RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES, SERVICE ATTRIBUTES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION A STUDY OF RESTAURANT SERVICES IN VIETNAM

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business --- Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hong RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES, SERVICE ATTRIBUTES AND CUSTOMER SATI

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hong

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SERVICE

PERSONAL VALUES, SERVICE ATTRIBUTES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF

RESTAURANT SERVICES IN VIETNAM

MASTER OF BUSINESS (BY HONOUR)

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2012

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES,

SERVICE ATTRIBUTES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF RESTAURANT SERVICES IN VIETNAM

BY NGUYEN THI TUYET HONG

SUPERVISOR

Dr PHAM NGOC THUY

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hong

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES, SERVICE ATTRIBUTES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: A STUDY

OF RESTAURANT SERVICES IN VIETNAM

ID: 60340102

MASTER OF BUSINESS (by Honour)

SUPERVISOR: DR PHAM NGOC THUY

Ho Chi Minh City - 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deeply sincere gratitude to my Supervisor, Dr Pham Ngoc Thuy, for her valuable guidance and advice on effective method Her professional research understanding helps me and my teammates recognize the research method thoroughly and we had experienced actual process and result recognition Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Pham Dinh Tho for his devotion and patience in supporting and following our Mbus2010 class regarding the study on benefits and useful management implication for our career by understanding and applying the business research method

Besides, I would like to thank to my colleagues in Campenon Saigon Builders who had supported me a lot during my thesis implementation Another source

of motivation I would like to thank is my classmates ISB Mbus2010 for a mutual support by sharing knowledge, guidance, spending valuable time and giving a truly friendship during our thesis implementation

And an honorable mention goes to my family, my friends and their colleagues for their understanding and helping me during my data collection as well as my thesis completion

Finally, I would like to send my best regards to all of those who kindly supported me during the data collection phase and the completion of this thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

January 2nd, 2013

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hong

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the relationships of service personal values, service attributes and customer satisfaction in using a service The empirical setting is implemented in the buffet restaurant services in

an emerging economy of Vietnam particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest and the hub of variety of buffets The findings of this study reveal that Vietnamese customers who place the Social Value, the Personal Value, the Price and Quality of Food are the factors impact on Customer Satisfaction towards using buffets

Customers consider Social Value factor affecting their satisfaction towards using buffets by having a favorable attitude toward the social recognition, the social status and the more stimulating and adventurous life Additionally, customers perceive that buffet make them feel the Social Value, a higher integration in the group, a better relationship and their friendship relationships strengthening This result indicated that customers considered buffet where they could be more connected, informed and active with the social recognition and integration Moreover, the Personal Value factor with positive impact to customer satisfaction tells that customers feel more tranquility, more family security, more harmony and stability in life as well as a more pleasurable life when using buffets With regards to most of service and goods purchase, the Price is always an important factor affecting customer satisfaction when they compare the value of money paid and the value received from that transaction

A service served well with reasonable price was always attractive to customers Out of the factors of service attribute than Price of service, this study also found that customers chose buffets also concerned about the Quality of food rather than other service attributes The significant, direct relationships between the Quality of Food and Customer Satisfaction reveal that customers in Vietnam market presently place more concern on the quality of product or service value

they receive This result also contributes to the literature review of studies in foodservice that quality of food is always an important factor to improve the customer satisfaction towards a foodservice

Key words: service personal values, service attributes, customer satisfaction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND 1

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION 2

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 3

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH 4

1.5 RESEARCH SCOPE 4

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN 4

1.7 LIMITATION 5

1.8 THESIS STRUCTURE 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL MODEL 6

2.1 DEFINITION RELATED TO RESTAURANT SERVICES 7

2.1.1 Casual dining 7

2.1.2 Fine dining 8

2.1.3 Fast food 8

2.1.4 Buffets 8

2.1.5 The difference between table service and buffet service 9

2.2 SERVICE ATTRIBUTES 9

2.2.1 Price of service 10

2.2.2 Quality/taste of food 11

2.2.3 Variety of food 11

2.2.4 Servicescapes 11

2.3 SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES 13

2.4 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 14

2.5 CONCEPTUAL MODEL 16

2.6 HYPOTHESES 16

2.6.1 The relationship between service attributes and customer satisfaction 16

2.6.2 The relationship between service personal values and customer satisfaction 17

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18

3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS 19

3.2 QUALITATIVE STUDY 21

3.3 QUANTITATIVE STUDY 22

3.3.1 Construction of measurement scales 22

3.3.1.1 Measurement scale of Perceived Price 22

3.3.1.2 Measurement scale of Quality/ Taste of food 23

3.3.1.3 Measurement scale of Variety of food 24

3.3.1.4 Measurement scale of Servicescapes 25

3.3.1.5 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Peaceful Life 27

3.3.1.6 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Recognition 27

3.3.1.7 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Integration 28 3.3.1.8 Measurement scale of Customer Satisfaction 28

