THE EFFECT OF FOOD QUALITY ON CUSTOMER CHOICE OF DINING DESTINATION IN KENYA.

Abstract

Food quality has received attention by hoteliers because of its effect on customer choice of dining destination in Kenya. Achieving food quality (FQ) management standards across the hospitality industry presents a challenge for governments worldwide and Kenya in particular. Despite the important role that FQ play in hospitality industry, few studies have been conducted to assess the

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effect of food quality on customers’ choice of dining destination in 4 and 5 star Hotels in Kenya The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of food quality and safety on customer’s choice of dining destination in Kenya. The specific objective was to assess the relationship between FQ and customer choice of dining destination in Kenya.

The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design where total number of guests sampled were 1058 based on 2016 data provided by the Kenya Tourism Board bed occupancy calculated at 49% and 54 Hotel staff (managers and sous chef) randomly selected from 4-star and 5-star hotels in Nairobi and Mombasa. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from guests while interview schedules were employed to collect data from employees. Qualitative data collected through interview schedules was analyzed thematically. Quantitative data collected was coded in SPSS version 21 and analyzed using multiple regression. The results revealed that the top three aspects that were considered to be highly important while referring to food quality included taste (n = 426), freshness (n = 393) and good condition (n = 330). Results of the study indicated that the odds ratio of a restaurant with good food quality being selected over that with average food quality was 3.387 to 1, while the odds of a restaurant with poor food quality had the odds of 0.091 to 1 of being selected over a restaurant with average food quality. The overall effect of food quality was found to be significant since the corresponding –value for 2 R was 0.025, which was less than 0.05 ( P-value = 0.005< 0.05).