Monica WandoloMusa, Abubakar Tahir2023-09-082023-09-082023http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26927A Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management in the School of Business, Economics and Tourism of Kenyatta University, April 2023.People expect good-quality food with an adequate level of hygiene when they spend money on meals away from home to avoid food-related diseases. Previous studies revealed that cases of food poisoning are found everywhere in the world, and many of them are found to stem from catering organizations, causing great damages to the health of hospitality consumers and, hence, affecting customer satisfaction. In Nigeria, past studies found a poor level of awareness and compliance with hygiene regulations among hospitality operations in the country. It was therefore pertinent to find out the effects of poor hygiene compliance on customer satisfaction. However, past studies noted that cleanliness has an influence on customer satisfaction. These studies were conducted in Asia, America, and Europe. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between hygiene practices and customer satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels in Kano State, Nigeria, so as to provide a platform for better understanding of the two constructs in an African setting and help policy makers make policies that would ensure compliance with hygiene laws, regulations, and policies by restaurant operations. The study’s goal was to identify the influence of personal hygiene on customers’ satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels; to determine the influence of environmental hygiene on customers satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels; to determine the impact of food hygiene on customers satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels; and to establish the relationship between personal hygiene, environmental hygiene, and food hygiene practices with customers satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels in Kano State, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design approach using a questionnaire and interview to collect data and targeted 80 restaurants of registered hotels, 80 restaurant managers, and 384 customers. Eight (8) restaurants of registered hotels were chosen using proportionate stratified and simple random sampling methods. Purposive sampling was employed to select eight (8) restaurant managers. The Fisher formula for sample size was used to sample 269 respondents from eight (8) restaurants. The response rate was 94% (252). The study instruments were pre-tested, and the Cronbach alpha correlation coefficient was 0.752. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate qualitative data, while descriptive and inferential statistics were used to study quantitative data. One sample T-test was used to test the hypotheses, and it was found that hygiene practices and customer satisfaction were related. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) shows that there were partial positive correlations between personal hygiene and customer satisfaction in restaurants of registered hotels in Kano, Nigeria (r = .548, n 252, p.000). The relationships between environmental hygiene and customer satisfaction were positively correlated (r = .472, n 252, p .0005) and there was a strong positive correlation between food hygiene and customer satisfaction (r = .769, n 252, p .0005). It was therefore recommended that restaurants of registered hotels in Kano State should liaise with the Health Ministry, agencies, and departments in the state to have access to hygiene rules and regulations so as to design a comprehensive hygiene policy that will guide their operations for better compliance with hygiene practices, which will facilitate better customer satisfaction, prevent cases of food poisoning, and prevent loss of customers in the restaurants of registered hotels in Kano State.enHygiene PracticesCustomers SatisfactionRestaurants of Registered HotelsKano StateNigeriaThesis