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Perceived value, customers’ satisfaction and behavioural intention in relation

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Malays. Appl. Biol. (2018) 47(4): 95–106

PERCEIVED VALUE, CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND

BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD
RESTAURANTS IN JOHOR BAHRU

RAHIJAN ABDUL WAHAB*, RADIN NURDIYANAH, FISAL AHMAD and

ZAINAL SHUKRI, W.H.

1School of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu,

21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
*E-mail: rahijan@umt.edu.my

Accepted 12 September 2018, Published online 25 October 2018

ABSTRACT

Seafood restaurant is one of the principal draws for holidaymakers and local residents in Malaysia. This study focuses on the
factors that affecting perceived values, customers’ satisfactions and behavioural intentions in a seafood restaurant in Johor
Bahru. This research aimed to determine the level of perceived value, customers’ satisfactions and behavioural intentions
towards seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru, to determine the relationship between perceived value, customers’ satisfaction
and behavioural intentions of seafood restaurants, and to compare between demographic variables on perceived value customers’
satisfaction and behavioural intentions towards seafood. The data were collected through sets of questionnaire answered by
150 respondents who are dining in a seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru, Johor. The result showed that customers have
positive perception in terms of perceived value where the ‘variety of foods’ factor received most positive value compared to
price fairness. To customers’ satisfaction, ‘overall dining experience’ gives the most satisfaction for customers compared to
‘service satisfaction’, while in terms of behavioural intentions, customers will ‘spread more positive word of mouth about
the restaurant which it score the highest positive value compared to recommend about the restaurant . All the variables in this
study (perceived value, customer satisfaction and behavioural intention) were moderately correlated to each other at p<0.05.
In addition, the results indicate that outcome of ‘overall satisfaction’ as the most primary element of satisfaction among
customers to go to seafood restaurant.

Key words: Behavioural intentions, customers’ satisfaction, perceived value, seafood restaurant

