ABSTRACT
This research work evaluates the awareness and perception of customers to order food from the hospitality industry via online in owerri cosmopolitan. The managers, guests and staff of the hospitality industry formed the population of the study. Survey design was used, a sample size of 327 was use, questionnaire were distributed to the respondents, the entire questionnaires were completely returned. Data for this study was generated using questionnaire and personal interview. Frequencies and simple percentage were used to analyses the data generated. Recommendations were given to the effect that the result will assist owerri hotel and fast food managers in improving the service; facilities offered to their guests, as well as their patronage and competitive advancement.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification page ii
Approval page iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of content vi
List of tables ix
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 3
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 4
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION 4
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 5
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 5
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION 6
2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK 6
2.1.1 Medium 7
2.1.2 Consumer 7
2.1.3 Product 8
2.1.4 Firm 10
2.1.5 Environment 12
2.2 Theoretical Framework 13
2.2.1 The Theory Of Planned Behavior 13
2.3 Forming
Beliefs About Shopping For Food Via The Internet/Telephone:
The Influence Of Lifestyle 14
2.4 Online Food Ordering 15
2.4.1 Online Food Ordering In The Hospitality
Industry 16
2.4.2 Characteristics Of Online Review 17
2.4.3 Typology Of Online Food Ordering 19
2.5 Review Of Related Empirical Studies 21
2.5.1 Research On Guests’ Perception Of
Hotel Experience 27
2.5.2 RESEARCH ON POST PUSCHASE INTENTION 29
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 MATERIAL AND METHODS 32
3.2 RESEARCH
DESIGN 32
3.3 AREA
OF STUDY 32
3.4 POPULATION
FOR THE STUDY 33
3.5 SAMPLE
AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES 34
3.6 INSTRUMENT
FOR DATA COLLECTION 35
3.6.1 DATA
SOURCES 35
3.7 RELIABILITY
OF THE INSTRUMENT 36
3.7.1 VALIDATION
OF THE INSTRUMENT 36
3.8 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUE 36
3.9 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES 37
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 DATA
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 38
4.6
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 57
4.7
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 58
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY 62
5.1.1 RESTATED
OF PROBLEM 63
5.1.2 DESCRIPTION OF PROCEDURES USED 63
5.1.3 MAJOR
FINDING 63
5.2 CONCLUSION 64
5.3 RECOMMENDATION 64
5.4 SUGGESTION
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 65
5.5 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE 66
REFERENCES 67
LIST
OF TABLES
Table 4.1
Distribution of questionnaire based on location 38
Table
4.1.1 Distribution of questionnaire based on location 39
Table 4.2
distribution of respondents based on sex 40
Table 4.3
Distribution of respondents Based on Age 40
Table 4.4
Distribution of respondents based on religious status 41
Table 4.5
Distribution of respondents based on marital status 42
Table
4.6 Distribution of respondents based on
Educational level 43
Table 4.7
Distribution of respondents based on year the selected hotels
were
established 44
Table
4.8, what communication channel does your hotel use when it was
established 45
Table
4.9 Distribution of channel of
communication hotels use now 46
Table
4.10 Distribution of year starts using online food ordering 47
Table
4.11 What are the problems with the use of online channel in your hotel 48
Table
4.12a what are the benefits and challenges of online food ordering 49
Table
4.12b what are the benefits and challenges of online food ordering 51
Table
4.13 What are the online food ordering strategies to effective
Competition 52
Table
4.14a What channel of communication did you use to communicate to the hotel 53
4.14b
which channel of communication do you prefer 54
4.14c
Guest overall perception on the use of online food ordering by the
hotels 55
4.14d Post purchase intention on the use of online
food ordering mouth 56
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Online food ordering
system saves customers valuable time, especially during lunch breaks in office
and makes them to order food directly online from the hotels website or mobile application.
Instead of coming to the hospitality outfit, ordering, eating and going, it
directly allows the customers to have the food they like at their own
convenience happily and in the comfort of their homes. Vainsi (2016), says that
online food order gives the customer and hospitality industry the following
convenience;
i.
Orders can be placed
online
ii.
User friendly system with
simple order flow
iii.
Integrated payment
gateways
iv.
On time food delivery
v.
Flexible menu management
vi.
Work 24/7
vii.
Customers don’t have to
leave his house
viii.
Customers don’t have to
wait in queue for the availability of seat
ix.
Saves fuel cost and time
x.
No change of cloth
required
To a large extent,
customers in developed world have come to expect and take for granted the ability
to place hospitality orders online. They don’t give the process much thought.
