THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & …different attributes which increase the customer...

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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS

COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 360

OCTOBER 2012

VOL 4, NO 6

THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & HOSPITALITY SERVICES ON

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION-A Case study of Fast Food industry in Pakistan.

Muhammad Shaham Bakhat

M.Phil. (Management Science)

Department of Management Sciences

Minhaj University Lahore

Sajjad-ul-Aziz

Lecturer

Department of Management Sciences

Minhaj University Lahore

ABSTRACT

This study explores the relationship mainly between customer satisfaction and Information technology in the

Hospitality services (example) KFC Pakistan. This paper explains how data explodes from information system’s

which guides the restaurant/sales operation team for daily work and also help the potential customers for better

services. The Information technology is the tool for getting operation excellence while we know that product

quality, customer services, Ambience are significant variable in the fast food industry. In this paper we are also

examining fast food chain on the basis of information system. The research objective is to visible IT impacts on the

business unit level which correlates to organizational performance. The hospitality & IT services are directly

involved in the positive attitude of the customer which reflects in the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Business performance metrics are maintained to be used in the pre and post implementation phases for result

comparisons in fast food chain to determine IT service like webpage, online delivery, CRM with hospitality service

variables impact on the customer satisfaction.

Keywords: IMPACT ; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ; HOSPITALITY SERVICES ; CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION; CASE STUDY ; FAST FOOD INDUSTRY ; PAKISTAN.

1. INTRODUCTION:

In contemporary world every thing is changing day by day due to effect of globalization and rapidly changes in

hospitality services and fast food brands. The service oriented businesses basic is to escort to the satisfaction of their

customers both locally and internationally while excel unique cultural differences from one country to another

country and region to region within one country. This study provides a cross cultural effect of customer satisfaction

of fast food industry in two regions within country. It is based on data collected from customers of globally-

franchised fast food chain, using a previously developed customer satisfaction procedures. The study would show

two empirically derived a cross-cultural fast food customer satisfaction dimensions: satisfaction with the hospitality

services and satisfaction due to Information system. Customer services and Information system directly impact on

customer satisfaction in the fast food industry. In these days soft service (fine dine-in) like PC Hotel, Student

Biryani, Lahore Broast and casual dine-in like indulge, café Expresoo and Roosta Café are adopting self service (fast

food) procedure to achieve the customer satisfaction. While we are taking for research two international Franchise

chain of fast food. First one is KFC and second is Subway. Service quality in which include speed of service,

customer mania attitude (behavior), product quality, price and Information systems we will study the effects of

Information Technology on Customer satisfaction in fast food industry.

These days due to economic crises or competitive market every industry is trying to retain old customer which has a

share in profit of any firm. In fast food restaurants customer retention is global issue on which every restaurant is

focused. They are using different market strategies or promotions to get attraction of the customers. The goal is to

achieve maximum sale due to marketing strategies which would retain the customer and improve the frequency of

visit and create attraction for the new customer. Meanwhile, customers are felt attraction due to marketing plan but

restaurant should need to maintain product quality and service quality. Here we need information system which will

guide us that due to our last promotion how many sale or transactions came in our restaurants. How many inventory

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which will be use in new promotion and which time customer turn over would be high in a day. Furthermore, this

database of information will use to maintain Inventory in restaurant for particular time. It will diminishing the

occurrence of shortage in the restaurant while in the other restaurant where database of information is not available

they will suffer shortage of inventory which will effect customer service badly due to unavailability of required

product in restaurant. For Example, In Malaysia, there is competitive market of food industry they have so many

international chains which are contributing in economy of this country. They attract the customer because quality,

product quality and technology development. They are using latest technology which gives the facilities to customer

like hotspot, Wi-Fi gadgets, UAN, POS etc. They are maintaining database of customer with the help of post sales

analysis in which they know how many customer will be expected to come in any hour of the day and how many

inventory stock is required in a day or month or any hour.

―Positron‖ is measuring tool which showed the gain in input of productivity from Information technology in

complex with managerial environment. It used the new cash register point of sale and order taking technology which

called ―Positron‖ in Hardee’s Inc. as pilot project. It was helpful to measuring performance of the restaurant which

is using this technology while other is using old technology.(RAJIV D.BANKER,ROBERT J. AND RICHARD

C.MOREY,1990)

In early days of Information Technology, peoples were using manual procedure on cash counter for calculation of

sale or purchase. This procedure was time consuming for the customer. After development in IT field they move

from old procedure to cash counter machine which also called manual cash register. We are taking two restaurants

of fast food, first one is using manual cash register like Casio, uniwell machine and other Fast food restaurant is

using latest technology like touch screen Point of sale machine with latest data warehousing .We will examine the

relationship of customer services and information system in Fast food restaurant. How I.T contributes in Fast food

industry to achieving the goal of customer satisfaction? KFC is using latest technology like Touch point of sale

machine which have customized inventory management software which guide the restaurants manager regarding

inventory, recipe, sale, forecasting, menu mix etc, while Subway is using traditional cash counter which have only

cash sale record.

Role of information system is like eyes and ears of the management, guiding the new era, gap analysis,

improvement of hardware and servers and networking. The Decision making of company improved due to

investment in information system and it is supported for company decision. Due to global competition we require

knowledge for making knowledgeable decisions (Hayek 1937).

RESEARCH PURPOSE

Purpose of the Study – This research work aims to explore and describes the retention & satisfaction of Customer,

and examine the relationship among Service quality, product quality, ambiance value, Information technology

systems and Customer mania attitude (behavior) in fast-food restaurants.

RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

This study will help to maximize the customer satisfaction with the tool of Information system and Service quality

in FFR and will guide us that How information system and product quality will play vital role to retaining customer

retention in Fast Food Restaurants?

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The literature is revealed that most of the work on customer satisfaction covered the major factor hospitality services

like service, product quality, atmosphere of fast food industry but it is also show impact on operation efficiency due

to information technology services.

Customer satisfaction in a business sense is measuring tools of how product and service provide by the firm which

meet or go beyond surpass the customer expectation. It is a main performance attribute in the business and it is the

part of Balance Score card and we know that BSC is the strategic management tool for evaluating the overall

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business. Churchill & Suprenant,1982;Cronin & Taylor,1992 studied that Customer satisfaction is described as the

link between perceived quality and post-purchase evaluations and decisions.

The researcher in his article which was published in International Journal of Hospitality Management,(Volume 28,

Issue 1, March 2009, Pages 10-17) explained that how intention, customer satisfaction, word of mouth will effect on

overall food business.(Woo Gon Kim, Christy Yen Nee Ng, and Yen-soon Kim)

Goh Ling Shing,Robert J.Nathan,Carolyn Koh,2012 described that Customer satisfaction is revealed with customer

psychological desire .The desire refer the positive response or emotions, fun. The customer satisfaction is the

outcome which comes from series of service attributes. This occurs when customer expectations or wants meet the

service or product. The tangible and intangible services are included in the series of service. Customer satisfaction is

also linked with the repeat purchase, positive word-of-mouth reference, loyality and cost effectiveness. There are

different attributes which increase the customer satisfaction such as instant complaint handling, open dialogue and

mutual understanding. The author is argued that customer retention is not depend on customer satisfaction because

customer mind is changing time to time some time he switch on other product within existing menu or other brand.

The customer satisfaction is the positive feedback and it is the essential attribute for the sustainability of the firm.

