Factors Influencing Guest Satisfaction

Factors Influencing Guest Satisfaction

In the hospitality industry it is all about competition and about trying to make people to loyal customers. Recently a new aspect occurred that has a great impact on the hospitality industry. The financial crises has an affect on everybody right now and therefore it is even of greater importance for restaurants to satisfy their customers. People think twice if they dine out and spend money that is way restaurants have to be even more aware of each customer and their wants and needs.
The purpose of this literature review is to find out what factors restaurants must take into consideration to keep their guests satisfied and create a repeat patronage. The research question that is going to be answered is: “Which factors lead to guest satisfaction?”

In order for this question to be answered it is important to define the term ‘Guest satisfaction’.
Lovelock and Wirtz (2006) define guest satisfaction as an attitude. After purchasing a product or a course of consumer product interaction judgment follows. Consumers have certain expectations before consumption; they observe service performance and compare it to their expectation, and then form satisfaction judgments based on this comparison. If the service is not good and even worse than expected the arising judgment is termed negative disconfirmation. If the opposite occurs, meaning that the service is better than expected, the following judgment is called positive disconfirmation. Simple confirmation is if the service is as expected. Last, when there is considerable positive disconfirmation as well as pleasure, joy, happiness and excitement, the consumers are likely to be delighted.
According to Kotler (2006) guest satisfaction depends on a product/service performance delivering value to a buyer’s expectations. If the product/service performance falls short of the guests’ expectations, the guest is dissatisfied. If the product/service matches the expectations, the guest is satisfied. If the performance of the...

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