Hospitality however, enables hospitality industry to adopt new and innovative
ways to simplify the lives of the customers while at the same time cease the
opportunity to boost her ability to track customers activity.
Purchasing via online is one of the most rapidly growing
form of shopping Levi and Weitz (2001). Online can be used to facilitate
purchase transactions among all kinds of sectors: among customers, among
businesses, between business and customers. But the biggest and most successful
has been in the business to business domain, in the business-customers area, Bulter
and Peppard (1998). Many hospitality industry run with a deficit or have even
had to close down, especially in connection with the sales of food. (Chadwick,
and Hart, 2002). This trend affects many hospitality industry in Nigeria today
because, customers are seemingly becoming or have become tired of running
around looking for a good cuisine. The
high cost of fuel in Nigeria today has also contributed to the lack of
customers visiting eateries. Unfortunately, not much or nothing has been
mentioned by the facilitators of the hospitality industry to introduce online
facility to customers as a new vista to solving the problem of indecision in
food ordering, since they have become bored with the traditional operations. In
this vein, Batter and Peppard (1998), mentioned three channels in which
marketing activities occur and where online operation can substitute
traditional operation:
I.
Distribution:
Which is the physical movement of products and services.
II.
Transaction:
Which generates sales activities between buyer and seller.
III.
Communication
Channels: Which enables communication between
buyer and seller.
They say that
distribution channel can be online only for certain product types, while the
other two channels, the online can substitute or compliment traditional
channels for all types of products.
The hospitality industry
is intensely competitive and the use of online inter personal inference may
help adopters gain advantages in their marketing competitiveness as well as high patronage, on the other hand, the
industry lags behind others in the development of strategies for managing
interpersonal inference in an electronic environment, Stephen and Renald,
(2000). So it is of great importance to discuss the perception and willingness
of customers to order food from hospitality industry via online in owerri
cosmopolitan, Imo state and online strategy for hospitality industry in this
information age for effective competitive food sales.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Hospitality industry has
over the years been operating with traditional operations to relate and
communicate with their clientele, and have been somewhat successful with the
system.
Today high innovation has
taken place in hospitality environment. Many of the old ways of communicating
to customers have being discarded for new technologies. Many clients today do
not want this in their business transaction rather they prefer easy going
business modeled system. They prefer doing business from their homes, even the
guests that lodge in the hotels would like to use online means of communication
to relate with the hotel staff rather than traditional method because of its
efficiency. The management inability to adapt to electronic use, affects their
means of communication to their customers and also reduces the effectiveness
and efficiency of the hotel staff. Questions like I hope your hotel have
internet, BLOG and Email are questions customers ask. And if the answers to
these questions were no, it affect their patronage and competitive advancement
and if the manager is not computer literate there will be a problem of lack of
innovation in technology advancement and this has an effect on customers
perception and willingness to use the facility. These and other factors
prompted the study of perception and willingness of customers to order food
from hospitality industry via online in Owerri cosmopolitan, Imo state.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of
this study is to investigate perception and willingness of customers to order
food from hospitality industry via online.
The specific objectives
are as follows:
1. To
examine the communication channels hospitality industry used when they were established.
2. To
ascertain the problems in the use of traditional methods.
3. To
determine the benefits and challenges of online sales.
4. To
ascertain the online strategies to effective competition.
5. To
determine the awareness of customer perceptions to order food via online.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
The following research
questions have been formulated.
1. What
communication channel did hospitality industry use when they it was
established?
2. What
were the problems in the use of traditional method?
3. What
were the benefits and challenges of online sales?
4. What
were the online strategies to effective competition?
5. What
were the customer perception and willingness to order food via online?
1.5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be
beneficial to the following:
1. Hospitality
industry
2. Economy/Government
of Imo state.
3. Host
community.
4. Management.
This knowledge will assist
the hospitality industry to improve the service provided to the customers as
well as the strategies in terms of staff training and management to gain
competitive advantages, which will enable the firm to create superior value for
its customers and increase profit for itself over their competitors. It will
also be beneficial to the economy since the importance of any study is measured
by its relevance to the society, the government of Imo state and the indigenes
of the host community. The proper utilization of this work will aid the
government in policy making as regards technology development in Imo state as a
whole. Also, assist the management to understanding guest experienced
perceptions on online food ordering and how it can help the management to
achieve sustainable completive advantage in other to increase their profit
margin. Finally, researchers in hospitality and other related fields can use
the findings of this research work as reference for future researches.
1.6
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study focused on
awareness and perception of customers to order food via online, in Owerri cosmopolitan,
Imo state.
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