The Australian Food Industry
The Australian Food Industry has experienced major developments in relation to the changing social, physical, economic, political, legal and economic changes. These factors either singly or in combination affects the operations of any industry in general. Therefore, for an industry to grow, these factors need to be put into consideration and develop appropriate measures to overcome any challenge that may emerge. Australian food industry contributes largely to the gross domestic product in the country as well as being a major employer. It has affected positively to the living standards of the people and the whole Australian economy by offering employment opportunities to numerous people as well as providing high quality food products and services.
The Australian food industry involves various sectors; the agriculture and fisheries, food processing and manufacturing, food retail, food service and catering. These sectors have different impact on levels and mechanism of production, quality assurance, consumer influences, research and development, consumer influences, impact on the economy, society, the environment as well as in career opportunities (Guthrie et al., p. 9). This paper therefore, discusses the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer attention in food industries especially in the restaurant sector and means through which customer service quality can be improved.
Customer satisfaction is essential for the growth and success of any organization dealing with any form of commodity whether goods or services. It is important to satisfy your customer’s need and wants so as to retain the current customers and also be able to obtain other new customers (Wu et al., p. 171). If the customers feel the organization is not meeting their demands, they tend to look for other alternatives and in turn the company will make losses and consequently it may be forced to close down. Due to the emergence of technology, there is growing competition among businesses and if a company does not satisfy its customers it will face a stiff competition and thereby lose to its competitors (Rothaermel, p. 248). It should be noted that customer satisfaction comes first before thinking about the profit. Once the customers are satisfied, the organization’s profit will automatically increase. Customer satisfaction is dependent on various variables such as; product and service quality and quantity, pricing, physical design, physical environment, taste, lifestyle change, promotion, packaging and delivery services.
Change in consumer’s lifestyle has enormously affected the restaurant industry especially those dealing with fast food services (Rao et al., p. 15). Increase in population, growing number of working young men and women, rising number of nuclear families and globalization are other factors that has affected the growth of food industries. Young people with disposable income are so much willing to spend on fast foods as compared to the older people. Therefore, it’s very important to know your target customer so as to meet their needs. In such a social class, fast food would do very well. In these 21st century, apart from the few young people, majority have turned to healthy eating. With the change in lifestyle and emergence of many metabolic related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, chronic disease like cardiovascular disease, people have turned into healthy eating (Bukman et al., p. 1036). More people are becoming vegetarians as compared to previous years. So, it’s important that food companies invest more on healthy foods.
Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Attention
Customer satisfaction has been described as the manner by which the customers evaluate and assesses the ongoing performance of a company (Gustafsson et al., p. 215). Other authors define customer satisfaction in terms of the parameters that are useful in ensuring the customers are satisfied (Malik et al., p. 3). Customer satisfaction establishes a strong relationship between the customers and the organization. These concept has gained much attention in food industries that every single company wants to develop a unique product so as to outdo their competitors. Product and service quality has major influence on the satisfaction of the customers. so, the quality of the product or brand will determine the level of customer loyalty and if they will remain to be your customers or will run away. Research has shown that unsatisfied customers have a very high rate to switch from one company to another (Lee et al., p.43). Nevertheless, if a company invests so much in producing products and services of very high quality, it will have a competitive advantage over others hence retain its customers as well as obtain more new customers.
Customer satisfaction is linked to product quality to a greater extent and the fulfillment of their needs and wants. It is also part of marketing strategies since when you fulfill your customers’ expectations they will spread the word about your product and service hence increasing your market and profit. In food restaurant, the quality of the meals will ensure a customer returns to your restaurant again or disappear. Meals in terms of quality depends on various variables such as taste, color, flavor, consistency, shape and texture (Vaclavik and Christian, p. 9). A restaurant should aim to improve their meals considering all these factors. If a customer does not like the taste or flavor of your meal, they will end up looking for another restaurant that meets their expectations. Meeting your customer’s expectations, maintains their loyalty which improves your company reputation. Having a good reputation is good for the business and it makes the company to grow and expand even bigger.
As much as quantity is linked to consumer’s satisfaction, many customers prefer quality over quantity. Some customers would keep buying a certain product given its of high quality even though its small in quantity. For instance, in restaurants, many people prefer small quantity of high quality and healthy foods over large quantity unhealthy meal (Pizam et al., p. 21). Others still require these two variables to go hand in hand; good quality and large quantity. It is therefore important for an organization to know what their customers want so as to meet their expectations.
Improving Customer Service Quality in the Australian Food Industry
Promotions aims at making the consumers to buy your product. It involves such activities as personal selling, sales promotions, advertising and public relations. Promotions ensures you get attention of the customers and entice them to buy your product. It is so unfortunate that many organizations haven’t explored this area fully. Capturing the attention of your customers is so important in sales of your products and services which increases profit. Promotion creates either a weak or strong relationship between the customers and the organization. It’s through promotion that you make your services and products known to the public (Verma, p. 13). People are also looking for various products to purchase and they depend on promotions and advertising. Therefore, they will go for the product whose features are meeting their demands. Proper advertising strategies are essential in securing a large market and getting the customers attention.
