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.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Education, Faculty of
Vocational Education, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University
of Education, Winneba in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award
of the degree of Master of Philosophy (Catering and Hospitality) in the
University of Education, Winneba
AUGUST, 2021
