Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze consumer choices and service quality in university canteens in Warsaw. Our study consists of two parts. The first part of our research was conducted using a sample of 1250 adult respondents in 25 university canteens located at five higher education institutions. The reasons and frequency for using canteens, types of selected dishes and opinions on a given catering facility management system were analyzed. The second part of the study was conducted as an inspection to assess internal control and reliability of information. The respondents’ opinions are not in line with inspection assessments. This may be due to the fact that students do not pay attention to the quality of services in university canteens or have little knowledge about service, quality of services or hygiene aspects. For a detailed analysis of consumer choices and service quality assessment, we used Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test and multi-dimensional cluster analysis. We identified four clusters regarding the type of meals and consumed frequency of consumption in university canteens, and five profiles in relation to evaluation of canteen interior, service and menu. In the correspondence analysis performed using the multidimensional Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) method, we identified five clusters of consumers based on nine features, i.e., canteen location, frequency of using the canteen, gender of respondents, dwelling place, financial status of respondents. Our research on the functioning of university canteens is one of the first not only in Poland, but also in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The evaluation of the quality of nutrition in canteens should be continued in order to prevent diet-related diseases. Based on the results of our research, we postulate to introduce an evaluation guide for university canteens taking into account various aspects of services.
Highlights
Canteens play an important role in the daily nutrition of many people, including students.A well-balanced, satisfying and healthy diet is just as important to a busy university/college student as the correct class schedule, teachers or learning environment
The frequency of university canteens use was independent of gender, age and dwelling place (p > 0.05)
All evaluated university canteens offered their services for 8 hours a day
Summary
Canteens play an important role in the daily nutrition of many people, including students. A well-balanced, satisfying and healthy diet is just as important to a busy university/college student as the correct class schedule, teachers or learning environment. The university canteen should propose menus that promote healthy diet, but at the same time not limiting their food choices, including new trends in nutrition. Young adulthood is a important time for the promotion of healthy eating, because during this period, nutrition habits are developed and remain all through one’s lifetime [1]. For many student’s, going to the university is a transitional life stage which may. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3699; doi:10.3390/ijerph16193699 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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