3.3.2 Questionnaire design 28

3.3.3 Sampling method and sample size 29

3.3.4 Data collection 30

3.3.5 Data analysis method 30

3.3.5.1 Reliability Analysis by Cronbach’s Alpha 30

3.3.5.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis 30

3.3.5.3 Multiple Regression Analysis 31

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 32

4.1 SAMPLE DESCRIPTION 32

4.1.1 Name of buffet restaurant respondents used to experienced 32

4.1.2 Cost of buffet respondents used to have 33

4.1.3 The accompanied people that respondents used to have buffets with34 4.1.4 The profession, gender and age of respondents 34

4.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF MEASUREMENT SCALES 35

4.2.3 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Variety of Food37 4.2.4 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Servicescape to

Venue Aesthetics 37

4.2.5 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Servicescape to Accessibility 38

4.2.6 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Servicescape to Restaurant Cleanliness 39

4.2.7 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Peaceful Life 39

4.2.8 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Recognition 40

4.2.9 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Integration 41

4.2.10 Reliability analysis result of measurement scale of Customer Satisfaction 41

4.3 EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS 42

4.3.1 EFA for group of predictors 42

4.3.2 EFA for group of items of Customer Satisfaction measurement scale 44 4.4 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS 44

4.4.1 Revised Conceptual Model 46

4.4.2 Multiple Regression Testing Assumptions 47

4.4.1.1 Multicollinearity 47

4.4.1.2 Normality and Linearity 48

4.4.3 Multiple Regression Analysis 48

4.4.4 Testing the Hypothesis 1: relationship between the Price and Customer Satisfaction 50

4.4.5 Testing the Hypothesis 2: relationship between the Quality of Food and Customer Satisfaction 50

4.4.6 Testing the Hypothesis 3: relationship between the Variety of Food and Customer Satisfaction 50

4.4.7 Testing the Hypothesis 4: relationship between the Servicescape to

Accessibility and Cleanliness and Customer Satisfaction 51

4.4.8 Testing the Hypothesis 5: relationship between the Servicescape to Venue Aesthetics and Customer Satisfaction 51

4.4.9 Testing the Hypothesis 6: relationship between the Personal Value and Customer Satisfaction 52

4.4.10 Testing the Hypothesis 7: relationship between the Social Value and Customer Satisfaction 52

4.5 DISCUSSION 53

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION 56

5.1 CONCLUSION 56

5.2 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION 57

5.3 LIMITATION 59

REFERENCES 60

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 – SURVEY FORM

APPENDIX 2 - RESULTS OF CRONBACH’S ANPHA

APPENDIX 3 - RESULTS OF EFA

APPENDIX 4 - RESULTS OF MULTIPLE REGRESSION

LIST OF TABLES

Table 5: Measurement scale of Service Value to Peaceful Life (SVPL) 27 Table 6: Measurement scale of Service Value to Social Recognition (SVSR) 27 Table 7: Measurement scale of Service Value to Social Integration (SVSI) 28

Table 9: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Perceived Price 36 Table 10: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Quality of Food 37

Table 12: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Servicescape to Venue Aesthetics 38 Table 13: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Servicescape to Accessibility 39 Table 14: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Servicescape to Cleanliness 39 Table 15: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Service Value to Peaceful Life 40 Table 16: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Service Value to Social Recognition 41 Table 17: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Service Value to Social Integration 41 Table 18: Cronbach’s Anpha of scale of Customer Satisfaction 42

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3: Name of restaurants with high use frequency 33 Figure 4: Price range of buffets with high use frequency 33