INTRODUCTION comfortable environment. People can relax their

The demand for seafood has led to opening of the
restaurant, which is specialised on seafood. Usually,
these kinds of restaurant become a tourist attraction
and it is located near the seaside, which gives nice
and peaceful scenery. According to Shaw and
William (2004), the restaurant is a major tourist
attraction because usually it is situated across the
quay where the boats and trawlers tie up and most
of the fish comes literally, straight off the boats and
in the kitchen door.
A seafood restaurant in this study referred to the
restaurant that provides food with fresh seafood as
the main ingredients such as fish, prawn, oyster,
calamari and more. Since it is located near the sea,
the view of the ocean is peaceful and have a
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
mind after a hectic day that full with works. Seafood
restaurants are very popular because of the
uniqueness of the restaurant.
Perceived value is one of the important values
where it influences the customer satisfaction and
behavioural intentions. The perceived value
attributes that affect customer satisfaction and
behavioural intentions are environmental quality
(hedonic value), service quality and food quality
(utilitarian value). In addition, Lim (2010) stated
that there are four variables which in turn affecting
the customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions
which are food quality, service quality, atmosphere
and price.
According to Kim et al. (2013), food quality is
the most important element that can affect customer
satisfaction and re-patronage intentions in full-
service restaurant because the food quality
96 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
represents the core quality of the restaurant.
Customer will be more satisfied if the restaurant has
good quality of food, service and the environment.
Moreover, the restaurant should offer more
affordable and reasonable pricing and the high
quality of food to compete with other restaurants to
ensure that customer will not switch to other
restaurants at the same time to attract new customers
to dine in the restaurant.
The indication of the customer satisfaction is
shown through the behavioural intentions of the
customer in terms of the positive word-of-mouth,
willingness to recommend the restaurant and revisit
intention. Kim et al. (2013) found that the indirect
effects of value on behavioural intentions via
satisfaction where the direct predictor of post
purchase outcomes are loyalty and willingness to
buy. He also stated that satisfaction is generally
considered as one of the key global variables leading
to future purchase intentions and actual purchase
behaviour. In behavioural intentions, customer
loyalty is an important goal in the consumer
marketing community, which it is a key component
for a company’s long-term sustainability.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 150 customers who was dining in seafood
restaurant in Johor Bahru were selected in this study.
The research instrument that used in this research is
questionnaire, where the data were collected based
on the answer of the respondents. A questionnaire
was prepared and the type of questions in the
questionnaires is in the form of rating scale, which
is 7-point Likert scale and close-ended questions.
The respondents need to circle or tick one of the
scales that provided in the questionnaires, which
from scale 1 for strongly disagree to scale 7 for
strongly agree. The questionnaires consist of four
parts as follows: Part A: Perceived value Part B:
Customer satisfaction Part C: Behaviour intentions
and Part D: Socio-demographic profiles.
The correlation of data is measured by
determining the Cronbach’s Alpha. When the
Cronbach’s Alpha’s value is high, the correlation
between the respective questions or items also high.
The good alpha coefficient is normally in the range
of 0.7 to 0.8 because if the alpha coefficient is very
high, it may indicate the items are being duplicated
(Bradley, 2013).
Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the
socio-demographic profiles of the respondent from
the questionnaires to define the frequency, mode,
mean, and standard deviation in regards to their
normality. Normality test was being performed prior
to data analysis was used to make an inference
about population from which the sample data had
collected. An independent T-test was used to
compare the mean of gender and nationality with
customers’ perceived value, satisfaction and
behavioural intentions. One-way ANOVA was
used to analyse the remaining socio-demographic
profiles (race, age, educational level, monthly
income, frequency and main reason of dining out)
with the customer perception, satisfaction and
behaviour intentions towards the seafood restaurant.
Meanwhile, the Pearson correlation coefficient test
was used to determine the relationship (r-value)
between perceived value, customers’ satisfaction and
behavioural intentions at p<0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on Figure 1, there are 45% of male and 55%
of female respondents answered the questionnaires.
It shows that the major respondents of this research
is female which is 82 respondents, while male only
68 respondents.
For the race, the major respondents are Malay,
which is 113 respondents (75%), followed by
Chinese which is 20 respondents (13%) and Indian
which is 13 respondents (9%). There are about 3%
of the remaining respondents are from other races
(Figure 2).
As for the nationality, it showed that mostly
the respondents that dine in the seafood restaurants
were citizen, which were 145 respondents (97%)
compared to non-citizen. However, there were five
respondents (3%) that is non-citizen, which was
Singaporean that dine at the seafood restaurants in
Johor Bahru. Since the location of the seafood
restaurants in Johor Bahru is near to Singapore, it
has become one of the reasons of existence of non-
citizens respondents (Figure 3). According to The
Star Online (2015), the statistics from Tourism
Fig. 1. The percentage of respondents in terms of gender.
CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
Fig. 2. The percentage of respondents in terms of races.
Fig. 4. The percentage of respondents in terms of age.
Malaysia shows that there was an increase of 8.55%
as Johor recorded 2.898 million visitors in the first
half of last year compared to 2.670 million for the
consecutive period in previous years.
For the age group, 75% of the respondents are
within the age group between 18-30 years old. The
respondents in this range of group that consists of
adolescences and adults prefer to dine out instead
of dine at home. According to National Restaurant
Association, statistic showed that people in this
range of age buys a meal or snack from a restaurant
5.8 times per week. The remaining respondents
about 25% were in the age group 31 years old and
above (Figure 4).
For the level of education, most of the
respondents have educational background in
Secondary School, Diploma/STPM and Degree,
which were 30%, 25% and 31% respectively
compared to the Master, PhD and Primary School.
As shown in Figure 5, students prefer to dine out
compared to dining at home because of their limited
97
Fig. 3. The percentage of respondents in terms of nationality.
Fig. 5. The percentage of respondents in terms of educational
level.
time to cook and sometimes they have packed
classes.
Normally, monthly income of a person affects
the frequency of the people to dine out at the
restaurants. From the Figure 6, it showed that the
majority of the respondents were less than RM 1,000
(55%), followed by the monthly income of
RM 2,001 to RM 3,000 (17%) and RM 1,001 to
RM 2,000 (15%). Since most of the respondents
were students, they do not have a fixed income,
hence their monthly income was categorized as less
than RM 1,000. However, the frequency of the
respondents of monthly income RM 5,001 and
above (7%) were higher compared to the respondents
that have monthly income RM 4,001 to RM 5,000
(5%) and RM 3,001 to RM 4000 (1%). Sulaiman and
Haron (2013) found that the trend of eating out
increases because of the high income and high
population in urban areas which leads to the growth
of the food industry.
98 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS

Fig. 6. The percentage of respondents in terms of monthly income.

Fig. 7. The percentage of respondents in terms of the frequency of dining out.

