Examining the Influences of Satisfaction and Trust on the Behavioral Intentions of Customers Who Dined in Casual Dining Restaurants: A Mixed-Methods Approach

Abstract

The restaurant business is very competitive, such that managers must identify appropriate components of their restaurant attributes to better satisfy the needs and wants of their customers. Studies have long investigated restaurant attributes but treated such attributes using a common factor analysis technique; these should be analyzed as components. This paper aims to demonstrate how researchers can conduct a mixed-methods study to investigate the effects of restaurant attributes on customer behaviors and how a component-based analysis method is used. A sequential unequal research design was undertaken, including three steps: (1) identifying a set of restaurant attributes from the restaurant literature (Step-1), (2) conducting a field study to propose a refined set of restaurant attributes that fit with the context of the study (Step-2), and (3) collecting survey data for further analysis with the Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA) technique (Step-3). The results of Step-1 revealed 10 restaurant attributes entailing many components. The results of Step-2 revealed only seven attributes (food, price, services, atmosphere, facilities, cleanliness, and location), entailing different sets of components specific to each attribute. In Step-3, a conceptual model was developed, including three constructs treated as components: satisfaction (encapsulated all seven restaurant attributes), trust, and behavioral intentions. The results of Step-3 indicated that satisfaction was found to influence trust, while satisfaction and trust were found to influence behavioral intentions. In addition, the indirect effect of satisfaction on behavioral intentions through trust was indicated as only a partial mediator. Overall discussions suggest further studies that may adapt various methods to improve research quality. Thus, this paper offers a specific procedure for researchers who desire to conduct a mixed-methods research design through the context of the restaurant business and for those interested in using GSCA. Demonstrating the research processes employed is the primary contribution of this paper. This may be helpful for novices interested in replicating our steps in their specific study context.