Luận văn thạc sỹ - FACTORS IMPACTING ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS LA VONG’S RESTAURANT CHAIN

Nowadays, the restaurant business in Vietnam has shown dramatically growth, driven by not only famous foreign brands, but also local brands. In the last decade, Vietnamese people have invested heavily in the market and are predicted to continue to do so, mainly driven by increased spending, rapid urbanization and growth of the middle-class population. According to Decision Lab (a market research firm that based in Ho Chi Minh City), the out-of-home consumption for F&B, are divided into a number of segments, of which full-service restaurants and quick service restaurants lead the group at 36%. Local brands offering Vietnamese cuisine are also a tough competitor to the global food chain. In recent years, foreign fast food chains have underperformed and slowed down expansion plans due to the consumer preferring the local dishes and affordable prices. La Vong is one of the biggest Vietnamese restaurant chains. In 2013, the company simultaneously opened its chain of 7 restaurants in Hanoi and since then it has become a famous destination for eating out and party catering services. With relentless efforts, La Vong has achieved remarkable results in terms of revenues. Specifically, the total revenues in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 were VND 16.8 billion, VND 17.4 billion, VND 15.1 billion and VND 18.3 billion respectively. In this situation of restaurant business in Vietnam, the author identified several rationales for conducting the thesis as below: Firstly, the author has responsibility as F&B Marketing Manager of La Vong Group. So, a thorough understanding of factors that have significant impact on customer satisfaction is very useful in guiding manager to design strategies and deliver the right offering. Secondly, La Vong has not officially conducted customer satisfaction research. Understanding the role of customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty, the company shall have evidences that help make right decisions to increase the market share of La Vong in the F&B industry. Thirdly, though best known for its good dishes, it can be a struggle for La Vong to attract value-seeking customers whenever a new restaurant opens in the vicinity. Because people like new things and restaurants are no exception. The restaurant business is highly competitive. New competitors enter the market fairly regularly to steal existing establishment’s clients. Therefore, managers need to find appropriate marketing plan to increase customer satisfaction, build customer loyalty and adopt strategies to beat the restaurant competition without lowering profits.

NGUYEN THI BICH NGOC

FACTORS IMPACTING ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS LA VONG’S

RESTAURANT CHAIN

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC.PROF.DR TRAN THI VAN HOA

HANOI - 2018

Second, I would love to express my warm thanks to customers and managers

of La Vong restaurant chain, who spent their value time on discussing with me andproviding me a lot of useful information

Third, I want to spend my thanks and gratitude to my family who supported

me a lot during my master course

TABLES OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

TABLES OF CONTENTS ii

ABBREVIATION iv

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES vi

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Rationale 3

1.2 Research objectives 4

1.3 Research questions 4

1.4 Scope of the thesis 4

1.5 Research methodology 5

1.5.1 Research process 5

1.5.2 Data collection 5

1.5.3 Data analysis techniques 6

1.6 Structure of the thesis 7

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 8

2.1 Nature of customer satisfaction 8

2.2 Models to analyze factors impacting customer satisfaction 9

2.3 Factors impacting customer satisfaction in La Vong’s restaurant chain 14

2.3.1 Location (Transportation/accessibility) 14

2.3.2 Employees’ behaviors 15

2.3.3 Product quality 16

2.3.4 Restaurant’s decoration 17

2.3.5 Price 20

CHAPTER 3 ANALYZING FACTORS IMPACTING ON CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION TOWARDS LA VONG’S RESTAURANT CHAIN 23

3.1 Overview of restaurant business and restaurant business in Vietnam 23

3.2 Overview of La Vong Group 27

3.2.1 Introduction of La Vong Group 27

3.2.2 Development of La Vong Group 30

3.3 Analyzing factors impacting on customer satisfaction towards La Vong’s restaurant chain 32

3.3.1 Demographic data of the respondents 32

3.3.2 Data testing 36

3.3.3 Analyzing customer satisfaction at La Vong’s restaurant chain 38

3.3.4 Relationship between 05 dimensions with La Vong’s restaurant chain 47

3.4 General assessment about satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors 49

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATION TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 52

CONCLUSION 56 REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY OF QUESTIONAIRE

APPENDIX 2: RESEARCH RESULTS

EFA Exploratory factor analysis

F&B Food and Beverage Service

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Business performance of La Vong 2014 – 2017 31

Table 3.2: Gender description 32

Table 2.3: Age description 33

Table 3.4: Monthly income description 33

Table 3.5: Level of education description 34

Table 3.6: Frequency of dinning out description 35

Table 3.7: Reason of dinning out description 35

Table 3.8: KMO and Bartlett's Test 36

Table 3.9: EFA for all dimensiosn 37

Table 3.10: EFA for each dimension 37

Table 3.11: Respondents’ assessment towards food quality of La Vong’s restaurant chain 38

Table 3.12: Respondents’ assessment towards employee’s behavior of La Vong’s restaurant chain 40

Table 3.13: Respondents’ assessment towards resraurant decoration of La Vong’s restaurant chain 42

Table 3.14 Respondents’ assessment towards location of La Vong’s restaurant chain 45

Table 3.15: Respondents’ assessment towards price of La Vong’s restaurant chain46 Table 3.16: Relationship amongst dimensions 48

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Research process 5Figure 2.1: Conceptual research model to measure customer satisfaction in LaVong’s restaurant chain 14Figure 3.1: Reason for dining-out in Vietnam 26

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Nowadays, restaurants are cropping up like swarms of locusts everywhere,and the number of establishments is growing rapidly over the years The impact ofglobalization leads to the increase in number of tourists and expatriates, andrestaurants have become a popular destination for dining as well as discussingbusiness However, the restaurant industry is becoming highly competitive

Therefore, the author decided to choose topic “Factors impacting on customer satisfaction towards La Vong’s restaurant chain” for research in this thesis.

The purpose of conducting this research is to achieve 3 objectives: (1) to findout the factors impacting on customer satisfaction towards La Vong’s restaurant chain;(2) to analyze the impacts of these factors on customer satisfaction; (3) to providerecommendations to improve customer satisfaction and revisit To obtain theseobjectives, the author used both quantitative, and qualitative methods In quantitativemethod, survey questionnaires were distributed to over 200 customers who usedserviced at La Vong’s restaurants Through the survey, factors impacting customer’ssatisfaction were identified In the qualitative method, in-depth interviews wereconducted to better understand restaurants condition and customer insight

After the research, some main findings were figured out: Target consumersare (1) female, (2) over 21 years old, (3) with salary over VND 10 millions/month,(4) have high level of education, (5) prefer eating-out because of entertainment or

no need to cook, and (6) usually go out to eat one to three times per month

Essential elements that make customers feel satisfied are: (1) The dishes aretasty and delicious (2) Staffs are kind, courteous (3) The location of restaurantsoffers easy access and convenient parking (4) The price is correct as announced, nothigher than that offered by competitors and is more attractive because of addedincentives

However, there are some factors that customers have not satisfied, namely(1) Architecture is not unique and impressive (2) The food has not been presented

well and the dishes have not been served hot in big party (3) In special holiday orcrowded party, customers’ orders have not been processed quickly and error-free,and (4) The restaurant has not focused more on decorating and investing in theambiance and decoration.