Figure 9: Regression results for customer satisfaction 54

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

In Vietnam, the service sector accounts for approximately 37.7% GDP in 2011

in which the hotel and restaurant sectors gain approximately 11.4%* The growth of service sector recently is proving a fact that the more the economy developed, the more people enjoy their social lifestyle in the demand from delicious eating, good-looking apparel to high-class entertainment Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most dynamic cities in Asia with variety of services fulfilling people’s living demand The increase number of restaurant services recently is leading the more competitive business environment The restaurant services in Ho Chi Minh City recently have been grown up both the quantity of service offering and the formation of services The main function of a restaurant

is to provide food and beverages with a high quality of food, professional services and an attractive space for enjoying their meals Any restaurant will be relatively high or low in style and price, familiar or exotic in the cuisine it offers

to different kinds of customers, and so on Context is as important as the style and form The most popular classification is menu styles with a variety of kinds such as French style, Italian style, Chinese style, Western style, Asian style, etc Restaurants can be classified based on type of serve including table service, Ala carte, fast-food, self service, buffet They can be recognized by classes ranging from luxury, superior, standard, to popular Restaurants and bars are classified

as services directed at people’s bodies with its nature of tangible actions

One of the fastest growth foodservices is adapting the demand of consumers nowadays is the buffet restaurant which is developing in quantity and variation kinds of services in Ho Chi Minh City especially in centre districts Not only the classified hotels and restaurants but also the private sector of restaurant business is offering a variety of buffet services

-*report No 51/BC-BCT

Customers nowadays are concentrating on the quality of life and level of social classification These perceived values are also affecting food services The customer satisfaction is not only the quality of food they pay for but also the service attributes that they perceived the benefits Furthermore, customers also pay attention on the social image that the services they are using which may present their social classes and the satisfaction of self-enjoyment The customer

is demanding higher quality of services and considering many others attributes before deciding to choose a service or to re-purchase a service In keeping with the line of customer demands, the foodservice managers need to that the foodservice managers needs to understand well customer’s demand in order to attract customers, retain customers In a market that most of foodservices are offering the same services, the managers must pay more attention to what the updated trends and important factors are affecting the customers in order to adapt and have strategies to provide the services accordingly to customers’ satisfaction and taking more advantages in comparison with the competitors

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

Customer is more being offered a variety of choices which trend is leading to a

more competitive market and as Amy et.al (1999) stated:

In order to achieve competitive advantage and efficiency, businesses have to seek profitable ways to differentiate themselves

The only way to survive and maintaining customer revisit is to understand what customers need and their expectation Customer satisfaction is considered a

Chapter 1: Introduction

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The restaurateurs need to understand the relationship between restaurant performance and the customer’s needs or satisfaction The restaurant performance could be interpreted by the service quality delivering to customers Service quality includes a wide range of factors and the understanding of key factors impacting the customer satisfaction is important This understanding will enhance the restaurateurs adopting to get advantages in a race In keeping updated with customer’s trend in demand, not only the service quality but also the service attributes and service personal values are considered highly impacts

In recent empirical findings, the service attributes especially the concept of

“servicescape” is leading to a new definition for business managers to investigate Additionally, the definition of service personal values are identified the impacts on customer satisfaction by many authors in different industries but

it is few in restaurant services

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the relationships of service personal values, service attributes and customer satisfaction in using a service The empirical setting is implemented in the buffet restaurant services in

an emerging economy of Vietnam particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest and the hub of variety of buffet services

This research is aiming to answer the following questions:

1 What are the determinants of service attributes affecting customer satisfaction towards the buffet?

2 Do the Service Personal Values affecting customer satisfaction towards the buffet?

3 In order to retain the customer, what are the determinants the restaurateurs should pay more attention to improve their business?

Chapter 1: Introduction

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1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

It is important for management to understand what service attributes consists of and its impact on the customer satisfaction towards a restaurant service Today’s competitive marketplace, the customers have a plenty of choices towards a foodservice Therefore, in order to survive and make profits, the restaurateurs need to practice a strong customer-driven orientation and satisfy customer’s needs or satisfaction Customer satisfaction has been proved that it determines the longevity and financial success of a restaurant (cited by Harington et al., 2010; Crotts and Pan, 2007) Knowledge of the importance of the attributes would enable foodservice managers to manipulate those attributes

to enhance the consumer’s perception of quality and identify the strategies for continuous improvement The more restaurateurs understand the customer trend

of demand, the more successful and competitive advantages they gain

1.5 RESEARCH SCOPE

This research is conducted in Ho Chi Minh City with convenience sampling The interviewees are from 18 to 55 years old those have been experienced the buffets in Ho Chi Minh City