The author is associated the willingness to pay with customer satisfaction. He also highlighted that customer is ready

to pay extra if he is getting excellent service. Customer satisfaction is found for repurchasing and overall customer

retention. (Tornow & Wiley, 1991), the positive feedback is also contributing for increasing sale. The consumer first

impression is the most important in service industry because customer satisfaction contributes in profitability. The

loyalty and willingness to pay more is the outcome of customer satisfaction which is main element for succeed in

any business. The customer is the King which basically shows the importance of the customer satisfaction. If the

customer satisfied then the repetition of visit and positive word-of –mount will be increased the revenue of any

business.(Goh Ling Shing,Robert J.Nathan,Carolyn Koh,2012)

C.H Lovelock, P.G.Patterson,,R.H.Walker(2007),analyzed that in service industry the contact service is most

important in which service employee and customer has high level of communication involvement. So, the service

industry is focused on the employee interpersonal skill because they know that it is main attribute when they will

talk to valuable customer. They will be easily interacting with customer and they know the judgment call on spot

from the customer and it is very helpful for making decision on spot from the service employee.

Christina G. Chi, Dogan Gursoy (June 2009) in his research ―Employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and

financial performance: An empirical examination‖ he examined the relationship between employee satisfaction and

customer satisfaction. They also showed the impact of both on a hospitality company financial growth using service

profit chain framework as the assumption. Basically, this research explores the following important relationships:

(1) The customer satisfaction and financial performance has direct relationship.

(2) There is a direct relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance.

(3) Customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction has direct relationship.

(4) There is an indirect relationship between financial performance and employee satisfaction.

This research look closely the inter role of customer satisfaction on the indirect relationship between employee

satisfaction and financial performance. The data was collected for this research from employees, customers and

managers of three and four star hotels. The Structural equation modeling with a two step approach was used to

experimental test the proposed hypotheses and the relationships between the attributes. The findings of this study

suggested that customer satisfaction has positive important impact on financial performance. The employee

satisfaction has no direct impact on financial performance of the firm. Meanwhile, there is an indirect relationship

between employee satisfactions and financial performance of the firm.

Stevens,Knutson,and Patton(1995),This study was main objective to investigate the relative significant of

institutional ―DINESERV‖ in outlets like product quality, ambience, service quality, convenience, price and value

that pretend the customer satisfaction in dining facilities and he was also examined and determinates the customer

satisfaction in the scenario of return intension and word-of- mouth. While we know that if we eat good food in any

outlet then we will talk to six people regarding this good food. Unfortunately, if we found bad quality food at any

location then we will talk to more than fourteen people regarding this matter. So, Word-of-mouth has its vital role in

customer service industry. The researcher was conducting the web survey in which more than 4000 students

participate from public university and they gave input regarding dining facilities. He found that ―DINESERV‖

dimension had an important positive consequence on customer satisfaction and increase the repetition frequency of

customer. He studied that improvement in customer satisfaction is affecting word of mouth and retention of

customer in food service court of university. Kivela et al (2000) also found that loyalty of customer is strengthened

and positively reputation of dining facility is also increasing and rapidly revenue of food court is rising.

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2.2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

Web-based CRM or Electronic Customer Relationship Management is the significance tool for fast food chain to

enhancing the customer relationship and hospitality services. The automated questionnaires which are available on

the website are used for collecting the point of views of customers and this data is also used for suggestion or

improvement of the fast-food chain outlet service which is required for customer satisfaction. (IbrahimAli,Aw Yoke

Cheng,and Chuah Shee Hoong,2011)

In the fast food industry ,information technology is useful in the field of supply chain, Marketing ,operation,

administration but customer relationship management is need to enhance further for serving the valuable customer.

The Electronic Customer relationship management (ECRM) is now serving in the fast food industry which is

providing the service to his valuable customer through internet .In E-CRM, they use the internet or web and process

which serve the customer as per need. The informational, transactional and relational are the vital attributes which

make the effective website of E-CRM. The E-CRM is the approaches which integrate the front-end interface and

back-end interface with each other which give the real-time picture or services of the fast food outlet which is

providing to its customers. (Ab Hamid,N.R.,Aw,Y.C,Md Akhir,‖Perceived Important Features and Dimensions of

E-CRM‖,2011)

Arash Fartash and Nazanin Nassir Gharechedaghi,(2012) analyzed that service industry is changing rapidly around

the world due to technological changing in information technology and communication. The method to serve the

customer and provide the valuable service is changing in the organization due to contact center. The contact center

which is the tool for interacts with the customer daily and provides the real time service as per customer need. The

income and sale is the blood of organization and in the other words this is the life of organization. There are various

Information technology applications which are beneficial for reducing the cost, increase the quality, rate and

accuracy in giving the service to our customers. The customer satisfaction will reflected in taking decision of the

customer to pay more in order to receive better goods or service. The customer is always in search to find out

supplier who will give better goods or service. In these days, almost all organizations, institutions, large or small

firms in the developed countries have contact center which respond the customer in all ways of communication to

provide the better service for their customer .So, they achieve the organization goals and attract the customer

satisfaction. The contact center is the vital tool which helps the customer-oriented and service-provider organization

for solving the challenges and problems which face by the customer. The aim of the study was to explore the affects

of contact center on the customer satisfaction.

There are different methods of communication like telephone, SMS, Fax, email, chat which normally used by the

customer for buying, selling, services at any time , day or night and anywhere around the world. The customers

communicate with the contact center which is already equipped with latest technology and contact center has experts

or agents which have deep knowledge of product. These all information or records are saved in the software like

Customer Relationship management which is used in future for more facilitating the customers. (Aksin.Armony,

Mehrotra, 2007)

The contact center is a strategic and important part of the organization because it is working as a middle man

between customer and organization. He gives competitive advantage to the organization and also gives the cheap

service by phone to the customer. Contact center is centrally or distributive managed by the groups of experts or

individuals who answer the calls or respond the customers as per query. The advance call center have the ability to

records the calls, emails ,SMS management, notifications ,agents answering call duration, VOIP enable service and

administrative reporting for the executive decision regarding service quality which is providing to the

customer.(Berkley,S.2005,Key Note2003‖Call Centers‖)

Jon Kolasinski,‖Call Center Performance and Customer Satisfaction‖,CRM Magazine,(2004), researched that it is

easy to estimate the losing of customer due to negative interaction with the company but its is difficult to find out

the hidden cost which will suffer by company due to negative impact in social networking of the customer. It is true

that if the customer finds out good service in the oulet, he will tell the other friends but it will be limited numbers of

friends if we compare to negative service experience which he found out in same outlet. The cost-cutting exercise

and process optimization impact the bottom line of the organization. Some time organization failed to realize the lost

of the interactive customer transactions when they are focusing on the improvement of call center process.

Undoubtedly, they got the short term cost benefits but they ignore the quality of interaction with customer and most

important variation in the quality of service. The focusing on the process however hides the poor performance of

agent with interaction of the customer. The process cut of the cost in the view of management but it did not give the

positive response. The procedure of all queries or information gives the empowerment to the employee. They know

that every information on micro level then they easily give the information or answer the queries without

consultation of supervisor or colleague. This increase in decisional power will reflects in customer satisfaction.

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The Chan Wing SZE,(2011) analyzed that in fixed telecom industry the loyalty of the customer is low due to

minimum differentiate in product and high complains of the customer. He also analyzed that competition is move

from price to product quality and now service quality is the main tool which make the customer loyal. The loyal

customer will use the product after check the contract with service provider and also tell the friends which he has in

his social network. This positive word of mouth will show the customer satisfaction. The more opportunities will be

created due to satisfaction of the customer and market share of the organization will be increased. This became a

competitive strategy due to customer satisfaction. In this study I also found out that retail shops and call center are

the main customer service points. I also found out that some organization has touchier point in the regards of

customer service is call center. The customer satisfaction in the market is look like a battle which is easily wins with

the help of providing the higher service quality by the Call Center. The service dimensions of the advance call center

includes accessibility, interaction with agents or experts and answer or solution of queries are the main indicators to

evaluate the service quality and customer satisfaction in HKBN call center. Meanwhile, the willingness to continue

the service or willingness to continue the recommendation to the friends are the main indicators of customer loyalty

The concept of gap model is consist on the difference which we find out that service perception which is provide by

the organization and what customer was thinking regarding services. In this study we also find out that the customer

satisfaction has positive influence on the customer loyalty.