Based on these findings, author proposed relatived recommendations for La Vongto: (1) Improve restaurants design, (2) Keep food warm for big party, (3) Improveprofessional performance of staffs, and finally (4) Improving the ambiance of therestaurants

The author sincerely hopes that the results of this research will help managershave better understanding of restaurant’s customers Furthermore, they can use thishelpful information to adjust the business to fit customers’ needs more accurately

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, the restaurant business in Vietnam has shown dramaticallygrowth, driven by not only famous foreign brands, but also local brands In the lastdecade, Vietnamese people have invested heavily in the market and are predicted tocontinue to do so, mainly driven by increased spending, rapid urbanization andgrowth of the middle-class population According to Decision Lab (a marketresearch firm that based in Ho Chi Minh City), the out-of-home consumption forF&B, are divided into a number of segments, of which full-service restaurants andquick service restaurants lead the group at 36% Local brands offering Vietnamesecuisine are also a tough competitor to the global food chain In recent years, foreignfast food chains have underperformed and slowed down expansion plans due to theconsumer preferring the local dishes and affordable prices

La Vong is one of the biggest Vietnamese restaurant chains In 2013, thecompany simultaneously opened its chain of 7 restaurants in Hanoi and since then ithas become a famous destination for eating out and party catering services Withrelentless efforts, La Vong has achieved remarkable results in terms of revenues.Specifically, the total revenues in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 were VND 16.8 billion,VND 17.4 billion, VND 15.1 billion and VND 18.3 billion respectively

In this situation of restaurant business in Vietnam, the author identifiedseveral rationales for conducting the thesis as below:

Firstly, the author has responsibility as F&B Marketing Manager of La VongGroup So, a thorough understanding of factors that have significant impact oncustomer satisfaction is very useful in guiding manager to design strategies anddeliver the right offering

Secondly, La Vong has not officially conducted customer satisfactionresearch Understanding the role of customer satisfaction and its impact on

customer loyalty, the company shall have evidences that help make right decisions

to increase the market share of La Vong in the F&B industry

Thirdly, though best known for its good dishes, it can be a struggle for

La Vong to attract value-seeking customers whenever a new restaurant opens inthe vicinity Because people like new things and restaurants are no exception

The restaurant business is highly competitive New competitors enter the

market fairly regularly to steal existing establishment’s clients Therefore,managers need to find appropriate marketing plan to increase customersatisfaction, build customer loyalty and adopt strategies to beat the restaurantcompetition without lowering profits

1.2 Research objectives

The research aims to obtain the following objectives:

 To find out the factors impacting on customer satisfaction who usedservices of La Vong’s restaurant chain

 To analyze the impacts of these factors on customer satisfaction

 To provide recommendations to improve customer satisfaction and revisit

1.3 Research questions

The research is supposed to answer the following questions:

 What are the factors that have impact on customer satisfaction who usedservices at La Vong’s restaurant chain?

 What are the impacts of each factor on customer satisfaction?

 What are the recommendations to improve customer satisfaction and revisit?

1.4 Scope of the thesis

 Research object: To focus on satisfaction and food quality at La Vong’s

restaurants

 Location of the research: La Vong’s restaurants in Hanoi.

 Time of data collection:

- Primary data: survey will be implemented in quarter II of 2018

- Secondary data: from 2015 to 2017

1.5 Research methodology

1.5.1 Research process

Figure 1.1: Research process

Source: Author’s design

The research process is a multiple step process that illustrated in Figure 1.1.Firstly, the author chooses research area based on professional and personalinterests Secondly, the author identifies research objectives Thirdly, the authordetermines factors that have significant impacts on customer satisfaction byconducting literature review and secondary sources Then, the author collectsprimary data from two sources; including survey and in-depth interviews, in order

to analyze the effects that each of the aforementioned factors has on La Vong’scustomers Finally, recommendations will be produced to improve La Vongmarketing plan

1.5.2 Data collection

1.5.2.1 Secondary data

This research will be studied by using secondary data, which was collected

by others Regarding the external sources, the research will refer to some publishedreports, articles and journals that published on the Internet or newspapers to have

the literature review and frameworks For the internal sources, we use La Vong’smarketing reports and reports of CRM department from 2015 to 2017 to have thetotal number of customers

1.5.2.2 Primary data

The research will also be studied using primary data by both qualitative andquantitative method To be specified, data will be collected through in-depthinterviewing and distributing questionnaires

In-depth interview:

The respondents: F&B director, sale manager and marketing manager

Sample size: 3 people

Question design: 5 main questions:

- Individual opinion about customer satisfaction?

- What are current policies or programs that applied regarding to customersatisfaction?

- How do they affect to customer satisfaction? ( base on customer’s feedbacks,customer retention rate…)

- How do managers intend to improve factors?

Survey:

The respondents: customers who used services at La Vong’s restaurant chain

Sample size: 200 customers

Questionnaire design: 15 - 20 close ended questions cover all 5 independentvariables They would be multiple-choice-questions, including agreement scale,ordinal scale and interval scale

Distribution questionnaire: sending to customers by face to face meeting orvia E-mail

1.5.3 Data analysis techniques

Data analysis is conducted with the application of SPSS 16 In this research,there are 4 key data analysis techniques that are adopted, includes Descriptive

statistics, Reliability test analysis, Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Multiplelinear regressions.

Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of data in thestudy They provide summaries about the sample, and the measures This analysis isthe basis for recognizing data trends and patterns

Reliability analysis allows the researcher to study the properties ofmeasurement scales, and the items that compose the scales Its procedure calculates

a number of commonly used measures of scale reliability, and it also providesinformation about the relationships between individual items in the scale.Cronbach’s Alpha is one of the most common assessments of reliability The higherthe alpha, the more internal consistency among survey questions and the morereliable the results

Exploratory factor analysis (commonly is abbreviated as EFA) is a statisticaltechnique that is used to reduce data to a smaller set of summary variables, and toexplore the underlying theoretical structure of phenomena The analysis is used toidentify the structure of the relationship between the variable and the respondent

Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) attempts to model the relationshipbetween the explanatory and response variables by fitting a linear equation toobserved data

1.6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis includes 5 following chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Theoretical background on customer satisfaction

Chapter 3: Analyzing factors on customer satisfaction who used services at

La Vong’s restaurant chain

Chapter 4: Recommendation to improve customer satisfaction

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

2.1 Nature of customer satisfaction

According to Reizenstein (2004) and Kendall (2007), a customer is defined as therecipient of good, product, service… that obtained from a supplier, seller, vendor… via afinancial transaction or exchange for money, or some other valuable consideration

Mark Hunter (2017) suggested that there are five main types of customers:loyal customers, discount customers, impulse customers, need-based customersand wandering customers Loyal customers are less in numbers, but make upmore sales and profit as compared with other types of customer Discountcustomers tend to buy low cost products or regular products that offered withdiscounts Impulsive customers usually urge to buy what they find good at thatpoint of time Need-based customers tend to buy items that have a specific needfor them Finally, wandering customers have no desire or specific need in mindwhen they go shopping They normally visit supplier to confirm their needs orjust want a sense of experience

According to Malik and Ghaffor (2012), customer satisfaction can be defined

in terms of meeting the expectations of customers in terms of parameters associatedwith satisfaction

Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) define satisfaction as a judgment that products orservices provide a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment Meanwhile,Choi and Chu (2001) consider satisfaction as an evaluation by consumers that foods

or services they have received are at least as good as it is supposed to be Cronin &Taylor (1992) emphasized that customer satisfaction is critically important as itreflects subjective customer evaluations of the attribute performance associated withthe consumption experience It is also found that customers who perceive theirexperiences in terms of value, either hardness or utilitarian, tend to express their

opinion by recommending the same experience to other people (usually theiracquaintances) Regarding to restaurant business, when customers perceive the value ofthe eating experience highly in terms of cognitive aspects and affective, they are morelikely to recommend the restaurant to their friends.

In the context of marketing, Lin and Wu (2011) affirmed that customersatisfaction is the way that leads to long term customer retention because unsatisfiedcustomers have very high switching rate Previously, Thorsten and Alexander(1997) found customer satisfaction toward company’s products or services as thestrategic factor for competitive advantage Oliver (1993) suggested that customersatisfaction is the core philosophy of marketing strategy and plays an important role

in company’s success In fact, customer’s satisfaction is the core principle of CRM,that being used to attract and retain potential customers

On the other hand, customer satisfaction has important impact on customerloyalty (Mittal & Lassar, 1998) If products or services fulfill the needs of customer,they will be satisfied and converted to loyal customer Company profitability is notonly depicted in its financial report, but it is also measured on basis of its customerbase and life-time value that customers deliver to the company

In conclusion, customer satisfaction is a measurement used to quantify thedegree to which a client is happy with products, services or experience It could berelated to various business aspects such as: quality of products and services,marketing strategies, responses to customer’s problems and queries, deliveryservices, complaint management etc It is considered as a key element to indicateconsumer purchase intention and loyalty

2.2 Models to analyze factors impacting customer satisfaction

Several models have been identified in the literature for measuring servicequality Among the approaches or models are: expectancy-disconfirmationapproach, performance-only approach, technical and functional dichotomyapproach, service quality versus service satisfaction approach and attributeimportance approach

The expectancy-disconfirmation model focuses on identifying customer

expectation versus what they actually experienced It compares the serviceperformance with the expectations of the customers, which is assessed after theservice encounters (Oliver, 1980).

The performance-only approach assesses service quality by enquiring fromthe customers about their level of satisfaction with the various features following aservice encounter (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Cronin & Taylor, 1994)

The technical and functional dichotomy approach identifies two servicecomponents that lead to customer satisfaction: technical quality of the productwhich is based on product characteristics such as durability, security, physicalfeatures; and functional quality which is concerned with the relationships betweenservice provider and the customer such as courtesy, speed of delivery andhelpfulness (Gronroos, 1984) Customers usually lack information on the technicalaspects of a service; therefore, rely on functional quality to form perceptions ofservice quality (Donabedian, 1980)

Service quality versus service satisfaction model mainly focuses on twoservice components that are interrelated; the transition-specific assessment, whichevaluates specific features of quality and the overall assessment, which evaluatesoverall quality This approach links perceived quality at the time of the serviceencounter or immediately after it and overall satisfaction with the service Theattribute importance model focuses on the relative weight on the importance theconsumer places on attributes found to be linked with service satisfaction (Gilbert etal., 2004)

Cronin and Taylor (1992) developed SERVPERF (service performance),which disregards the expectation and measured service quality perceptions byevaluating the customer’s overall feeling towards the service

Among the models for measuring service quality, the most acknowledgedand applied model in variety of industries is the SERVQUAL (service quality)model developed by Parasuraman et al The model originally provided a list of tendeterminants of service quality: access, communication, competence, courtesy,credibility, reliability, responsiveness, security, understanding and tangibles.Further studies merged correlated variables and reduced the determinants into five

consolidated dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance andempathy as the instruments for measuring service quality (Parasuramanet al., 1988;Zeithamlet al., 1990) The SERVQUAL model assesses customer expectation andperceptions of service quality by capturing the gap between expectation andexperience

Besides, the factors affecting customer satisfaction have been already studied

in many academic researches, at both macro and micro levels Previous studies onthis topic in the restaurant context have identified a number of factors thatcustomers consider very important in their choice of restaurant

Zeithaml (1981) suggested that consumers' restaurant selection is influenced

by both intangible and tangible factors The intangible quality of services, thatcannot be felt, tasted, seen or touched like physical goods, are very difficult toevaluate Services are experience As opposed to physical products that can bestored and sold later, services cannot be stored and cease to exist if they are not soldwhen available (Hoffman & Bateson, 2001) Given the unpredictable nature ofcustomer’s demand for services, the providers often find it difficult to balance thesupply and demand of their services (Hoffman & Bateson, 2001) Customers paymoney to get access to and experience services, but they do not get a tangibleownership of those services (Clemes, Mollenkopf, & Burn, 2000) Thereupon,customers feel a lack of ownership in the purchase of services (Cowell, 1989).Accordingly, restaurant customers often rely on tangible clues such as food,appearance of facilities and personnel to guide them in forming expectations aboutthe restaurants (Bitner, 1990; Wall & Berry, 2007)

In 1992, Auty provided a set of factors that influence customer satisfactionand their selection of the restaurants, including food type, food quality, value formoney, image and atmosphere of the restaurants Hokanson (1995) later alsoconfirmed that customer satisfaction is affected by many factors These factorsinclude different customer related issues such as polite and helpful staffs, quality ofservice, competitive price, marketing accuracy, etc Customer’s experience andinvolvement with the product and service also influence their perception, belief,attitude and value Recently, hospitality companies focus more on issues related

with customer satisfaction, perception and loyalty of the customers Anestablishment which focuses and makes progress in these factors will certainlyimprove its performance and increase profits Customer satisfaction plays animportant role in success of the company as it helps to achieve customer’s trust, andthus lead to customer loyalty which is a key factor in the long-term of business