This research is applied the quantitative method which were reviewed the theoretical background adaptable to the context The actual market demand to understand the determinants affecting customer satisfaction are critical The conceptual model was constructed in combination of theory and actual characteristics of customers using buffets in Ho Chi Minh City The data collected will be validated by Cronbach Anpha Reliability Analysis and selected by Exploratory Factor Analysis Finally, the model will be tested by using Multiple Regression Analysis by SPSS version 20.0

on the evaluation of the Servicescapes factors towards customer satisfaction

1.8 THESIS STRUCTURE

Chapter 1:

Introduction: This chapter includes a brief overview of the research

background, problems and objectives, methodology as well as the limitation

Chapter 2:

Literature review and conceptual model: This chapter comprises of

definition related to restaurant services, deep review of previous researches on the service attributes, servicescapes, service personal values and the basis of building the conceptual model

Chapter 3:

Research methodology: This chapter presents the research process,

measurement scale, preliminary assessment of measures and data collection procedures as well as the data analyses process

Chapter 4:

Chapter 1: Introduction

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Data analysis result and Discussion: This chapter consists of the official

assessment of measures, hypotheses testing, data analysis results and interpretation

Chapter 5:

Conclusion and Implication: This chapter will conclude the findings and

providing the theoretical and managerial implications and proposing specific recommendations for buffet restaurant managerial level in Ho Chi Minh City

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND

CONCEPTUAL MODEL

2.1 DEFINITION RELATED TO RESTAURANT SERVICES

As defined, the services are processes (economic activities) that provide time, place, form, problem solving or experiential value to the receiver Through this concept, the customers are buying an experience or performance and the services are all about value creation which comes from a variety of value-creating elements rather than transfer of ownership (Understanding the nature of service products and markets, p.6, 7) Restaurant is a kind of consumer services Restaurants are classified based on some criteria such as menu style, preparation methods and pricing

Auty (1992) identified the choice factors in decision to have meals at restaurant based on four occasions including a celebration, social occasion, convenience/ quick meal and business meal Food type, food quality and value for money were found as the most important choice variables when customers chose a restaurant

Additionally, how the food is served to the customer helps to determine the classification The main forms of restaurant services including:

2.1.1 Casual dining

A casual dining restaurant is a restaurant that serves moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere Except for buffet-style restaurants, casual dining restaurants typically provide table service Casual dining comprises a market segment between fast food establishments and fine dining restaurants This is kind of table service served to the customer's table by waiters and waitresses, also known as "servers" Table service is the norm in most restaurants, while for some fast food restaurants counter service is the common form With table service, the customer generally pays at the end of meal

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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2.1.2 Fine dining

Fine dining restaurant is full service restaurants with specific dedicated meal courses Décor of such restaurants feature higher-quality materials, with an eye towards the "atmosphere" desired by the restaurateurs The wait staff is usually highly trained and often wears more formal attire Fine-dining restaurants are almost always small businesses and are generally either single-location operations or have just a few locations Food portions are visually appealing Fine dining restaurants have certain rules of dining which visitors are generally expected to follow often including a dress code

2.1.3 Fast food

Fast food restaurants emphasize the speed of service and also known as a QSR

or Quick Serve Restaurant

2.1.4 Buffets

Buffets offer a selection of food at a fixed price Food is served on trays around bars, from which customers with plates serve themselves The selection can be modest or very extensive, with the more elaborate menus divided into categories such as salad, soup, appetizers, hot entrées, cold entrées, and dessert and fruit The role of the waiter or waitress in this case is relegated to removal

of finished plates, and sometimes the ordering and refill of drinks

In Vietnam, a buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events One form of buffet is to have a table filled with plates containing fixed portions of food; customers select plates containing whichever food items they want as they walk along As

a compromise between self-service and full table service, a staffed buffet may

be offered: diners bring their own plate along the buffet line and are given a portion from a server at each station The buffet services in Ho Chi Minh are

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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mixed style, seafood specialty, pancakes specialty, etc The buffet pricing ranges from economy, middle, luxury

2.1.5 The difference between table service and buffet service

The buffet service is different from the table service basically by the form of service and the nature of enjoyment purpose Customers choose to have buffet service by considering the cost, the occasion and atmosphere they desire The occasion with formal settings is appropriate for meals in which customers are trying to impress a guest with, this could be chosen a service at table For large gatherings such as family, friends, colleagues, a buffet service is a preferred choice as it is offering a variety of choices and providing a social atmosphere and free style

