A structural equation model of customers' behavioural intentions in the Chinese restaurant sector

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a structural equation model (SEM) of customers’ behavioural intentions towards restaurant patronage in China. The study is set in the economic context of the Chinese open door policy of 1978 and the emergence of a service sector and middle class consumers with higher disposable incomes. The conceptual SEM is developed from the existing literature on customer loyalty, which includes constructs of perceived quality, sacrifice, perceived risk, perceived value, the Chinese cultural value of face, satisfaction, reputation, trust and behavioural intentions. A set of hypotheses concerning direct and indirect links between constructs is derived from the literature. The research methodology employs a self completion survey of customers of targeted restaurants that generated 489 valid responses. The questionnaire was designed with three thematic sections concerning restaurant visit behaviour, measures for each of the constructs, and respondents’ characteristics. Measurement scales for the constructs satisfied the minimum requirements of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The measurement models of the SEM constructs were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). They were accepted on the basis of measures of fit, the statistical significance and the signs of the coefficients. Preliminary analysis led to the modification of the conceptual SEM. The modified SEM was accepted on the basis of measures of fit, statistical significance and signs of coefficients, composite reliability, variance extracted and squared multiple correlation coefficients. Tests of hypotheses and tests for mediation provided for the analysis and decomposition of total effects on dependent constructs. The study establishes the relevance of traditional loyalty constructs, such as perceived quality, sacrifice, perceived risk, perceived value, satisfaction and reputation, and confirms the relevance of the Chinese cultural value of face. Total effect analysis reveals the importance of satisfaction, perceived value and perceived quality on customers’ behavioural intentions with associated benefits to commercial marketers in the hospitality sector.