RESTAURANT MANAGERS' PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RESTAURANT SIZE AND SEATING CAPACITY

International Journal for Quality Research 14(1) 237–252 ISSN 1800-6450 Marko Kukanja1 Tanja Planinc Tadeja Jere Jakulin Article info: Received 05.06.2019 Accepted 07.10.2019 UDC – 005.6 DOI – 10.24874/IJQR14.01-15 RESTAURANT MANAGERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RESTAURANT SIZE AND SEATING CAPACITY Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyse which quality attributes are, according to managers’ beliefs, the most important in determining overall service quality, as well as to investigate the relative importance of restaurant size (square meters) and seating capacity (number of seats) on managers’ perceptions of restaurant quality. The sample was composed of 148 managers of individually operating restaurant SMEs in Slovenia. The DINESERV instrument was applied to measure managers’ perceptions of service quality. Exploratory factor analysis was used to analyse the importance of different quality attributes, and confirmatory factor analysis (SEM) was used to investigate the impact of restaurant size and seating capacity on managers’ perceptions of quality. Results revealed that only twelve quality items belonging to three quality attributes – Assurance, Empathy, and Tangibles – are important in determining restaurants’ service quality. The identified three quality attributes explained 56.65% of managers’ perceptions of service quality. Results also showed that restaurant size and number of seats significantly influence managers’ perceptions of service quality. These results are of great important for restaurant managers aiming to improve their service quality. Keywords: Restaurant industry; Quality management; Managers’ perceptions; DINESERV; Slovenia. 1. Introduction The tourism industry is one of the most important and fastest-growing markets in the world. In 2018, 10 percent of the entire working population of the world was employed in tourism and tourism-related activities, while on a global scale tourism accounted for more than 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, growth rates have been higher in tourism for several years in comparison to other sectors of the global economy (WTTC, 2019). The restaurant industry is a vital and integral element of the tourism sector and one of the 1 largest employers worldwide (Hallak et al., 2018; Kim & Kim, 2019). As part of the tourism sector, the restaurant industry is also experiencing rapid growth and globalisation (De Larrea et al., 2019; WTTC, 2019). In Slovenia, the tourism industry is one of most important sectors of the economy, as it enables the employment of almost 13% of the working population and accounts for almost 12% of the GDP in the country (AJPES, 2019; WTTC, 2019). In 2018, 4.2% of all companies in the country were operating in this sector of the economy. The restaurant industry is facing a constant increase in the number of new facilities, sales Corresponding author: Marko Kukanja Email: 237 volume, and the number of employees, and this trend is expected to continue in the future (Statista, 2019). The industry is characterised by several factors that significantly influence the level of its operational performance (e.g., many small and medium-sized restaurant enterprises (SMEs) and family-run businesses, seasonality and volatile demand, high labour cost and turnover, guests’ price sensitivity, severe competition, etc.) (Kukanja & Planinc, 2018; Kim, Li, & Brymer, 2016). In this volatile and highly competitive business environment, one of the major challenges for restaurant managers is to determine how to provide high-quality offerings (Liu & Tse, 2018). Guests will be satisfied if the level of services offered can fulfil or exceed their quality expectations (Parasuraman et al., 1988). To satisfy restaurant guests’ on-going quality expectations, individual demands and needs, as well as to ensure the financial success of restaurant businesses, restaurant managers must continuously measure the quality of their offerings (Fang & Hsu, 2014; Kim et al., 2016). In the scientific literature, several techniques for assessing the quality of services have been proposed (Chin & Tsai, 2013; Kukanja et al., 2017; Parasuraman et al., 1988; Saeida Ardakani et al., 2015). One of the most popular tools in the restaurant industry is the DINESERV instrument (Lee et al., 2016; Liu & Tse, 2018; Pai et al., 2018). DINESERV measures service quality based on 29 quality variables (quality items), which are combined into five quality attributes (also referred to as quality dimensions) – Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness (RATER). Tangibles are related to the physical environment (also called the servicescape), while the other four quality attributes are related to the quality of the service staff. According to Grönroos (1990), service quality can also be simply categorised into technical (tangible – physical elements) and functional (intangible – staff performance) categories. In the restaurant industry literature, most of the studies have focused on guests’ 238 expectations, perceptions and satisfaction about restaurant quality. Providing highquality offerings positively influences restaurant guests’ satisfaction and loyalty (Khan et al., 2016; Kukanja et al., 2017; Mosavi & Ghaedi, 2012) and increases the restaurant’s image (Clemes et al., 2018) and profitability (Kim et al., 2016; Kukanja & Planinc, 2018). The scientific literature has clearly highlighted the importance of quality for the restaurant industry. Therefore, restaurant management should be marketoriented and should clearly understand the needs and expectations of current and future guests (Kaminakis et al., 2019). Although management’s unrealistic perceptions of guests’ quality expectations represent the first gap in providing high-quality services (Parasuraman et al., 1988), only a few studies (Kukanja & Planinc, 2018; Namkung & Jang, 2008) have investigated the importance of different quality attributes for providing highquality service to guests, according to restaurant managers’ beliefs. Moreover, to our knowledge, no previous study has analysed the importance of physical environment (restaurant size and number of seats) on managers’ perceptions of service quality. Research is conducted to find answers to uncertainties related to the relationship between restaurant managers’ perceptions of service quality and restaurants' physical characteristics. The main motivation for research is to disseminate research findings, to share new knowledge with other researchers in the field of service quality and restaurant management, and to assist practitioners in improving the quality of their offerings. In order to address the lack of a comprehensive evaluation, the purpose of this study is to investigate restaurant quality from the management perspective. Our first research objective (RO1) is to analyse which quality attributes managers perceive as most important for delivering higher service q (...truncated)