Identification of Quality Attributes of University Foodservice and Factors Required for the Improvement of Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study Using IPA Model

Lee, So Jung; Jung, Hyun Young

Abstract

Our research consisted of a qualitative study investigating the quality attributes of university foodservices through focus group interviews and a quantitative study evaluating service quality of university foodservices through a survey. Sixteen quality attributes were derived and customer satisfaction questionnaires included these 16 quality attributes with a five-point Likert scale. An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) model was applied in order to identify operational strategies necessary to improve service quality. The survey questionnaires were distributed to 600 university students enrolled in a university located in Kwangju and statistical analysis was performed on 555 surveys using an SPSS package. Overall customer satisfaction with the quality of university foodservices was relatively low (under 3.0) while the expectation was inclined to be high (over 4.0). The main reasons for using the university foodservice were given as inexpensive price (67.6%) and time saving (22.9%). A factor analysis of 16 quality attributes revealed two separate factors: food quality (Cronbach's alpha=0.911) and service quality (Cronbach's alpha=0.934). Variety of menu, convenient location, and sanitation of utensils and facilities were identified by an IPA model as factors needing improvement in operational strategies.