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Repeat customers, on the other hand, are largely
influenced by their direct experiences of dining at
the restaurant. Most of those repeat customers
will, presumably, have had good experiences on
previous visits, in terms of having had the choice
of a varied menu, delicious food and because of
the attractive appearance of the restaurant. Some
of them, however, are also influenced by restaurant
promotion programmes.
what they received from the restaurants in relation
to their purpose for visiting the restaurant. The res-
taurants managed to provide (confirm) the custom-
ers' needs in terms of an appropriate variety of food
options. For instance the restaurants sell almost all
types of food including western foods and eastern
foods that not only the customers' common favorite
food but also traditional foods that are rarely found
in restaurants nowadays; freshness of food ingredi-
ents and delicious taste of the food.
This study found that the actual reason for cus-
tomer meal experience satisfaction was because of
the food quality (fresh ingredients and taste of the
food) that confirmed their expectation. Delicious
and authentic foods, due to fresh ingredients, were
also found as indicators of food taste quality.
The quality of food had influenced customers
to revisit the restaurant even though some of them
had to drive long distances to get to the restaurant
and had to pay more for similar types of food,
which was being offered by other restaurants
Besides, the large number of customers at the
restaurant succeeded in drawing a potential cus-
tomer's attention. The number of customers in a
restaurant was seen to provide an indication of the
quality of the food to potential customers.
The study also found that the restaurants' inte-
rior decoration through beautiful décor with illu-
minated and colourful menu photos and different
lighting effects that made the restaurants look styl-
ish were another attraction in the meal experience.
The data thus suggested that the factor influ-
encing a customer's satisfaction with a previous
dining experience was whether what the custom-
ers' experienced in the restaurant was better than
their expectation and/or whether the products
offered by the restaurant confirmed their expec-
tations, which resulted in them developing loyalty
towards the restaurant and as a result revisiting the
restaurants.
4.2
How dining experience antecedents attracting
first time customer?
Convenient access and restaurant promotion pro-
grammes were the factors influencing first time
customers' knowledge of the restaurants.
4.2.1
Convenient access
This study has indicated that convenient accessibil-
ity to the restaurant is one of the important factors
that influence first time customers to visit the res-
taurants. The restaurants were easy to access either
because of they were located at a strategic location
such as private and government offices that were
visible from the roadside, or close to many land-
marks, or they were situated in a residential area.
The transportation links such as roads to access
the restaurants was an issue. The findings also
show that the demographics, traffic patterns and
first-hand knowledge of the site and the surround-
ing area are all parts of the site selection equation,
which, lead the customers to come back to the
restaurants.
4.2.2
Restaurant promotion programmes
Findings of this study showed that customers who
were satisfied with their dining experience tended
to convey their experience with others through
positive word-of-mouth communication. As a
result, those who received the information (poten-
tial customers) started to develop hopes and expec-
tations of receiving the same dining experience.
However, during the dining experience the res-
taurants managed to deliver products and services
that fulfilled their hopes and expectations. As a
result, the customers met other satisfaction fac-
tors such as attractive restaurant appearance, air-
conditioning, having a presentable buffet table, a
unique eating space and delicious food alongside
a variety of menus. These satisfaction factors then
have led the customers to repeat their visit
.
5 DISCUSSION
This study found that the antecedent experience
stage is a stage where repeat customers developed
their dining experience at the restaurants and how
first time customers gain knowledge of the restau-
rant and the first time customers got their knowl-
edge about the restaurants. Findings are consistent
with the study of Ismail and Mohd Shah (2014)
who found that the antecedent of dining experi-
ence is one of the stages in dining experience proc-
ess (antecedent, reservation, arrival, seating, meal,
payment, departure). Therefore, to ensure custom-
ers' loyalty, restaurateurs need to ensure all stages
in the dining process satisfy customers who dine at
the restaurant.
4.3
How dining experience antecedents sustaining
the repeat customers
Customers made repeat visits to the restaurants
due to their satisfaction with aspects of their previ-
ous meal experience based on their evaluation of
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