From this study, majority of the respondents
who went to seafood restaurants ‘less than once a
week, but more than ‘once a month’ were 62
respondents which 42%, and followed by ‘once a
week or more’ which were 50 respondents (33%) and
the minority of the respondents that dine out ‘once
a month or less’ are 38 respondents (25%). These
percentages showed that dine out is one of their
activities because most of them will dined out a few
times in a month (Figure 7). It was indicated that
they like the type of dishes that served at the
seafood restaurant or may be due to the restaurant’s
location which nearby to their residence.
Lastly, the main reason why most people
preferred to dine in seafood restaurant are to gather
with friends and family. Figure 8 showed that about
60 respondents (40%) of the respondents dine in a
seafood restaurant with a reason to gather with
friends and family. The second reasons why people
choose to dine in seafood restaurants were people
does not have time to cook and some people wants
to try the new seafood restaurant. It was proven by
the results that about 33 respondents out of 150
respondents (22%) stated that they do not have time
to cook at home, while 32 respondents (21%) stated
that they want change of taste and to try new seafood
restaurants. Some people do not have time to cook
because of the hectic life with tons of work and
packed schedule. Moreover, there were about 21
respondents (14%) stated that they went to the
specific seafood restaurants because of a friend’s
recommendation. It has become a trend nowadays
where their friends will make a viral post about the
best seafood restaurants to their friends through
social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
However, four respondents (3%) went to seafood
restaurants because they have a special occasion
such as meeting with clients and dinner date.
Perceived Value towards Seafood Restaurant
Table 1 shows the mean score and standard
deviation of the perceived value towards seafood
restaurant. These include the perceived value of
food quality, service quality and atmospheric or
environmental quality for a seafood restaurant.
There are total 19 attributes which contributed to
the perception of seafood restaurant.
CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS 99

Fig. 8. The percentage of respondents in terms of the main reason of dining out.

Table 1. The mean score and standard deviation of Perceived Value

Perceived Value Mean ± Standard Deviation

Overall food quality 5.33 ± 0.835

– Food looks appetizing 5.36 ± 1.053
– Taste 5.31 ± 1.093
– Food presentation 5.21 ± 1.121
– Served at the appropriate temperature 5.35 ± 1.158
– Food portion 5.23 ± 1.171
– Food freshness 5.47 ± 1.097
– Menu variety 5.77 ± 1.069
– Price fairness 4.97 ± 1.404

Overall service quality 5.01 ± 0.984

– Prompt and quick service 4.97 ± 1.346
– Friendly staffs 4.83 ± 1.299
– Knowledgeable staffs 4.94 ± 1.194
– Well-trained and experienced staffs 4.98 ± 1.179
– Serve food as expected 5.31 ± 0.962

Overall atmospheric/environmental quality 5.25 ± 0.927

– Cleanliness (tables, chairs and etc) 5.25 ± 1.290
– Lighting 5.45 ± 1.224
– Interior design 5.07 ± 1.062
– Facilities 5.10 ± 1.230
– Layout 5.12 ± 1.042
– Atmosphere and ambience 5.49 ± 1.067

7-point Likert type scale where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 =
neutral, 5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree & 7 = strongly agree.

