loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise. Through the result and finding that has been acquired the value of standardized
coefficient (ß) of the most independent that have strongest relationship and strong supported with 0.445 (Price). Its display that
price have the highest association with beta score 0.445.
5.4 Research Implications
The elements that influenced consumer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise were explored in this study. It
emphasises the methodologies and hypotheses that addressed the problem statement and met the research objectives.
Companies may deliver the proper value to their target customer and achieve a competitive advantage over other similar
companies by understanding the elements that are currently driving consumer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise.
This research provides theoretically to academic research through supplying new empirical findings such as store
environment, service quality and price is related to the customer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise. The research
found that only the price has a significant relationship with customer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise.
The goal of this study is to improve the efficiency theoretical framework in customer loyalty toward Only U Mobile
Enterprise based on SPSS analysis. Price had the highest beta value and was acknowledged as the strongest predictor in this
study with a value of β=0.445. Therefore, researcher proposed a loyalty program which includes reward points, punch card
and cash-back to increase customer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise. The result shows that the proposed loyalty
program has a great impact to the customer loyalty toward Only U Mobile Enterprise.
5.5 Limitation and Recommendation of the Research
Throughout this study, the researcher encountered a few limitations. First, this study used a judgmental sampling method with
a tiny sample size. Although the sample size (n=135) meets the needed minimum sample size (n=115) according to the formula
proposed by Tabachnick and Fidell, (2013), this sample size does not represent the overall population, resulting in a lack of
generalizability of its findings. Thus, for more assertive and representative results in future studies, larger samples and
probability sampling method such as simple random sampling are recommended.
Next, three independent variables that influence dependent variables are limited in this study. In fact, the present study
may explore the effects of various elements on customer loyalty such as switching barriers, customer satisfaction, trust and
image It is suggested that future researcher should consider different factors that might influencing the level of customer loyalty
toward a company.
Lastly, the data was collected using a Google Form questionnaire that was distributed to the target respondent. Using
online Google Form questionnaire method causes some limitations of the study. For example, low response rate, sample
selection, and internet availability should be considered. As a result, future surveys could incorporate a wider range of research
approaches, such as physically distributing questionnaire forms and conducting an interview-based data collection survey.
5.6 Conclusion
In conclusion, all objective of this research has achieved. The independent variable which include price has a significant
relationship with consumer loyalty towards Only U Mobile Enterprise except for store environment and service quality. Thus,
the main factor that influence consumer loyalty towards Only U Mobile Enterprise was the price.
Based on the findings, it also can be concluded that there was a differences between the pre and post intervention toward
customer loyalty in this study. Since all of the objectives were achieved, the discussions and findings from this study could be
used as a guideline for the purpose of research study.
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FYP PROPOSAL
AHIBS UTM SKUDAI
IMPACT OF KKKL EXPRESS’S WEBSITE DESIGN ELEMENTS TOWARDS USER
SATISFACTION
LEE MEI XIAN, ASSOC. PROF. DR NOOR HAZARINA BT HASHIM
Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru
*Corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
The design of websites that appear on the internet is referred to as website design. Instead of software development, it usually refers to the user satisfaction
components of website development. Research was conducted to assess the website's design elements in terms of user satisfaction, using KKKL Express’s
website as a case in point. The researchers will identify and consolidate the essential website design elements that will have an impact on the user's satisfaction
when visiting the site. Then, this paper will look into the relative importance of those elements in affecting total website design judgments. A questionnaire
was developed based on this quantitative research in order to indicate the significant relationship between website design elements and user satisfaction. The
better the design quality of a website, the greater the satisfaction of users. Hence, the findings suggest that website designers should highly focus on the
website design elements to positively influence visitor purchasing behavior and, in the end, lead to a satisfactory experience.
Keywords: Website Design, Website Design Elements, User Satisfaction, KKKL Express
■ 1.0 INTRODUCTION
Travelling by bus is a blessing for many. It's less expensive, more convenient, and gives a new perspective on exploring the city. When it
comes to purchasing tickets, traditional bus tickets relate to visiting a ticket counter, making a purchase, and then directing the consumer to
the appropriate bus stop. Customers, on the other hand, must stand in line for a lengthy period of time in order to purchase bus tickets and
obtain information, causing significant inconvenience. This has been the procedure for decades, but with the rapid growth of electronic
commerce (e-commerce), firms are now attempting to acquire a competitive advantage through the use of e-commerce to communicate with
customers (Aljunaid, 2006). Due to the widespread use of e-commerce models and apps in today's business environment, a new movement
known as dynamic e-business has evolved to advance e-commerce applications by simplifying business interaction over the web (Chen
et al., 2003; Gajendra and Wang, 2013). Thus, the concept of online bus ticket buying via websites is gradually replacing the conventional
approach, eliminating the need to queue at bus stops during peak hours, such as holidays or festivals.
The convenience and effectiveness of online booking through websites have made it a popular option. Following that, bus operators
began developing their own websites to accommodate clients globally by offering online access to bus information. Meanwhile, users
searching for online information and services now rely on websites as their major means of communication (Kim and Stoel, 2004). A website
can be characterised as a series of linked interfaces and functional qualities that are intended to provide users with high levels of performance
and usability while maintaining a professional appearance (Lee and Koubek, 2010). In order to be successful, website must be backed by a
website design that determines a company's capacity to receive the benefits of internet sales. Childers et al. (2001) and Fiore et al. (2005)
have also claimed that website design plays a crucial influence in attracting and retaining online customers. Besides, user- centered design
has always been a critical factor in determining the quality of ecommerce websites (Gajendra and Wang, 2013; Stefani and
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Xenos, 2008). Hence, when designing websites, user should be given the highest priority because it is the primary source of profit for
businesses (Lee and Koubek, 2010). For example, websites should be created in a way that makes it easier for users to find what they're
looking for to increase their level of satisfaction (Abdelmessih et al., 2001). In most cases, user satisfaction is assessed through an interview
or a questionnaire, and it can be expressed in terms of aesthetics, information, brand, navigation, interactivity, performance, and a variety
of other factors.
Researchers will use KKKL Express as a case in point. This is because KKKL Express or KKKL Sdn. Bhd., has been providing
express bus services to customers since its establishment on January 22, 1983, lasting 39 years until today. Even though they started out with
only one unit of a 44-passenger express bus and a couple of factory buses, they have since grown to become one of Malaysia's most famous
and largest public bus transportation corporations. The company now possesses more than 100 express coaches, including Super VIP air-
conditioned express coaches, executive double-deck and single high-deck express buses, as well as more than two hundred highly skilled
and experienced drivers. This allows them to provide their customers with the safest and most enjoyable journey possible, connecting them
to the major cities and directing them to their destinations.