Other researchers also make a recommendation about factors that havesignificant impact on satisfaction of consumers According to study done inrestaurant business, important factors that influence customer experience areemployees who interact with customers, core services, the food that is served to thecustomers and physical environment of establishment (Walter, Edvardsson, &Öström, 2010)

Food quality is rated as the most important factor that plays a key role onconsumers’ restaurant selection behavior (e.g., Lewis, 1981; Auty, 1992; Soriano,2002; Sulek & Hensley, 2004) Food quality is the quality characteristics of dishesthat is acceptable to the consumer This includes external elements (size, appearanceand presentation) and internal elements, such as unique tastes, high-qualityingredients Furthermore, menu variety, healthy food options or familiar food arealso considered as criteria when evaluating food quality in restaurants

According to Zeithaml and Bitner (2003), the production and consumption of

a service experience is a simultaneous process Because most services are notproduced and consumed until they are sold Therefore, customer satisfaction isaffected by quality of services that delivered to them Accordingly, the attitude,skills and performance of employees are vital to consumers’ experience and theirperception of the restaurant (Kotler et al., 1998)

From the consumer’s perspective, price is what they have to pay forobtaining the products or services Fairness of price is a psychological factor thatplays an important role in customer’s reaction to the paid price (Kim et al., 2006).Additionally, the perception of a fair or affordable price has a positive impact oncustomers’ brand associations (Beristain & Zorrilla, 2011)

Besides, Sabherwal (2011) confirmed that customers have to get a propercompensation for the price that they are willing to pay for dining-out and the best

way to provide them, besides food and service, is through restaurant’s appearancethat will seduce them, and make them want to come back Furthermore, the location

is an important feature of the restaurant that affects customer satisfaction and theirbehavior (Hyun, 2010)

In 2009, Kim conducted a study which the objectives were to investigate theimportance of institutional DINESERV factors that affect customer satisfaction inthe dining facilities of a public university in Midwest The factors includedatmosphere, food quality, convenience, service quality, price and value To analyzethe data, some methods were used (i.e., factor analysis, ANOVA, correlationanalysis, and multiple regression analyses) The findings showed that allinstitutional DINESERV Dimensions had an impact on customer satisfaction Thismodel provided a customer insight, and help enhances the operational efficiency ofrestaurant Moreover, the model also helps food-service managers to determine theimportance of DINESERV dimensions and focus on those factors to increasecustomer satisfaction

Through the study of previous researches, the dimensions of factors thataffect customer satisfaction towards restaurants are summaries and reformulated inorder to suit into this study The proposed conceptual framework shows 5 mainindependent variables which include location, employee’s behavior, food quality,restaurant decoration and price The following figure shows the relationship of suchdependent variable and independent variables:

Figure 2.1: Conceptual research model to measure customer satisfaction in La

Vong’s restaurant chain

Source: Author’s design

2.3 Factors impacting customer satisfaction in La Vong’s restaurant chain

Learning from previous studies and researches, the author summarized andproposed five main factors that have impact on customer satisfaction and behavioralintentions, namely location, employee’s behavior, food quality, restaurantdecoration and price

2.3.1 Location (Transportation/accessibility)

According to Rares and Jorie (2015) the location is strategically locatedfrom the reach of consumers that includes the availability of transportation andlocation of product sales Meanwhile, Suwarman (2004) affirmed that location is

a place of business that greatly affects consumers' desire to come and shop Hyun(2010) also confirmed that restaurant’s location is an important factor thatinfluences customer satisfaction and their behavior Suprianto et al (2014)proves that location can be a consumer consideration in making purchasingdecisions Spaeder (2014) also agreed that choosing the right business location is

critical for most consumer service businesses (Spaeder, 2014) Furthermore,Rares and Jorie et al (2015) suggested that product location may encourageconsumers' intentions in purchasing products

2.3.2 Employees’ behaviors

King (2004) stated that negative employees' behavior has ruined manybusinesses and costs employers millions of dollars every day It also has theconsequences of driving away customers; damaging employees' morality andincreasing their turnover rates Employees' behaviors are important in a servicecompany as they connect the organization with its customers and they are a criticalfactor in developing effective working relationships with customers (Grönroos,1990; Gwinner, et al., 1998) They can also maintain customer satisfaction byfulfilling the promises made to the customer In 2007, Saad and Amy suggested thatthe three most important variables that explain customer satisfaction include staffbehavior, service quality, and price Therefore, employees' behaviors haveinfluences on customer perception of service quality and on customer satisfaction

Desired emotions and good attitude of employees during service transaction

is key role to increase customer satisfaction, as well as enhance their positiveemotion (Brown & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1994; Pugh, 2001) Many researchers tried toidentify specific employee’s behaviors that have impact on customer’s mood andbehavior intention For instance, Tsai and Huang (2002) found that employee’sfriendliness was related to consumers' positive emotion following a serviceexperience In 2005, Luong had done a research, in which volunteers were required

to watch videos of a service interaction whereby staffs displayed either positive orneutral affect toward customers Volunteers' emotion before and after watching thevideo was assessed Their mood was found to be higher after watching a friendlyservice encounter than after viewing a neutral one This study proved that thedisplay of staffs has a great impact on clients’ mood

Regarding to hospitality industry, tip money can be used as a measure ofcustomer satisfaction toward employee’s attitude Lynn (2001) theorized that better

evaluations of the service will result in higher tips In the research, customers'perception of services is manipulated by requiring staffs to display either open-mouthed smile or close-mouthed smile The author after found that, clients tipsmore in the open-mouthed smile condition This result proved that employeebehaviour significantly influence customer satisfaction This theory is supported byHoward and Gengler (2001), who indicated that smiling improves other peoplemoods So, it is understandable to assume that customer in a good mood willperceive service to be better and give more tip than people in a worse mood.Gardner (1985) also found that customer’s emotion influences their behaviors andperception toward a service they received

2.3.3 Product quality

Food quality plays a crucial role in the operation of a restaurant; thus, it has agreat impact on customer satisfaction and their behavioral intent (Namkung & Jang,2007) A lot of scholars confirmed that food quality significantly influencescustomer loyalty and their perception of brand image Furthermore, superior foodquality is also used as a key marketing tool that can be employed to entice, satisfyand retain customers