From the Table 1, it was recorded that overall
food quality has the highest score (µ = 5.33, S.D. =
.835), followed by atmospheric or environmental
quality (µ = 5.25, S.D. = .927) and then service quality
(µ = 5.01, S.D. = .984). As the food quality has the
highest score, it was agreed by the respondents
that most of the seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru
have high food quality where it showed that ‘menu
variety’ has the highest score compared to other
attributes. For the factor of atmospheric and
environmental quality, the statement that has the
highest attributes in this factor was ‘the atmosphere
and ambience of the restaurant was relaxing’
because of the strategic location of the restaurants.
Nevertheless, the respondents recorded that the
service quality of the restaurant was neither good
nor bad the statement ‘the waiters are friendly’
where it recorded that the staffs were neither friendly
nor not so very friendly. These lowest attributes
indicated that respondents does not satisfy with
the service provided in the restaurant due to
the behaviour of the staffs not friendly, lack of
knowledge, experience and promptness, and also the
food price factor which was too expensive.
100 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
Perception in terms of food quality in Seafood
Restaurant
Table 1 showed that the food quality has
positive perception because it have the highest score
(µ = 5.33, S.D. = .835) compared to service quality
and atmospheric or environmental quality. Food
quality was the major factor of attraction for the
respondents to dine out. As stated in the result,
the respondents agreed that most of the seafood
restaurants provide a variety of menu choices
(µ = 5.77, S.D. = 1.069) and the food cooked using
fresh food ingredients such as seafood and
vegetables (µ = 5.47, S.D. = 1.097) which enhance
their food quality. However, the respondents do
less agree with the price of food sold; this may be
because food portion was not parallel with the price
or the food that presented not worth with the amount
that they paid. This statement can be proved by the
score that obtained by the food portion (µ = 5.23,
S.D. = 1.171) and food presentation (µ = 5.21, S.D. =
1.121) which can be categorized as the lowest score
among the attributes. The moderate score of the
taste and the looks of the food which were (µ = 5.31,
S.D. = 1.093) and (µ = 5.47, S.D. = 1.097), respectively.
It showed that the respondents agreed with some of
the restaurants food which attracted them to dine in
the restaurant.
Perception in terms of service quality in Seafood
Restaurant
For service quality, it showed that respondent
positive perception towards seafood restaurants in
Johor Bahru. However, this variable had the lowest
score compared to other variables which are food
quality and atmospheric or environmental quality.
Most of the respondents agreed that seafood
restaurants had a low service quality in terms of the
management of the staffs such as unfriendly waiters
(µ = 4.83, S.D. = 1.299), the waiters cannot answer
the questions regarding dishes offered that asked
by customers properly (µ = 4.94, S.D. = 1.194) and
the waiters were not well trained and experienced
enough (µ = 4.98, S.D. = 1.17) to be worked in this
food sector. Besides that, respondents claimed that
most of the seafood restaurants do not provide
prompt and quick service. In order to overcome these
problems, employers need to take responsibilities
to improve the service quality of their restaurant by
train the staff to be friendlier and service oriented
and knowledgeable about the menu. The employers
should give a motivational support to employees
or staffs to ensure that they have a spirit to work.
According to Estepon (2012), customer service
mistake always happens in the food industry where
the most important thing is the method on how to
transform the mistakes into an opportunity of an
irritated customer into a loyal and happy patron.
Perception in terms of atmospheric/environmental
quality in Seafood Restaurant
Table 1 shows that all the respondents gave
positive perception because the score of all attributes
above 4. Most of the respondents agreed that the
seafood restaurants have comfortable lighting
(µ = 5.45, S.D. = 1.224), relaxing atmosphere and
ambience (µ = 5.49, S.D. = 1.067). These attributes
attract the respondents to come to the restaurants
because the restaurant has a relaxing atmosphere
and ambience because of the strategic location of
the restaurant which located near the sea or the
beach. The respondents also satisfied with the
cleanliness of the dining areas such as tables and
chairs (µ = 5.25, S.D. = 1.290), the interior design
(µ = 5.07, S.D. = 1.062) and layout of the restaurant
(µ = 5.12, S.D. = 1.042) and the restaurant provide
sufficient facilities such as toilet and washing sink
(µ = 5.49, S.D. = 1.067). Since interior design had
the lowest score, the owner of the restaurants can
seek a new or latest design for the interior of their
restaurants in order to attract more customers to dine
in their restaurants. Based on previous studies, it is
found that the element of the dining experience
influence customer’s emotions and expectations
regarding service and food quality (Ha & Jang,
2010). Moreover, according to Ng (2001), in order
to attract new customers, a relaxed and comfortable
dining atmosphere were needed, which also can
strengthen the behavioural intention and customer
loyalty.
Customers’ Satisfaction towards Seafood
Restaurant
Table 2 below recorded the attributes and the
mean scores of customers’ satisfaction towards
seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru.
The mean score for any attributes that above
4 indicated a positive satisfaction, whereas any
attributes that have a mean score below 4 indicated
the negative satisfaction of the respondents. From
the result that shown in the Table 3.2, all the
attributes had a mean score above 5 where it is
signified that all the respondents satisfied with the
Table 2. The mean score and standard deviation of
Customers’ satisfaction
Mean ± Standard
Customers’ satisfaction
Deviation
Environment satisfaction 5.17 ± 1.195
Service satisfaction 5.09 ± 1.113
Food quality satisfaction 5.16 ± 1.062
Overall dining experience 5.35 ± 1.238
7-point Likert scale where from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly
agree).
CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
seafood restaurants in terms of the environmental
quality, service quality, food quality and overall
dining experience. The respondents more satisfied
with overall dining experience (µ = 5.35, S.D. =
1.238), followed by environment satisfaction (µ =
5.17, S.D. = 1.195), food quality satisfaction (µ = 5.16,
S.D. = 1.062) and the last ranking was service quality
(µ = 5.09, S.D. = 1.113). Overall dining experience
includes the food quality, service quality and
atmospheric or environmental quality of the
restaurant. The highest mean score of overall dining
satisfaction indicated that respondents enjoying
their time at the restaurant. Comfortable environ-
ment, good service quality and food quality can be
one of the factors that make respondents satisfied
dine in the restaurants. According to Omar et al.
(2014), customers’ satisfaction influenced by the
