An empirical study of customer expectation and perception in restaurant chains and fast-food outlets

Consumer behavior identification becomes very difficult when it comes to basic necessity like food. Although, many researches have been made in order to find out the major attributes of customer behavior in restaurant industry, but regional taste preference and cultural difference have big impact on the success chances of quick service restaurants (QSR's).

In recent couple of years, in Udaipur we have observed many QSR outlets were opened, however they all didn't have the same level of success. Thankfully though, majority of outlets are still surviving but other's odds were not into their favor. This paper is intended to identify the customers’ expectation and how QSR industry is responding to this in Udaipur. This study is based on survey of customers in major QSR chains. This study emphasizes the importance of minimizing the gap between service offering and the expectation of customers. In this study we will try to find the success factors with the help of service quality i.e. Parasuraman's et al (1988) SERQUAL model.

The results of this study would help management identify the strengths and weaknesses of service quality and implement an effective strategy to meet the customers’ expectations.