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Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, many restaurants and catering businesses have introduced or improved online food ordering and delivery services (OFODSs). This study aims to identify service quality expectations about OFODSs, to examine their content and to suggest management strategies to meet these expectations.

Adopting a qualitative method, four focus groups were conducted amongst Italian users of OFODSs.

The results reveal three dimensions of expectations, each comprising two categories that can be set along a continuum: (1) basicness of expectations (ranging from implicit to explicit), (2) accuracy of expectations (ranging from fuzzy to precise) and (3) attainability of expectations (ranging from realistic to unrealistic). Content may refer to technical, social, economic, legal and technological aspects. To meet customer expectations, the following strategies are suggested: customer reassurance, flexibility, continuous improvement, customer education, adaptation to customers' requirements and monitoring of exceptions.

This study provides specific activities in which restaurants and catering businesses could invest to enact the management strategies that emerged from the analysis.

This paper proposes a new classification of expectations and framework for improving OFODS quality by managing customer expectations.

This study aims to explore the loyalty intent of prepaid (contract-free) customers in a market where disloyalty is prevalent and the market has low switching costs.

A quota, non-probability sampling technique was applied, resulting in the completion of 220 self-administered questionnaires that were used for data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model were applied to determine model fit and test the formulated hypotheses for this study.

The strength of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship is found to be influenced by three specific satisfaction antecedents, strengthened by the mediating role of customer delight and impacted by switching costs.

The findings of this study may guide mobile service providers in their initiatives to secure satisfaction and loyalty in a market context where switching costs are low and the market is described as disloyal.

This study investigates the well-researched relationship between satisfaction and loyalty and the antecedents of customer satisfaction to determine which of these variables should be the focus in a challenging market where consumers are disloyal and switching costs are low.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the retailer’s brand strength as a potential predictor of loyalty. It also examines the role of customer satisfaction (CS) to the retailer’s loyalty as well as its impact on the retailer’s brand strength.

The study was conducted in the grocery context and in a market under recession using the European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model. Data were collected through a telephone survey from 2,000 participants responsible for the household grocery shopping with a quota of 250 respondents from each of the leading grocery retailers in Greece. A formative measurement model was developed and the collected data were analyzed using partial least square path modeling.

The findings revealed that the strength of the retailer’s brand and CS influence retail loyalty and that brand strength mediate the strength of CS to loyalty. Results also suggested that the expectations and the perceptions toward the retailer’s product offering are the most important drivers of CS and loyalty. Thus, the study has proved the importance of the functional store attributes to CS and loyalty in the grocery store setting.

Research examining the suitability of the ECSI model in the grocery setting and in a market under economic crisis is scarce. This paper addresses these shortcomings by examining a customer loyalty model which incorporates the brand strength construct and investigates the role of brand strength as a potential predictor of loyalty as well as the role of CS in the brand strength and loyalty.

Satisfying the gastronomy experience of tourists becomes the most important strategic aim in the hospitality and tourism industries. This study attempts to prove that there is a distinct and specific market segment related to gastronomy from the overall number of tourist arrival of Jeonju City. Furthermore, this study investigates the different factors that affect the overall experience of tourists. The focus of the study is Jeonju City, a popular gastronomy destination in South Korea.

Survey questionnaires were distributed to 680 tourists in Jeonju City during two survey periods. Descriptive statistics and regressions were utilized to treat the data. The predictors that affect the overall experience of tourists were identified through the different literature. The hypotheses were formulated and tested to examine the relationship between the assessments of the distinct gastronomy-tourist market and tourists' overall experience.

The results indicate that there are 17.20% of the respondents indicated that their main reason for traveling was for the food. Descriptive statistics revealed that local food satisfaction, destination image perceived quality, perceived value, tourist expectations, and costs and risks have a positive and significant influence on tourist overall experience.

The findings of this study could provide guidelines for both the hospitality and tourism industries of the country, and tourist destination operators to further positioned approaches to satisfy gastronomy tourists in the “new normal”.

Building on the three-factor theory, this study aims to unravel how the role of hotel attributes such as basic, excitement and performance factors could differ in accordance with different hotel star ratings and distinct customer segments.

This study explores the asymmetric effects of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction by extracting 412,784 consumer-generated reviews from TripAdvisor across different cities in China.

By taking into account the origins of customers and hotel star ratings, the study uncovers that guests’ expectations of hotel performance differ with respect to their origins (domestic and international guests) and the star ratings of the hotels being reviewed, thereby moderating the asymmetric impact of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction.

The study compares and contrasts the determinants of customer satisfaction for domestic and international guests in the context of Chinese hotels. Care should still be exercised when generalizing the insights gleaned from this study to other contexts.

The findings from this study translate into actionable guidelines for hotel operators to make informed decisions regarding service improvement.

The study extends previous work by offering a deeper understanding of the asymmetric impact of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction. Specifically, this study provides a deep understanding of the different hotel attributes such as basic, performance and excitement factors in explaining customer satisfaction among different hotel customer segments. Findings from this study can not only inform hotel operators on the significance of various hotel attributes in determining customer satisfaction but also guide the formulation of business strategies to retain customers by inducing delight and not frustration.

This study aims to investigate customers’ churning out of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, one of the most prevalent forms of IT convergence.

Based on the review of current literature, a research model is introduced to depict the effects of select independent variables on customer churning behavior. First of all, the two groups are compared in terms of predictor variables, including switching barriers, voice of customer (VOC), membership period and degree of contents usage. Then, a curvilinear regression was applied to understand the association relationship between the level of IPTV contents usage and variables of switching barriers, VOC and membership period. Third, a logit regression was performed to predict customer churning through the variables of switching barriers, VOC, membership period and level of IPTV contents usage.