Call center is the place where all calls are land and the main purpose of this place is marketing, customer service,

telemarketing, sales, technical support and different specialized business activity which is done in the presence of

experts or agents (Bodin and Dawson,1999). The call center is doing his operation 24 hours a day, 365 days of the

year. Basically, call center is the competitive strategies for the customer relationship management (Mitchell, 1998)

because when the firm realize that relationship is not end after sales and customer also access the firm after sales

which add the value and show in transactions. In call center, human agents or experts or some time auto answering

voice response machine answer the customer complains, resolving the problems, giving the information, answering

questions and receiving feedback(Moon et.,2004).

The primary aim of call center is the achievement of high level customer satisfaction and customer care with the

help of excellent services. The call center is providing the service in the friendly way after sale of product or service

to the customer. Due to competition in the market, now call center is moving from back office to front office for

achieving the customer satisfaction.(Anton,1997).The call center importance is significant in the telecommunication

industry and they are using call center as a retention strategy. They are using call center in a proactive way which

make the difference with customer service. They are using call center for building the relationship, maintain the

relationship by establish the direct communication with their customers. This help the business do more with

customers and attract the new customers. However, it is reality that call center is forgot his role regarding the

customer satisfaction and long term organization objectives. Customers are less satisfied if we compare with the

office-based in-person service(Bennington et al.,2000). So, It is very important that how to provide the superior

service to the customer which is very important for achieving the long term objectives of the organization.

John F.Rockart,Michael J.Earl and Jeanne W.Ross(1996) analyzed that customer satisfaction is not just prompt

courteously service. It is basically to design product and service which fulfill the need of individual customer. It is

equally important that cost will go down and production of the firm must go upward. New customer demands,

improvements and developments in technology are the basic reasons which are pushing firms for redefining the

organization mission. The IT professional and business managers both are retesting the role of IT function due to

importance of information technology. I also discussed and defined the ―Eight Imperatives‖ for IT organization

which are core function of IT unit.

Application of speech Technology is the invention of customer service because client is trying to communicate with

machine and get some information and service. The voice dialogue system deals with the customer orders and

questions in fast food restaurant. This voice system has two subsystems namely as a dialogue subsystem and a voice

interface. The dialogue sub-system behaves like a recorder in real restaurant and he gives the information to

customer as per his input. (P García, J Diaz-Verdejo,1997)

Information technology is participating very vital role in building customer satisfaction and speed of service quality.

If, the restaurants manager is operating multiple units in one local area and he is seeking to gain a competitive

advantage then he should have useful information technology tool. This tool includes database of customer, call-

routing and different reporting software’s has also option to used Telecommunication devices in multiple location. If

one customer calls him regarding delivery of an order then restaurant manager has option to deliver this order from

one unit which is nearest to customer location. So, in this case information technology gives edge to deliver order

within time. Its also have positive effect on fast food balance sheet in fiscal year because due to use of this

technology. He will save the fuel consumption, labor hours and also positive effect on customer due to speed of

service. The database maintenance is also useful for making database of customer and telemarketing in future.

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System management reports are supportive to making decision for decision makers regarding effective menu and

operation management in restaurants.( Leslie E. Cummings)

(International Journal of Hospitality Management,Volume 6, Issue 4, 1987, Pages 225-228)

Labor cost is a major portion which reflects in Profit & loss of business which is increasing day by day. So, fast food

related firms are considering self-service option with the support of information technology in which human

involvement is become very low. The incremental growth in labor costs and advancement in technology are

promoting service firms to consider and implement technology-based self-service options for the customers.

However, little is known about how customers would evaluate such choices. The two alternative models of service

quality are project based on an attribute versus overall affect attitude. The attribute model is constructed especially

on what consumer would think from such choices. The overall affect model is grounded on the consumer's feelings

toward the use of technology. The research is conducted to test these models for a new (proposed) technology-based

self-service choice, with and without the influence of different waiting times. (Pratibha A. Dabholkar)

The researcher found that productivity and customer satisfaction are interconnecting with each other. There was two

different points of views regarding this theory. One school of thought had view that productivity and customer

satisfaction are compatible when customer satisfaction increase then cost of productivity and complain management

are decrease. They were agreeing that due to customer satisfaction the ratio of return item will become low. So, it

will positively effect on productivity cost. While Other’s people had other point of view that due to increase in

customer satisfaction we will need more financial assistant for improvement in our production. The more cost will

reflect in our productivity cost. The European courtiers are downsizing labor due to high cost of production and they

have other option to develop productivity units in developing countries. The study found that proper implementation

of information technology may increase both customer satisfaction and productivity. (Eugene W.Anderson,Claese

Fornell,Roland T.Rust)

2.3 HOSPITALITY SERVICES

The researcher Divya S.Singh and Hui-Wen Shih,(2011) explored in his article ‖A Study of relationships among

service performance, customer satisfaction and behavioral loyalty‖ that unique attributes or factors of service quality

are determined the customer satisfaction and loyalty at the Bar-restaurants. The service quality is vital attribute in

the service industry. There are numerous researches of available who examined or measure the relationship between

service quality in the regards of customer satisfaction but this researcher focus on the performance of service quality

which is relate with the customer satisfaction and loyalty behavior.

Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) developed the first’s model to evaluate and describe the service quality,

SERVQUAL. The service quality is easily showed in term of market share, return on investment and cost reduction

in the service industry. They found out in their research that there is some expectation differences between

organization and customer perception of the service quality which was delivered in restaurant. They also investigate

that service quality can be measured through gaps between what the customer expects and what the customer receive

regarding services. According to the study which is conducted by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry(1985), the

original factors are tangible, reliability ,responsiveness, communication, security ,credibility ,courtesy, competence,

understating and access. This original factor was revised by the researcher and they agreed on five variables but

Cronin and Taylor (1994) argue that SERVQUAL does not measure the customer satisfaction and service quality.

Stevens, Knutson, and Patton (1995) described a service quality measure, DINESERV, which explore the level of

measurement on the basis of restaurant ambience and employee service. Caldwell and Hibbert (2002) explored the

effect of music in restaurant atmosphere which affect positively to the employee service. Kivela et al. (2000)

analyzed that food in explaining show the customer satisfaction and customer retention in the restaurants while

Namkung and Jang(2007) focused on the product quality and they describe in his research that it effect the customer

satisfaction and loyalty behavior of the customer. Cronin and Taylor(1992) explained that observed service quality

led the customer satisfaction which he received in restaurants .This satisfaction will show in repurchase or revisit of

the customer in the restaurant. Dabholkar, Shepherd and Thorpe(2000) demonstrated that the customer satisfaction

is a positive response between perceived quality and behavioral intentions. The Raajpoot (2002) developed the

model TANGSERV and in this model he described the tangible quality constructs. If we need to understand the

customer choices, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty behaviors then we need to go beyond the traditional

SERVQUAL. The significance of product quality was described by quick-serve operators. (Ryu, Han and

Jang,2009). He also explained the customer needs and wants and appeals in the perspective of hedonic and

utilitarian to a restaurant.Namkung and jang (2010) analyzed that reasonable price and giving the efficient service in

a specific time could be increase the positive emotion. He also realized that if the restaurants provide high-quality

tangible effects and intangible service to the customer will reflect in positive sentiments and ultimately produce the

future customer.

