Meal experience and Guest loyalty in Zimbabwean hotel restaurants.
By

Emmanuel Gwata

[pic]

Department of Tourism and Hospitality

Supervisor: Mrs. Nyarota

Introduction
Background
Eating out has become a norm amongst many people’s lifestyles. People eat out for various purposes and this can be out of necessity, enjoyment and even for pleasure Warde and Martens (2000). As a result of the prevailing high demand, the hospitality industry has now been characterised by ever growing competition and increasing commoditisation of service, Pine and Gilmore (1999). Guests are becoming more sophisticated consumers with a very wide range of expectations, choices, perceptions and value for money and this has become a challenge to service providers such as restaurants who plays a role of offering a service by way of serving them food and beverages. A restaurant is an establishment that serves the customers with prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. Thus there is need for restaurants to provide excellent but less costly service, which surpasses the expectations of customers. A restaurant that excels in offering a quality memorable experience creates its superiority and competitive advantage in the industry. Canadian tourism commission (2004). A meal experience is a complete product that a restaurant can deliver to a guest. A meal experience is said to be the time from which the guest enters the restaurant up until the time he leaves and it also takes into account the guests’ feelings and perception of the delivered service, Davis and Lockwood (2013). Thus an experience that is delivered to a guest has a direct association to his or her decision to visit again to buy the same product, Lehto, O’Leary and Morrison (2004). Pine and Gilmore (1999) argues that there is need for an operation to provide guests with a memory of experience and this is the only thing that they can carry forward home with. Kivits et al (2011) developed a 4M model of meal experience which states that, the producer and the consumer has influence on restaurant meal experience and they both affect the elements of experience that are moment, mood, meal and money. More so, Research has proved that a memorable experience has an impact on guest loyalty and spreading of the positive word of mouth, Woodside, Caldwell and Albers-Miller (2004). In this regard, it is of much importance for this research to look into the various components of the meal experience and its effects on guest loyalty which can be described as a pillar of restaurant business.
Problem statement
Due to the fact that consumers have differences in tastes, service providers are faced with a great challenge of managing customer satisfaction. Guest loyalty is influenced by guest satisfaction and it comes from an experience that a guest will have received at a restaurant. Guest prefers to buy an experience rather than a mere service and they are even willing to pay more for the value added by a memorable experience above a service. If restaurants does not give much attention on improving the meal experience that they offer they risk losing business to other competitors in the hospitality industry. This study seeks to examine guests’ expectations and perceptions of the restaurant meal experience. A phenomenological approach shall be adopted to collect data. Upon successful completion, this research shall assist Food and Beverage management with information on guests’ expectations and perceptions of the meal experience together with strategies to delivering excellent meal experience that goes a long way in guests’ memories.
Justification of the study
This study will study will have an additional academic value to the existing body of literature on the restaurant meal experience. The findings of this research shall benefit Food and beverage managers with insights on guests’ satisfaction and perception of the meal experience they are being offered when they visit the restaurant. To add on, this study will enhance my research skills for the good of my future researches. .
Research objectives 1) To assess the components of meal experience offered in relation to guest satisfaction. 2) To explore the factors that influence guest loyalty formation. 3) To examine the relationship between the restaurant meal experience and guest loyalty.
Research questions 1) Are guest satisfied with the meal experience they are being offered? 2) What are the factors that influence the customers’ decision to become loyal? 3) What relationship is there between the restaurant meal experience and guest loyalty?

Research hypothesis
This study is designed to assess the hypothesis that guests who are satisfied with their meal experience are more likely to become loyal customers to the restaurant than those who are not satisfied with the meal experience

Delimitations
This study is limited to Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe and emphasis shall be paid to restaurants in the capital city of Harare.

Assumptions
A restaurant meal experience offered is variable. One guest can be satisfied and the other might not be, even though there is no change in service delivery. Most people who dine out for prestigious reasons prefers flashy interior decors and classy furniture together with high priced meals. Whereas those that dine for necessity prefers a product that is fit for purpose. Guest are loyal to a restaurant that satisfies their needs and expectations in relation to value for money.

Definition of terms
Guest: a customer of a restaurant
Guest loyalty: a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a Preferred service or restaurant consistently in the future.
Guest perception: the process by which guests regard, understand or Interpret the service and product offered.
Value for money: something well worth the money spent on it.
Meal experience: a series of events, both tangible and intangible, that a guest comes across when eating out.
Restaurant: a restaurant is a public establishment where food is prepared, served and sold for consumption on the premises.
Product: a bundle of goods and services offered by a restaurant.
Service: useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity.

literature review

Research Methodology

Research philosophy: phenomenological
Research methodology: analytical survey
Population: guests visiting the restaurant
Sampling: maximum variation sampling
Instruments: questionnaires and face to face interviews
Collection techniques:
Data analysis: Nvivo (N10)
Reliability and validity: Test retest reliability and data triangulation
Ethical considerations:

References 1) Bernard Davis, Andrew lockwood, Loanis Pantelidis, Peter Alcott. (2013) Food and Beverage management, 5th Edition, Routledge. 2) John E. H. Sherry, (1993). The law of Inn keeper: for hotels, Motels, Restaurants and Clubs, Cornell University press. 3) Joseph Chen, (2009) Advances in hospitality and leisure. Volume 5, Emerald group publishing. 4) Pine, I., & Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard Business Review, 76(4), 97–105. 5) Warde and Martens (2000) 6) Pine and Gilmore (1999). 7) Canadian tourism commission (2004). 8) Kivits et al (2011) 9) Lehto, O’Leary and Morrison (2004). 10) Woodside, Caldwell and Albers-Miller (2004).