Through the empirical analysis, this study analyzed the factors affecting customer churning behavior of IPTV service providers based on switching barriers, VOC and contents usage.

Although several studies on IPTV have been undertaken globally, they have largely depended on self-reporting surveys to examine dynamics between antecedent variables and IPTV performance in terms of customer satisfaction, usage intension and customer retention. This empirical study is performed to understand influential factors of IPTV service defection through the weblog analysis of 3,906 service users, who represented both service defectors and non-defectors during a specific month.

The paper explores processes associated with the adoption of corporate sustainability communication in a B2B context. It employs a combined action research and sensemaking approach to document moments that precede the initiation of external sustainability communication.

The paper is the outcome of an action research project, where we examine the case of one industrial company that was silent on its multiple sustainability-related practices, but recently decided to become more transparent to the outside world. A processual approach to sensemaking is adopted to show how organisational and non-organisational members actively participated in meaning co-construction.

Corporate silence can be disrupted by triggering events that cause moments of sudden realisation for organisational members, eventually leading to the initiation of sensemaking processes inside the organisation. Once this occurs, the possibility of externally communicating sustainability appears a feasible and strategic approach to pursue. We document how different actors are involved in meaning co-construction and how the entire process of sensemaking unfolds.

A sensemaking approach sheds light on the complexity of sustainability communication, where multiple actors are involved. This is a useful approach to consider in order to couple sustainability with other organisational practices. Moreover, sensemaking opens a window of opportunity for various societal actors' interventions to shape the role and content of sustainability communication.

The paper offers an original, theoretically informed methodological contribution to the literature on sustainability communication by coupling a sensemaking approach with action research. The approach is employed to examine the role of internal organisational actors in sustainability reporting processes, an area that has received scant attention.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the perceptions of cleanliness and organization of the point of sale, hygiene and training of those who serve the public (service) and healthiness of the products, constitute a base for the perception of the quality of food sold in the street. Studies about development of street food trade have gained relevance in academic debate because of its social and economic significance. Usually, aspects related to sanitary issues are presented, and the factors that influence consumer perception regarding quality of food consumed are less explored. This was the focus of this work. The relationships among possible predecessors – attendance, cleanliness, organization and healthiness – were tested, all acting together, influencing the variable perception of product quality. Competitive models were tested because of theoretical divergences regarding the relationship between quality and healthiness, not yet totally clear in the literature.

A quantitative survey was carried out in the city of Diadema (SP, Brazil), getting 603 respondents, with data and theoretical models analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Results indicated that organization variable is not significant regarding perception of product quality, while attendance and healthiness directly affect this perception. On the other hand, cleanliness influences perceived healthiness and this, in turn, reinforces perception of product quality.

The focus of street food traders should be on clerk cleanliness and politeness (characteristics related to the service) that end up influencing the perception that the consumer develops regarding healthiness (characteristic related to product quality).

Usually research studies on this theme include only aspects related to sanitary and safety issues, and those which focus on consumer perception of food quality cover conventional outlets such as bars and restaurants. There are few ones performed as in this study that analyze street food consumer behavior regarding his/her perception of quality, cleanliness, care received, among others.

This study proposes a model that influences customer citizenship behavior during COVID-19, and empirically tests the effects of fast-food restaurant customers' perceptions of justice (price and procedural justice) on trust; trust on satisfaction and loyalty; and trust, satisfaction and loyalty on customer citizenship behavior. Furthermore, it was questioned whether there was a disparity between customer expectations based on the restaurant's image and consumption experience.

The data were gathered from customers of fast-food restaurants in the shopping centers in Turkey. The data set, which included 437 valid questionnaires, was subjected to CFA for validity and reliability, SEM analysis for hypothesis and paired sample t-Tests for the research questions.

The findings of the study indicate that perceived justice affects customer trust, which, consequently, affects customer loyalty and satisfaction during the COVID-19 period. Findings also demonstrate that, while customer loyalty and trust increase customer citizenship behavior, customer satisfaction alone is insufficient to increase customer citizenship behavior. The study also shows that during the COVID-19 period, fast-food restaurants should have raised awareness of employees’ fair behaviors toward the customers and provided additional services to differentiate themselves in the market. Also, it indicates that customer expectations related to price, cleanliness and professional appearance of staff are not met after taking service.

No research has been found in the literature focusing on the expectations, justice, trust, satisfaction, loyalty and citizenship behaviors of fast-food restaurant customers in the COVID-19 pandemic process. Therefore, the results can fill the gap in relevant literature by testing the relationships between justice, trust, satisfaction, loyalty and citizenship during the pandemic and provide inferences for fast-food business owners.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents of perceived customer value, such as the perceived quality and perceived sacrifices, and the effects on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (CL) in the restaurant industry.

Based on an extensive literature review, a research model and questionnaire were designed. To assess the hypothesised relationships, data were collected in a field survey. Partial least squares regression (a variance-based regression analysis of SEM) was selected to analyse the relationships within the research model.

The findings of this study indicate that the perceived monetary sacrifice (PMS) and perceived service quality were found to be antecedents of perceived value (PV), whereas PMS was the major precursor of PV. Further, PV was found to have a substantial influence on customer satisfaction and CL.

The study provides a better understanding of the price–value–satisfaction–loyalty relationships in the restaurant context in a more holistic sense and recommendations to move this research stream forward.