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The authors studied in his article that service quality impacts on customer satisfaction and he also investigates the

relationship of service quality and customer satisfaction which will impact on buying habit of customer. The authors

investigated the relationship and dimension of service quality and the link between service quality, consumer

satisfaction and purchase purposes. A literature review suggested that the current operationalization of service

quality misperceives satisfaction and customer attitude. The authors in his study tested that (1) A method of

operationalizing perceived service quality (2) the importance of the relationships between service quality, consumer

satisfaction, and purchase intentions. The outcomes recommend that (1) a performance based measure of service

quality will be an improved means of measuring the service quality paradigm (2) The service quality is a

predecessor of consumer satisfaction (3) The consumer satisfaction has an important influence on purchase

intentions (4) The service quality has not as much of influence on purchase targets than does consumer satisfaction.

The suggestions for managers and future researchers are discussed. (J.Joseph Cronin,Jr.&Steven A.Taylor)

Theodore P. Stank, Thomas J. Goldsby, Shawnee K.Vickery(1999), examined that there is multiple relationship

between service quality and operation service which reflects on profitability of the fast food industry. He deployed

the model of service performance which influenced on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the fast food industry and

it was a tool of customer perception. The researcher also focused on needs and wants of customers and how will we

use supplier for enhancing operation performance. The researcher also represented that establishing customer

relationship also will give benefit to fast food firm. Due to operation efficiency operation cost of restaurant will

become low and it will affect positive in food cost and profit & loss of restaurants because restaurant will got control

on variance & wastage. The researcher studied that Customer loyalty is focused in marketing strategy. It has been

also explained that brand reputation is a key factor of customer loyalty. So, companies are focusing to explore and

develop the brands equity. It was also explained that product quality is not only retaining customer satisfaction. It is

also reputation or strength of the brand. Thus, customer satisfaction is easily estimated through brand reputation and

customer loyalty. The researcher in his article which name is ―An Examination of the Effect of Product Performance

on Brand Reputation, Satisfaction and Loyalty" (European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 27 Iss: 9) explored that brand

reputation is a key point which attract the customer and enhance the loyalty of customer. Moreover, product quality

contribution is significant for retention of brand equity. (Fred Selnes, (1993), pp.19 – 35)

The researcher studied and represented a report that improvement in service quality, service value and satisfaction

will effect on customer behavior. His study also represents service marketing in international level and showed that

how improvement and advancement will affect the service quality. He studied the behavior of North American and

Latin American. After that he observed that Latin American’s are more depended on satisfaction while North

Americans are more consequence about service quality and satisfaction. Overall American customers are more

emphasis regarding that what they are receiving service and what they are paying for it. Furthermore, they compared

that is this beneficial or not. (Michael K. Brady, Christopher J. Robertson. Joseph Cronin)

Pilkington and Chai (2008) explored the significance of product quality and services on customer satisfaction. They

also found that loyalty of customers increases if they will get the higher quality products. The researcher Bastos and

Gallego (2008), Yi, (1990), Chai et al, (2009), Bloemer,et al (1995) also explained the importance of product and

services quality in increasing the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Thongsmak (2001) studied that service attributes are more unreliable than the product. In this research he explained

the food quality, ambience besides product quality. R.D.Blackwell,P.W.Miniard,and J.F.Engel(2006) explained that

There are many attributes which are determinants to meet customer satisfaction such as product or service

performance, consumption feelings and expectations. Customer satisfaction is also linked with repeat purchases,

positive word-of-mouth recommendations, lower price sensitivity, loyalty competitive advantages and cost reduction

(R.Presbury,A.Fitzgerald,and R.Champman). The concepts of quality and performance have been identified as

determinants of satisfaction. In product-based industries, the primary determinant is product quality (Kotler, 1989),

and is defined as a product’s capability to perform its specific assignment (Kotler, 1989). For Service-based firms,

consumer perceptions of quality become the primary indicator of satisfaction (Cronin & Taylor, 1992). Consumer

perceptions of these tangible goods also contribute to overall customer satisfaction. The experiential nature of

customer satisfaction made it unique to each individual consumer (Oliver, 1993). Customer satisfaction, or

dissatisfaction, output depends on subjective perception of quality rather than objective organizational quality

standards (Greenwell, Fink, & Pastore, 2002). This means that organizations need to understand a variety of

different types of customers of their products and services to ensure a high level of perceived quality among those

different groups. The quality and customer satisfaction are linked in service-based industries while two terms are not

synonymous. Many researchers argue that they are not identical attributes but service quality has an important

relationship with customer satisfaction (Chelladurai & Chang, 2000; Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2000; Greenwell et

al, 2002; Robinson, 2006). The organization need to know about customer perception after receiving the quality

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services which he is offered to ensure the customer satisfaction. The experience or evidence shows that customer

satisfaction has a strong and positive relationship with re-purchase aim (Oliver, 1993). It is cleared that repurchasing

of same-brand products or services showed the customer loyalty (Tallis, 1988). But, Oliver (1999) in his research

argues that this definition does not show the sufficient meaning of psychological meaning of loyalty. He defines

loyalty as an intensely commitment to re-purchase the product or service consistently in the future. The team

identification as an expression of a customer deeply held psychological commitment to his team. This psychological

commitment can be raised without repeat purchases and is considered as a sign to consumer loyalty (Lee,Trail, &

Anderson,2009).

Soriano (2002) in his research explained that proposing good food and service is not a sufficient to attract and

retaining the customer while they need to provide the good value meals in a favorable ambience in a restaurants. The

study done by Bartlett and Han (2007) was based on experiences from dining-in in china. Their study was based on

the SERVQUAL model while many items did not fit within those classifications and needed to be studied further.

The other classifications that develop in expressions of customer satisfaction in the restaurants in china involved

excellent quality of dishes and price. The food and service quality builds the total experience for the consumers in

the restaurants industry. The researcher Kivela, Inbakaran and Reece (2000) who conducted the study in Hong Kong

explored that customer satisfaction attributes based on five dimensions which are first and last impressions,

atmosphere excellence, Service excellence, product excellence and feeling relaxed while eating their meal and

reservations and parking.

A research which was conducted in Spain by Soriano (2002) explained that characteristic quality of place or

atmosphere were significant (P<0.05) to customer satisfaction. Bartlett and Han (2007) conducted the research in

china; they incorporated the place or atmosphere in service quality. The research showed the influence on customer

satisfaction. They suggested in their research that hygiene, space and ambiance are critical elements for many

consumers. To manage these factors properly give the positive gain and positive perception for the point of

customer. Previously mentioned by Kim, Moreo and Yah (2004), in their research that ambience of dining corridor

had a positive relationship with customer satisfaction.

Hensley and Sulek (2007) also agree with Pun and Ho (2001) studied that customer perception may be inclined with

proper temperature, relaxed fixtures and lighting.However, there are already many researches on customer

satisfaction with the factors of product, atmosphere, service quality, behavior effect and some elements of

information technology. But, here I will do more exploring research on Hospitality services and Information

technology efficiency in fast food industry with the frame of customer satisfaction. 3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The study shows the relationship between:

a) Customer Satisfaction in Fast Food Industry

b) Information Technology & Hospitality services impact on Food Industry

The study shows the cause and effect relations between the information system & hospitality

services and their impact on customer satisfaction in fast food industry.

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3.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 3.2 As depicted in figure 3.2, customer’s loyalty intension resulted from the customer overall satisfaction with their

earlier service quality experiences. Therefore, it is testified that hospitality services are positively related to customer

satisfaction. In the present study, It is hypothesized that the customer attitude with the Information system could

have a positive influence on customer overall satisfaction with the direct sales channel and subsequently effect their

loyalty intension and in turn customer behavior such as recommended to other people, repurchasing and price

acceptance.

