Understanding Customers’ Actual Purchase Behavior and the Role of Service Quality Perceptions in Quick-Service Restaurants

Abstract

[eng] The global growth of the quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector over the past few decades has led it to its emergence as a prominent sector within the restaurant industry and the broader service industry. The expansion of the QSR business model has contributed to the creation of numerous jobs and influenced the dietary habits of society, thus attracting the attention of several scholars, with greater emphasis being placed on it over the past decade. This dissertation contributes to the existing body of research on this topic, with a particular focus on investigating the drivers of customers’ actual purchase behavior, which has been scarce studied in the QSR context.

The thesis commences with an integrative review of the extant knowledge regarding the concept of service quality, its driving factors, and its impact on customer behavior in this specific context. Two conceptual approaches have been identified in the literature on service quality. The first approach is a holistic one, which defines service quality as a multidimensional construct. The second perspective is a limited one, defining service quality solely as an indicator of service interaction or performance. Additionally, a paucity of studies has been identified in the determinants of service quality, with only seven factors identified. In contrast, numerous studies have been conducted on the influence of service quality on different customer attitudinal and behavioral responses. Among the aforementioned studies, there is a general consensus on the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, service quality perceptions can also be considered in order to comprehend and enhance other less studied customer attitudinal and behavioral responses, including perceived value, brand or corporate image, affective commitment, trust, and loyalty.

The subsequent section is dedicated to the development of a service quality measurement scale that is tailored to this specific sector and encompasses all facets of service quality within the service encounter. Based on a five-step procedure, an improved, more practical, and reliable scale, called Quickserv, has been developed. The developed scale comprises a total of 14 items, which represents an advantage over other generalist or specific scales of much greater length, as it is adapted to the limited time customers typically spend in QSRs. Thus, this scale is practical to be implemented within the QSR management systems. Moreover, in addition to the evaluation of fifteen QSR experts, the reliability and validity of the scale have been tested using data collected from customers of a franchise restaurant belonging to a global QSR brand located in Barcelona.

Finally, the thesis addresses the main research question, and proposes a conceptual model for analyzing the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence customers' actual purchase behavior at a service counter of a specific QSR brand. This model integrates two distinct theoretical frameworks: the Theory of Reasoned Action, which is employed to examine the impact of intrinsic factors, such as attitude and behavioral intention towards QSRs in general, and the service perceptions component of the Service-Profit Chain, which is utilized to assess the influence of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction at the service encounter, as well as customer loyalty to that specific QSR brand on actual purchase behavior. The proposed model was subjected to a test using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, with data collected at the service encounter from 430 customers. The findings indicate that the impact of intrinsic factors is less pronounced than that of extrinsic factors, specifically, than of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Nevertheless, both types of factors exert an influence on customers' actual purchase behavior. Moreover, although perceived service quality has no direct effect on actual purchase behavior, it exerts a strong indirect total effect through customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is noteworthy that this is the first study to use data collected from customer purchase receipts to assess customers' actual purchase behavior.

In conclusion, this dissertation offers several theoretical and managerial implications, as well as potential avenues for further research. Theoretical implications are related to the role of service quality in the QSR industry, to the service quality assessment in the QSR context, and on actual purchase behavior in QSRs. With regard to the managerial implications, they are classified according to their contribution to the roles of marketing managers, operations managers, and restaurant managers.