KKKL Sdn. Bhd. provides a complete range of route services to businesses and individuals in Malaysia. Their primary destinations
and itineraries include all of the major cities in Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Singapore and Hatyai, Thailand. In addition, new routes will
be added in the near future. Due to their almost thirty years of business expertise and exceptional service record, they are confident in their
ability to provide customers with the most reliable and highest-quality service for all of their demands during the journey. Because of this,
they would make continual improvements in order to repay the trust placed in them by their valued customers. The achievement of this
milestone brings KKKL Express a step closer to reaching its vision and goal, as well as increasing its market share.
■ 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
Many business owners always underestimate the value of their company's website today. Website seems to be disregarded when it comes
to marketing strategy and social media often appears to be the key focus. However, without a great website, it is limiting the reach and ability
to increase brand awareness and reputation of their business. Nowadays, there are many different kinds of concerns that might arise with a
website, but in this case, only the topics of website design will be addressed.
The current web design, in large part, is not satisfactory. Some websites, in order to pursue the "amount" of information, often
regardless of the feelings of visitors, pile up a large number of words, pictures, and other information on the same page, so that the whole
page is "airtight," leaving no blank. They think that simply presenting rich information will increase the efficiency of the viewer's access to
information. Little do they know, this kind of design will only make the visitor feel annoyed and breathless, unable to find where the right
information is, and the only choice is to leave. Apart from that, some websites do not consider the hardware conditions of visitors and blindly
add a large number of animation, video, and other multimedia elements to the page, which directly leads to the slow download of the web
page. Although fancy content can pique the user's curiosity and draw them to the site, due to hardware limitations, they have to spend a lot
of time waiting, and visitors' patience is limited. The issues listed above represent only a small portion of the total number of website design
problems, there are numerous other types of website design flaws that can have a significant impact on user experience, satisfaction, and
purchase intention.
After an evaluation of the KKKL Express’s website, the researchers noticed that there were many weaknesses in its website design.
The lack of a navigation button linked to their social media platform, the main page presenting too much content at once, as well as
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a lack of interaction, all can prevent the company’s loyal and potential customers from performing the tasks they want, such as clicking,
downloading, filling out forms, and making transactions. When it makes the user feel so hard to fulfil the tasks on the website, indeed, the
user satisfaction will be influenced.
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
i. Does information content influence user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website?
ii. Does visual aesthetics influence user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website?
iii. Does navigation influence user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website?
iv. Does interactivity influence user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website?
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
i. To identify whether information content will affect user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
ii. To identify whether visual aesthetics will affect user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
iii. To identify whether navigation will affect user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
iv. To identify whether interactivity will affect user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
■ 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 USER SATISFACTION
Given the increasing expansion of online services, it is imperative that increased consideration be given to user satisfaction as a fundamental
aspect of website design. "The attitude toward the website by a hands-on user of the site" is how one can define website user satisfaction
(Muylle et al., 2004). Bruce (1999) further defines satisfaction as a mindset that reflects the composite of a user's emotional and material
reactions to a certain action, such as information searching. As long as the outcomes are in line with their expectations, they will be
emotionally satisfied and will be materially fulfilled as a result of their interaction with the system (Waern 1989; Applegate 1993). Because
of this, the likelihood of users returning to a website and recommending it increases if they are pleased with their experience (Zhang & von
Dran, 2000).
It is critical to conduct user satisfaction research because it not only affects customer behavioural outcomes such as loyalty, trust,
and purchase intention (Shankar et al., 2003; Gustafsson et al., 2005; Flavián et al., 2006), but is also an important factor in determining
profitability (Chiou and Shen, 2006). Numerous studies have proven the effect of a website's overall design or certain components of its
design, such as interface consistency or website quality, on user satisfaction. To give an example, a model of website user satisfaction based
on five system attributes was presented (Doll et al., 1994). These five attributes were: content, format, accuracy, timeliness, and ease of use.
In addition, Zviran et al. (2006) discovered that websites' content and search capabilities predicted customer happiness. From a user-centered
design perspective, user satisfaction is crucial because deeper understanding throughout this area could lead to more specific guidelines and
recommendations for web design.
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2.2 WEBSITE DESIGN
The process of planning and creating the look and feel of a website is known as web design. It's the initial step in building a website, and it's
where businesses can put their creative ideas, branding, and visual appeal into action. To attract and maintain online customers, a website's
screens and interfaces must be built to meet users' expectations (Eroglu et al., 2001; Rosen & Purinton, 2004). This is because customers
may use the site's interface design to judge the quality of service before making a purchase in online shopping. (Zhang & von Dran, 2002).
Furthermore, previous research has shown that consumers are more inclined to browse and purchase from websites that are well-designed
(Mithas, Ramasubbu, Krishnan, & Fornell, 2007). There is also research indicating that the impact of website design on user satisfaction is
just as important to consumers as the impacts of good service and low prices in traditional shopping (Koufari s, 2002). Thus, design aspects
of a website play a significant role in shaping customers' initial beliefs and future purchasing behaviour (Cheung, Chan & Limayen, 2005;
Karimov et al., 2011; Wells et al., 2011), as well as in conveying information about a product or service's attributes to customers (Wells et
al., 2011). Simply put, if you want to make your clients happy, you must design a website that is both attractive and easy to use.
2.3 WEBSITE DESIGN ELEMENTS
From table 1, it showed that prior research had carried out detailed studies about the key elements of a website. As a result, many papers
have found two main groups of elements, one connected with the content and the other with the design of the website (Robbins & Stylianou,
2003; Ranganathan & Ganapathy, 2002 and more). However, there is no consensus in the literature on what elements or variables make up
a website's interface design (Ganguly et al., 2010). The research on web design elements is very fragmented and differs depending on the
paper to consider. Some authors assess this concept using three or four elements, whereas others require a more comprehensive study. For
this research, the website design elements that are considered are information content, visual design, and navigation design referred to the
past studies of Cyr and Bonanni, 2005 and Cyr, 2008. This is due to the fact that these website design components provide customers with
the most visible aspects to engage with while using the website, including functionality, structure, and content (McKnight et al., 2002). From
these interactions, they create their viewpoints about their online shopping experiences. Researchers tend to investigate interactivity elements
too, because it is also a way of communicating with the users of the website.
