Expectations and perceptions of customers in mall restaurants in an East London shopping mall using the DINESERV approach

Abstract

Shopping malls have become distressed in South Africa, with statistics showing a decline of 5.3% in tenant mix in 2013 compared to 2012, as retail stores in malls decline due to online shopping and the changing consumer value equation and culture. As such, to reposition and resuscitate shopping malls, restaurants have become an important part of the leasing strategy in malls. However, despite lowering their prices and spending marketing funds on promotions, mall restaurants seem to be finding great difficulty in determining customer expectations. With this as background, the focus in this study was to gain insight into restaurant customers’ expectations and perceptions in Hemmingways shopping mall using the DINESERV model. Customers’ expectations and perceptions were measured on a five point Likert-type scale. The empirical results show that, on a 5 point Likert scale, the overall mean score for expectation items was 4.50 whilst for perception items was 3.46. The overall DINESERV gap was -1.04, implying that mall restaurants did not meet customers’ expectations. The results of this study serve not only to identify customers’ expectations and strengthen customer loyalty in mall restaurants, but also improve the mall’s reputation and increase customer satisfaction.