2.2 SERVICE ATTRIBUTES

In the means-end chain approach, there are four levels to access services (Zeithaml, 1988) including service attributes, service quality, service values and service personal values Customers perceive service quality by comparing the service delivery they receive and their expectation The service attributes plays

a critical factor contributing to the success of service delivery Therefore, whether the service quality is good or not depending on how the service attributes constructed and delivered In service delivery, changes can be made

to the service delivery process, the environment in which service delivery takes place and the interactions between the customer and the provider of the service Theoretically, service quality is measured by Servqual scale which was mainly established and well-known method of measurement model of quality of service

by Parasuraman et al (1985; 1988) Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) found consistent dimensions of perceived quality across four consumer industries These abstract dimensions included Reliability, Empathy, Assurance, Responsiveness, and Tangibles The Reliability is defined as the "ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately" The Assurance means the "knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence" The Tangibles contains the "appearance of physical

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials" The Empathy is the "provision of caring, individualized attention to customers" And the Responsiveness expresses the "willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service" (Buttle, 1996, p.9) Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) illustrated 22 service quality attributes which Bonner and Nelson (1985) found higher level abstract dimensions of perceived quality including rich/full flavor, natural taste, fresh taste, good aroma, and appetizing looks Then Brucks and Zeithaml (1987) raised exploratory work of six abstract dimensions including ease of use, functionality, performance, durability, serviceability and prestige Service quality model by Sureshchander et al (2001) implied the items deal with human interaction / intervention in the service delivery and tangible facets

of services namely the service conduct, systematization/standardization of service delivery and social responsibility of the service organization

Koo et al (1999) found nine attributes for conjoint analysis in restaurant were the location, type of food, variety of food, uniqueness, car park, price, quality / taste of food, decoration and service Sweeney et al (1992) selected price of meal, past experience with similar types of restaurants, reputation of restaurant, advertisement, appearance of other customers, appearance of employees, manner of employees and premises as the cues Seo (2005) proposed the most important attributes including attentiveness of server, clean appearance, taste / flavor of food, temperature of food and tenderness of meat

2.2.1 Price of service

One of service attributes is the price Price is the amount of money to be sacrificed in exchange for a certain product or service The perceived price will influence perceived quality and customers recognized a service/product value only when they can earn more benefits than expected with a reasonable price (Chen, 2011)

In study of Herrmann et al (2007), price perception is affecting directly on the

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

Besides ingredient quality, there are also sanitation requirements It is important

to ensure that the food processing environment is as clean as possible in order to produce the safest possible food for the consumer Food taste is regarded as the most important element of food attributes in several restaurant studies (Josiam

& Monteiro, 2004)

2.2.3 Variety of food

In a buffet service, the variety of food choices offering is one of factor affecting customer perceived service quality when they compare what they expect when paying an amount of money for an exchange of what they receive When consumers evaluate food quality, they judge a variety of menu as a separate factor Restaurateurs frequently develop new menus and offer a selection of different menu items to attract customers (Namkung & Jang, 2007)

2.2.4 Servicescapes

There are many evidences showed that environmental variables can substantially influence consumer behavior and emotions in physical environments (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982; Turley & Milliman, 2000) Kotler (1974) defined “atmospherics” as the term used for the intentional control and manipulation of environmental cues in the service environment Bitner (1992) developed this point to the term “servicescapes” in reference to the physical surroundings constructed by retailers to facilitate their service The service is constructed by the combination of tangibles and intangibles factors The

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

The ability of the physical environment to influence behaviours and to create an image is particularly apparent for service businesses such as hotels, restaurants, professional offices, banks, retail stores and hospitals (Baker, 1987; Bitner, 1986; Booms and Bitner, 1982; Kotler, 1973; Shostack, 1977; Upah and Fulton, 1985; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry, 1985) Because the service generally is produced and consumed simultaneously, the consumer is “in the factory”, often experiencing the total service within the firm’s physical industry

The perceived servicescape established by Bitner (1992) including three dimensions including ambient conditions such as temperature, air quality, noise, music, odor, etc.; space/function such as layout, equipment, furnishings, etc.; signs/symbols and artifacts such as signage, personal artifacts, style of décor, etc

Lin (2004) indicated the components of servicescape including visual cues specifically color, lighting, space and function and auditory cues including music and non-musical sounds; olfactory cues

