An assessment of service quality on select casual restaurant businesses in Makati City during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered customers’ lifestyles and, in turn, their eating habits and restaurant behavior. Lockdowns and restrictions have been intermittently imposed in the Philippines over the last two years, compelling the food and service industry to modify its operations to comply with the government’s guidelines on minimizing exposure to the virus. This study aims to determine which dimension of service quality restaurant businesses should be improved on based on the customer experience during the pandemic. Specifically, it investigates if newly implemented service quality dimensions positively affect customer satisfaction and the manner in which casual restaurant businesses should prioritize the SERVQUAL dimensions in line with customer satisfaction. An online survey was distributed to 411 customers who have dined in casual restaurants in Makati City during the pandemic. Respondents were asked to rate their expectations, perception and overall experience aligned with the SERVQUAL dimensions on a five-point Likert scale. Responses were analyzed using both multiple regression and exploratory factor analysis. The results showed that Behavior Quality obtained the lowest gap score and that among the four dimensions, it is the lone significant predictor to customer satisfaction. These results back the claim of Parasuman in 1994 that a negative atmosphere creates discomfort for customers, affects work performance and environment, and leads to overall consumer dissatisfaction. As such, Behavior Quality proves to be the service quality dimension restaurant business should strive to improve on moving forward