restaurant ambience which includes decoration,
layout and lighting attributes. From that statement,
it can be proved that the seafood restaurant has good
and comfortable ambience or environmental quality
which it have a nice decoration or interior design, a
good lighting and have suitable layout.
As recorded in the results from Table 2, food
quality satisfaction and environment satisfaction
have high mean score compared to service
satisfaction. It showed that the food that served in
the restaurant and the environment of the restaurant
has high quality and satisfied the respondents. The
food that served to them was tasty, the quantity of
food is sufficient, variety of menus, the price of food
was reasonable and the ingredients of the food were
fresh. As stated by Mosavi and Ghaedi (2013), the
essential attributes for customers’ satisfaction
influenced by the food quality which includes
appealing of taste, freshness, menu item variety, and
presentation of the food. However, in this research,
service satisfaction was at the lowest rank among
other attributes, but it was still towards positive
satisfaction. Previous studies stated that one of the
most influencing customer’s satisfaction and
customer loyalty towards the restaurant is service
quality (Ng, 2001; Ha & Jang, 2010). It is supported
by Heung and Gu (2012) where they stated that the
factors that highly effect the customers’ satisfaction
are the food quality and service quality of the
restaurant.
Behavioural Intention towards Seafood
Restaurant
Table 3 below shows the mean score and the
significant difference of the attributes of behavioural
intentions.
The mean score for any attributes that above
4 indicated it is positive satisfaction, whereas any
attributes that have a mean score below 4 indicated
the negative satisfaction of the respondents. Based
on the Table 3 above, all the attributes had a mean
101
Table 3. The mean score and standard deviation of
behavioural intentions
Mean ± Standard
Behavioural Intentions
Deviation
Spending time intentions 5.25 ± 1.198
Revisit intentions 5.07 ± 1.299
Recommend intentions 4.99 ± 1.090
Return intentions 5.32 ± 1.130
Positive words intentions 5.53 ± 1.151
7-point Likert scale where from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly
agree).
score above 5 except to recommend intentions
attribute which a mean score of near to 5. The results
showed that the highest rank of behavioural
intentions attributes is positive word intentions
(µ = 5.53, S.D. = 1.151), followed by return intentions
(µ = 5.31, S.D. = 1.130), spending time intentions
(µ = 5.25, S.D. = 1.198), revisit intentions (µ = 5.07,
S.D. = 1.299) and recommend intentions (µ = 4.99,
S.D. = 1.090). These ranking signified that respon-
dents more preferred to spread a positive word about
the restaurants instead of recommending about the
restaurant. The good words of mouth that will be
spread among their friends and family about the
restaurant According to Sriwongrat (2008), the
restaurant’s atmosphere, furniture, and the cleanliness
of the facilities give a great effect to the behavioural
intentions.
For the other attributes, most of the respondents
were likely have revisit intentions and bring along
their family or friends to dine in the restaurant in
the future. Sometimes, the customers do not care
much about the service quality because they more
concern about the food quality of the restaurant. As
stated by Kuok (2014), the most important factor
that contributed to the customer return intentions to
the restaurant was food quality, as the customer
preferred tasty food, the food that use fresh
ingredients and provide variety of menus.
The Relationship between Perceived Value and
Customers’ Satisfaction towards Seafood
Restaurant
Table 4 below showed the correlation between
food quality, service quality and atmospheric/
environmental quality with customers’ satisfaction
towards seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru. The
strength of the relationship between perceived value
and customers’ satisfaction was analysed using
Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Positive
correlation indicated that higher levels of perceived
value were associated with higher levels of
customers’ satisfaction.
From the results that shown in Table 4, all the
factors had positive correlation where it indicated
102 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
Table 4. Correlation between Perceived Value and
Customers’ Satisfaction
Items
Food quality
Service quality
Atmospheric/Environmental quality
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 5. Correlation between Perceived Value and
Behavioural Intentions
Items
Food quality
Service quality
Atmospheric/Environmental quality
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
that there is a relationship between perceived
value and customers’ satisfaction. It showed that
food quality, service quality and atmospheric or
environmental quality have a moderate relationship
with customers’ satisfaction. In addition, all the
factors were significantly associated to the
customers’ satisfaction (p< 0.01). Among these three
factors, atmospheric or environmental quality had
the strongest positive relationship (r = 0.699 ** ),
while service quality (r = 0.558 **) had the least
positive relationship with customers’ satisfaction
compared to the other two factors.
The restaurant that had good atmospheric or
environmental quality can attract more customers to
come to the restaurant, hence can improve and
boosts the sales and making more profits. According
to Omar et al. (2014), most customers agreed that
restaurant ambience was the key attribute in
influencing them to dine in restaurant and restaurant
operators should maintain the ambience of the
restaurant and improve it from time to time to satisfy
the customers. Besides atmospheric/environmental
quality, food quality will also influenced the
customers’ satisfaction. Most customers’ concern
about the food quality of the restaurant because
they want to ensure that the food that they
consumed are worth with what they paid. As stated
by Omar et al. (2014), restaurant operators must
keep the quality of food at their top priority,
especially in terms of food aroma, portion size and
variety of food and beverages to meet the
satisfaction of the customers.
Aimed at the service quality, most of the
respondents do not satisfied with the service
provided by the seafood restaurant. The results
proved that the customers were not satisfied with a
particular restaurant if the restaurants cannot provide
a good service quality. According to Kuok (2014),
customers will more likely to have their meals in a
r - value restaurant that provide a good service such as the
0.606** staffs served the food correctly, efficiently and
0.558** friendly. This is the reason why the service quality
0.699** has a low positive relationship with the customers’
satisfaction compared to other attributes.
The Relationship between Perceived Value and
Behavioural Intentions towards Seafood Restaurant
Table 5 shows the correlation between food
quality, service quality and atmospheric/environ-
mental quality with behavioural intentions towards
r - value
seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru. The strength of
