An investigation on customer revisit intention to theme restaurants: The role of servicescape and authentic perception

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine theme restaurant customers’ decision-making process in light of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model.

Design/methodology/approach

This investigation is conducted by an on-site survey with 357 theme restaurant customers who have a dining experience in China. The current study used Anderson and Gerbing’s (1998) two-step method.

Findings

Study results indicate the extended TPB model surpasses the TPB in predicting customers’ behavioral intention. Findings not only identified attitude and involvement as useful mediators in the model but also provided evidence of possible relationships in the proposed model.

Research limitations/implications

The relationships in the extended TPB offer practical solutions for theme restaurant managers and ways to increase the customers’ intention to revisit their establishments.

Originality/value

With servicescape as an external factor and perceived authenticity and involvement as psychological factors incorporated into the TPB, the proposed framework supported the analysis of those underlying factors in the context of theme restaurants toward clarifying the formation of customer’s intention to revisit those restaurants.

Citation

Meng, B. and Choi, K. (2018), "An investigation on customer revisit intention to theme restaurants: The role of servicescape and authentic perception", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 1646-1662. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2016-0630