ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to establish the consistency of recipe management and customer’s choice of restaurant in Umuahia Metropolis using the influence of appearance as an incident of consistent recipe management on customer choice of restaurant; ascertaining how flavor/aroma of meals influences customer choices of restaurant; determining the influence of texture as an incident of consistency of recipe management on customers choice of restaurants and examining how taste influences consistent recipe management on customers choices of restaurants. Descriptive survey research design was used through administration of questionnaire to obtain information from the communities. Probability and Non-probability sampling technique was used to ascertain the population of the study and 196 respondents was selected. One hundred and ninety-six (196) questionnaire were distributed and 160 was returned representing 81.6 percent of the sampled respondents.
The major findings revealed that appearance, aroma, texture, taste as an incident for consistent recipe management affects customers choice of restaurants. The study concludes that, the factors of consistency should be regarded as a science in its own right and should be applied to the policies of food industry, this is because the extent to which food is appetizing to eat may increase the demand for service providers who should ensure their food is of good quality. The study recommends that food technologist, Chefs and caterers should use the factors as discussed in this study for improved recipe management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Approval page ii
Declaration iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgements vi
Table of
content
vii
List of
tables
x
Abstract
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Objectives of Study 6
1.4 Research Question 7
1.5 Hypothesis
of the Study 7
1.6 Significance of Study 8
1.7 Scope of Study 9
CHAPTER
2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction 10
2.1 Conceptual Literature 10
2.1.2 Restaurant Operation 12
2.1.3 Classification of Restaurants 14
2.1.4 Types Of Restaurants 14
2.1.1 Food 18
2.1.2 Recipe 18
2.1.4
Food Recipe Management 19
2.1.5
Standardization of Food Recipe 21
2.1.5.1
Dimension of Recipe Management 23
2.1.6
Factors Affecting
Consumer’s Choice of Restaurants 27
2.2.7 Recipe
Management and Consumer’s Choice of Restaurants 38
2.2
Theoretical
Review 40
2.2.1 Customer
Service Theory 41
2.2.2 Product
Life Cycle theory 42
2.3 Empirical Review 43
2.5 Chapter Summary 48
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 49
3.2 Area of Study 49
3.3 Population for the Study 50
3.4 Sampling and sampling technique 50
3.5 Instrument for Data collection 51
3.6 Validation of Instrument 51
3.7 Reliability of Instruments 52
3.8 Method of Data Analysis 52
CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.0
Introduction 54
4.1 Presentation
of Data 54
4.1.1Response
rate of the study 54
4.2 Result 55
4.2.1 Demographic Data of Respondents 55
4.2.2 Analysis of Research Questions 57
4.2.3 Hypothesis testing 66
4.3 Discussion 68
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction 76
5.2 Summary Of Findings 76
5.2.1 Restatement of the Problem 76
5.2.2 Major Findings 78
5.2.3 Summary of the Study 78
5.3 Conclusion 79
5.4 Recommendation 79
REFERENCES 80
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Response rate 54
Table 4.2: Demographic Data of the Respondents 55
Table 4.3: The influence of appearance in consistent
recipe management
on
customer’s choice of restaurants in the study area. 58
Table 4.4: The influence of flavor/aroma as an
incident of consistent
recipe
management on customer’s choice of restaurants 61
Table 4.5: The influence of texture on consistent
recipe management on
customer’s
choice of restaurants 63
Table 4.6: The influence of taste on
consistent recipe management on
customer’s
choice of restaurants in the study area. 65
Table 4.7 Model
Summary 67
Table 4.8 Model
Summary 67
Table 4.9 Model
Summary 68
Table 4.10 Model
Summary 69
LIST
OF FIGURES
Figure
2.1: Research Framework 48
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
In
today’s competitive restaurant business, an increase in restaurant business
competition implies that customers nowadays have more dining choices to choose
from than ever before, ranging from fast food to fine dining restaurants (Hwang,
Cho, & Kim, 2019). As a result, customer expectations of restaurant
offerings are ever-increasing, and they are now more demanding in choosing
better restaurant choices based on what they can get from their decision (Ha
& Jang, 2013). In view of the growing phenomenon toward eating-out,
knowledge of the criteria used by customers in the selection of a restaurant is
strategic in understanding food consumption trends. (Scozzafava, Contini,
Romano & Casini, 2017) In fact, as digital technology continues to advance,
it is becoming increasingly challenging to please restaurant customers as their
eating-out behavior is now more sophistically evolved, and they are cognizant
of the customer value (DiPietro, 2017; Kaplan & Norton, 2011; Reynolds
& Biel, 2010)
Thus,
it is particularly important that restauranteurs stay on top of consumer
behavior in the restaurant industry so that they can cater to the needs and
wants of customers appropriately. A restaurant customer’s decision-making
process begins when he/she recognizes a need that can be fulfilled by consuming
the products/services offered by a restaurant (Pedraja & Yague, 2011). The
need for restaurant consumption may be driven by various factors, such as
having quick meals, celebrating special occasions, entertaining business
clients, etc. Customers will search for relevant information.