Before visiting a restaurant, customers tend to consider food quality, as itplays a key role in reflecting the core value of the restaurant (Sulek and Hensley,2004) Similarly, Vangvanitchyakorn (2000) confirmed that food quality is theforemost important criteria in the consumer's overall perception of excellence.Additionally, food quality also is an important component that directly affectscustomer’s satisfaction and determines consumers' attitudes toward the restaurant(Peri, 2006) Therefore, it has been considered as an essential aspect in the success

of restaurant business (Liu & Jang, 2009) An extensive review of past literatureindicates that, food quality comprises a group of elements, such as: taste, fooddecoration, food diversity, healthy options and high-quality ingredients resources

A number of scholars also indicated that food quality directly affectscustomer satisfaction (Canny, 2014; Namkung & Jang, 2007; Nasir et al., 2014)

Food quality is one of the key determinants of customers’ evaluations toward arestaurant (Susskind and Chan, 2000) Similarly, Gagić et al (2013) found that foodquality was a key contributor to customer satisfaction and behavioral intention.Furthermore, Peri (2006) considered food quality as an essential condition to fulfillcustomers’ expectations and their needs Besides, Kivela et al (2000) alsoemphasized the significance of providing nutritious foods in restaurant business,and suggested to put sufficient healthy food as one of the fundamental aspects toimprove customer satisfaction and loyalty

2.3.4 Restaurant’s decoration

According to Darley & Gilbert (1985), actual physical layout of theorganization can also influence the accomplishment consumers attain Althoughphysical environment is not significant in the customer perceived value, restaurantarchitecture and interior design has a great influence on the image of the restaurant.This factor has affected positively or negatively on customer’s perception of therestaurant image (Ryu, Lee, & Kim, 2010)

As Kotler (1973) cited, a restaurant where the product is being bought andconsumed, has to be able to provide good atmosphere for the customer satisfaction.The word “atmospherics” was used to describe design of space, that create somecertain effects on clients and affect their behavior People choose to go to a specificrestaurant either because the food is delicious, or because the atmosphere ispleasant The design of a restaurant sets the stage for customer’s dining experience,

it can help customers feel comfortable and enjoy their meals Nowadays, restaurantshave become one of the best impeccably designed facilities, because customersexpect to have memorable dining experiences (Sabherwal, 2011) Furthermore,Bitner (1992) also emphasized that the services cape plays an important role onrestaurant business and other industries whose customers spend relatively long time

in the facility, whereas other services where customers stay at facility in a short timehave a lower importance of the services cape Services cape is considered as one ofthe key factors that influence customer satisfaction, including the facility's exterior

environment, interior design and ambient conditions (such as lighting andtemperature, air quality).

Regarding to physical environment, both exterior and interior environment ofthe restaurant has significant impact on customer’s satisfaction Exteriorenvironment is important because it creates the first impression customers have ofrestaurant, and also the last contact when they are leaving, but the more frequentdriver was interior décor both in favorable and unfavorable experiences (Walter &Edvardsson, 2012) Customers expect to get a proper compensation for the pricethat he is willing to pay, and the best way to provide them, besides good food andprofessional services, is through restaurant décor that will attract them and want toreturn (Sabherwal, 2011)

The design of a restaurant should create memorable experience forconsumers, as for restaurant’s design can be oriented to enhance the purchaseprobability There are a lot of elements that constitute impeccable design

Layout: Layout refers to the way in which objects are arranged A logical

layout has a great impact on customer perception, their excitement, and indirectlyaffects on their desire to come back (Wakefield KL & Blodgett JG, 1994) Thearrangement of tables/ chairs/ salad bars/ wine bars… in a restaurant has atremendous effect on customer emotion, and their overall experience Tablearrangement operates as a boundary for customers, as it relates to personal spaceand privacy (Lin IY, 2004)

Restaurant aesthetics: According to Wakefield KL & Blodgett JG (1994),

the philosophy of aesthetics refers to architecture and interior design that contribute

to the attractiveness of the restaurant Berman B & Evans JR (1995) and Barbas S(2002) agreed that aesthetics have a great impact on the revenue of restaurants, thus

a lot of dining places try to create specific themes connected with aesthetics Ryu K

& Jang S (2008b) also claimed that restaurant aesthetics affect customer’sexcitement and their behavioral intention Restaurant’s architectural style andinterior decor play a critical role in attracting customers, and increase retention rate

(Cobe P, 2007) Other aspects of interior design (furniture, wall decorations,flooring/carpeting, plants or paintings) also affect customer’s emotions, and help toenhance the perceived quality of eating environment (Barbas S, 2002) Ryu & Han(2011) suggested that if the restaurant owners want to change original decoration,they should research on customer’s expectations and recommendations on aesthetics

of the facility, because they are the ones who directly influenced by those decisions.Especially, customers can be influenced by the color schemes of the eating area.Rahmatabadi S, Teimouri, S, Azar FN (2011) emphasized the importance of colorchoices for a restaurant’s interior design, because it greatly affects customer’semotion, their feelings and purchasing intent Each color elicits a differentemotional response or feelings in the viewer (Mikellides B, 1990) For example,blue color schemes have a calm effect, so it helps improve relaxing environmentand increase customer’s satisfaction Singh (2006) also reported that, there arerelationship between color theme in restaurant and the feeling of time passing.Particularly, blue color theme brings the feeling that time is passing quicker, whilered theme makes customers think the eating duration is much longer

Lighting: According to Kumari & Venkatramaiah (1974) and Kurtich &

Eakin (1993), lighting level preferences affect human's mood and their behavior.Lighting in restaurant is important, because it can create customer's enjoyment andincreases eating duration Kurtich and Eakin (1993) confirmed that harsh/or toobright lightning decreases the time duration which people stay in a facility, whereassoft/warm illumination make people want to linger and enjoy their meal inrestaurants Furthermore, many studies also emphasized the effect of illumination ingroup-eating context Kumari and Venkatramaiah (1974) also found out thecorrelation between lighting design within a restaurant and consumer’s emotion

Table setting: Tables setting is presumed to influence consumer’s mood

and then directly connected to their behavioral intention According to Fiszman et al (2012), the color of the plate influence customer’s food perception.Particularly, he reported that strawberry mousse cake was perceived sweeter when

Piqueras-it was served on a whPiqueras-ite plate than being served on a black one Regarding toseating, booth seating is preference, as it provides the privacy, protects customersfrom crowds and being bumped by other consumers or restaurant’s staff García-Segovia et al (2015) presented food to volunteers at different table-settingconditions (including plastic tray, home-style and gourmet table) settings in bothsensory evaluation booths and realistic contexts They found that the volunteerspreferred to eat the dishes which served on a gourmet table-setting in realrestaurant than in the sensory evaluation booth.