Research Paper Website Design Elements Considered
Cyr and Bonanni (2005); Cyr (2008) Information content, visual design, navigation design
Moustakis, Tsironis and Litos (2006) Content, navigation, design and structure, appearance and multimedia, uniqueness
Robbins & Stylianou (2003) Content, design
Download delay, navigation, interactivity, responsiveness, information content, web
Palmer (2002)
site success
Ranganathan & Ganapathy (2002) Information content, design, security, privacy
Buenadicha et al. (2001) Accessibility, speed, navigability, content
Zhang & Von Dran (2001) Navigability, information accuracy
Bauer & Scharl (2000) Content, navigation, interactivity
Huizingh (2000) Content, design
Nielsen (2000) Navigation, response time, credibility, content
Levine (1999) Speed download, interactivity, content timeliness
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Olsina et al. (1999) Functionality, usability, efficiency, site reliability
Table 2.0: Review of the Literature on Website Design Elements Considered
2.4 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
2.4.1 INFORMATION CONTENT
The information content of a website can comprise a variety of things, such as information about the services offered, order status,
business policies, and public relations. As far as content design is concerned, it refers to the ability of a site to convey relevant, updated,
and reliable information to its visitors (Lee & Kozar, 2006). For customers, the quality of the information they find is critical in
determining whether they will make a purchase decision (Lohse et al., 2000; Shim et al., 2001). This is because customers often begin
their buying decision-making process by searching for information. Businesses should provide online customers with appropriate
information that is easy to access, process, and explore, based on information search and risk perception theories. Additionally, web
retailers can tailor their websites to their customers' needs by incorporating features like information personalization (Eirinaki et al.,
2003).
It is well recognised that increasing the availability of essential information helps online customers better describe their wants and
explore alternative items (Trocchia & Janda, 2003). When clients are provided with a more comprehensive set of information before
making a purchase from a website, they have a better understanding of the items or services they will receive. There is less of a perception
of uncertainty, and buyers are more comfortable making purchases. However, if a website has an excessive amount of information, it can
cause problems like information overload (Lee & Lee, 2004) and make it difficult for consumers to find the information they are looking
for (Ranganathan & Ganapathy, 2002; Zhilin et al., 2003), which has a negative impact on the quality of customers' decisions and raises
confusion surrounding the purchase choice. Customers will feel dissatisfied and frustrated when they are presented with information that
is irrelevant or ineffective for the task at hand because of the time and cognitive effort they have invested in analysing the information
(MacKenzie & Spreng, 1992). Thus, the design of information content is likely to have a significant impact on user satisfaction. The
generated hypothesis is:
H1: There is a significant relationship between information content and user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
2.4.2 VISUAL AESTHETICS
Images, colours, fonts, structures, and animations as well are all part of a website's visual aesthetic (Cyr & Bonanni, 2005; Li & Yeh,
2010). These elements contributed to the attractiveness of a website appearance. Besides, according to past research, the visual design of
a shopping website has been shown to influence a variety of enablers of online purchasing behaviour, including usability, perceived risk,
reliability, and functionality (Kim & Stoel, 2004; Li & Yeh, 2010; Monsuwe, Dellaert, & De Ruyter, 2004). Yamamoto and Lambert
(1994), as well as Ranganathan and Ganapathy (2002), have noted that visual aesthetics has played a crucial role in shaping the very
first judgments and perceptions toward the user interface, product, and the attitude that goes along with it.
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Numerous studies have been undertaken in recent years to explore "the effects of website aesthetics on the user's perception and
satisfaction" (Tractinsky et al., 2000; Mahlke et al., 2007; Lindgaard et al., 2011; Papachristos and Avouris, 2011; Schenkman and
Jönsson, 2000). It follows that aesthetics is one of the most important elements of website quality, which has a significant effect on the
willingness of users to conduct online payments (Yoo and Donthu, 2001; Bai et al., 2008; Madu and Madu, 2002). In fact, Tony Mai
(2011) analysed the research papers completed between 1998 and 2011 and found that visual appeal was the second most influential
feature indicated in numerous studies. This is supported by Cyr, Head, Larios, and Pan (2009), who argue that a shopping website's visual
appeal piques the interest of visitors and encourages them to spend more time on the site. To summarize, it can be said that the concept
of visual aesthetics is a crucial one in web design that can lead to greater happiness among online users. Therefore, the following
hypothesis is developed:
H2: There is a strong link between visual aesthetics and user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
2.4.3 NAVIGATION
The navigation of a website relates to the manner in which the site's pages and links are organised and structured. When it comes to how
much effort it takes a user to get around a website, the navigation design plays a major role (Vance et al., 2008). In general, online
shoppers favour simple and concise navigation designs, which can save them time and effort in locating what they're seeking and allow
them to complete purchases in a few steps. Therefore, a simple navigation hierarchy that enables users to quickly and easily access the
desired pages from wherever on the site should be developed for the least amount of effort possible among customers (Montoya-Weiss,
Voss, & Grewal, 2003). Not only does it make things a lot easier, but it also helps prevent shoppers from becoming frustrated on the site
and leaving without making any purchases or returning.
A few tips are explained here in order to develop an effective and functional navigation system. To begin with, the navigation bar's
location should be prominent and easily identifiable. Given the reading patterns of the average person, the navigation bar should be
positioned on the left or top of the page. Second, the navigation bar title should be precise and clear without using ambiguous words.
For example, use the "About Us" text to represent the content for the background and history of a company. If you are concerned about
the title's accuracy, you can create prompt messages to elaborate on it. So, when the visitor's mouse is moved over the text on the
navigation bar, the accompanying explanation will appear. Lastly, when a visitor comes to a new page, display the “previous” icon for
them to be able to switch back to the old page on demand. Based on the elaboration above, the researchers hypothesize:
H3: KKKL Express’s website navigation will have a strong effect on user satisfaction.
2.4.4 INTERACTIVITY
Several studies, including Cyr (2009), have demonstrated that perceived online interactivity is associated with e-commerce website
characteristics such as productivity, enjoyment, trust, and loyalty. O'Brien (2010) also recognized clients' interaction as one of the e-
commerce motives, but the connection between interactive elements and users' satisfaction remains unclear because the interactive
features weren't really subjected to experimental research. On the other hand, Teo (2003) discovered a statistically significant effect of
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higher interactivity on user satisfaction, value, and overall attitude in an e-commerce purchasing program by experimentally adjusting
interactivity using numerous elements such as chat and feedback forms. As Sutcliffe (2005) found, interactive metaphors have a
favourable impact on consumers' perceptions of website design. Higher levels of involvement were also found to have an effect on both
the website and the product or service in question, according to a separate study (Xu & Sundar, 2014). Based on the explanation above,
the researchers hypothesize:
H4: KKKL Express’s website interactivity will have a strong influence on user satisfaction.
2.5 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK MODEL
Information Content (H1)
Visual Aesthetics (H2)
User Satisfaction
Navigation (H3)
Interactivity (H4)
Figure 2.0: Research framework for the impact of KKKL Express’s website design elements towards user satisfaction.
