The effect of food quality and dining environment in customer satisfaction by Tan Wen Hao 0319923

1. Name: Tan Wen Hao
Student ID: 0319923
Project Title: Research Proposal (Food consumption)
Module: Food and Culture (CLS60203/ARC3223)
Course: Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture
Instructor: Mr. Nicholas Ng

2. Research topic: The effect of food quality and dining environment in customer
satisfaction
Research question: How does the quality of food as perceived by the consumers
affects their perception on dining environment?
A restaurant’s atmosphere plays a major role in bringing up the value of the
restaurant itself, but often the catering industry misses the bull’s eye and solely
putting its focus onto the atmosphere, neglecting the importance of the food
quality. Food should always be in the spotlight, as that is the basic principle of an
eatery: to serve consumers with quality food at a good value. More and more
international chain has been skyrocketing throughout the years and less
attention was given to local independent businesses. However, often the
‘international-brand’ trend dies out soon and reviews stating the bad quality
slowly appears. Furthermore, under the influence of social medias such as
snapchat and instagram, the food industry in Malaysia can be seen diverting its
focus to the atmosphere of the restaurant or making their food more
‘instragrammable’- more photogenic or to be eye-catching to be exact. Slowly
identical eatery can be seen everywhere and such kind of contagious and
stimulus diffusion should not be spreaded out in the F&B industry.
While food quality stands only one out of nine other factors (Pricing, service,
etc.) in customer satisfaction, the proposed paper serves to identify the major
influencing factor (food quality or dining environment) among consumers
towards their prefered eateries and determine factors that influence return
patronage.
In order to conduct the research, on-site interviews and experiment will be
used as the main channels for data collection. 10 experimental objects
(consumers from all walks of life) are to be visiting two oppositional F&B
businesses, one with pleasant environment but bad food quality, the other with
average environment but good food quality. These two factors are justified
through several online reviews and ratings of the to-be-visited oppositional
eateries. The perception of food quality and atmosphere can be subjective,
therefore the definition of both objects of study will therefore be further
interpreted as: “the quality characteristics of food ranging from taste,
presentation (color, texture, arrangement) and consistency” for food quality and
“the certain mood or disposition that a dining space creates or implies, often
effects produced by decoration, furnishings, or layout” for atmosphere. On-spot
interviews will be conducted simultaneously during site visit to record consumer
experience and satisfaction. Besides, online survey will also be done for
additional data collections, they will be mostly of hypothetical situation
questions, here realiable statistics and figures gathered will help determinating
the results and analyze the factors of customer satisfaction recorded during site
visit. The results and paper will be in a form of pictured short story with
infographics representing the datas.

3. In “perceptions of food quality and dining environment in schools” by Joanne
M. Sulek Rhonda l. Hensley, it is found that ‘food, prepared the way customers
enjoy it”, can lure the customer back for second visits, but preliminary the author
set the location of the experiment to be in a sit-down restaurant in “school”,
meaning that the target group is inadvertently fixed and the outcome is therefore
addressing only to the students and school authority. However, this proposed
paper is catered to all walks of life but in a Malaysian context. In “the effect of
restaurant attributes on customers’ expectations and experiences in formal full
service restaurants in Port Elizabeth, South Africa” by O. Mhlanga z. Hattingh, the
paper states the importance of each factors in customer satisfaction and their
significant relationship with customers’ expectations and experiences, while this
proposed paper takes on a similar approach but specifically narrow down the
factors to food quality and dining atmosphere.
The proposed paper serves as a guide of highlighting the current market trend
and its significant relationship with the consumers. It is definitely necessary to
bring the spotlight back to what the cosumer thinks the ultimate protagonist.
Afterall, answering to the crowd’s need is the utmost task one should focus and
in this case to understand priorities of factors that affecting customer
satisfaction.”
The outcome of the study can function as a valuable managerial and operation
development tool, affording shop owners to improve their competitiveness and
suggest priorities in improving their business. Besides, the proposed paper can
also be beneficial for future scholar as side material in finding out future trends
and market of the food industry. Improving the industry and placing them back
in the right track suggests higher revenue of the eateries and overall the rise in
economical value of the industry itself. The ultimate goal is to bring the trend to
where it should be and where it can be, therefore the question is “a good hidden
bistro with a killer menu” or “just another cafe featured in instagram”?
References:
1. O. Mhlanga, Z. Hattingh (2014). The effect of restaurant attributes on
customers’ expectations and experiences in formal full service restaurants in
Port Elizabeth, South Africa [Abstract]. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and
Leisure Vol. 3 (1). Retrieved May 2, 2017.
2. Sulek, J. M., & Hensley, R. L. (2004). The Relative Importance of Food,
Atmosphere, and Fairness of Wait: The Case of a Full-service Restaurant. Cornell
Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly,45(3), 235-247. Retrieved May 3,
2017.
3. Brown, N., Gilmore, S., & Dana, J. (1995). Perceptions of food quality and dining
environment in schools:. Journal of the American Dietetic Association,95(9).
Retrieved May 3, 2017.
4. Online, T. S. (2016, September 19). Insight into current and upcoming food
trends - Community. Retrieved May 5, 2017, from
http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2016/09/20/insight-into-
current-and-upcoming-food-trends-company-shares-results-of-its-research-
with-hotel-part/