The
findings from several studies showed that restaurant consumers use different
criteria when making restaurant decisions (Johns & Pine, 2012). Examples of
these criteria are: food quality (nutritional content of the meals), service
quality, restaurant physical settings, and variety of choice on the menu. The
criteria also vary according to the type of restaurant (Heung, Wong, & Qu,
2010) and dining occasion. In addition, a number of studies suggest that
restaurant diners often view a restaurant meal as only a part of the total
package of a dining experience, and that diners use a bundle of attributes,
rather than a single attribute, when making restaurant decisions (Pun & Ho,
2011).
Previous
studies have highlighted the growing interest in ethnic food trends worldwide.
The expansion of interest and acceptance of ethnic foods reflect the increasing
diversity of contemporary society (Josiam & Monteiro, 2014). Ethnic
restaurants are facing increasingly sophisticated consumers and an intensely
competitive restaurant industry. Consumers who visit upscale dining
establishments do not only demand good food but also a complete dining
experience (Yüksel & Yüksel, 2012). A deeper understanding of consumers’
selection criteria will provide ethnic restaurant operators with valuable
information and insights which enable them to attract and retain more
consumers.
Customer
plays the key role in any business; the success of the business cannot be
imagined without the customer. It's important to establish a relationship with
one’s customers. Customers are an important part of any business and the
market. To endure organizations, need to deliver items and administrations of
generally excellent quality that yield exceptionally satisfied and loyal
customers. For numerous years customer loyalty has been a significant objective
of business organizations, since it has been esteemed to influence customer
maintenance and organizations' market share (Hansemark and Albinsson, 2014). Satisfaction
is an individual perception of pleasure or the disappointment. If people’s
desire level meets their degree of satisfaction additionally expands but if not
in that point frustration comes. Customer satisfaction is significant for every
organization, whether they are in service sector or in the private sector. It's
not possible to satisfy each and every customer. If the customer likes the item
then they express satisfaction for the item after use. The restaurants
industry, where a full-fledged competitive environment is in place, has long
been plagued by the considerable degree of product homogeneity in terms of both
hardware and services, especially in the food sector (Ramanathan, 2011). The
core of a restaurants product lies in the experiential values that the
customers can perceive, thus posing a challenge to the establishment and maintenance
of a solid brand image of the restaurants. Consumer’s choice of restaurants is
one way of how to win your current customers by taking into consideration their
loyalty, attitude and behavior toward what have been given to them. But it is
always hard to measure feelings and words, some consumers maybe this time they
are satisfied, loyal and are giving some good word of mouth but maybe next time
they will be dissatisfied and will not recommend the brand to others. Those
factors that most affect the consumer’s choice of restaurants have to be done
in a very perfect way so the customer could be delighted by the service
provided and by the service providers themselves. The service quality is what
differentiates the restaurants from another; service is the major thing that
any customer is looking for in every restaurants. If the service is not as they
are expected they will not recommend the place to others and they will not come
back again (Raab, Mayer, Kim, & Shoemaker (2019). Therefore, the
restaurants that are able to provide quality services to ever demanding
customers in a warm and efficient manner, are the ones likely to obtain long
term competitive advantage over their rivals. That is why throughout the past
years top restaurants have never faced the problem of fearing the never ending
customer needs, wants, demands, and never ending change of factor appeal
(Peppers and Rogers, 2011).When a recipe is first planned in a food service
establishment, the target market, concept, theme, type of food, and service are
chosen, then the kitchen facility is built with the able to prepare the foods
on the menu. The kitchen must have the equipment needed to cook the type of
food the restaurant will serve. The kitchen staff must also be capable of
preparing the food on the menu in the time available (Kumar and Petersen, 2012).
A menu item that is complicated and takes a long time to prepare will not be a
good idea for a quick-service restaurant. If a fine-dining restaurant chooses
to serve a complicated dish, it must ensure that the staff knows how to prepare
it. When a restaurant is first planned, the target market, concept, theme, type
of food, and service are chosen. The kitchen staff must be able to prepare the
foods on the menu. The kitchen must have the equipment needed to cook the type
of food the restaurant will serve. (Kumar and Petersen, 2012). Consumer’s
choice of restaurants is all about feelings and attitudes; it is something
intangible that could not be measured as any other tangible things. So,
researchers invented two ways to measure the feelings and the degree of
satisfaction of customers towards any service or intangible products given to
them. Hence, there will be some capabilities for restaurants to improve their
service quality and all the staff working there for gaining more customers and
for building a strong relationship with their long term and short term
consumers. Therefore, all these have led to serious challenges on consumer’s
choice of restaurants in restaurants. While current research is on issues of
restaurants customer loyalty mostly focused on established branding elaborations,
this current study intends to present a unique perspective by investigating the
consistency of recipe management on consumer’s choice of restaurants in
registered restaurants in Umuahia Metropolis.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Customer
loyalty which shows customers' satisfaction response to service and products,
can convert into organizations' future income by expanding customer
dependability. It is generally recognized that satisfaction decidedly
influences customer's recurrent buy aim and suggestions.
