Abstract:
Meal experience forms an integral part of the growth and development of restaurants. The main objective of the study was to examine the effect of meal experience on customers‟ post-purchase behavioural intentions to grade three restaurants in Sekondi-Takoradi. Three models from Kivela et al. (1999), Kleynhans (2003) and Ryu and Han (2010) provided the theoretical bases for the study.
A non-experimental design (explanatory) underpinned by the positivist approach (quantitative) was adopted. Questionnaire was employed to collect the data, and convenience sampling technique was used to select 272 customers. The statistical techniques used for the analysis were, frequencies, percentages, cross-tabulations, means, standard deviation, chi-square and logistic regression.
The study revealed that there was no significant relationship between reasons for eating out and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. A similar finding was registered with respect to respondents‟ reasons for eating out and meal experience. However, there were significant effects with regard to customers‟ socio-demographic characteristic (sex) and perception of the meal experience (menu & price) on the overall meal experience. The main factors that influenced meal experience were food, menu, price, service and atmosphere. It was concluded that, there was a significant relationship between meal experience and post-purchase behavioural intentions (re-visit & recommendation). It was recommended that restaurant managers pay extra attention to food preparation, environment, location, service and periodic training for staff.