Above shows the research framework of this research. The function is to test the relationships between independent variables (information
content, visual aesthetics, navigation, and interactivity) and dependent variables (user satisfaction) for academic and business purposes.
■ 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
By using conclusive research, this study will adopt a descriptive research design with a cross-sectional design to figure out the relationship
between website design and user satisfaction. Conclusive research is used to test specific hypotheses to examine their relationships. Because
this data analysis is quantitative, the descriptive research design is chosen over the exploratory or causal research designs. Akhtar (2016)
distinguishes between descriptive and cross-sectional research designs. Descriptive research collects data about the characteristics of a
particular topic, such as an individual or community, whereas cross-sectional research collects data from a sample of population elements
just once.
3.2 POPULATION AND SAMPLING
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When designing a study, it is critical to select a population and sample size that are acceptable for the study's goals. Sample is a portion of
a population or universe (Tailor, 2005). Also, the sampling process defines how a sample is determined for the selected population. Then, a
population is made up of a distinct group of humans, whether that group is comprised of a nation or people who share a common characteristic
(Momoh, 2021). Thus, the entire group from which the sample was obtained is referred to as the "population," while the group chosen for
research is referred to as the "sample." The population of this survey is focused on respondents of students in University Technology Malaysia
(UTM) Skudai, Johor Bahru and the one who have experienced browsing KKKL Express’s website will be regarded as representative
samples. The researcher will then use the Tabachnick method to calculate the sample size. According to Tabachnick and Fidell (2007), a
minimum size of five-to-one is determined by the number of variables to be analysed. From the calculation, the min number of respondents
required for this study is 125 respondents. Hence, google form questionnaires will be distributed to the target sample through WhatsApp.
Then, the study will adopt a non-probability sampling methodology which consists of a purposive sampling technique. Using purposive
sampling method, researchers must have a thorough understanding of the field site and establish a personal connection with members of the
target group (Braunstein, 1993).
Independent variables = (IV1 items x 5) + (IV2 items x 5) + (IV3 items x 5) + (IV4 items x5)
= (4 x 5) + (4 x 5) + (4 x 5) + (4 x 5) + (4 x 5)
= 100
Dependent variables = (DV1 items x 5)
= (5 x 5)
= 25
Min number of respondents = IV + DV
= 100 + 25
=125 respondents
3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
A study into a clearly defined problem that is founded on the testing of a hypothesis, measured with statistics, and evaluated using statistical
tools is referred to as quantitative research. To determine whether or not a theory's predictions hold true, quantitative methods are used. By
contrast, if using a qualitative approach, it seeks to comprehend a social or human issue from different perspectives. This is due to the fact
that qualitative research is carried out in a natural setting and entails a process of constructing a complex and comprehensive view of the
phenomenon of interest (Creswell, 1994). In this study, a quantitative approach is applied by the researcher because they are cost- effective,
adaptable, and allow researchers to collect data from a large sample size, so they are quite popular among researchers.
3.4 QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT
A questionnaire instrument was developed as an online Google form, to collect the primary data from the target respondents. The
questionnaire in this study consists of 6 parts, which are parts of parts A, B, C, D, E and F. Part A is the questions related to the demographic
profiles of respondents, including gender, age, ethnicity, education level, race, nationality, monthly income, how many times have you visited
the KKKL Express’s website, and common online ticket booking channel for KKKL Express. Then, from part B to part E, they are all about
the selected website design elements that will influence the user satisfaction, while the last part (part F) is the evaluation questions for the
respondents’ satisfaction with the performance of each website design elements, as well as the overall satisfaction
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towards the KKKL Express’s website. Respondents are asked to select from a list of options in a series of questionnaires. Besides, the purpose
of a Likert scale is to measure the strength of an answer by using levels of agreement and satisfaction ranging from "strongly disagree/strongly
dissatisfied" (1) to "strongly agree/strongly satisfied" (5). The table 3.0 shows the detailed questions of the survey:
MANIFEST
SECTION MEASUREMENT QUESTIONS
VARIABLE
Gender Nominal
Age Nominal
Education Level Nominal
Race Nominal
Part A: Demographic
Nationality Nominal
Monthly Income Nominal
How many times have you visited the KKKL Express’s website? Nominal
Common online booking channel for KKKL Express's tickets. Nominal
IC1. KKKL Express's website provides sufficient and detailed information. Likert Scale
IC2. KKKL Express's website provides relevant information. Likert Scale
Part B: Information Content IC3. KKKL Express's website provides up-to-date information. Likert Scale
IC4. The information on KKKL Express's website is easy to read. Likert Scale
IC5. The information on KKKL Express's website is easy to understand. Likert Scale
VA1. Fonts are well-used on the KKKL Express's website. Likert Scale
VA2. Colours are well-used on the KKKL Express's website. Likert Scale
Part C: Visual Aesthetic VA3. The layout on KKKL Express's website is neat and attractive. Likert Scale
VA4. The design on KKKL Express's website matches the brand image. Likert Scale
VA5. KKKL Express's website has an attractive appearance. Likert Scale
N1. I can navigate to other pages easily. Likert Scale
N2. I can navigate to other pages correctly. Likert Scale
Part D: Navigation N3. I can differentiate link easily on the KKKL Express's website. Likert Scale
N4. I can easily search and find what I want on the website. Likert Scale
N5. KKKL Express’s website provides organised and sufficient links. Likert Scale
I1. I can easily provide my feedback to the website. Likert Scale
I2. I can know their live feed of social media platform from the website. Likert Scale
I3. I can easily solve my inquiry through live chat or chat-bots. Likert Scale
Part E: Interactivity
I4. I can drop comments or contents on the website. Likert Scale
I5. Multimedia contents are well-used on the KKKL Express’s website (exp:
Likert Scale
images, videos, animation)
Please rate your satisfaction with the performance of each website design element Likert Scale
Part F: User Satisfaction of KKKL Express.
Please rate your overall satisfaction towards the KKKL Express's website. Likert Scale
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■ 4.0 DATA ANALYSIS PLAN
Through the use of Google Forms, 185 sets of surveys were obtained from respondents. However, four questions were discarded since the
respondents had never visited the KKKL Express’s website before. Following the exclusion of four questionnaires, the study acquired 181
surveys and collected more than 125 questionnaires that met the minimum criterion, giving it a 90 percent confidence level for further
analysis.
4.1 Profile of Respondents
This study is to collect respondent demographics such as gender, age, education level, race, nationality, and many other factors. The
demographic data to be collected in this study is shown in the table below.