Ambient factors: Ambient factors refer to scent, temperature, background

noise and music According to Rozin (1982) and Stevenson, Prescott, Boakes(1999), scent has a great impact on consumer’s emotion, mood or appetite duringfood consumption through taste enhancement Unsurprisingly, unpleasant odors arelikely to shorten the meal duration and suppress food consumption Temperature is

a very important element that affect customer satisfaction, thus at certaintemperatures customers will have negative feeling and do not want to come back.Psychology scholars such as Bell and Baron (1977) also suggested that certaintemperatures may cause negative emotion Background noise and music alsoinfluence customer’s satisfaction in restaurants, when sound is too loud ordiscomforting, people are likely to leave the restaurant early (North AC &Hargreaves DJ, 1996) If the sound is soft and comforting, people tend to eat slowlyand spend longer time at a restaurant, even require extra food (Caldwell C &Hibbert SA, 2002) Shields (2006) also agreed that, loud music negatively affectbusiness by decreasing meal duration and increase seat turnover Therefore,adjusting music to make customers feel comfortable is necessary, because it canhelp increase revenues of the restaurant On the other hand, slow, comforting musicpositively affect customer’s willingness to spend more money (Musinguzi, 2010)

2.3.5 Price

Philip Kotler (2014) defined that price is the amount of money charged for acertain product or service Generally, price is the amount of money that customershave to pay to obtain ownership of products or benefit of services Therefore, price

forms the essential basis a commercial transaction Price may be determined by anagreed upon formula, fixed by contract, or negotiated during the course of dealingsbetween involved parties If price is large, clients may very well expect premiumquality Also, in the event the price is minimal, clients may perhaps believe thatrestaurant is poor in terms of merchandise and also program excellent

Price also is one of the four “P” of Marketing Mix that has significant role inimplementation of marketing strategy (Kottler & Armstrong 2012) It has widelybeen accepted as a key marketing factor that affects consumer behavior Meanwhilesellers always attempt to increase profits based on the price of their services orproducts, customers tend to search for the best price which would deliver maximumvalues for them

Many scholars agreed that the perception of price fairness has a great impact

on customer satisfaction (Sinha & Batra, 1999; Kahneman et al., 1986) As defined

by Xia et al (2004), the perception of price fairness refers to customers’assessments of whether the offered price of a product or service is reasonable.Customers tend to rely on various references when evaluating the price fairness tomake better judgments, such as rival companies’ prices (Bolton et al., 2003) Theevaluation of price fairness relates to make a comparison For example, customersusually refer to some other sources before making purchase decision, such asrecalling past transactions, comparing with competitors’ prices, or observing theprices paid by others (Briesch et al., 1997)

According to Anderson et al (1994), the prices of a product or service havesignificant effect on the degree of customer’s satisfaction, because whenever theyassess the value of a purchased product or service, they are likely to consider itsprice Additionally, Campbell (1999) also agreed that price fairness is a key factorthat affects brand image, and therefore perceived price unfairness can lead tocustomer dissatisfaction that resulted in brand-switching and the negative word-of-mouth Similarly, Rothenberger (2015) confirmed that the perception of unfairprices may cause customer dissatisfaction, that lead to negative outcomes, such aslow retention rate, increased customers’ complaints and negative word of mouth

Other scholars also reported that the perception of price fairness positively affectsconsumer’s satisfaction (Herrmann et al., 2007; Kaura, 2012).

The proposed conceptual framework shows the independent variables whichinclude food quality, employee’s behavior, pricing, location and restaurant design.The sub-variables follow each independent variable are also elicited in theframework:

Table 2.1: Factors and its variables that affect customer satisfaction

towards La Vong restaurants

Factors Variables Meaning Sources

FQ2 Nutritious and fresh ingredientsFQ3 Food presentationFQ4 Tastiness of food

Ryu, Lee and Kim(2012), Liu and Jang(2009), Tang andBougoure (2006)

EB2 (friendly and polite)Positive attitudeEB3 Staffs are good at handlingproblemsEB4 Staffs willing to serve (orders wereprocessed quickly and error-free)

RESTAURANT

DECORATION RD1 Restaurant’s appearance Ryu, Lee and Kim

(2012), Katimah,Huey, Sambasivanand Salleh (2011),Han and Ryu (2009),Ryu, Lee and Kim(2012)

RD2 Surrounding environmentRD3 Cleanliness of the restaurant

RD5 Lightning design

RD7 Level of noise in the restaurant

LOCATION L1 Accessibility Hyun (2010),

Suprianto et al.(2014), Spaeder(2014) and Rares andJorie et al (2015)L2 Parking convenience

PRICE P1 Price is correct as announced Sinha&Batra (1999),

Campbell (1999)Rothenberger (2015),Herrmann et al.(2007), Kaura (2012)

P2 Competitive price

P3 incentives: discounts, coupons orPrice savings (by offering

added value offer…)

Source: Author’s design

CHAPTER 3 ANALYZING FACTORS IMPACTING ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS LA VONG’S

RESTAURANT CHAIN 3.1 Overview of restaurant business and restaurant business in Vietnam

a) Reasons for people choose eating in a restaurant

There are many researchers, whose studies aim to find out why peoplechoose eating outside of the home environment

Firstly, it is physiological needs Most people choose dining out in restaurantsbecause they feel hungry and need a restorer The first thing when a person enteringrestaurant is to satisfy physical thirst or hunger The quest to meet the need of food anddrink is basically for survival (Edwards, 2000; Warde & Martens, 2000; Jones, 2002)

Secondly, it is social reasons According to Lillicrap and Cousins (2006) andHitti (2008), a desire to enjoy the company of business colleagues, family or friendsmake a person decide to go to a restaurant just to dine with them

Thirdly, it is psychological needs Jones (2002) believed that people chooseeating out for status purpose or a treat for celebration Besides, Stewart et al (2004)concluded that with higher monthly incomes, people have a tendency to spendsignificantly more on food away from home

Furthermore, eating out is more convenient than cooking at home Nowadays, alot of people are not ready to spend a large portion of their time to cook food in thekitchen, so they prefer to dine out (Knutson & Patton, 1993; Hensley, 2000) Inaddition, Hitti (2008) observed that eating out during lunch time in restaurants is moreconvenient Because a large number of people are unable to get home for meals, orhave no knowledge and skill to prepare the food for them Others have no spouseavailable at home to cook food for them, since they are unmarried or working far awayfrom home So, they find eating in the restaurant is quicker

Additionally, it is business purpose Clare (2011) indicated that a businesslunch can be used to seal the transaction Many people eat out to impress their

guests by offering a lunch or dinner in chosen restaurants after business meetings.

