Customer value in Quick-Service Restaurants: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

In spite of the relativistic nature of Customer Value concept, research on differences in Value perceptions across cultures is still scarce. Gaining insight about this issue would be especially relevant for highly competitive and globalized industries such as Fast-Food or Quick-Service Restaurants (QSR). The purpose of the present paper is to identify Value dimensions in this industry and to analyze the links between dimensions of Value, Satisfaction and Loyalty, testing the consistency of the results obtained across three different countries. To achieve this aim, after one in-depth interview with a QSR manager and two intercultural focus groups with QSR customers, a questionnaire is built and answered by a sample of 366 individuals from Guatemala, Spain and Germany. Results from a structural model, estimated with PLS, depict relations between Value dimensions, Satisfaction and Loyalty, showing significant differences across the three cultural groups. Conclusions are derived, in terms of theoretical and managerial implications, and limitations and future lines or research are presented on both Value creation in QSR and on the specificity of the Value-Satisfaction-Loyalty chain.