Determinants of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in fast-food restaurants among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of a new construct, namely COVID-19 safety, on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the context of fast-food restaurants (FFRs), while accounting for the effect of service quality, perceived value, and food quality. Using an online questionnaire, data was collected from 219 FFR customers. A series of confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to demonstrate the construct validity of this study variables. This study proposed and examined three conceptual models. To test the hypotheses of the three models, structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. This study shows that compliance with COVID-19 safety measures is a key determinant of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the fast-food industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, the results reveal that when simultaneously including service quality, perceived value, COVID-19 safety, and food quality as predictors of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, only COVID-19 safety and food quality are significant predictors. Managers, owners, and employees of FFRs need to comply with COVID-19 safety measures and improve food quality in order to enhance customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions toward their restaurants. This seminal study examines the determinants of fast-food customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study proposes and validates a new construct for COVID-19 safety in the FFRs.

Keywords:

• Behavioral intentions
• COVID-19 safety
• customer satisfaction
• fast food restaurants
• food quality
• service quality

Notes

1 The AED is the currency abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates dirham.

2 We also tested more comprehensive models in which we controlled for all of the following variables age, gender, nationality, income, education, food preference, and type of FFR in the three proposed models of this study. None of these controlled variables emerged as a significant variable, and hence we did not include them in the reported results.

We also conducted regression analysis that includes interactions among each of the independent variables (the dimensions) of our study and the COVID-19 constructs. The regression results did not reveal any significant interaction between the independent variables of our study and the COVID-19 constructs.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Khaldoun I. Ababneh

Khaldoun I. Ababneh is a Professor of Management at the American University in Dubai, UAE. He received his Ph.D. from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 2008. Dr. Ababneh’s primary research interests lie in the areas of job applicant reactions toward selection procedures and selection decisions, employees’ turnover, organizational citizenship behavior, employees’ psychological contracts, and the influence of an organization’s human resources practices (e.g., recruitment, selection, training, compensation) on organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Dr. Ababneh has published in well-known journals such as Journal of Business and Psychology, Personnel Review Journal, International Journal of Human Resource Management. Dr. Ababneh has presented research papers at international conferences including: the Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference, Academy of Management Conference, and Canadian Industrial Relations Association Conference. He also has served as a reviewer for a number of journals and conferences including: The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Personnel Review Journal, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference. Eurasia Business and Economics Society conference. Dr. Ababneh is a member of the Academy of Management.

Subramaniam Ponnaiyan

Subramaniam Ponnaiyan is an associate professor of decision sciences at American University in Dubai. Previously, he worked at the University of North Texas and KSR College of Technology. He received his bachelor’s degree in production engineering from Marathwada University, his MBA in management science from the University of Madras, his master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and his doctorate in management science from the University of North Texas. He published articles in the International Journal of Production Research, Quality Management Journal, International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education, and International Journal of Operations and Quantitative Management. He also published articles in the conference proceedings of the Decision Sciences Institute. His research interests focus on supply chain management, inventory management, maintenance management, service quality, and vehicle routing.

Ahmed R. ElMelegy

Ahmed R. ElMelegy is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Head of the Business Administration Department at Gulf University for Science and Technology. He holds a B.Sc. in Construction Engineering from Ain Shams University in 1995, an MBA with a specialization in Operations Management from the American University in Cairo in 2002, and a PhD. in Management Sciences with a specialization in Operations Management from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2010. His research focuses on service management, e-Services, technology management, scheduling algorithms, and Queuing Models.

Victor Prybutok

Victor R. Prybutok is a Regents Professor of Decision Sciences in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, and Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School at the University of North Texas. He received, from Drexel University, his B.S. with High Honors in 1974, a M.S. in Bio-Mathematics in 1976, a M.S. in Environmental Health in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Analysis and Applied Statistics in 1984. Dr. Prybutok is an American Society for Quality certified quality engineer, certified quality auditor, certified manager of quality/organizational excellence, and an accredited professional statistician (PSTAT®) by the American Statistical Association. He has authored over 200 journal articles, more than 300 conference presentations/proceedings, and several book chapters. Awards he received include the 2015 Federation of Business Disciplines Outstanding Educator Award, South West Decision Sciences Institute Outstanding Educator Award, the 2017 American Society for Quality Gryna Award for coauthoring a journal article published in Quality Management Journal, the 2018 Decision Sciences Institute Lifetime Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2020 Southwest Decision Sciences Institute Distinguished Service Award.