Finally, there are other less important reasons for eating out Media has a key role

to promote the rate at which people dining out, because they get influenced by stunningadvertisements (Davis et al., 2012) Besides, Ismail (2012) attested that women’sinvolvement in the workforce make them unable to prepare meals themselves

b) Fundamental of restaurant business

Restaurant is a business which serves food and beverage to clients in exchangefor money Meals are often prepared, served and eaten on the premises But there aremany restaurants also offer take-away edible products and food delivery services, orjust one of them There are many types of restaurants, such as: fast food restaurants,cafeterias, low-priced restaurants to luxury fine dining restaurant, etc

Restaurant business is an important sector of Hospitality Industry, which isconcentrated on serving food and beverage products Restaurant business is takingadvantage of 3 main types of consumer The first one is people who want to havememorable times with family, friends or colleagues over a meal The second one ispeople who do not time to cook at home And the final one is people who simplywant to enjoy gourmet dining, or a certain cuisine

The nature of most restaurants is profit that comes from consumers who payfor their edible products (food and drink) and services Restaurant business becomescompetitive when entrepreneurs establish more outlets in the community So,promotional programs and advertisement are generally used to attract people’sattention, increase their awareness of the restaurant, encourage them to try andmake them become loyal consumers

c) Vietnam food and beverage market research insights

According to statistics of Dcorp R- Keeper (a provider of solutions andtechnology ecosystems for F&B businesses), Vietnam now has 540,000 F&Bestablishment; including approximately 430,000 small outlets; 7,000 fast-foodrestaurants; 22,000 coffee shops; bars and more than 80,000 well-investedrestaurants Over the years, these numbers have grown rapidly and significantly

Vietnam is on top of countries with young populations, who prefer eatingoutside rather than home-cooked meals This tendency attracts and encourages a lot ofdomestic as well as foreign investors consider valuable investments in F&B market

According to the report of Euromonitor Market Research Company, tea drives Vietnamese youths crazy and this market has annual growth rate of 20%

bubble-In 2017, a number of international brands have been opening franchise stores inVietnam, reviving the trend that once hyped up the beverage market Ding Tea is atthe top of the list that has more than 100 outlets all over the country TocoToco hasover 60 outlets; Goky has nearly 20 outlets and located only in Hanoi; Mr GoodTea has over 20 outlets Particularly, Gong Cha only owns 20 franchise stores.Meanwhile, The Coffee House reached the number of 100 stores in July 2018

On the other hand, the full-service restaurant business in Vietnam has shownstrong growth in recent years, driven by not only international brands but also localbrands In the last decade, numerous famous brands had invested heavily in thispotential market, such as Golden Gate, Redsun, Mon Hue, My Way Seafood, GogiHouse, La Vong, etc They are predicted to continue to do more considerableinvestments The reasons for this expansion are rapid urbanization, the growth ofthe middle-class population and increased spending in Vietnam

Food and beverage industry in Vietnam have high growth rate with thepresence of numerous global and domestic food chains According to theEuromonitor Market Research Company, the F&B market in Vietnam will reach anaverage annual growth rate of 18% per annum Additionally, Grant ThorntonVietnam also reported that Vietnam's F&B industry is one of the two most attractivesectors for domestic and foreign investment

In this tough competition, there are several challenges that restaurantentrepreneurs should consider:

_ Firstly, the trend of food and drink consumption in Vietnam is constantlychanging A number of restaurants are emerging when the market appears new trend,that also take rapid decline As a result, the number of closures is also very large

_ Secondly, entrepreneurs have to pay large costs to operate the business Inaddition to the premises, there are other expenses, such as ingredients, electricity,employees, and new investments Therefore, discount - in the hope of drumming upsales, can negatively affect the profit margins and sales targets.

_ Thirdly, the creativity and copying in cuisine sometimes make Vietnameseconsumers disappointed, because they lack the local taste that could entice people to return

d) Out-of-home food & drink consumption trends in Vietnam

According to Decision Lab’s report about Out-of-home consumption trends

in Vietnam, 340 million visits to F&B outlets were recorded in Quarter 2 of 2016.Most of the visits account for youth between 15 and 35 There are three mainconsumption categories, including quick service (36%), fast casual (35%) and streetfood (11%) Regarding the geography, consumers in Ha Noi spend much more pervisit to F&B outlets than counterparts in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang

Furthermore, there are different reasons for dining out The main reason for half

of consumers goes to a restaurant because of convenience and practicality It is followed

by another 45% of consumers who choose to eat out for an indulgence or treat.Meanwhile, only 5% of the consumers have cited health reasons Accordingly, it isevident that Vietnamese people do not take health problems seriously when eating out

Figure 3.1: Reason for dining-out in Vietnam

Source: Decision Lab

Regarding food concepts, Asian restaurants such as Thai, Vietnamese,Korean, and Japanese dominate the market with the share of approximately 53%.

On the other hand, Western restaurants (including French, Italian, American, etc.)take only 7% Besides, consumers find eating out in the Western concept is moreexpensive to than in the Asian one It is worth noting that, using delivery servicecan be twice as expensive as dine-in in both kinds of concepts In general, most ofrespondents believe that Asian concepts have better taste, whereas the westernrestaurants offer better atmosphere, impeccable service and cleanliness

About time for eating-out, the main out-of-home consumption occasion isbreakfast 75% of respondents had reported that they eat in the same breakfastrestaurant 3 to 7 times a week, to be more specific The similar data has beenobtained about lunch Meanwhile, the demand is much smaller for dinner MostVietnamese people prefer to have dinner with their family, lover or acquaintances attheir homes

Considering the factors behind individual’s decision to choose a restaurant,the most important factors are location, convenience, and price, but not the qualityand taste of meals

3.2 Overview of La Vong Group

3.2.1 Introduction of La Vong Group

La Vong Group’s predecessor is the New House Trading Joint StockCompany The company owned by Mr Le Van Vong as General Director In recentyears, La Vong Group is mainly engaged in the field of hospitality

Mission: To provide the experiences that satisfies consumers with an

enthusiastic welcome, awesome food, exceptional service and an unforgettable time

Vision: Become a leader in the food and beverage industry with a

sustainable, long-term growth and progress

Core Values: Our team creates the culture of service and passion that

translates to every joyful experience across all our offices and stores People are

guided by the values that hold together what everyone believe in, and what wecommit to uphold while we carry out our mission, and move forward togethertoward our shared goal.

o Respect: We treat others consistently with positive intentions, dignity, humility

and transparency; developing associates into people of sensitivity and integrity

o Quality Focus: We are driven toward the best principles, practices,

processes, and products that challenge the ordinary

o Hospitality: We provide generous care for consumers, anticipate their

needs in advance, and offer them a thoughtful and sincere service that exceedsexpectations

o Innovation and Continuous Improvement: We think out of the box, and

proactively find ways to do things faster and better

List of restaurants: Since 2015, the Group established a chain of 7 luxury

restaurants in busy streets in Hanoi There are 4 restaurants are located at NguyenThi Thap Street (Trung Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District), including La Vong SeafoodRestaurant; Sashimi BBQ Garden Restaurant; World Beer Restaurant and Ham LaVong There are 2 restaurants are located at Hoang Cau Street, including Lake ViewRestaurant and Quan Ca La Vong Restaurant The final one is La Vong Ho RocVon Restaurant that located at National Highway 21, near Vai Reo Bridge, QuocOai, Hanoi Each restaurant offers a specific food concept