0.529** the relationship between perceived value and
0.587** behavioural intentions was analysed using Pearson
0.714** correlation coefficient analysis. Positive correlation
indicated that higher levels of perceived value
were associated with higher levels of behavioural
intentions.
The results showed positive relationships
between all the factors where it indicated a
relationship between perceived value and behavioural
intentions. Atmospheric or environmental quality
had strong relationship, while food quality and
service quality had a moderate relationship with
behavioural intentions. In addition, all the factors
were significantly associated with the behavioural
intentions (p<0.01). Atmospheric or environmental
quality was recorded the strongest relationship
with behavioural intentions (r = 0.714**), followed
by service quality (r = 0.587 **) and food quality
(r = 0.529**).
The strong relationship proved that most of the
customers would revisit intentions and return with
family and friends if the seafood restaurant has with
high atmospheric or environmental quality. Since
seafood restaurant had a nice ambience and clean
and comfortable dining environment, customers
tend to have revisit intentions and they will spread
positive word-of-mouth to others.
Meanwhile, for food quality and service quality,
both attributes gave a moderate relationship which
means these attributes can be used to measure
whether customers will have revisit intentions or
positive word-of-mouth or not. Ng (2001) found that
food quality and service quality are positively
influencing the customers’ satisfaction and
customers’ loyalty. Positive relationship of the
variables proved that food quality, service quality
and atmospheric or environmental quality influence
the behavioural intentions of the customers. Liraz
(2012) found that the food quality, service quality
and atmospheric quality were positively related to
the behavioural intentions of the customers in terms
of customer loyalty and positive word of mouth.
CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
Table 6. Correlation between Customers’ Satisfaction and
Behavioural Intentions
Items
Environment satisfaction
Service satisfaction
Food quality satisfaction
Overall dining experience
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The Relationship between Customers’ Satisfaction
and Behavioural Intentions towards Seafood
Restaurant
Table 6 shows the correlation between
customers’ satisfaction with behavioural intentions
towards seafood restaurant in Johor Bahru. The
strength of relationship between customers’
satisfaction and behavioural intentions was
analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient
analysis. Positive correlation indicated that higher
levels of customers’ satisfaction were associated
with higher levels of behavioural intentions.
The results showed that there were positive
relationships between all the factors where it
indicated a moderate relationship between
customers’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions,
only service satisfaction have strong relationships
with behavioural intentions. In addition, all the
factors were significantly associated to behavioural
intentions (p< 0.01). Among these four factors,
service satisfaction (r = 0.704**) had the strongest
relationship with the behavioural intentions,
followed by food quality satisfaction (r = 0.687**),
environment satisfaction (r = 0 .672**) and overall
dining experience (r = 0.668**). Positive relationship
between customers’ satisfaction and behavioural
intentions leads to positive word of mouth and
loyalty of the customers. According to Kim et al.
(2013), he found that the perceived restaurant
affects revisit intentions primarily indirectly via
satisfaction.
The Comparison Demographic Variables on
Perceived Value, Customers’ Satisfaction and
Behavioural Intentions
Based on questionnaires, there were total eight
questions of socio-demographic profiles were asked
to the customers such as gender, race, nationality,
age, educational level, monthly income, frequency
of dining out, and main reason dining in a seafood
restaurant. Independent t-test and one way ANOVA
were used to analyse the mean score and value of
socio-demographic profiles on perceived value,
customers’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions.
Table 7 summarized the comparison of mean score
103
of socio demographic variables on perceived value,
customers’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions.
Table 7 shows the mean difference between the
r - value variables which are perceived value, customers’
0.672** satisfaction, behavioural intention and socio-
0.704** demographic characteristics were not statistically
0.687** significant (p>0.05), except for ‘educational level’,
0.668** ‘frequency of dining out’ and ‘main reason of dining
out’. If there are no significant differences between
variables, it indicated that difference background or
socio-demographic of the customers such as age,
gender, and race does not influence their perception
of perceived value, customers’ satisfaction and
behavioural intention towards seafood restaurant.
However, different level of education of the
customers influenced the perceived value such as
food quality, service quality and environmental
quality, customers’ satisfaction and behavioural
intention of the restaurant. Considering the
customers that have secondary school education
background was statistically significant with the
customers that have master education background
for perceived value, customers’ satisfaction,
behavioural intentions at p=1.008, p=1.267 and
p=1.009 respectively by post-hoc test Bonferroni’s
procedures. It proved that customers that have high
educational background will focused more on these
three variables on the restaurant compared to
customers with secondary school background.
Customers that had high levels of educational
background tend to have high expectation about the
seafood restaurant such as high quality of food,
service and environment which can influence their
satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Normally,
the customers that had high educational level will
have higher monthly income and they will more
demand in taste and preference of the food and the
environment of the restaurant. Bonfanti and Brunetti
(2014) investigated that education improves
decision making of the customer under changing
situations which affects the customer perceived
value, customers’ satisfaction and behavioural
intentions.
Meanwhile, for ‘frequency of dining out’, it
showed a significant difference between perceived
value, customers’ satisfaction and behavioural
intention (p<0.05). The frequency of dining out
affects the perception of these three variables
towards seafood restaurant. For the customers who
visited the seafood restaurant once a month was
statistically significant with the customers that
visited once a week or more for variables of
perceived value, customers’ satisfaction, behavioural
intentions at p=0.578, p=0.696 and p=0.972
respectively by post-hoc test Bonferroni’s pro-
cedures. Customers that visited once a month
concern about the service quality, food quality and
104 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS

Table 7. Comparison of mean score of socio-demographic variables on perceived value, customers’ satisfaction and
behavioural intentions

Perceived Value Customers’ Satisfaction Behavioural Intentions

Socio-Demographic Variables
Mean±SD p-value Mean±SD p-value Mean±SD p-value

Independent t-test
Gender
– Male 5.09±0.760 5.14±0.947 5.09±1.005
1.472 0.647 0.496
– Female 5.28±0.891 5.23±1.039 5.41±1.011

Nationality
– Citizen 5.21±0.823 5.20±1.000 5.24±1.028
0.053 0.990 0.951
– Non-citizen 4.86±1.250 5.00±0.952 5.04±1.004

One-way ANOVA
Race
– Malay 5.14±0.875 5.15±1.039 5.22±1.098
– Chinese 5.23±0.735 5.13±0.805 5.26±0.866
0.323 0.849 0.516
– India 5.57±0.688 5.52±0.987 5.40±0.693
– Others 5.47±0.175 5.75±0.000 4.80±0.000

Age
– Less than 20 5.25±0.639 5.17±0.760 5.37±0.878
– 21 – 25 5.14±0.898 5.13±1.043 5.22±0.984
– 26 – 30 5.52±0.733 5.27±0.972 5.30±1.066
0.323 0.849 0.516
– 31 – 35 4.94±0.797 5.00±0.962 4.69±0.836
– 36 – 40 4.90±1.194 5.40±1.115 5.08±0.982
– More than 40 5.34±0.839 5.42±0.996 5.33±1.556

Educational level
– Primary school 5.06±1.026 4.89±1.146 5.20±0.439
– Secondary school 5.03± 0.623 5.16±0.847 5.17±0.994
– Diploma/STPM 5.22±0.852 5.19±0.715 4.99±0.746
– Degree 5.12±0.941 0.004* 4.95±1.182 0.001* 5.22±1.148 0.023*
– Master 6.03±0.295 6.43±0.537 6.18±0.623
– PhD. – – –
– Others 6.21±0.263 6.00±0.000 6.00±0.000

