Measuring customer satisfaction in restaurants in East London, South Africa

Abstract

A mixed-methods research design was followed throughout this study. The primary focus of this study was to determine customer satisfaction through mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods. Questionnaires for gathering quantitative primary data as well as collecting qualitative data by means of FGDs and semi-structured interviews. Primary data analysis throughout this study involved the descriptive as well as the inferential during the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent t-test. These tools aided the quantitative analysis that were applied to analyse the null hypotheses. Other statistical tools namely the means, standard deviation, Cronbach’s alpha, ANOVA were performed to identify differences between various demographics characteristics for in-depth interpretations. The views of restaurateurs’ customers and managers were explored through 235 customers of twelve (12) restaurants Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality where participants successfully completed questionnaires and participated in FGDs and interviews. The study revealed high prevalence of female in restaurants industries. Majority of participants obtained tertiary degree as educational qualifications. Statistical tools of ANOVA and t-test were employed to test three null hypotheses. Inferential results revealed that participants in restaurants I were less satisfied as compared to others in restaurants E. Based on the statistical findings the initial hypothesis was rejected while the second indicated that monthly income has no effect on customer satisfaction. The independent t-test was employed to test the third hypothesis which indicated no significant relationship between the female and male participants.