The physical environment is normally the very influential factor on the customer’s satisfaction (Butner, 1990; Harrel, Hutt and Anderson, 1980) Since then, many studies from various disciplines examined the topic of servicescapes theoretically and empirically (Fottler et al., 2000; Lin, Leu, Breen, & Lin, 2008; Newman, 2007) On the consumer side, variables such as pricing, advertising, added features and special promotions are given much more attention than the physical setting as ways in which customers can be attracted to and / or satisfied

by a firm’s service (Bitner, 1992)

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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Wakefield and Blodgett (1996) proposed three different leisure service settings, conceptualized servicescape as multidimensional, comprised of facility aesthetics, layout accessibility and cleanliness

2.3 SERVICE PERSONAL VALUES

“Service personal values can be defined as a customer’s overall assessment of the use of a service based on the perception of what is achieved in terms of his own personal values” (Lages & Fernandes, 2005) In the hospitality industry the consumer generally regards the tangible products as being largely undifferentiated This led to intangible elements of services quality is the only way to differentiate the products offering from that of other competitors in the marketplace (Douglas & Connor, 2003) The highest construct in the means-end chain approach is the “service personal values” means the “beliefs or conceptions about end-goals or desirable end-states, classified by Rokeach (1973) as terminal values” (Lages & Fernandes, 2005)

The impact of personal values on consumer behavior has been deeply explored (Beatty et.al., 1985) Personal values may offer a deeper understanding of how customers judge the quality and desirability of a service (Srinivas et al., 2011) and individuals show their values and lifestyles through the acquisition of services (Kahle, 1988)

According to Kahle (1983), the List of values (LOV) is composed of nine values which measure the values that are central to people in living their lives, particularly the values of life’s major roles The LOV is most closely tied to social adaptation theory (Kahle, Beatty, and Homer, 1985) In the Rokeach value survey (RVS) (Rokeach, 1968, 1973), the values are set into “terminal values” and “instrumental values”

The SERPVAL scale researched by Lages & Fernades (2005) had three constructs including Service Personal Value to Peaceful life (SVPL), Service Personal Value to Social Recognition (SVSR) and Service Personal Value to Social Integration (SVSI) There were two outcomes of their model in the mobile services: two of SERPVAL dimensions (SVPL and SVSI) were

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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significantly correlated to loyalty to service provider and the factor SVSR was non-significant correlated to loyalty to service provider If a service promotes the pleasurable life, improves tranquility and safety and/or harmony, it is perceived valued to peaceful life by customers If an individual perceived gaining respect from others, social recognition and status by using a service, it

is valued to social recognition And if customer perceived a service bringing them possibility of becoming more integrated in the group or promoting better relationships at the social, professional or family levels, it is valued to social integration (Lages & Fernandes, 2005) The conceptualization by Lages and Fernandes (2005) identified personal values regarding services into three broad groups of individual dimensions including the service value to peaceful life (SVPL) which operates at the self-oriented level; the service value related to social recognition (SVSR) and the service value related to social integration (SVSI) which operates at the social-oriented level

2.4 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Satisfaction is the customer’s value fulfillment response (Bloemer & Dekker, 2005) The relationship between service satisfaction and loyalty is non-linear, meaning that in case satisfaction increases above a certain level, customer

loyalty will increase rapidly (Oliva et al., 1992 cited by Ruyter & Bloemer,

1999) Oliver (1997) assumed customer satisfaction is a judgment that a product

or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment, including levels of under-

or over fulfillment (p.13) (cited by Giese & Cote, 2000) Tse and Wilton (1988) mentioned customer satisfaction is the customer’s response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some norm of performance) and the actual performance of the product as perceived after its consumption (p.204) (cited by Giese & Cote, 2000) As concluded by Giese & Cote (2000), the customer satisfaction is “A summary affective response of

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

term survival, let alone long term success (Zeithaml et al., 1990; Robledo, 2001

cited by Douglas & Connor, 2003)

Different authors emphasize the importance of clarifying the relationship between values and satisfaction (Olivier, 1997; Bloemer & Dekker, 2007) The impact of service personal values on customer’s satisfaction and loyalty has been conducted in many researches but in single industry and in certain countries

Customer loyalty may act as a barrier to customer switching behaviour it has an impact on the development of s sustainable competitive edge (Keaveney, 1995; Gremler and Brown, 1996 cited by Ruyter & Bloemer, 1999)

