04372nam a22001577a 4500003000400000005001700004008004100021040000900062100002700071245017300098260005500271300005500326500371800381500005904099504005604158OSt20250320142447.0250319b        |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  cNVSU  aRazalan, Allen Mark A.  aThe effect of quality service dimensions on customers’ retention in accredited food service establishments (semi-fine dining) in Nueva Vizcaya/cAllen Mark A. Razalan  aBayombong:bNueva Vizcaya State University,c2017.  axii, 109 leaves :billustrations, photos ;c28 cm.  aThe study aimed to determine the customers' expectations and level of satisfaction on service quality of the staff of Department of Tourism-Accredited Food Service Establishments (Semi-Fine Dining) in Nueva Vizcaya and their relationship to customers' retention. Specifically, the study assessed the time it took for the service staff to prepare and serve customers' orders, level of customers' expectation and satisfaction on service quality, and customer retention through customers' patronage and referral. Service discrepancy gaps between the level of expectation and the level of satisfaction were tested and predictors of customers' patronage were identified.

A questionnaire was used as the data gathering tool. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviations) and Multiple Regression to identify predictors of customers' retention, while t-test was used in ascertaining if there is a significant difference on customers' expectation and levels of satisfaction.
The study was undertaken in three identified DOT-Accredited Food Service Establishments offering semi-fine dining in Nueva Vizcaya. Twenty-Eight Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management students who have undergone On the Job
Training Industry Immersion served as evaluators for the study by posing as clients to the food establishments.
The results of the data gathered showed that the average time when an order served was 27.20 minutes which was 4 minutes slower than the average wait time of 23 minutes for orders in a restaurant (Long Range Systems, 2013). Expectations on the services of the staff of the food establishments were "very high" in terms of the five service quality dimensions. The Level of satisfaction on the services of their staff were "high" except for tangibility and empathy which was rated "very high".

Gaps were ascertained by the study with the use of the t-test on the levels of expectation and level of satisfactions on the five service quality dimensions. The actual services rendered by the staffs were critically lower on the three quality service dimensions (reliability, responsiveness and assurance) than what was expected by the customers from food establishments offering semi-fine dining.

On customer retention, 52% of the respondents said that they would patronize and 65.5% of them would advocate or refer to friends the food establishments offering fine dining in Nueva Vizcaya.

The backward stepwise regression analysis was performed where three (3) variables were identified predictors, customers' expectation on service empathy, and customers' expectation on service responsiveness exhibited positive predictive effects, while one (1) variable time served displayed negative predictive effect. The results connote that customers' who experienced quality service in the shortest wait time and high expectation on service empathy and responsiveness from the service staff, would lead to customer retention.

The direct predictive effect of customers' expectation on service empathy and responsiveness denotes that the higher the rating for the quality service dimension for empathy and responsiveness the higher the customers' retention (patronage and referral). The inverse predictive effect of the variable time served signifies that the lesser the "wait time" to serve of customers’ orders, the higher would be the customers' retention. The results suggest that the Department of Tourism Accredited Food Service Establishment should prioritize the enhancement of their Quality Service Dimensions particularly on empathy and responsiveness to assure improve customer retention, because of their significant predictive value.

  aThesis (Master of Science - Home Technology Education)  aIncludes appendices and bibliographical references.