3.3 HYPOTHESIS

From above study, this may be hypnotized that

HO: There is a significant relationship between Information Technology, Hospitality services and Customer

satisfaction?

H1: There is no significant relationship between Information Technology, Hospitality service and Customer

Satisfaction?

Customer

Satisfaction

Information Technology

Services (ECRM, CallCenter,

SMS)

CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION

Service

quality

Hospitality Services (Product quality, Service quality, Atmosphere)

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3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

The study adopts survey research design. The customer satisfaction depends upon the dependent or independent

variable which is described in the theoretical frame work. There are different attributes like hospitality service which

have significant impact on overall hospitality while we are focusing on the information technology variable. The

focus of this research is how fast food industry can increase the level of customer satisfaction by improving the

hospitality and information technology services. The study it to be conducted using a total of hundred (n=350)

customer out of thousands customer of the KFC Pakistan in which we included the KFC Barkat too which is one of

the highest sale outlet in Pakistan. We are focusing the regular customer of KFC while we know that daily

transactions are very high in KFC Barkat market. Our regular customer range is included 3 to 5 visit in one month. I

am adopting questionnaire method to collect data of impact of information technology & hospitality services on

customer satisfaction in the fast food industry. There is lack of secondary data availability for this research.

Therefore, Primary data will be collected from customers through Customer service agent or himself by using the

questionnaire.

These will be assessed using the 31 item scale questionnaire developed for work environment. The response format

is on a 5 point Liker format of l=strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3=don’t know, 4= agree, and 5= strongly agree.

High scores indicate high impact of information technology & hospitality services in customer service industry.

Data collection will be through the operation team of 100 questionnaires. Permission has been given by the

operation manager and admin manager of the KFC Pakistan.

3.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The aims of this study is to find out the customer satisfaction level on hospitality & Information

Technology services and tendency of customer willingness to retain using the service and recommend it to others in

relation to their satisfaction level.

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Respondent Profile

Gender: Male Female

Your Accommodation: Live alone With Family With friends

Your Age: 16-19 20-25 26-35 36 and above

Your Education:

Illiterate Primary Middle

Metric Intermediate Graduation

Post Gradation Any other ___________

Profession:

Professional Business Man Student

Any other ___________

Total Household Income:

5000 or less 5,001-10,000 10,001 – 20,000

20,001 – 30,000 30,001 – 40,000 40,001 or above

Family Members:

4 or less than 4 5 - 7 8 – 10 More than 10

Contact Information:

Name _____________

Phone #_____________

Mobile #_____________

Email ID#_____________

Thank You for Your Cooperation! Muhammad Shaham Bakhat

Student of M.Phil-Management Sciences

Minhaj University, Lahore.

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Parameters

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

Ag

ree

Neith

er

ag

ree n

or

dis

ag

ree

Dis

ag

ree

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

1. Information System:

a. Newsletters for updates for customer and mailing campaigns, Social Forum,

Website are available.

b. Call Center Delivery facility is available in locality.

c. You visited any fast-food restaurants website before.

d. Wi-Fi Access is available for the customer.

e. Do you think applying E-CRM platform enhance the Brand image of fast-food

Operators.

f. Website Appearance in an E-CRM Platform is

Attractive.

g. Complain, feedback, enquiry, survey attributes are efficient in E-CRM.

h. E-CRM have Games, Music, Chat, video features are good.

i. you think limitation or development of technology affect you.

j. You like to place an order online or call center in fast food.

2. Product Quality:

a. Product is served as hot and fresh.

b. Product is tasty and flavorful as per menu.

c. Product quality and taste is same in all the Restaurant chains.

d. Product is cooked properly.

3. Service Quality:

a. The speed of order delivery is fast.

b. Customer can depend on the suggestive selling of the employee.

c. CRO respond to customer’s queries and problems patiently and politely.

d. Manager positively response to the customer complaints.

4. Atmosphere:

a. The physical facilities of the outlet are appealing.

b. The outlet does not have modern looking equipment and fixtures.

c. The employees are well dressed and groomed.

d. Overall ambiance of the outlet is appealing.

e. Menu board is easy to read and understandable.

5. Customer Satisfaction:

a. Employees are never busy to respond to the questions.

b. All product condiments like sauces, napkins, straws etc was good.

c. Employee understands customer’s language & maintain the eye contact.

d. Call Center order delivery service is available in locality.

e. Wi-Fi access speed is good and easy to configure.

f. You think that E-CRM is better than offline service.

g. Games, Music, Chat, Videos are good on Platform of E-CRM.

h. Information of Menu or promotional deal is available on the website.

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3.6 RESEARCH MODEL

The researches questions of this study are based on the previous literature review in chapter 2.I develop the

conceptual model which consists on three main attributes which are linked. A modified model is developed in the

study as shown in Figure 3.6

Hos

f

Figure 3.6: Conceptual Research Model

Source: The study

The purpose of this conceptual model is to show the relationship among hospitality & information technology

service factors, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty behavior and identify the main attributes which

we will used for improvement of customer satisfaction and loyalty. This model is used in this study to test the

perceptions of the customer due to hospitality & Information technology factors. Following are the modified

model, product & service quality, call center, online accessibility are affecting overall satisfaction level which

retain the customer for willingness to continue this service and to recommend it to others.

3.7 DESIGN OF QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaires are prepared in simple English to facilitate the respondent for their easy reading and

interpretation. I am using the facilitator with every questionnaire for convenience of respondents. The aim of the

study is not only to collect the perception of customers but it is also exploring the effect of both services in the fast

food industry. All of them consist of four parts. Part 1 shows the information technology services while Part 2 shows

the hospitality services. The questionnaire Part 4 consists on demographics which are slightly difference in

accordance with the background of the respondents. The Part 3 show the customer satisfaction which is effected due

to Part 1 or Part 2 and it is consists on overall satisfaction of the customers. The first part of the questionnaire

focuses on the information technology services dimension---Call Center, ECRM, Webpage, Wi-Fi, which are

independent variables of this research. The second part focuses on the hospitality services—product quality, service

quality, Atmosphere which are also the independent variables of this research. The third part of the questionnaire

focuses on overall customer satisfaction which is dependent variable of this research. The forth part of questionnaire

consists of demographic data, such as gender, age, education, accommodation, family member, profession of the

respondent.From Part 1 to Part 3 of the questionnaire, as suggested by Likert scale, a 5-point rating scale ranging

from 1 to 5 is used in each item as:

1 =‖The Lowest‖ to 5=‖The Highest‖

The format of a five-level Likert item is in this questionnaire is as following

1- Strongly Disagree

2- Disagree

3- Neither Agree nor Disagree

4- Agree

5- Strongly Agree

Information

Technology

&

Hospitality

Services

Customer

Satisfaction

Customer

Loyalty

Overall

Satisfaction

Level

-Retention of

service

-Repurchase

-

Recommendation

of service

-Product & service

Quality

-Callcetnter, Online

Accessibility

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3.8 THE SAMPLE

In this study, there are four groups of respondents. The sample of population of each is

Customer group: 100 respondents by randomly selecting from existing customer base of KFC Pakistan.

Call Center agent group: 50 respondents by randomly selecting from existing Call Center agents of KFC

Pakistan.

Call Center manager group: 10 respondents by randomly selecting from existing call center supervisor,

executive and managers of KFC.

Marketer group: 10 respondents by randomly selecting from existing marketing staff of KFC.

University group: 100 respondents by randomly selecting from different universities in which students or

teachers are included.

Office staff group: 30 respondents by randomly selecting from existing Head office of KFC in which

middle or top level management is included.