Promotion and branding are correlated in attention capturing power. Branding has been shown to have an impact on the purchasing power and decision making on the consumers whether to buy the product or not. Branding gives the unique characteristics of the product and ensures the consumers can identify with it (Krystallis and Chrysochou, p. 144). Branding gives value to the service or the product.
The atmosphere of a restaurant plays a key role in the whole process of customer satisfaction. The physical surroundings of a restaurant build an image in the mind of a customer about the operations of that restaurant and it influences their behavior. The physical surroundings such as the furnishings, lightning, music, scent as well as the arrangement have influence of the customer’s loyalty. Many people are attracted to attractive and conducive environment (Lin and Mattila, p. 831). When people take meals in a cool environment, there is a feeling of satisfaction that comes with it. Therefore, together with good quality of foods, the restaurant management should focus on improving the physical atmosphere by making it conducive for every person.
Literature on the effects of high quality service delivery and customer satisfaction has been investigated broadly but the concept of quality management in customer satisfaction has been left out. Many organizations are investing in quality management systems with the idea of producing high quality services. They however forget that their relationship with the customers (Khodakarami and Chan, p. 45) is more important than just focusing on the technological standards of service or product production. Companies should know that production or providence of a good product does not necessarily mean it will bring satisfaction to the customers. More research needs to be directed in this area since these two concepts are mutually supportive to the food industries.
Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction in the Australian Food Industry
Every organization understands the importance of delivering high quality services to its customers. This has the advantage of improving its sales, giving it a competitive edge and thereby ensuring the business can thrive in these competitive world. Business should not only focus on satisfying customers but they should also be keen on the customer’s response and feedbacks about the products. Getting feedback from the customers is important as it helps the company to know where they need to improve (Min et al., p. 228). Two-way communication between the customers and the organization management is essential in the growth of a company. Customer satisfaction therefore extends to post-purchase and post-consumption phenomena to attributes such as attitude change, loyalty, repeat purchase and word-of-mouth. The future customer intentions after purchasing a product determines whether they will buy again or if they will look for another alternative.
Behavioral intentions therefore, plays a pivotal role in success of a business, sustainability and long-term viability. Favorable behavioral intentions are concerned with the customer’s response, whether they will speak negatively or positively about your product, whether they will recommend it to other customers, whether they will remain loyal, buy more and pay price premiums to the company (Jani and Han, p. 984) Customer satisfaction and behavior intentions are not the same thing as many people tend to think. They are however related since customer satisfaction influences customer decisions on whether to use the organizations service or product another time. High service quality in restaurant definitely has a positive influence on the customer’s satisfaction, however, it should be noted that there is no guarantee that a satisfied customer will become a repeat customer. Nevertheless, a dissatisfied customer will definitely not return. This makes the concept of behavioral intentions important since you can learn customer’s feelings and be able to improve where necessary. Food quality, pricing, value, cleanliness, atmosphere setting and convenience have been shown to have impact on intention to return and recommend.
Since providing high quality goods and services to the customers is key to success in a food company, it is important to look at some strategies that can be adopted so as to improve quality of customer service. Closer relations with the customers, efficient and comprehensive quality controls, monitoring procedures, development of staff skills and influential leadership (Cox and Cunial, p. 3) are some of strategies that can be implemented.
Customer service has been defined as the ability of an organization or a company to be able to provide their customers with want they want and desire constantly and consistently. Due to the growing knowledge of various goods and services which are at the disposal of the customers, it is important to ensure your company offers the best quality. It should go beyond the normal and deliver its services both tangible and intangible covering all areas in contact with the customers. Quality customer service ensures you exceed the customer’s expectations. It goes beyond just providing quality products and services but also building a stable and long lasting relationship with your customers. It is simple as serving the customers with a smile. This creates a great impression and makes the customers to have the urge to come back to your restaurant again.
Atmosphere of the Restaurant
A company should also encourage the customer’s feedback with incentive. Complaints from the customers should be an opportunity to improve on your services and product. It would be unwise if a company does not embrace customer’s feedback whether negative or positive. Online reviews about the restaurant should be taken positively and improve where there are negative complaints. Listening to your customers plays a key role in ensuring their needs are met the next time they visit and thereby enhancing their loyalty. Empowering employees is also key in improving quality of service delivery (Bowen and Lawler, p. 151). There is a relationship between employee’s satisfaction and customer’s satisfaction. These two cannot be separated since a motivated employee will serve the customers in the best way they know how. Therefore, an organization should invest on training their employees on better service delivery.
Conclusion
Consumers are always right. Understanding your consumers’ needs and wants is crucial in satisfying them, retaining them and achieving a company’s goals and objectives. To ensure customers loyalty in your food company it is essential to strengthen customer’s satisfaction as well as the relationship inertia. Therefore, variables that can affect customer’s satisfaction such as food quality, pricing, physical environment and promotion should be considered. Pricing for instance, has so much influence on the customer’s perception. If two companies are offering the same quality of a certain product but with different prices, people will go for the cheaper company. So, it’s important to consider all these factors so as to retain the customers and grow your business. More research should also be directed on quality managerial services and behavioral intention in relation to customer satisfaction.
References
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