Table 4.0: Summary of Respondent’s Demographic Profile
Demographic Category
Male
Gender
Female
Below 18 years old
18-20 years old
21-23 years old
Above 23 years old
Age Diploma
Degree
Master
PhD
Others
Malay
Chinese
Race
Indian
Others
Malaysian
Nationality
Non-Malaysian
RM1000 and below
RM1001-RM2000
Monthly Income RM2001-RM3000
RM3001 and above
Others
How many times have you 1-3 times
visited the KKKL Express’s 4-6 times
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website? 7-9 times
More than 9 times
Company Website
Call
Common online booking WhatsApp
channel for KKKL Express’s Mobile Application
tickets.
Partnership Platform (exp: Easybook, Redbus)
Others
4.2 Reliability Test
The reliability test determines if the scale is consistent or error-free (Barrett and Morgan, 2015). The goal of employing the reliability test
in research is to ensure that the response does not vary over time, so that the test is reliable at any moment. Cronbach's alpha is generally
used to measure internal consistency reliability, but it can also be used as a conservative computation in PLS-SEM (Wong, 2013). Cronbach's
alpha and composite reliability can be used to assess reliability (CR). In the study, both measures are utilised to determine the consistency of
all elements and to assess the reliability of the measurement data collected. Then, an alpha coefficient test of the Cronbach's and composite
reliability are utilised to assess the reliability of the scales approach used in this study (CR). According to Chin (1998), an appropriate model
requires a CR value greater than 0.70; hence, the Cronbach's alpha in this study aims to fall within this range. According to Fornell and
Larcker (1981) and Cheah et al. (2018), CR values greater than 0.70 are acceptable and reasonable. The reliability value is 0.70, with higher
values indicating greater reliability (Pallant, 2005). If the value of CR is 1, it signifies that the expected reliability is perfect. The greater the
coefficient, the higher the reliability, as shown in Table 4.1.
Alpha Coefficient Range Status
0.90 and above Excellent
0.80 to 0.89 Good
0.70 to 0.79 Acceptable
0.60 to 0.69 Questionable
0.50 to 0.59 Poor
Below 0.59 Unacceptable
4.3 Validity Analysis
4.3.1 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Analysis and Barlett’s of Sphericity Analysis
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The study's scale's validity explains the correctness of the actual survey data collected (LeComple and Goetz 1982). The degree to which
each single question raised in the questionnaire captures the real question being examined can be tested (Mohajan 2017). In this study,
validity tests were performed to confirm that the questionnaire items were valid. Kaiser Mayer Olkin (KMO) is one of the metrics used in
this investigation. Furthermore, for variable examination to be appropriate, the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity must be (p 0.5). (Tabachnick &
Fidell, 2007).
4.4 Normality Test
The data must be approximately normally distributed in order for most parametric tests to be reliable. As a result, a normality test is performed
to determine if all of the data gathered are normally distributed and have proper range and skewness. If the values of variables are between -
1 and +1, the Skewness and Kurtosis are considered to be normally distributed (Peat and Bartoon, 2005). These scores should be normally
distributed on the expected dependent variable scores to minimise redundancy. The symmetric or central tendency is the normal distribution,
which has a skewness value of 0. As a result, the SPSS technique will be used to measure the normality test.
4.5 Descriptive Analysis
Descriptive analysis is a sort of data analysis that assists in describing, displaying, or summarising data points in a constructive manner so
that patterns might develop that meet all of the data's conditions. One of the most crucial steps in statistical data analysis is this step. It
provides a conclusion on the data's distribution, aids in the detection of outliers, and allows for the identification of similarities between
variables, preparing the data for future statistical analysis. In this study, it is the initial phase in the study's statistical analysis in SPSS
software. The two primary goals of descriptive analysis are to give generality by observing extensive information about the variables and
to discover the relationship between two variables.
In this study, frequency and central tendency measurements are used for analysis. The frequency analysis is used to assess
respondents' demographic information. The mean and standard deviation are included in the central tendency, which assists the researcher
to understand the responses to the questionnaire. It's utilised to assess the relationship between the study's independent variables (information
content, visual aesthetics, navigation, and interactivity) and the study's dependent variables (user satisfaction).
4.6 Multiple Regression Analysis
Multiple regression shows the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. In this study, multiple regression
analysis was used to determine which website design feature is the most important in motivating respondents from Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia to be satisfied or dissatisfied with KKKL Express's website. Then, according to Julie Pallant (2007), the beta coefficient value, and
the highest value was the most influential variable for this group.
4.7 Correlation Analysis
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The correlation between two variables was determined using Pearson correlation analysis. The numerical number might be anywhere between
-1.0 and +1.0. The value r = 1 denotes the perfect strength of the link between two variables, while the negative sign denotes direction
(Pallant, 2007). Meanwhile, if the value is -1, it denotes that a perfect negative correlation between the two variables.
4.8 Summary of Analysis Plan
Table 4.0 summarized the hypothesis that was support from the result of analysis below:
Table 4.0: Summary of Hypothesis Testing and Analysis Plan
Research Hypotheses Analysis Plan
H1: There is a significant relationship between information Multiple Regression
content and user satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
H2: There is a strong link between visual aesthetics and user Multiple Regression
satisfaction on the KKKL Express’s website.
H3: KKKL Express’s website navigation will have a strong Multiple Regression
effect on user satisfaction.
H4: KKKL Express’s website interactivity will have a strong Multiple Regression
influence on user satisfaction.
■ 5.0 EXPECTATION & RECOMMENDATION
Upon completion of the project, I expect to be able to clearly establish the relationship between website design elements and user satisfaction.
What I want to prove is that website design elements have a major impact on customer satisfaction when browsing a website. The proper
allocation of website design elements will enhance online clients' ability to articulate their needs and wants, increase the comfort levels in
their purchasing judgments, and deliver a positive transaction for them. Meanwhile, when a poorly designed website is presented, it can
frustrate users and result in a high "bounce rate", or people visiting the entrance page without exploring other pages within the site.
■ 6.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, every field should provide their best quality website by developing a convenient and comfortable design that is easy to access,
process, and explore, in order to positively influence visitor purchasing behaviour and in the end, leads to a satisfactory experience.
■ 7.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to thank a number of people for their contributions and assistance with this research. Firstly, I would like to express my deep
appreciation to Dr. Noor Hazarina, my research supervisor, for her patient guidance and valuable suggestions during the planning and
development of this research work. Her willingness to devote her time so generously has been very much appreciated. This report would not
have developed if it hadn't been for her ongoing teaching and assistance. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the help provided by
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my coursemates. Their active participation in asking various questions about the Final Year Project is extremely useful and beneficial for
my understanding. Unfortunately, it is not possible to list all of them in this limited space. Last but not least, I will not forget my family,
especially my parents, for their enthusiastic encouragement throughout my studies.