3.9 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

Customer group

The data was collected through face to face by using questionnaire as a measurement tool. The two

facilities were recruiting from training department for collecting data and handling the queries of customer

on support. I applied the random selection method by selecting the 100 customers who had visited in call

center in the past two months. The main purpose is to cover the survey of the customers who still have

knowledge on fast food industry performance. If the customer rejects the survey or did not complete the

survey due to any reason then we select another customer randomly again. The advantage of using

questionnaire has higher response rate than the mail or online survey. It is easier to get the data from target

population when you are using face-to-face survey.

In order to ensure all the respondents understands the content of the questionnaires and the purpose of study

is by using a very simple English and the two facilitators are also giving service to the customer if he did

not understand any question or if the customer need some more information then the facilitators provide the

information as per need of the valuable customers. Other target groups— Call center agents, managers, marketers, Universities and Office staff.

The data was collected face to face by using questionnaire as a measurement tool. The two facilities were

recruiting from training department for collecting data and handling the queries of customer on support. I

applied the randomly selection method. Researcher randomly selected 50 KFC existing Call Center agents,

10 Call center managers, 10 marketer staff of KFC Marketing Department, 100 Universities group in which

include the teaching staff or students and 30 head office staff of KFC in which include the middle or top

level management. As the respondents are the existing customers of KFC .So, they gave the accurately and

easily information which may require for data examination purpose.The facilitator’s guides the respondents

that this data will be used for academic research purpose and they did not used for commercial purpose.

They also guide the respondents that your contact information will be kept in strictly confidential.

3.10 DATA ANALYSIS METHOD

As recommended by Liker Scale model, it is easy for respondent/audience to understand the meaning of 5-

point scale method when we will present the results of the research.

We are using computer software SPSS v16.0 for examining the data which we get from different groups.

This software is used to analyses the primary data collected in this research.

3.11 LIMITATION

Only 300 numbers of samples were collected from different target groups due to limited time and

resources. Secondly, we collected the data from fast food regular customers. So, there is no need for

collecting the data from competitors of different fast food industries because we are exploring the

relationship between customer satisfaction and Information technology & Hospitality services.

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As questionnaire method tool is used, if we used too many questions is questionnaire, customer may feel

bore due to time consuming. So, we used only those questions which customers have perception regarding

Information technology and Hospitality services.

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

There were total 350 questionnaires distributed in six target sample groups in this research. Their

distribution and response rate are stated below:

Target Sample Group Questionnaire

Method Number of

Questionnaire

Conducted

Number of

Questionnaires

Returned

Response

Rate

Customers Face-to-Face 120 100 83.30%

Call Center Agents Face-to-Face 50 50 100%

Managers/Supervisors Face-to-Face 10 10 100%

Marketers Face-to-Face 10 10 100%

Head office Staff Face-to-Face 35 30 85.70%

University Staff Face-to-Face 125 100 80% Figure 4-0: Questionnaire distribution and response rate

The primary data of the completed questionnaires are re-coded in the 1-5 scale during input and exterminated

according to the research questions by using descriptive statics, regression and multiple regressions. The analysis

results which we received after re-coded all information which we get through questionnaires are illustrated below.

4.1 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The customer satisfaction level in the fast food industry can be measured by calculating the mean

scores of ―Overall Satisfaction‖, ―Information technology and hospitality services from the data

collected from the customers of fast food industry. The results are following:

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

IT Services Hospitality Services Customer Satisfaction

N Valid 300 300 300

Missing 0 0 0

Mean 43.1200 54.0467 32.8167

Std. Deviation 6.24357 9.28792 6.21222

Figure 4-1: Customer Satisfaction Scores

The mean score of information technology services is 43.1 which show the significant impact on

customer satisfaction. It also shows that it is very difficult to ignore the influence of information

system in service quality of any fast food restaurants. The Hospitality services mean score is 54.0

which are more effective than information technology services on the customer satisfaction. The

hospitality services are directly influence the customer but impact of information technology is also

not ignorable. The combinations of both services are very important for customer satisfaction. The

customer satisfaction means score is 32.8 which also show the significant impac t on perceived

service from the fast food outlet.

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4.2 RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION, INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY AND HOSPITALITY SERVICES

From literature review in chapter 2, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are closely related to

each other due to impact of Information technology and hospitality services. We are testing this

relationship in the case of fast food industry, So we conducted the correlation analysis among

―Overall Satisfaction‖, ―Information technology services ― and ―hospitality services‖ by data

collected from customers and results are as follows:

Correlations

IT Services

Hospitality

Services

Customer

Satisfaction

IT Services Pearson Correlation 1 .460** .389

**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000

N 300 300 300

Hospitality Services Pearson Correlation .460** 1 .653

**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000

N 300 300 300

Customer Satisfaction Pearson Correlation .389** .653

** 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000

N 300 300 300

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Figure 4-2: Correlation among customer satisfaction, Information technology services and hospitality services

In the above figure, the correlation analysis result showed the correlations are 0.8 or greater indicate

strong positive linear relationship among them. If the customer satisfaction score is high then

hospitality services and information technology services will be high too.

To further study whether customer satisfaction is reflect due to information technology services and

hospitality services in fast food industry, a regression analysis is conducted for dependent variable

with independent variables.

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1) Functional relationship between “Information Technology Services” and “Overall

Satisfaction‖

ANOVAb

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 1742.450 1 1742.450 53.004 .000a

Residual 9796.466 298 32.874

Total 11538.917 299

a. Predictors: (Constant), it_services

b. Dependent Variable: Customer_Satisfaction

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig. B Std. Error Beta

1 (Constant) 16.145 2.314 6.977 .000

it_services .387 .053 .389 7.280 .000

a. Dependent Variable: Customer_Satisfaction

Figure 4-2-1 : Coefficient of Information technology services on Customer satisfaction

From the analysis result in above figure, the linear regression model is :

Customer Satisfaction = 16.145 + .387 Information technology services

In the model summary, both the Multiple R (.389) and R2 statistic(.151) with value near 1 indicate it is a good fit

model. The model as a whole is also significant with great F-statistics(53.00) and Sig.F<0.01.Moreover,the value of

each parameter is proved to be significant with t-ratio being large in absolute value and Sig. <0.01.Therefore,we are

confident that there is a positive relationship that information technology services can be expected by customer

satisfaction by the linear regression model.

Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .389a .151 .148 5.73359

a. Predictors: (Constant), it services

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2) Functional relationship between “Hospitality Services” and “Overall Satisfaction”

Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .653a .426 .424 4.71305

a. Predictors: (Constant), Hospitality_services

ANOVAb


1 Regression 4919.504 1 4919.504 221.472 .000a

Residual 6619.413 298 22.213

Total 11538.917 299

a. Predictors: (Constant), Hospitality_services


Coefficientsa

Model


Standardized

Coefficients


1 (Constant) 9.213 1.609 5.725 .000

Hospitality_services .437 .029 .653 14.882 .000


Figure 4-2-2: Coefficient of Hospitality services on Customer satisfaction

From the analysis results in above figure, The linear regression model is :

Customer Satisfaction = 9.213 + .437 Hospitality Services

In the model summary, both the multiple R(.653) and R2 statistic (.426) with value near to 1 indicate it is a good fit

model. The model as a whole is also significant with great F-statistics(221.472) and Sig.F <0.01.Besides,the value of

each parameter is ascertained to be significant with t-ratio being large in absolute value and Sig.<0.01.So,we are

confident that there is a positive relationship in hospitality services can be projected by customer satisfaction by the

linear regression model.

Both the models are helpful to the literature review in chapter 2.