Despite the fact that satisfaction and loyalty have been extensively researched

in the international services literature (Bennett and Rundle-Thiele, 2004; Szymanski and Henard, 2001), there are still unresolved issues concerning the conceptualization on customer satisfaction in a buffet services recognized being socialized and entertainment services rather than a simple food demand satisfaction

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

In this research, I propose the key attributes that customers usually focus on a

buffet service are the price of service, the quality/taste of food, the variety of food that restaurants offering

Hypothesis H1: The price of service positively affects the customer satisfaction Hypothesis H2: The quality of food positively affects the customer satisfaction Hypothesis H3: The variety of food positively affects the customer satisfaction

On the other hand, the physical evidence (tangibles) is critical in services as it is used as a cue to provide the client with an indication of the service offered and

it is also impacting on the way in which the service is positioned and differentiated (Holder & Berndt, 2011) The decisions about the physical facility can have impact on marketing goals such as consumer attraction, consumer satisfaction etc., (Bitner, 1992) The aspects of virtual servicescape influence customer reactions to service delivered through virtual means (Iris & Anat, 2005)

Hypothesis H4: The servicescape positively affects the customer satisfaction

2.6.2 The relationship between service personal values and customer

satisfaction

The smaller the disparity between the percept of service values and one’s own values, the more favorable the evaluation becomes, i.e satisfaction increases

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Model

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(Bloemer & Dekker, 2003) Lages & Fernades (2005) proved the empirical findings demonstrate that the three SERPVAL dimensions are positively and significantly associated with satisfaction Additionally, while service value to social integration was related only with loyalty, service value to peaceful life was associated with both loyalty and repurchase intent

Hypothesis H5: The service value to peaceful life positively affects the customer satisfaction

Hypothesis H6: The service value to social recognition positively affects the customer satisfaction

Hypothesis H7: The service value to social integration positively affects the customer satisfaction

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This Chapter outlined the research methodology used to test the hypotheses proposed in Chapter 2 The research methodology included the phase of qualitative study and quantitative study The qualitative study was conducted by in-depth interview of focus group In the phase of quantitative study, the construction of measurement scales and the design of questionnaire based on selected and adjusted measurement scales were conducted This Chapter also outlined the sampling method and data analysis techniques

3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS

The research process of this study was conducted as figure 2

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Figure 2: Research Process

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3.2 QUALITATIVE STUDY

The qualitative study was conducted by in-depth group interview in order to discover, adjust and supplement the variables to measure the researched items The qualitative study was conducted by in-depth group interview with eight people who experienced the buffets in Ho Chi Minh City This focus group raised the service attributes of buffets that may affect their satisfaction

including:

1 the quality of food;

2 the quantity of food;

3 the type of food;

4 the price of a full package that restaurant offered including the food and the service of buffet;

5 the cleanliness of restaurant;

6 the servicescapes especially the facility of sitting place where the customers enjoyed the food; the entertainment the restaurant provided to customers while they were having food;

7 the facility of restaurant including the aroma of air-conditioned sitting space, the comfortable place for customers to enjoy meal with their family, friends or colleagues;

8 the discount program offered by restaurant;

The result of qualitative study had the same items of service attributes that author figured out in the hypotheses including the price that customers perceived when the focus group raised the item 4, the quality of food, the variety of food, the servicescapes of buffet restaurant, and finally the service personal value that customers perceived when they had this service with their family, friends and colleagues Only the discount program factor was not

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

3.3.1 Construction of measurement scales

Based on the proposed hypotheses, the measurement scales adopted from previous studies and the result of qualitative study conducted, there are eight constructs being examined in this study The seven-point Likert scale was used

to measure the constructs as follows:

3.3.1.1 Measurement scale of Perceived Price

The measurement scale of perceived price was adopted from Sweeney & Soutar (2001) which listed the items of “reasonable priced”, the “value for money” and the “good service for the price” The price is usually a factor affecting the customer’s satisfaction when they perceived well or not the value that a service they receive by paying an amount of money

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

PRI04

In my opinion, the price is an important factor to choose a buffet

3.3.1.2 Measurement scale of Quality/ Taste of food

The measurement scale of quality / taste of food was adopted from Weiss et al (2004), resourced from Kivela, Reece, and Inbakaran (1999a, 1999b, 2000) which listed 7 items including the “authentic ingredients and has unique taste of the cuisine”, the “wide variety of food on the menu”, the “several interesting food choices”, “the food is nicely presented”, “the appearance of the food”, “the food is healthy” and the “nutritious food choices offering” After the discussion, the measurement scale of quality / taste of food were adjusted appropriately to Vietnam market by selecting and revising 5 items and moving 2 items to the scale of variety of food The selected 5 items were the “authentic ingredients”,

