlation was performed to examine the relationship between visitation motives and attributes importance. The results reveal that the attribute importance varied across the visitation motives. Managerial implications, limitations and future research directions are also suggested.     

Locally Sourced Restaurant: Consumers Willingness to Pay

This study tested (1) the theory of planned behavior to identify factors influencing customers’ willingness to pay more when visiting a locally sourced restaurant, and (2) assesses the effect of health consciousness and community attachment on willingness to pay more through attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in visiting a locally sourced restaurant. A total of 423 responses were analyzed using a two-step approach of structural equation modeling. The findings indicated that health consciousness and community attachment positively influences attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in visiting a locally sourced restaurant, which ultimately influence willingness to pay more.     

Twitter-marketing in multi-unit restaurants: Is it a viable marketing tool?

The main purpose of the current article is to investigate the status of the usage of Twitter-marketing and to examine the potential factors that impact the usage of Twitter-marketing. The results show that 69.4% of the multi-unit restaurant companies studied use Twitter-marketing and that small restaurants are more likely to utilize Twitter-marketing.     

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).     

Part-time restaurant employee perceptions of management practices: An empirical investigation

The UK hospitality industry increasingly relies on part-time rather than full-time employees to provide more flexible and cost-effective operations with potential trade-offs for service quality. Part-time employees can be divided into two distinct groups – permanent and temporary – each with very different employment rationales. This study compares full-time and part-time employee perceptions of management practices across twelve Cardiff-based restaurants using a self-administered questionnaire. There were significant differences between full-time and part-time employees but no difference between temporary and permanent part-time employees who were equally dissatisfied with management practices, job attitudes and job behaviours. The qualitative data showed the two part-time employees' sub-groups had different needs. Despite this they were treated as a homogenous group by managers. Lack of management understanding of part-time staff impacts on how they are treated and ultimately on service quality and customer satisfaction.     

Restaurants and the Bring-Your-Own-Bottle of Wine Paradox: Involvement Influences,Consumption Occasions,and Risk Perception

The current study focuses on differences between high- and low-involvement consumers in terms of the bring-your-own-bottle of wine phenomenon, influence of consumption occasion(s), and how bring-your-own-bottle is used by consumers as purchase risk-reduction strategy. Results show that level of wine involvement determines the importance of bring-your-own-bottle of wine. The consumption situation in which bring-your-own-bottle of wine might occur is a main factor when buying wine. Bring-your-own-bottle of wine is largely the result of risk-reduction strategies where high-involvement wine consumers are more susceptible to perceived risk in the full-service casual restaurant sector and reduce this risk through bring-your-own-bottle.     

Restaurants and dining out : Geography of a tourism business

Restaurants and dining out are an important part of the tourism industry and are a major business in their own right. They also have characteristics that make a geographical analysis especially pertinent: They require movement through space, there are strong regional variations in patterns of restaurant development, and location is an important factor in the success of a restaurant. This paper examines two aspects of the geography of the restaurant industry in Canada: national patterns of restaurant development and the tendency to dine out, and local patterns of site selection. Basic patterns are described and possible processes influencing these patterns identified. Recommendations are given for the location of new restaurants of different types