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4.3 HOSPITALITY & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ATTRIBUTES PERFORMANCE

The mean scores of each hospitality & Information system attributes given by respondents from target sample

groups showed the hospitality services perception of customer towards the customer satisfaction of fast food

industry in regard to the three dimensions suggested.

The findings are illustrated in the figure below:

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Figure 4-3 : Hospitality & Information Technology Attributes Performance

In the above figure show’s the all service attributes impact on the customer satisfaction. The mean score of one

attribute is high (4.54)Call center delivery and other attribute is Newsletter which has mean score 4.53.The product

quality is same in all other outlet of same fast food chain is also has significant impact which is 4.11.If we check the

low performance impact on the customer satisfaction then two attribute mean score is very low which are physical

facility 3.99 and other attribute is modern looking which has mean score 3.80.The remaining attributes have impact

on customer satisfaction whit in the high and low mean score of above mentioned.

4.4 HOSPITALITY & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IMPACT ON OVERALL

SATISFACTION

Although the mean scores of each hospitality & information technology services attributes already pinpoint the

efficient impact on customer satisfaction. It is more significant to decide which service attributes are backing more

on customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is the dependent variable while Hospitality & Information technology service is the

independent variable and we compare with the help of multiple regression analysis and results are:

SELECTION OF REGRESSION MODEL

Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .660a .436 .432 4.68040

a. Predictors: (Constant), it_services, Hospitality_services

ANOVAb


1 Regression 5032.799 2 2516.400 114.872 .000a

Residual 6506.117 297 21.906

Total 11538.917 299

a. Predictors: (Constant), it_services, Hospitality_services

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ANOVA

b


1 Regression 5032.799 2 2516.400 114.872 .000a

Residual 6506.117 297 21.906

Total 11538.917 299


Coefficientsa

Model


Standardized

Coefficients


1 (Constant) 6.282 2.053 3.060 .002

Hospitality_services .402 .033 .602 12.256 .000

it_services .111 .049 .112 2.274 .024


Figure 4-4: Regression Model-Services attributes as independent variables

From the analysis results in above figure, The multiple regression model is :

Customer Satisfaction = 6.282 + .402 + .111 Hospitality & Information Services

In the model summary, both the multiple R(.660) and R2 statistic (.436) with value near to 1 indicate it is a good fit

model. The model as a whole is also significant with great F-statistics(114.872) and Sig.F <0.01.Besides,the value of

each parameter is ascertained to be significant with t-ratio being large in absolute value and Sig.<0.01.So,we are

confident that there is a positive relationship in hospitality & information technology services can be projected by

customer satisfaction by the multiple regression analysis model. Multiple regression models analysis are helpful to

the literature review in chapter 2.

ATTRIBUTES PERFORMANCE AND IMPACT

The multiple regression analysis with ―Overall Satisfaction‖ is the dependent variable while Hospitality &

Information system services are the independent variables collects the following result:

Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .804a .646 .617 3.84629

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Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .804a .646 .617 3.84629

a. Predictors: (Constant), Menue Board easy to Read, CallCenter

Delivery, Cooked Properly, WiFi Availability, Limitation of Technology,

Hot & Fresh, Website, Physical Facilities, Well Dressed & Groomed,

ECRM-Brand Image, Attributes Efficient, Newsletters, Tasty &

Flavorable, Online Order, Website Appearance-ECRM,

Game,Music,Chat,Video, Modren Looking, CRO Respond, Overall

Ambiance, Speed of Order, Quality Same, Manager Positively,

Suggestive Selling

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized

Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig.

95% Confidence Interval

for B

B Std. Error Beta

Lower

Bound

Upper

Bound

1 (Constant) .356 2.186 .163 .871 -3.948 4.660

Newsletters -.293 .420 -.032 -.698 .486 -1.121 .534

CallCenter Delivery .030 .080 .014 .371 .711 -.128 .188

Website .016 .331 .002 .050 .960 -.635 .668

WiFi Availability -.200 .335 -.031 -.596 .551 -.860 .460

ECRM-Brand Image .827 .377 .100 2.193 .029 .085 1.570

Website Appearance-

ECRM -.765 .388 -.101 -1.973 .049 -1.528 -.002

Attributes Efficient .506 .379 .065 1.334 .183 -.241 1.252

Game,Music,Chat,Video .531 .389 .069 1.365 .173 -.234 1.296

Limitation of

Technology .453 .387 .055 1.171 .243 -.309 1.216

Online Order .030 .379 .004 .080 .936 -.716 .776

Hot & Fresh -.637 .349 -.087 -1.823 .069 -1.325 .051

Tasty & Flavorable .963 .380 .142 2.534 .012 .215 1.710

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Quality Same -.371 .387 -.057 -.959 .338 -1.133 .390

Cooked Properly -.125 .077 -.061 -1.622 .106 -.276 .027

Speed of Order .002 .398 .000 .004 .997 -.782 .785

Suggestive Selling .960 .411 .155 2.335 .020 .151 1.769

CRO Respond 1.645 .403 .254 4.077 .000 .851 2.439

Manager Positively -1.614 .418 -.254 -3.858 .000 -2.438 -.791

Physical Facilities .698 .349 .109 2.002 .046 .012 1.384

Modren Looking 1.066 .299 .202 3.563 .000 .477 1.654

Well Dressed &

Groomed -.011 .402 -.002 -.028 .978 -.803 .781

Overall Ambiance 2.188 .435 .278 5.035 .000 1.333 3.044

Menue Board easy to

Read 1.957 .366 .259 5.352 .000 1.237 2.676


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Figure 4-4-1 Regression Model-All Service Attributes

From the analysis results in above figure, The multiple regression model is :

Customer Satisfaction = .356 + X1+X2+X3,………Xz Hospitality & Information Services

In the model summary, both the multiple R (.804) and R2 statistic (.646) with value near to 1 indicate it is a good fit

model. The model as a whole is also significant with great F-statistics (21.912) and Sig.F <0.01. Besides, the value

of each parameter is ascertained to be significant with t-ratio being large in absolute value and each 95% confidence

interval does not include value 0 ,it can be conclude that there is a significance linear dependency of customer

satisfaction on these attributes call center delivery, newsletter, same product taste and Sig.<0.01. So, we are

confident that there is a positive relationship in hospitality & information technology services and it can be projected

by customer satisfaction by the multiple regression analysis models.

Multiple regression models analysis are helpful to the literature review in chapter 2.

4.5 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

The demographic information of the respondents in customer group, call center agent group, Supervisor/manager

group, university group, Head office staff groups are display in the following charts.

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5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 SUMMARY OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

Customer satisfaction is the important goal in fast food industry. The services like information technology and

hospitality are the main attributes which reflects in overall satisfaction of the valuable customer. The analysis results

prove that Information technology and hospitality services are positively relate with customer satisfaction in the fast

food industry while customer satisfaction reflects in term of repurchasing, retention of customer and loyalty which

practically are presented by information technology and hospitality services. Meanwhile, the questionnaire results

show that maximum respondents of logical target groups think that the Information technology and hospitality

services are interconnect with customer satisfaction and they affect the customer attitude in the positive manner.

This emphasis the significance of Information technology and hospitality services to improve the customer

satisfaction while the elements are online Call Center delivery, webpages, product quality, service quality,

atmosphere in the outlets give the preference zone to the customer in the fast food industry.

According to the findings, the information technology services is not only unable to achieve the desired satisfaction

level which is the demand of the customer and it is very difficult to ignore the hospitality services. However, we

need to focus the priorities for action which affect the level of satisfaction in the fast food industry.

The multiple regression results shows the hospitality & information technology attributes which are call center

delivery, newsletters, same product taste that affecting overall satisfaction at a statistically significant level.

So, Improvement in Information technology and hospitality services attributes can enhance level of satisfaction

towards customer satisfaction and this retains the customer, enhance the re-purchasing and show up in customer

loyalty.

