Abstract

A significant gap can exist between what customers expect in foodservice and what service providers deliver to customers. Reducing the gap and enhancing service quality plays a key role in increasing customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the personal and operational characteristics that affect the customer perceptions of service quality, to analyze the overall satisfaction and repurchase intention of customers, and to study the service quality gap between customer and foodservice provides. 427 customers and 278 foodservice providers in 82 fast food and family restaurants were surveyed. T-test, ANOVA, Correlation Analysis, and Multiple Regression were used for statistical analysis, The results of this study were as follows: 1) Among the personal characteristics of customers, sex affected the preception of 'General Management' and 'Reputation', and the expense per person showed a correlation with service quality. 2) Among the operational characteristics, the type of restaurant, months since opening, and the number of seats had a significant impact on service quality, while the seat turnover rate showed a negative correlation with service quality. 3) Among the human resource characteristics, the proportion of part-time employees had a negative correlation with service quality, and in general, the training program for full-time employees led to a higher degree of customer perception of service quality. 4) Six dimensions of service quality accounted for 38.39% of customer satisfaction in Multiple Regression. 5) The overall satisfaction of customers willing to repurchase was significantly higher than that of the non-repurchase customers. 6) The operational characteristics explained over 35% for the service quality gap among the customers and the service providers in Multiple Regression.