Monthly income
– Less than RM1,000 5.03±0.743 5.08±0.831 5.12±0.936
– RM1,001 – RM2,000 5.54±0.830 5.48±1.080 5.74±0.955
– RM2,001 – RM3,000 5.34±0.826 5.22±0.934 5.17±1.053
0.076 0.527 0.201
– RM3,001 – RM4,000 5.03±1.367 5.04±1.074 5.00± 0.924
– RM4,001 – RM5,000 5.06±0.721 5.38±0.530 5.00±0.000
– RM5,001 and above 5.54±0.971 5.50±1.854 5.40±1.612

Frequency of dining out

– Once a month or less 4.91±0.750 4.83±0.866 4.68±0.709
– Less than once a week, but 5.19±0.776 0.015* 5.15±0.861 0.004* 5.22±0.896 <.001*
more than once a month
– Once a week or more 5.42±0.914 5.53±1.144 5.66±1.024

Main reason of dining out

– Special occasion 5.43±0.499 5.00±0.000 4.70±0.808
– Friend’s recommendation 5.32±0.844 5.54±0.888 5.64±0.920
– No time to cook 4.99±0.789 0.517 4.86±1.075 0.163 4.72±0.812 0.007*
– Gathering with friends or family 5.27±0.706 5.23±0.875 5.31±0.888
– Change of taste or want to try 5.15±1.102 5.27±1.82 5.41±1.335
something new

* The mean difference is significant at 0.05 level.

CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION IN RELATION TO SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
environmental quality provided at the restaurant.
When the restaurant does not meet their satisfaction,
they will not have intention to dining at that
restaurant again. The study stated that interaction
orientation had positive influences on customer
satisfaction and behavioural intention in first-time
and frequent diners, while customer satisfaction
positively affects behavioural intentions in first-time
and frequent diners (Zhang & Liang, 2012).
The results also showed that the reason of
dining, which does not have time to cook was
statistically significant with the friends’ recommen-
dation and change of taste or want to try a new
seafood restaurant at p=-0.917 and p=-0.685
respectively by post-hoc test Bonferroni’s pro-
cedures. The majority of the customers will tend to
return to the restaurants because they do not have
time to cook because of their packed schedule or
overtime shift. There were also customers that
dine in the restaurant because of their friends’
recommendation. The positive word-of-mouth about
the restaurant and positive dining experience affects
their revisit intentions to the restaurant.
CONCLUSION
Concisely, this study found that a majority of the
respondents had a positive perception in terms of
perceived value towards seafood restaurants in
Johor Bahru. The outcome indicated that customers
had a positive perception of food quality such as
the variety of the food and fresh ingredients used
in a food. To customers’ satisfaction, customers also
had a positive perception towards the seafood
restaurant. Majority customers satisfied with the
overall dining experience, followed by environment
satisfaction where customers enjoy the peaceful and
relaxing ambience which leads to satisfaction of
dining experience. Next, for behavioural intentions,
customers tend to spread positive-word-of-mouth to
others and they have strong intention to bring their
family or friends to the restaurant in the future.
This study also found that perceived value
has a moderate relationship between customers’
satisfaction and behavioural intentions. It showed
that environmental quality seems to be more
influential towards both variables. Although it has
moderate relationship, the customers still have
positive perception about the perceived value,
customers’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions
towards seafood restaurant. However, there were
strong relationship between customers’ satisfaction
and behavioural intentions, where service satis-
faction factor was the most influential factor towards
behavioural intentions. Customer satisfaction can
achieve if the service provided by the restaurant is
good in quality.
105
Finally yet importantly, this study showed that
demographic profiles such as gender, age, race,
and nationality do not have significant difference
to the perceived value, customers’ satisfaction and
behavioural intentions towards seafood restaurant.
However, there were only three factors that have
significant difference towards seafood restaurant
including educational level, frequency and main
reasons of dining out.
From this study, it can be concluded that
restaurant owners play important roles in improving
their premises or restaurants. The restaurant owners
need to always aware on a few factors which can
highly affect customers’ satisfaction and behavioural
intentions. Furthermore, food quality, service
quality and environmental quality must be main-
tained or improved which it is important in a
restaurant operation. This study believes that it can
help restaurant owners, supervisors or any business
person where it can be used as their guidelines or
reference to venture into the seafood restaurant
business.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank the School of Food Science
and Technology for their support of this study.
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