Concerning the hospitality and information technology services the perception in the different institute /target

groups which shows the same results that information technology and hospitality services are impacting on the level

of customer satisfaction. It proves that customer groups and other groups not have any different point of view in

understanding the importance of these attributes. In addition, the difference in perception of performance on the

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significance of service attributes will reflect the service standards gap which the customer wants and received .The

enhancement or improvement of hospitality services will significantly reflect in the level of customer satisfaction

but it is very difficult to ignore the importance of information system in the level of customer satisfaction.

The low impact attribute is’ physical facility’ which mean was 3.99. Basically, this was the question in which we

ask the customer regarding physical appearance of the outlet. The low impacts attribute which mean were 3.80

which was regarding equipment and fixtures of the outlet. The fixture is looking as per latest standard or if we

compare to other outlet furniture then our outlet furniture not look like old one. These attributes have positive

relationship with customer satisfaction. If fast food chain management focus on these low contributing attributes and

try to enhance the contribution of these attributes then it will reflects the level of customer satisfaction. Meanwhile,

the management needs to focus on main impact attributes which are contributing more in the customer satisfaction

for betterment or improvement of service quality of the fast food outlet.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the above survey research, it is presented that there are four areas for fast food chain to navigate

up actions to increase its customer satisfaction level :(1) Call Center ,(2)Newsletters, mailing campaigns, Social

forum, website Updates, (3) Physical facilities of the outlet, (4)Modern looking equipment and fixtures. In this

regard, I have following recommendations for fast food chain which will maximize the satisfaction level of

customers.

Improvement of Call Center

The call center delivery attribute has high impact on the customer satisfaction if we compare to other

attributes. We improve this attribute more, and then it will definitely affect more on the level of customer

satisfaction. The average number of rings is 2 or 3 in all fast food chains if we compare in the local or international

fast food chain which is competing in the market, but our outlet call center hotline does not have any ring tone after

connection. There is 1 -2 second silence and after that Call is answered by Integrated Voice Response (IVR). It is

found that before the first menu choice, they have welcome message and after that they have existing promotional

message if we add up together, the waiting time before the first menu choice accessible is around 8-10 seconds. We

have two ways to shorten the waiting time. First, if we would simplify the welcome message of IVR.The existing

message is before operation starts in call center is ―Welcome to KFC Home Delivery Services, Our Home Delivery

Timings are 11Am to 2AM‖ and after that Promotional message is started. The customer normally listen this IVR if

they call in call center before or after operation starts. The normal IVR message is ―Thank You for Calling KFC

Customer Services, Press 1 for Placing a delivery order, and Press 2 for Order status or Press three for Order

information‖ which customer listens in the process of home delivery of any product. It can be shorten to ―Welcome

to KFC Home Delivery Services‖ and call transfer to agent for taking a home delivery order. Secondly, Promotional

message can be put as another menu choice later for customer selection rather than putting in the first message of

IVR.

Average Speed of answer (ASA) means the total time in queue divided by the total number of calls answered by the

agents in the call center. Average Speed of answer is a common service level measurement in queue time. The

―Office of the Telecommunications Authority ‖(OFTA) is commonly used Average Speed of Answer standard is

one where not more than 20% calls wait for more than 30 seconds before reaching a call center operator. Fast food

chain needs to achieve this standard for incoming calls, wait less than 30 seconds before reaching a call center

operator. The management need to focus on ASA performance in detail by daily basis and related to operation

efficiencies.

Average speed of answer performance develop the operation efficiencies of average queue time, average talk time,

average handle time and average hold time. The holding time is also one element which has negative effect on the

customer. So, the fast food chain needs to minimize the holding time during operation or during taking a home

delivery call from the customers. Long hold time can point out that call center agent do not have information

regarding the matter which is demanding by the customers. For example, Customer wants to submit his complain

regarding products then agent not have proper information how to handle this product related complain. The fast

food chain have separate Customer service department which is located at another building. The agent guides the

customer that Please call this number for submitting the complaint regarding product or other things. The best

practice is that if they shift the customer service department in call center which can effect positively on the

customer. The reduction in holding time will be started. Secondly, the information is not integrated. Some

information is organized by procedures and is listed in proper way while other information is available in the form

of questions and answers which makes the search of information more difficult. The holding time increase due to

this effect. The management needs to make centralize procedure of call center and all information would be

available in one common way which will be helpful for the agents for minimizing the holding time.

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Newsletters, Mailing Campaigns, Social Forum, Website for Updates

The newsletter Update attribute has high impact on the customer satisfaction if we compare it with other attributes.

We improve this attribute more definitely; it will affect more on the level of customer satisfaction. Search engine

optimizer (SEO) is the key position in the online marketing in which they use this tool for publishing any product or

brand in the national level or international level. They talk on different social media forums regarding any product or

promotion. They discuss the different thing which creates the awareness of the product in the customer’s mind. The

different firms have post of SEO because now world is rapidly going on the online marketing. People like to discuss

on Facebook, twitter or YouTube regarding any new things. The marketers now focus on online social media rather

than traditional marketing. The webpage of fast food chain is attractive if we compare to other fast food chain in

locality but management needs to enhance webpage more like online home delivery service, home delivery order

through email or SMS.The management needs to systemized the complaint handling system like real time complain

handing through online system, E-CRM, telephone or on spot call like hotline.

The page rank checker tools are available on the internet which gives the overview of webmaster regarding ranking

of webpage. The fast food chain needs to improve more his webpage .The online complain form, online delivery

form, online interesting gift paid quizzes are the add-on features which make more attractive webpage. If the

interaction of customer increases in fast food chain due to add on website, then, it will reflect in the end like

increasing the level of customer satisfaction. The customer feels good if he founds easily new promotions of any

product or launching of new product information on the internet.

Some firms also share the information of profit & loss of the firm or some firms also share the contact information

of Director’s for convenience of the valuable customers. These are the different techniques which are using by

multiple firms for getting trust of the customers. The main element in this attribute is that to facilitate the customer

which influences the satisfaction level of the customers. The newsletter name was ―InFocus‖ which is using in the

fast food chain needs more improvement because they are highlighting only internal employees in this newsletter.

Furthermore, if the fast food chain involve the regular customers then it will affect more in the valued customers

market.

Physical Facility & Up-to-date Fixture

The physical facility & modern looking fitting attributes have low impact on the customer satisfaction if we compare

it with other attributes. If, we improve these attributes definitely; it will affect more on the level of customer

satisfaction. The equipment’s, interiors, furniture and fixtures, signage’s, menu boards are included in these

attributes. The furniture of restaurants would be up to date if we compare it with the other fast food outlets in the

market. The management needs to improve these attributes which positively affect the customer it will gradually

improve the satisfaction level of the customer. There are different international standards available for furniture and

fixtures as per restaurant needs like American Standard of fixtures. The basic and foremost thing which attracts the

customer is the theme which demonstrates the food and its quality automatically in the mind of customer. Like KFC

the theme is of its historical background that how the crispy chicken introduced and what type of recepy KFC is

using. The cool and pleasant environment produced by the ACs gives a customer much more relaxation that he will

enjoy its food in a great atmosphere. Customer satisfaction can be highly achieved by the surroundings and the

facilities which we can give them through ACs, Equipment, well decorated interiors, signage’s, menus etc. Up-to-

date fixture means that the sitting sofas or chairs were up to the customer standards and also very much comfortable

so that the customers enjoys the whole atmosphere and it will increase his satisfaction level too. And this is one of

the factors which can be very helpful in retaining the customer. The music plays also a vital role in the relaxation of

the customer and also gets the attraction as well as high level of satisfaction.

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