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FYP PROPOSAL
AHIBS UTM SKUDAI JAN 2022
THE INFLUENCE OF INSTAGRAM MARKETING ON NANCY’S KITCHEN
RESTAURANT – A BABA NYONYA RESTAURANT TOWARDS VISITORS’ VISIT
INTENTION
LEON XIN CI, PROF. DR NOOR HAZARINA HASHIM
Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of social media (Instagram) marketing by the restaurant located in Malacca, Malaysia, named “Nancy’s
Kitchen”. With the advance of technology, traditional marketing is slowly being replaced by social media marketing. Regardless of the industry, whether it is
tourism or catering, many companies have implemented social media for a variety of purposes. Thus, this study examined the visual effect and exposure effect
on visitors’ visit intention towards a restaurant selection. This study has been conducted by using quantitative methods by distributing survey questionnaire
to 250 respondents. The results are being generated by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. The study explores more on the effects of
professional photography, visual complexity, uniform page appearance and layout, and brand recognition which has a negatively significant relationship with
the visitor's visit intention. Endorsed brand attitude positively affects visitor intention to visit a restaurant. The sample chosen for this study belongs only to a
particular population which is only the current Instagram follower who might or might not visit Nancy’s Kitchen and its visitors. Hence, the outcome should
be summarized with caution.
Keywords: Professional photography, Visual complexity, Uniform page appearance and layout, Brand exposure, Visit Intention
1.0 INTRODUCTION
With the rapid development of the Internet, the speed and large-scale information collection and dissemination have reached an
unprecedented level. Today, there are about 4.1 billion users of social media platforms, accounting for more than half of the global population.
Coupled with the epidemic situation, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and other social platforms have become information
publishing centers. The era of information explosion makes our life and the information on the Internet complicated and chaotic. So, how
can we ensure that we will not be overwhelmed by this numerous information, and how can we turn all crises into opportunities? Instagram,
founded in 2010, plays an important role as a social media platform to increase human interactions by publishing photos, video, stories and
IGTV. According to Pittman and Reich, 2016, image-based platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat bring positive effects on creating
happiness, offering higher levels of satisfaction with life (SWL) and stimulated social presence, compared to a text-based platform which
relatively bring negative or neutral effects. With the growth of technology, people spend more time communicating with the network platform
in their mobile phones rather than getting along with others. In the market, traditional marketing approaches, such as leaflets and door-to-
door marketing strategies, have been replaced by social media and digital marketing. Thus, a business or an organization needs to fully
understand the current trend and their customer perception and eventually come out with strategies that make good use of the elements in
social media to achieve the most efficient brand exposure and create high profits.
1.1 CASE COMPANY INTRODUCTION
Nancy’s Kitchen is a restaurant located at Taman Kota Laksamana, Malacca which specializes in Baba Nyonya / Peranakan Home-cooked
cuisine. This restaurant has been in operation since October 27, 1999, and its owner and founder, Ms. Nancy, as the name implies, was
born and raised in a Peranakan family in a small town known as Batu Berendam, Malacca. Nancy also plays the role as a chef in the restaurant,
preparing authentic Peranakan dishes for all her new and repeat customers. She had been taught to cook since she was a child, but all her
cooking skills were built up depending on her own observations and helpfulness towards her mother in the kitchen. Today, all her scrumptious
recipes have been passed on to her third generation for inheritance. Nancy’s Kitchen is a non-halal restaurant where it provides some special
pork dishes such as Fried Pork Balls, pork with bean pastes or black nuts, Nyonya Laksa, banana flowers, chicken rendang, chicken in
tamarind etc. Baba Nyonya cuisine is a unique dish resulting from blending Chinese ingredients with various distinct spices and its cooking
techniques all used by the Malay or Indonesian community. Thus, to provide a memorable experience for the customers to cook their own
Peranakan dishes, Nancy’s Kitchen offers step-to-step teaching, a full hands-on guide, tips and tricks to cook like a Peranakan household.
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1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.2.1 SWOT ANALYSIS
Table 1.1 Nancy’s Kitchen SWOT Analysis
S STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES W
• Offers a wide variety of products and • Not well-known by the youngsters
services
• Weak social media engagement,
• Well-structured website design and especially Instagram
development
O OPPORTUNITIES THREATS T
• Domestic and internationally • Competitiveness
gastronomic attractions
Table 1.1 illustrate Nancy’s Kitchen SWOT analysis. On the context of strength, Nancy’s Kitchen can be considered as a long-standing
restaurant operating since the year 1999. It had been designed and developed a well-structured website introducing the founder and chef, the
menus, in-house catering service, cooking class, business operating hours, and contact methods. Thus, it can be seen clearly with a wide
variety of products and services being offered by Nancy’s Kitchen.
Even though Nancy’s restaurant is always listed in the top listing of authentic Baba Nyonya restaurants in Malacca, it is not well-known by
the youngsters, no matter locally or internationally. This is mainly due to the weak social media engagement, especially on Instagram. As
Instagram continues to grow in popularity, reaching over 500 million active monthly users (Instagram Press News, 2016), there are 320
million global Instagram users aged between 18 to 24 years, and 354 million global Instagram users aged between 25 to 34 years. According
to an observation on the Instagram homepage of Nancy’s Kitchen, the number of followers is relatively low, which is not more than 500
people in November 2021. The low interaction with its followers, non-amazing and impressive homepage, and traditional marketing
propaganda will be the main weaknesses of Nancy’s Kitchen to achieve its business core purpose of building brand awareness and increasing
customer satisfaction. Digitalization in entrepreneurship and marketing should be prioritized.
Baba Nyonya cuisine is one of Malacca’s distinctive dishes as a form of acculturation of Chinese and Malaysian culture which can represent
one of the gastronomic attractions of Malaysian tourism and hospitality industry. With the well-planned and effective publicity or advertising,
Nancy’s Kitchen will be able to cope with the challenges of suffering thoroughly due to the Covid-19 pandemic at the current stage. Both
domestic and international tourism markets have unlimited potential.
The growing competition in the same industry is the main threat that might be faced by Nancy’s Kitchen. Besides competitors from other
Baba Nyonya restaurants at Malacca, there are also lots of fast-food restaurants, café, fast-casual, contemporary casual restaurants emerging.
With an increasing innovation implemented in the food industry, more and more choices are being offered. Apart from that, competition on
social media advertising might also influence the tourists’ intention towards a restaurant. As people are surrounded by advertising,
information, a variety of goods, stores, and shopping malls, and having a greater choice of purchasing opportunities, customers’ decision
making in purchasing food products has become more complex and even more important nowadays than in the past (Yasin, 2009). Thus,
creating and maintaining loyal customers is a challenge for Nancy’s Kitchen, especially during this peak covid-19 pandemic period.
