The impact of sanitation on customer retention a survey of restaurants in the Tamale metropolis

Abstract

In the hospitality industry customer perception and satisfaction are largely hooked upon quality of service in the quest to retaining customers in the restaurants. This study is aimed at examining the impact of sanitation to customer retention in restaurants in the Tamale Metropolis. Some of the key elements that were used to examine the study were customer perception and satisfaction on sanitation variables such as dining area cleanliness, employee hygiene, outside environment cleanliness and food contact surface cleanliness. Participants in this study included managers of restaurants, employees and customers. A Multi-stage sampling method was employed for this study. The total number of participants for the study was 684, which included 543 customers, 111 employees and 30 managers of restaurants. Customer perception on sanitation variables had significant effect on their return intention. Customers were also highly satisfied with the sanitation level in restaurants and that influenced on their retention. Training was also found to have positive impact on the performance of employees. It can therefore be concluded on the results in this study that good sanitation in the restaurants lead to positive perception and satisfaction and therefore panacea to customer retention. It is however imperative for all food service managers to uphold the issues of sanitation seriously in order to ensure customer retention. Employee training should also be organized by food service managers to ensure employee perfection in their schedules so as to instill customer confidence and satisfaction in the service rendered.