Examine the Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction at Fast Food Outlets in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

There is a boundless and developing concern in the fast food industry concerning the quality of service, which has a more prominent effect for organizations’ survival and continuity. The quality of service is the fundamental for customer satisfaction and practical upper hand in the cutthroat business environment. This study was conducted to examine the impact of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction at fast food outlets in Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. The researchers considered many researches in the field of service quality in other countries to identify which factors influence service quality. Few scholarly investigations address service quality and customer satisfaction in fast-food restaurants (Lee and Ulgado, 1997, Qin and Prybutok, 2008). Notwithstanding, there is no past concentrate on which looks at the effect of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction of any fast-food restaurant in Sri Lankan setting. From these factors, this study evaluated seven dimensions in the domain of service quality in the fast food industry, which affect customer satisfaction. The research was conducted through a quantitative approach. Further, self-administered questionnaires have taken as the tool to collect primary data for the research. Total of 146 completed questionnaires were used in the analysis. The researchers found out that assurance, empathy, cleanliness, food quality, reliability, responsiveness and tangibles show a significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction at fast food outlets in Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. Moreover, it was disclosed that assurance, cleanliness, reliability, responsiveness and tangibles have an impact on customer satisfaction at fast food outlets in Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. The remaining dimensions named empathy and food quality are not statistically significant in the output of multiple regression. Besides, the study revealed that there are additional service quality factors that would make an effect on customer satisfaction at fast food outlets in Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. Moreover, the researchers found that empathy and food quality have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction in fast food restaurants. While alluding to the literature, the researchers additionally observed that food quality is the prominent service quality aspect which sways consumer satisfaction in fast food outlets in Pakistan, Malaysia and China. The researchers would like to suggest future researchers conduct the same study by using different customer segments or expand to a larger sample size or geographical area; and might get advanced and more practical results with actual situations regarding customer satisfaction.