Research noteAuthentic dining experiences in ethnic theme restaurants
Introduction
The literature on ethnic theme restaurants has already demonstrated that customers who patronize ethnic theme restaurants frequently seek authentic ethnic cultural experiences, and restaurant authenticity crucially influences customer satisfaction (Bell et al., 1994, Ebster and Guist, 2004, Gaytàn, 2008, Girardelli, 2004, Lego et al., 2002, Molz, 2004, Sukalakamala and Boyce, 2007, Roseman, 2006, Villanen, 1999, Wood and Muńoz, 2007). The literature also indicates that, besides food, other aspects of a restaurant such as decoration, music, costumes, and service, significantly contribute to perceived authenticity (Ebster and Guist, 2004, Molz, 2004). Sukalakamala and Boyce (2007) indicated that customers are more concerned with the authenticity of the food than with that of the overall atmosphere. Furthermore, customers wanting to learn about different cultures patronize ethnic restaurants, such as Thai restaurants, to obtain such inter-cultural learning opportunities. The other issue that requires being explored is the relationship between customers’ authentic dining experiences in an ethnic theme restaurant and repurchasing intention.
While complicated, the concept of authenticity is considered an important factor in attracting customers by restaurant management (Boyle, 2003, Halter, 2000, Molz, 2004). Customers also seek “authenticity” (MacCannell, 1976), in the hope of not only experiencing ethnic foods, but also expanding their cultural knowledge (Ebster and Guist, 2004, Lego et al., 2002, Lu and Fine, 1995, Molz, 2004, Sukalakamala and Boyce, 2007). Furthermore, Ebster and Guist (2004) noted that customers of ethnic theme restaurants heavily weight authentic cultural experience. If such customers have positive impressions of ethnic theme restaurants, they are more likely to return to such restaurants. Ethnic cuisine can represent national cultural characteristics. And, food and cooking styles not only play significant roles in different regions, but also represent features of different countries, and may even stand as international brands. Such cuisine thus forms a linkage between food and countries and helps generate marketing strategies. Ethnic local cuisine helps customers obtain authentic cultural experiences (Okumus et al., 2007). Moreover, since local customers comprise the majority of patrons at ethnic theme restaurants, rather than the outside customers belonging to the same ethnic culture (Lego et al., 2002), it is crucial to present cultural authenticity and make it a significant component of dining experience when the purpose is to promote local customer willingness to patronize a restaurant.
The underlying assumption of the Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) technique is that customers’ level of satisfaction with the attributes is mainly derived from their expectations and evaluation of the product or service performance. Thus, IPA is still a popular managerial tool that has been broadly used to identify the strength and weakness of brand, product, service and retail establishment in hospitality and tourism industries (e.g. Chu and Choi, 2000, Enright and Newton, 2004, Martin, 1995). Therefore, it is strategically important for restaurateurs to understand and identify the product (or service) attributes perceived by customers as important, and to examine how customers perceive these product (or service) attributes. It is also very likely that a customer's favourable post-purchase experience may lead him or her to repurchase if the customer is satisfied with the restaurant performance.
Based on the above-mentioned factors, this study formulated two research objectives: (1) to examine the relationship between importance and performance of perceptions of authentic dining experience in an ethnic theme restaurant and (2) to verify the influence of authentic dining experiences on repurchase intention in an ethnic theme restaurant.
Section snippets
Methodology
The study subjects, customers of a Thai food restaurant in Taiwan, were analyzed to determine their perceptions of authenticity in an ethnic theme restaurant, and to examine the influence of perceptions of authenticity on repurchase intention. First, a pilot study of 50 customers was performed to ensure that the questionnaire was complete, clear, and reliable. After confirming the items, the self-administered questionnaires were distributed to cooperative Thai food restaurants in Taipei,
Results
The principal component factor method with VARIMAX rotation was used to generate the factors underlying the 12 authentic dining experiences. This study retained factors only if they had eigenvalues exceeding 1. The three factors were labeled: environmental concerns (e.g. authentic Thai exterior design), food concern (e.g. authentic Thai dishes using authentic Thai ingredients) and employee concern (e.g. only Thais preparing Thai food).
Regarding importance, the main environmental concern is
Conclusions
This study examines the relationships between authentic dining experiences and repurchase intentions. Regarding repurchase intentions, both food concerns and environmental concerns are crucial. Therefore, if owners of ethnic theme restaurants want to increase customer return rates, it is important to improve food quality and authenticity to meet customer expectations. Furthermore, this research uses IPA and finds that customers of Thai restaurants strongly weight food concerns. This result
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