PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine two alternative consumer behavioural intention models that have been developed from the marketing and information systems disciplines in a service environment. Specifically, it reports an empirical assessment of the two non-nested structural models in the context of Australian restaurant industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a web-based survey by an online research organization and structural equation modelling with AMOS was used to compare the two non-nested behavioural intention models.FindingsThis study found that the second model that incorporates expectation-confirmation theory outperformed the first model in terms of model fit with the empirical data.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide service managers with important insights into the appropriate design of service delivery systems to increase consumer satisfaction which, in turn, leads to more positive behavioural intentions. Moreover, the restaurant research setting means that marketing managers in the growing tourism and hospitality industry should benefit from the study findings.Originality/valueThis study synthesized two consumer behavioural intention models from different disciplines and provided an approach to the empirical comparison of the non-nested structural models.