Determinants of customer satisfaction on return intention a study of selected restaurants in New Juaben Municipality, Koforidua

Abstract

There is empirical evidence to the fact that the service quality of restaurants in general, and particularly in Ghana need improvement. There have not been studies that delve into the relationship that exist between the satisfaction of customers and their decision to return to restaurants in Ghana. The study sought to investigate the determinants of customer satisfaction on the intention to return in selected restaurants within the New Juaben Municipality. This study employed a mixedmethod analysis. The first part of the study consisted of the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The second part employed a semi-structured interview with key managerial staff in the selected restaurants. Out of the 172 survey questionnaires distributed to customers of the various selected restaurants, 160 were returned and qualified as valid for analysis. Subsequently, the study delved into the Qualitative aspect which comprised of 5 interviews sourced from the managers of the various restaurants to validate the findings of the Qualitative study. The highest ranked drivers to customer satisfaction were: hygiene; perceived restaurant image; menupricing; well-cooked food; and professionalism. Furthermore, the highest ranked barriers to achieving customer satisfaction were determined as: highly priced meals; rude waiting staff; poor seating arrangement and ambience; slow service responsiveness; and low social status. Respondents strongly believed that the degree of customer satisfaction received impacted to a high extent the intention to return to the restaurant. It was thus recommended that there should be increased focus on hygiene within restaurants as it is seen as the highest impacting driver for customer satisfaction within the selected restaurants. Also, key attention should be paid to feedback from clients should be incorporated in the service and operation of the restaurant. Key values from the results of the study indicated that there is the need to focus on the hygiene, restaurant image, menu prices and the professionalism of waiting staff if owners want to increase customer satisfaction. The study also revealed that highly priced meals, rude waiting staff as well as slow service in restaurants prevented customers from being satisfied and thus becoming loyal customers. It is important for owners to take note of these. The study attested that indeed there is a strong link between the satisfaction of customers and their intention to return and become loyal.