The impact of food quality and its attributes on customers’ behavioral intention at Malay restaurants - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 374

Table 3. The effects of food quality attributes on behav-
ioral intentions.

especially Malay people, is less concern on healthy
options on the menu when visiting restaurants.
When considering the predictive power of food
quality as a fundamental element of the restaurant
experience, restaurateurs should not underestimate
quality food a restaurant has to offer. In conclu-
sion, from a managerial perspective, it might be
useful to prioritize resources by focusing on the
most important food quality attributes along with
key attributes of service and atmospherics in order
to sustain in the restaurant business.

Sections B SE B

β

Constant 0.537 0.275

Food Presentation 0.296 0.043 0.337***

Food Variety 0.034 0.058 0.029

Healthy Options 0.030 0.048 0.033

Food Taste 0.153 0.063 0.126*

Food Freshness 0.325 0.060 0.356***

Food Temperature 0.024 0.050 0.022

* Note : R 2 = 0.575, * p .05, *** p .001.

5 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE

RESEARCH

3.3 The contribution of individual food attributes
on behavioral intentions
Food quality attributes were able to explain 58%
of variation in behavioral intentions. Among all
of the attributes, three (food presentation, food
taste, and food freshness) made statistically signifi-
cant contributions and positive relationships with
behavioral intentions.
In term of importance, food freshness (

This study does have some limitations. Initially,
study findings may not be generalized. Data were
collected from customers at five mid-scale Malay
restaurants in Shah Alam. If the survey were
expanded to include more states and countries,
the magnitude and direction of the relationships
among constructs may be different. Therefore,
a more comprehensive sample, considering geo-
graphic dispersion, would ensure external valid-
ity. Similarly, the results may not directly apply
to other segments of restaurant industry. Thus,
future studies should target other segments of the
restaurant industry.
Food quality was treated as a main independent
variable in this study. However, many other factors
may influence customer's restaurant experience, so
it may be possible to provide deeper insight into
the factors those restaurant owners and managers
need to stress in their total offering. By consider-
ing these aspects, addition of more independent
variables such as service and atmospherics may
be desirable for future research to assess the rela-
tive influence of food quality compared to other
factors for behavioral intentions. Moreover, future
research could include a set of other variables that
are related to one type of restaurant that would
not be relevant for other types of restaurants. For
instance, if the study were replicated for fast-food
restaurants, location, accessibility to the restau-
rant, and convenience may also be critical in driv-
ing customers' behavioral intentions.

β = 0.36,

p .001) made the largest unique contribution to

behavioral intentions. Alternatively, food variety,
healthy options, and food temperature were dis-
covered to be not significant predictors to behav-
ioral intentions.

<

4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Analyses for the relative importance of food
attributes revealed that food freshness, food pres-
entation, and food taste were the most significant
contributors to customers' behavioral intentions.
Restaurateurs should recognize that customer
place a high value on fresh state of food and this
appears to be related to crispness, juiciness, and
aroma of the food. Additionally, it is noted that
customer also put high expectation on the visual
feature of the food, as it reflects tangible cue for
customer perception of quality. Food taste also
should not be overlooked because it is viewed as
a key attribute in the dining experience. Moreover,
customer are getting more knowledgeable about
food, and as a result the taste of food in restau-
rants become ever more important.
Findings revealed that food temperature, food
variety, as well healthy options are not focal
attributes for customer in determining their behav-
ioral intentions. The findings indicate that manag-
ers should pay more attention to popular menu
offerings and allocate their resources to improve the
quality of those items rather than developing vari-
ous menu items. It also indicates that Malaysian,

REFERENCES

Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes
and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Boulding,W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R. & Zeithaml, V.A.
(1993). A dynamic process model of service quality:
From expectations to behavioral intentions. Journal of
Marketing Research, 30 (1), 7-27.