Service quality and customer loyalty in halal ethnic restaurants amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a study of halal Uzbekistan restaurants in South Korea

Figures & data

Figure 1. The proposed model.

Table 1. Demographic information.

Variable	Category	n	%
Gender	Male	164	72.2
	Female	63	27.8
Age (Mean: 25)	18-24 years old	104	45.8
	25-29 years old	79	34.8
	30-34 years old	35	15.4
	35-39 years old	7	3.1
	40-45 years old	2	.9
Marital status	Single	160	70.5
	Married	60	26.4
	Other	7	3.1
Education	High school or less	6	2.6
	Associate degree	3	1.3
	Bachelor’s degree	126	55.5
	Post-graduate degree	92	40.5
Occupation	Full-time	28	12.3
	Part-time	39	17.2
	Self-employment	10	4.4
	Unemployed	3	1.3
	Student	145	63.9
	Other	2	.9
First visit	No, I visited several times	203	89.4
	Yes, it was my first visit.	24	10.6
Types of the restaurant	Fast food	15	6.6
	Fast causal	15	6.6
	Premium casual	25	11.0
	Family style	73	32.2
	Fine dining	92	40.5
	Other	7	3.1
Companion	1	19	8.4
	2	68	30.0
	3	69	30.4
	4	39	17.2
	5	32	14.1
Religion:	Yes	221	97.4
Muslim	No	6	2.6
Promotional	Yes	55	24.2
Coupon usage	No	172	75.8

Table 2. Exploratory factor analysis.

	Item	Factor loadings	Cronbach alpha
Obligatory safety (COVID-19 safety)	The restaurant checks customers’ QR codes.	.86	.797
	The restaurant checks customers’ temperature.	.83
	The restaurant controls the distance between customers.	.67
Employee quality	Employees provide prompt and quick service.	.83	.802
	Employees make me feel comfortable in dealing with them.	.81
	Employees are kind and patient while serving customers.	.68
Ambience	The restaurant has an attractive interior design and decor.	.79	.770
	Background music is pleasant.	.73
	Lighting creates a comfortable atmosphere.	.73
Cleanliness	The restaurant offers hand sanitizers for guests.	.82	.666
	The dining areas are thoroughly clean.	.73
Food quality	The restaurant offers halal dishes.	.88	.678
	The restaurant offers fresh food.	.67
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin(KMO) = 0.876, Bartlett’s test of sphericity test (p < 0.001) Chi-square = 1176.015, df = 78
Satisfaction	I am satisfied with the restaurant.	.84	.835
	Overall, I am pleased with the food and services of the restaurant.	.83
	Purchasing services from the restaurant is usually a satisfying experience.	.81
	My feelings toward the restaurant’s services can be said as satisfied.	.79
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin(KMO) = 0.809, Bartlett’s test of sphericity test (p < 0.001) Chi-square = 335.511, df = 6
Loyalty	I will visit the Halal restaurant when eating out in the future.	.90	.827
	I will regularly visit to the Halal restaurant when eating out in the future.	.87
	I will recommend the Halal restaurant to my family and friends.	.82
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin(KMO) = 0.694, Bartlett’s test of sphericity test (p < 0.001) Chi-square = 273.321, df = 3

Table 3. The results of confirmatory factor analysis.

	Item	Item source	Standardized loading
Obligatory safety (COVID-19 safety)	The restaurant checks customers’ QR codes	Han & Ryu, 2009; Ryu et al., 2012; Canny, 2013; Zeithaml et al., 1996	.71
	The restaurant checks customers’ temperature		.77
	The restaurant controls the distance between customers		.78
Employee quality	Employees provide prompt and quick service		.68
	Employees make me feel comfortable in dealing with them		.81
	Employees are kind and patient while serving customers		.79
Ambience	The restaurant has an attractive interior design and decor		.73
	Background music is pleasant		.66
	Lighting creates a comfortable atmosphere		.80
Cleanliness	The restaurant offers hand sanitizers for guests		.59
	The dining areas are thoroughly clean		.84
Food quality	The restaurant offers halal dishes		.69
	The restaurant offers fresh food		.75
Satisfaction	I am satisfied with the restaurant	Oliver, 1997; Shokhsanam & Ahn, 2021	.74
	Overall, I am pleased with the food and services of the  restaurant		.77
	Purchasing services from the restaurant is usually  a satisfying experience		.78
	My feelings toward the restaurant’s services can be said as satisfied		.70
Loyalty	I will visit the Halal restaurant when eating out  in the future	Oliver, 1997; Shokhsanam & Ahn, 2021	.86
	I will regularly visit to the Halal restaurant when eating  out in the future		.69
	I will recommend the Halal restaurant to my family and  friends		.82

Table 4. Discriminant validity and model fits of the CFA.

	No. of items	Mean (Std dev.)	CR	AVE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1: Obligatory safety (COVID-19 safety)	3	3.36 (.95)	.797	.568	.754^a
2: Employee	3	3.72 (.77)	781	.545	.260 ^b	.738
3: Ambience	3	3.56 (.79)	.771	.527	.358	.267	.726
4: Cleanliness	2	3.77 (.75)	.685	.527	.304	.331	.366	.726
5: Food quality	2	4.10 (.76)	.681	.519	.278	.324	.312	.366	.720
6: Satisfaction	4	3.77 (.71)	.836	.560	.252	.315	.323	.438	.374	.748
7: Loyalty	3	3.95 (.78)	.835	.629	.092	.324	.279	.524	.407	.454	.793

Goodness-of-fit statistics.

Note: χ2 (149) = 256.952, p < .001 χ2 /df = 1.725; GFI =.891; CFI = .950; TLI = .937; RMSEA = .057; SRMR = .053.

CR: Composite reliability.

^a The square root of AVE values along the diagonal;.

^b Correlations  .

Figure 2. The path coefficients of the proposed model.

Table 5. The SEM results.

				Coefficient	z	Hypothesis
H1	Obligatory safety (COVID-19 safety)	→	Satisfaction	−0.16*	−2.15	Not support
H2	Employee	→	Satisfaction	0.10	0.95	Not support
H3	Ambience	→	Satisfaction	0.06	0.56	Not support
H4	Cleanliness	→	Satisfaction	0.55***	4.53	Supported
H5	Food quality	→	Satisfaction	0.40**	2.93	Supported
H6	Satisfaction	→	Loyalty	0.84***	25.54	Supported

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