The meal experience: investigating customer satisfaction and behavioral intention in starrated restaurants in Nairobi and coastal region, Kenya

Abstract

Customers arrive at a restaurant with preconceived expectations regarding the food, service, ambience and price. By satisfying these, the meal experience is acceptable and consumers are satisfied. If on the other hand they are not satisfied, they may not return to the restaurant and may even speak negatively to their friends about the restaurant. With easy access to the worldwide web unhappy customers are able post their complaints in established websites for example Trip advisor.com, yelp.com or Eater.com. In Kenya these complaints (in trip advisor.com) have affected the rate of customers turn over in rated restaurants. Studies on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention regarding meal experience in rated restaurants have not been done in Kenya. The main objective of the study is therefore to determine satisfaction and behavioral intention of customers regarding their meal experience in star rated restaurants in Nairobi and Coastal region, Kenya. A descriptive study will be used to describe the data and characteristic of the respondents. Simple random sampling method will be used in selecting the customers used in the study, while purposive sampling technique will be used in selecting the restaurant managers. The target population will include all customers visiting the selected restaurants. All restaurant managers of the sampled restaurant will be included in the study. Structured questionnaires will be used in acquiring relevant information from customers. A five point likert type scale will be used to measure satisfaction with quality of food, service, ambience and perceived price. Open ended interview schedule will be used in gathering information from restaurant managers while an unstructured observation checklist will be used in capturing occurrences related to customer satisfaction. The data collected from the questionnaire will be analyzed using Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin, Barletts test of sphericity and Cronbachs' Alpha test for validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics will be used in analyzing the demographics and behavioral characteristics of respondents. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis will be used to test the hypothesises. The findings will benefit the policy makers in that they will be able to understand the current situation of the industry in relation to customer satisfaction and behavioral intention thus be able to make decisions in support of the industry towards achieving vision 2030.