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1.2.2 PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS
Table 1 indicated the fishbone diagram being developed based on the main problems that Nancy’s Kitchen faced, categorized into five
dimensions, that are low brand recognition, low brand attitudes, lack of professional photography, unsystematic page appearance and layout,
and visual complexity of information. All these factors in turn cause low intention for existing Instagram followers to visit the restaurant.
Figure 1.1 Fishbone Diagram.
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Based on the problematic situation, there are three research questions have been identified:
RQ1: Does professional food and beverage photography affect visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RQ2: Does lower visual complexity affect visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RQ3: Does uniform page appearance and layout affect visitors’ intention towards restaurant selection.
RQ4: Does brand recognition affect visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RQ5: Does endorsed brand attitude affect visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
From the research questions above, the research objective is being developed:
RO1: To examine whether professional food and beverage photography will influence visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RO2: To examine whether the lower visual complexity will influence visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RO3: To examine whether the uniform page appearance and layout will influence visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RO4: To examine whether the brand recognition will influence visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
RO5: To examine whether the endorsed brand attitude will influence visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 VISUALIZE EFFECTS
Human yearning for beautiful things, regardless of sex and age. Beautiful and lovely things attract more attention than the ordinary ones. In
short, human beings are very typical visual animals. Physiologically, vision is the most important sensation. The excitement felt by people
through the visual sensory cells and the information collected by the visual system are processed into an intuitive feeling of ugliness, beauty
and excitement. There are few studies showing that 80% of people’s sensory information originated from vision, which reflects that visual
information is dominating human’s cognitivity (Marlow and Jansson-Boyd, 2011). The experimental psychologist Treicher has done two
famous psychological experiments. The first is the experiment about knowledge retention, that is, memory persistence; The other is about
the source of human access to information, that is, the main ways for humans to access information. Through a large number of experiments,
he proved that 83% of the information obtained by human beings comes from vision and 11% from hearing, which together account for 94%.
The remaining 6% come from smell, touch and taste.
2.2 EXPOSURE EFFECTS
Brand exposure refers to a behavior where a business or an organization start to implement some strategies to expose its brand for brand
building after finding their potential and targeted audience (Gole, 2009). According to the ‘pure exposure theory’ (Zajonc, 1968), people
are more likely to be stimulated, influenced or given higher priority to people or things that they are more familiar with. Due to the good
impression being shaped in one’s mind, it formed an unconscious behavior through cognitive mechanisms on consumer or visitor (Fitzsimon
et al., 2008). This potential theory can be considered as a psychological phenomenon. Thus, brand exposure not only can enhance brand
awareness (Cornwell et al., 2000; Pitts & Slattery, 2004), but also increase consumer purchasing or visit intention as well as brand attitude.
2.3 VISITS’ INTENTION
A visit intention is a behavioral intention that is concerned with the probability of a particular action that one might carry out or engage in
a specific behavior towards the attitude object (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010). It can be influenced by core-service satisfaction (Jones et al.’s,
2000), perceived benefits (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993), positive attitude toward social media review on the perceived usefulness, perceived
ease of use, trustworthiness, and information quality as well (Popy and Bappy, 2020). Thus, behavior or visit intention towards a restaurant
is the likelihood of a person to visit a restaurant frequently (Han et al., 2009).
2.4 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
2.4.1 VISUALIZE EFFECTS
2.4.1.1 Professional Food and Beverage Photography
Image facilitates human social presence, even though the communication process can only be done digitally but it does make sense for
someone to have the feeling of presenting with an actual person instead of an object (Sundar, 2008). Visual narrative mediums such as
paintings and photographs provide tangible, holistic and emotional experience for the audience (Schindler and Holbrook, 2003). With
the power of image, the feeling of connectedness and happiness can be transmitted without any words or text. Thus, high-quality, and
professional photos of food and beverages can make people have fuller experiences by activating people's sense of entertainment,
personal identity and social interaction (Liu et al. 2012). Regarding the professional photographing of food and beverage, the correct use
of illumination and shooting angle are the main issues. A successful food and beverage photographer should be concerned with the
natural light, the presence of daylight will be the most preferable period of shooting (Gissemann, 2016). Nevertheless, according to the
health experts, a low quality, low-resolution and unprofessional food images might bring to public health issue, it minimal the technical
expertise (Islam et al., 2013; Steenhuis and Vermeer, 2009) and reduce the happiness and satisfaction, eventually affecting the intention
to visit or revisit a restaurant. Hence, by providing good visual effects, professional catering photography will indeed help to stimulate
tourists' curiosity and mentality of wanting to try. Relying on the explanation given above, researcher hypothesize:
H 1 : There is significant relationship between professional food and beverage photography and visitors’ visit intention towards
restaurant selection.
H : There is no significant relationship between professional food and beverage photography and visitors’ visit intention towards
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restaurant selection.
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2.1.1.1 Lower Visual Complexity
Visual complexity refers to the amount of detail being presented or shown in a picture such as the differences in the amount of color
and contrast. A complex design providing rich information may increase the quality of evaluating visual objects, whereas a simple design
will minimize the cognitive effort needed for a person on visual information process, especially those having a limited processing time.
(Wu et al., 2016). More complex visual designs seem more engaging and likable (Palmer, 2002) since they invoke and maintain
consumers’ interest. (e.g., Deng and Poole, 2010; Geissler et al., 2006; Pieters et al., 2010; Stevenson et al., 2000). However, some
research found that with an increase of visual complexity, the lesser the efficiency and accuracy on visual search (Wolfe, 1994). Thus,
visual complexity is a controversial argument. People mostly get influenced by the visual complexity of the information provided
by an organization or a business, some prefer a complex design, but some do not. Therefore, the following hypotheses are presented:
H 2 : There is significant relationship between lower visual complexity and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
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H : There is no significant relationship between lower visual complexity and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
2.1.1.2 Uniform Page Appearance and Layout
There are three kinds of design categories that complement the business operation and to attract their potential customer as well which
includes website design, content design and social cue design. Website design is a kind of visual design, such as layout and color that
gives the first impressions to their customer; content design, such as information provided on the website; and social cue design, which
is embedded in the webpage interface and allows people to communicate with each other by using different media (Karimov et al. (2011).
The atmosphere of a website, including the atmosphere and layout design, will affect the sense of pleasure and arousal in visitors (Eroglu
et al., 2003). To enhance visitors’ intention towards restaurant selection, uniform page appearance and layout can be implemented.
Therefore, the researcher hypothesizes:
H 3 : There is significant relationship between uniform page appearance and layout and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant
selection.
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H : There is no significant relationship between uniform page appearance and layout and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant
selection.