“the food is nicely presented”, “the appearance of foods is attractive”, “the food

is healthy” and the “nutritious food choices offering” The 2 additional items were “the foods are fresh” and “the foods are tasty” which assumed to be one of those factors affecting the customer’s satisfaction when having a buffet Customers usually based on the quality of food of a restaurant and it they are acceptable to their favorite taste, they would feel satisfaction by assessing the quality of food through the freshness of ingredients, the attractiveness of food desired and how is the nutritious and healthy the food brought to them

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

3.3.1.3 Measurement scale of Variety of food

The items of measurement scale of variety of food adopted from Weiss et al (2004) included two extracted items from the scales of quality / taste of food above These two items measured the “wide variety of food” and “several interesting food choices”

Table 3: Measurement scale of Variety of Food Adopted from Code Questionnaire constructs

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3.3.1.4 Measurement scale of Servicescapes

The measurement scale of servicescapes was adopted from Joanna et al (2011) resourced original from the previous research of Wakefield and Blodgett (1996) and Parasuraman and Zeitheml (1988) This measurement scale listed the three main factors including the Venue Aesthetics, Accessibility and Cleanliness of restaurant In a crowded and fast developed city like Ho Chi Minh City, people always liked to enjoy more not only the food quality but also the space and aroma where they enjoyed their meal even with their family, their friends, business partner or with colleagues, etc Hence, the servicescapes including the venue aesthetics consisting of the physical facilities, decoration of restaurant and aroma of space would affecting their feeling of satisfaction; the accessibility to the restaurant in a crowed city including location of restaurant, the parking, the user-friendly accessibility was also affecting the customer satisfaction In the restaurant industry, the cleanliness of eating space was also a very important factor that impact on the customer satisfaction

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3.3.1.5 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Peaceful Life

The measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Peaceful Life was adopted from Lages and Fernandes (2005) which measured the inner feeling of customers about “more tranquility”, “more family security”, “more harmony and stability in life” and “more pleasurable life”

Table 5: Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to a Peaceful Life Adopted

from Code Questionnaire constructs

3.3.1.6 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Recognition

The measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Recognition was adopted from Lages and Fernandes (2005) which measured the outer affect to customers about “more respect from others”, “world is more agreeable”, “more social recognition”, “more status”, “more status”, “more stimulating and adventurous life”

Table 6: Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social

Recognition Adopted from Code Questionnaire constructs

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3.3.1.7 Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Integration

The measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Recognition was adopted from Lages and Fernandes (2005) which measured the outer affect to customers about “higher integration in my group”, “better relationship”,

“strengthens my friendship relationships”

Table 7: Measurement scale of Service Personal Value to Social Integration Adopted

from Code Questionnaire constructs

SVI46 Buffet strengthens my friendship relationships

3.3.1.8 Measurement scale of Customer Satisfaction

The measurement scale of customer satisfaction was adopted from Pham & Le (2011) resourced original from Taylor & Baker (1994) which measured the customer expectation and satisfying experience

Table 8: Measurement scale of Customer Satisfaction

3.3.2 Questionnaire design

The questionnaire contained three parts:

- Part 1: the informative questions to define if the respondent used to experience the buffet within three months; respondent had to declare the

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- Part 2: the questions represented for items as constructed measurement scales of perceived price, quality/ taste of food, variety of food, servicescape to venue aesthetics, servicescape to accessibility, the servicescape to restaurant cleanliness, the service value to peaceful life, the service value to social recognition, the service l value to social integration and the customer’s satisfaction towards the buffet

- Part 3: the informative questions to have respondent’s gender, age, profession and who they enjoyed buffet with

3.3.3 Sampling method and sample size

The sampling method was the non-probability sampling with convenience method

The method applied to test the reliability of measurement scale was Cronbach’s Alpha, the factor loading was tested by Exploratory Factor Analysis and the hypotheses were tested by Multiple Regression

A data set satisfied requirement of Exploratory Factor Analysis was five times the number of variables and at least more than 100 (Hair et al., 1998)

n = 5k (k: number of variables) and n > 100

Therefore, in this study, the minimum sample required by EFA was n = 5 x 51=