La Vong Seafood Restaurant specializes in fresh seafood cuisine (as opposed

to frozen seafood) They have an innovative menu showcases a wide range of freshseafood, which arrives daily They also provide retail sales of seafood thatconsumers can take home to prepare themselves The restaurant has a marine-themed decor, with inner decorations such as nautical images, fish nets and buoys.The prices vary due to seasonality in fish availability In addition to main dishes, therestaurant also offers additional non-seafood dishes, such as chicken, pork and beef

Sashimi BBQ Garden Restaurant specializes in traditional Japanese cuisine.Most of high-quality ingredients are imported from foreign countries A team of

award-winning chefs has created a unique selection of traditional favorites andsignature delicacies, that allows consumers to experience culture of Japan right here

in Hanoi The interior design of restaurant is quite charming The main material forbuilding is wood, helps people be closer to nature, and make them feel comfortableand relaxed It has a reputation for a dining restaurant where you can have a goodtime with family or friends

World Beer Restaurant offers a list of at least a dozen beers from aroundthe world Their beer menu is organized helpfully by flavors (including sour,malty, floral, spiced, hoppy, crisp, and strong) Menu of lunch and dinner go forAmerican food Furthermore, dozens of TVs attached to the wall will ensure youare up to date on the latest sport scores Ham La Vong has a selection of over

500 wines from around the world, including some rare boutique wines fromSpain, United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal Most of well-known winebrands are imported from Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Chile, South Africa,Austria, Argentina, Portugal, New Zealand, Greece and Germany These famouswines make up one of the largest selections of wines in Vietnam Over 1,000bottles of wine are proudly displayed on the restaurant’s signature walls of wineplaced throughout the dining hall, and create a special collection in the cellar Allwine bottles are stored in ideal conditions within the restaurant premises toensure they retain their maximum quality

Lake View Restaurant has a creative and diverse menu This also is a uniquewedding venue with an unparalleled atmosphere The restaurant offers full-serviceevent planning, with breath-taking views on the Hoang Cau Lake They haveprofessional team of staffs, elegant banquet rooms, outdoor ceremony sites,exclusive custom menus, and wedding packages to cater to every client need

Quan Ca La Vong offers an indulgent menu of sustainably-sourcedfreshwater fishes A distinctive of the restaurant are the live seafood tanks, whichsell fresh live fish of several species, plus crabs and lobsters, as well as shrimp.Those tanks are strictly monitored for temperature and salinity to keep fishes alive

strongly They hire a professional aquarium staff just to feed and care for the fishand the tanks.

La Vong Ho Roc Von Restaurant is located right next the main roadconnecting Hanoi and Hoa Binh This is a destination for Hanoi people come andenjoy one day trip The restaurant is famous by its architecture and interior decor.The place is popular with both locals and visitors from other areas Local bamboowas chosen for the restaurant's main structure, creating a crisscrossing grid that thearchitects describe as being like a bamboo forest Consumers will be servedtraditional Vietnamese dishes The restaurant stays true to its country’s roots byusing local ingredients, and traditional techniques to create authentic dishes

3.2.2 Development of La Vong Group

During the first two years of being open, La Vong’ restaurants chain attracts

a lot of consumers Customers are offered unique collections of culinarymasterpieces in lunch & dinner menus The magical things are created by using thebest quality ingredients and perfect cooking technique In fact, quality ingredientshad a significant impact on the taste of food that is served at the restaurants Theseingredients are enhanced based on their freshness, and the natural nature that thebest ones bring to the table Furthermore, well-executed loyalty programs arepowerful tool for increasing customer frequency and average spend, both of whichlead to increased revenue According to financial reports, the sales increased by21.63 percent in 2015 over the previous year, leading to an increase on revenuefrom VND 58.7 billion in 2014 to VND 71.4 billion in 2015

The problem comes when new competitors enter the market La Vong’scompetitor that located within 5 miles is usually a restaurant that offers similarmenu concept and services to clients They also offer a similar guest experience inthe same market Therefore, the restaurant industry became really tough Even if oldrestaurants are successful at first, new competitors could enter the market at anytime to steal clients For the year, the sales fell 18.91 percent, leading to a greatdecline in revenue in 2016, from VND 71.4 billion to VND 57.9 billion

Since 2017, marketing team has focused on the most important advertisingtools, including Website and Social Media The functionality of La Vong’s website

is as a communication tool that informs visitors all they need to know about therestaurants; and allows them to respond in some way, thus turning the visitor into acustomer Furthermore, Social Media (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram,Twitter and Zalo) is used as an effective tool to interact with potential customers.Social Media channels give our customers the ability to leave comments andreviews, share photos of special events in their life and mentioning restaurants’address as a place to celebrate In addition, the marketing reports also found that ofall the visitors who were influenced by online marketing ads, 38 percent said it wastheir first time visiting a La Vong’s restaurant This statistic is more than three timesthe normal rate of visitors who may be at an establishment for the first time As aresult, annual reports indicated that around 65% of company's revenue comes fromonline advertising This means sales improved by 41.79 percent, leading to a sharprise in revenue of VND 82.1 billion in 2017

Table 3.1: Business performance of La Vong 2014 – 2017

3.3 Analyzing factors impacting on customer satisfaction towards La Vong’s restaurant chain

3.3.1 Demographic data of the respondents

As mentioned above, the sample size will be 200 customers who have beenusing La Vong’s services The surveys of questionnaires are sent to 270 customers(by direct meeting and e-mail), to ensure the target of 200 customers to be involved

in the survey The feedback papers are collected after 2 weeks Finally, there are

250 questionnaires collected and 220 are in the right format and worth-using.Therefore, the author can take 200 answer papers randomly to analyze therelationship between customer satisfaction and 5 factors, namely location,employee’s behavior, food quality, restaurant decoration and price

There are 6 questions were asked about respondents’ demographic profile,including: gender, age, monthly income, level of education, frequency of dining out,and the reason to eat out

Table 3.2: Gender description

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

CumulativePercent

Source: Author’s survey

Gender includes two categories, including male and female The majority ofrespondents were females which consist of 62% or 124 respondents, whereas theminority was males which consist of 38% or 76 respondents It proves that thenumber of female customers nearly doubles the number of male customers It isunderstandable because women prefer to dinning out than men