Revisiting the importance of casual dining experience quality: an empirical study

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the dimensions of experience quality in the area of Indonesia casual dining restaurant. Furthermore, this study scrutinizes the interrelationships among experience quality, customer satisfaction, restaurant image, brand engagement and customer loyalty in Indonesia’s casual dining restaurant industry. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the research objectives, two consecutive studies were conducted. The first study was an exploratory study involving two focus group discussions and survey with self-administered questionnaires. The second study was an explanatory study, in which data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. A total of 405 respondents participated in this study. In the first study, the collected data were analysed by exploratory factor analysis, while partial least squares was used in the second study. Findings The result of exploratory factor analysis indicated that casual dining experience quality has four dimensions, namely, food aspects, interaction quality, physical environment and service outcome. This study also tests the interrelationship between experience quality and customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, restaurant image and brand engagement. The hypothesis testing shows that food aspect and interaction quality significantly affect customer satisfaction and restaurant image. Furthermore, customer satisfaction, restaurant image and customer engagement are noted as the antecedents of customer loyalty. Originality/value This study explores the dimension of Indonesian casual dining experience, and it proves that the casual dining experience construct based on Indonesian perspectives consists of four dimensions. Moreover, this study builds a comprehensive model to explain the interrelationship among experience quality, restaurant image, customer satisfaction, brand engagement and customer loyalty in the perspective of Indonesian casual dining restaurant.