Research
has found a positive correlation between consumer’s choice of restaurants
strategies and performance and duration of the relationship (Gustaffsson, 2014).
Dawkins and Reichheld (2010) showed how retaining of customers through
consistency of a well-constructed menu was beneficial by alleging that a 5%
retention of rate increase can cause between 25% and 83% increase of customers
in present net value in restaurants industries.
Studies
have shown that well-managed restaurants revealed that customers that deliver
food quality, consistency, menu assortment, a desirable relationship of value
esteem, environment, and neatness. They accept that the restaurants that cater
around these characteristics can raise the degree of customer dependability and
maintenance. Disregarding the way that there is no assurance that satisfied
customers will return to the cafe, yet experience demonstrated that 90% of the
disappointed customer won't return to the restaurant. Chou, Wu, and Huang
(2014) recommend that administration quality is seen as the most significant
factor and directors of a restaurant should additionally comprehend customer
conduct to improve service quality to make esteem and satisfy a customer.
Various
examinations endeavored to distinguish the determinants of consumer’s choice of
restaurants. Researchers may have distinctive thoughts in conceptualizing
retention, in this way, bringing about various conversations in confirming the
antecedents of loyalty. In any case, it has been proposed that consumer’s
choice of restaurants might be cultivated with distinctive outcomes relying
upon its variables and therefore, it ought to be managed and incorporated
strategically.
Many
anterior studies have investigated the relationship between service quality and
customer behavior, customer service and switching behavior, switching cost and
consumer’s choice of restaurants, service quality and consumer’s choice of
restaurants among others in various industries and fields globally, but none of
such studies has been done particularly in restaurants industry in Umuahia.
Thus, there is no empirical evidence to show the direct relationship between
the consistency of recipe management and consumer’s choice of restaurants in
Umuahia metropolis. These are the gaps this study is filling in this present
study which is aimed at examining the consistency of recipe management on
customers’ choice of restaurants in Umuahia Metropolis.
1.3 Objectives of Study
The
objectives of this study is to identify the consistency of recipe management on
customers’ choices of restaurants in registered restaurants in Umuahia metropolis.
The
purpose of this study is to achieve the following objectives
i.
To examine the influence
of appearance as an incident of recipe management on customer choice of restaurant.
ii.
To ascertain how
flavor/aroma of meals influences customer choices of restaurant.
iii.
To determine the
influence of texture as an incident of consistency of recipe management on
customers choice of restaurants.
iv.
To examine how taste
influences recipe management on customers choices of restaurants
1.4 Research Question
The
following research questions will guide this study
1. To
what extent do appearance influence the consistency of recipe management on
customer choice of restaurant?
2. How
does flavor/aroma of meals influences the consistency of recipe management on
customer choices of restaurant?
3. What
is the influence of texture as an incident of consistency of recipe management
on customer’s choice of restaurants?
4. To
understand how taste can influence consistency of recipe management on
customer’s choices of restaurants.
1.6
Hypotheses
of the Study
The
following hypotheses have been formed to guide the study.
H01:
There is no significant impact between appearances as an incident of
consistency of recipe management on customer choice of restaurant.
H02: There
is no significant impact between flavor/aroma as an incident of consistency of
recipe management on customer choice of restaurant.
H03: There
is no significant impact between texture as an incident of consistency of
recipe management on customer choice of restaurant.
H03: There
is no significant impact between taste as an incident of consistency of recipe
management on customer choice of restaurant.
1.6 Significance of Study
The
findings of this research will be of great importance to restaurants owners,
management and restaurants consumers/customers and future researchers/students.
A
well-designed workplace will lead to more productive and sustainable employees,
consumer’s choice of restaurants and also provide maximum productivity with
minimum cost to restaurants owners.
The
findings of the study will also guide policy and practice on customer
management and its practices across various educational and non-educational
institutions in the country. Service quality management frees up management
time from redressing problem and directs management time and effort to; quality
service, increased production, customer satisfaction etc Hence, this study will
play a significant role in ensuring the need for effective recipe management in
restaurants establishment.
Customers
can also benefit when the organization put in effective consumer’s choice of
restaurants practices by ascertaining the need or value of what the customer
want and what they paid for, quality products and excellent services can help
in consumer’s choice of restaurants thereby creating avenue that leads to
consumer’s choice of restaurants.
To
students/researchers, the findings of this study will also provide a data base
line, which can serve as reference point for future researchers. It will
enhance a better understanding of recipe management in Umuahia metropolis.
The
study will add to existing empirical literature on recipe management and
consumer’s choice of restaurants.
1.7 Scope of Study
The
content scope of this study focuses on consistency of recipe management and
customers’ choice of restaurants. The geographical scope is Umuahia Metropolis
while the unit scope includes customer and staff of registered restaurant in Umuahia
Metropolis.
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