Factors affecting customer satisfction at South African private hospital coffee shops
Date
2014-10-10
Authors
Kirtland, Karen
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Abstract
South African private hospital coffee shops were previously situated within a niche, captured, partially monopolistic market. They are now migrating towards a more competitive landscape, which has hindered their performance. It is, therefore, crucial to recognise proactive strategies and precisely the drivers that affect customer satisfaction in order to sustain and ensure continued success and financial viability.
This research aims to identify the perceived factors which affect customer satisfaction at South African private hospital coffee shops. These factors are categorised as the antecedents of customer satisfaction using The American Customer Satisfaction Index model.
At the outset, three hospitals within Gauteng, varying in size, were selected wherein fifty questionnaires were disseminated to each coffee shop. The data was subjected to statistical analysis using descriptive statistics to identify the factors affecting customer satisfaction.
The main findings of this research were that customer expectations, perceived quality and perceived value do affect customer satisfaction at South African private hospital coffee shops.
The findings demonstrate that in order to sustain a competitive profitable position it is necessary to ascertain cost-effective means to measure service efficiently and accurately. Fulfilling individuals’ needs and wants will consequently increase overall performance and capitalise on profitability, thus achieving the overall objective of maximising customer satisfaction. Future research is recommended to extend the ACSI model to align with the specific requirements of each coffee shop, as each target market is different, as well as to obtain supplementary knowledge pertaining to customers’ behaviour and components of service which overall will elevate service quality and increase profitability.
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Consumer satisfaction , Coffee shops -- South Africa -- Management