2.1.2 EXPOSURE EFFECTS
2.1.2.1 Brand Recognition
Brand memory is usually measured by testing brand recall, cued recall and brand recognition. Among these three, recognition is
considered the most sensitive and valid measurement to assess memory, especially in low-involvement conditions (Goodrich, 2011; Lee
and Ahn, 2012), (Perfect and Askew, 1994; Shapiro et al., 1997), (Krugman, 2000). Mere exposure effect suggests that favourable
attitudes can be formed via a brief and repeated exposure of a stimulus in an unconscious situation (Kunst-Wilson and Zajonc, 1980;
Zajonc, 2001). Brand recognition is the first and most important step of a business, which significantly impacts consumer decision-
making. Relying on the explanation given above, the following hypothesis was generated.
H 4 : There is significant relationship between brand recognition and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
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H : There is no significant relationship between brand recognition and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
2.1.2.2 Endorsed Brand Attitudes
According to previous studies on the mere exposure effect, quick and frequent saccades of a brand message could positively affect brand
attitude (Coates et al., 2006; Goodrich, 2011; Shapiro et al., 1997). A positive attitude toward an unfamiliar brand would most likely
occur under brief and repeated brand exposures, but not for a single, long brand exposure (Lee and Ahn, 2012). It can be seen that
consumers’ attitude towards the recognized brand is to image that they patronize and purchase the company’s products. Therefore, the
following researcher hypothesizes is proposed:
H 5 : There is significant relationship between endorsed brand attitude and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
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H : There is no significant relationship between endorsed brand attitude and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
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2.5 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK MODEL
VISUAL EFFECTS
Professional F&B Photographs H1
Lower Visual Complexity H2
Uniform Page Appearance and Layout VISITORS’
INTENTION
H3 TOWARDS
RESTAURANT
SELECTION
EXPOSURE EFFECTS H4
Brand Recognition H5
Endorsed Brand Attitudes
Figure 2.1: Research framework for the visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
According to Cooper and Schindler (2003), research design is the overall operation mode or framework of the project, specifying which
information is collected from which sources and by what procedures. It acts as a blueprint or framework including data collection,
measurement, and analysis of data based on the research questions and objectives conceived previously. This study undergoes conclusive
research design by employing descriptive research, which is also known as the observational research method. A structured survey
questionnaire was distributed in this research. As all the respondents approached only once, thus, it is most likely to be a cross-sectional
research design.
3.2 POPULATION AND SAMPLING
The research population is mainly focusing on Nancy’s Kitchen existing followers and visitors. Currently, there are 511 followers recorded
in January 2022. By referring to Hair et al., 2018, the minimum number of sample sizes is being developed through the sample-to-variable
ratio. The suggested minimum sample size ratio is 5:1, but with the ratio of 15:1 and 20:1 are preferred to avoid underpowered studies.
This method is dependent on the study’s independent variable. Thus, 20:1 ratio has been applied with the 5 independent variables in this
study. The following calculation has been made:
Minimum number of sample size = (5 Independent Variables) x 20
= 100 respondents
Based on the calculation above, the minimum number of sample sizes is 100 respondents. However, this study was distributed to 250
respondents to avoid any incomplete data, data fuzziness or underpowered studies which in turn are insufficient for most inferential analyses
(Bartlett et al, 2001) or convincing reviewer about the true effect.
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3.3 DATA COLLECTION
The questionnaire will be distributed to the respondents by using systematic sampling for Instagram followers whereas convenience sampling
for its visitors. For systematic sampling, the samples are selected by selecting a random starting point, and then continuously selecting each
ith element from the sampling frame. (Note: ith is the sampling interval, is being determined by dividing the population size, N by the sample
size, n and rounding to the nearest integer). In this study, there are 511 elements in the population and a sample of 170 is desired. A random
number between 1 and 250 is selected. If, for example, this number is 1, all the samples consist of elements 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and so
on. 250 questionnaires will be distributed among followers of Instagram in Nancy's kitchen through private chat by online Google Forms.
Nevertheless, due to the low return of feedback, another approach is being carried out which is a convenient approach, asking the visitor who
comes on-site to fill in the survey form.
3.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
The use of a quantitative approach was considered most suitable for this study. The questionnaire can be divided into two main parts. Part
A consists of 9 questions asking for respondents’ demographic profile. Part B consists of 33 questions mainly to answer the independent
variables (IV) and dependent variables (DV). There are 18 questions on visual effects, 12 questions on exposure effects and 3 questions from
visitors’ intention towards restaurant selection. The set of questionnaires are asking the respondents to tick from the given selection. Five
points Likert scale is to determine the strength of the answer with levels of agreement such as ‘1 = strongly disagree’, ‘2 = disagree’, ‘3 =
neutral’, ‘4 = agree’, and ‘5 = strongly agree’.
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS PLAN
The collected from the questionnaire will be analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 26. Different categories
of respondents will be analysis using different method, as per below:
Table 3.1 Summary on Data Analysis Plan
Statistical Measure Analysis Rules of Thumb Objectives
Descriptive Statistics Frequency Percentage To measure the central tendency (e.g., mean, mode,
median) and the measures of dispersion (e.g., variance,
standard deviation, skew)
Normality Analysis Skewness and Kurtosis Test Between -2 to +2 for To overview the procedures for checking normality of
Skewness test; between the data, whether normally or non-normally
-7 to +7 for Kurtosis distributed.
test (Hair et. al, 2010)
Reliability Analysis Cronbach’s Alpha P-value (Sig.) ≥ 0.70 To overview the procedures for checking reliability of
(DeVellis 2003) the data, whether less or high reliability.
Validity Analysis Kaiser Mayer Olkin (KMO) KMO (p-value>0.50) To ensure that all the measurement items of
Measure of Sampling Bartlett’s Test (p-value questionnaire are valid and to test the null hypothesis
Adequacy and Bartlett’s Test <0.05) that the correlation matrix is an identity matrix
of Sphericity
Inferential Statistics Correlation Coefficient R-value between -1.0 to To determine the association or co-relationship
+1.0 between two relationships, whether it is positive,
negative or no relationship.
Inferential Statistics Multiple Regression P-value To predict the value of a single dependent value with
< 0.05 (0.95 ci) * several independent variables, for example, whether
< 0.01 (0.99 ci) ** H1 is accepted or rejected.
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4.0 DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 RESPONSE RATE
The study had fulfilled the minimum sample size required that is 100 respondents based on the calculation stated in Chapter 3.2 with the
sample-to-variable ratio 1:20. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to Nancy’s Kitchen Instagram followers and visitors. From a
total of 250 distributed questionnaires, 171 were successfully returned of 68.4%. According to Richardson (2005), the acceptable response
rate for a study is greater than 50% but achieving 60% and above will be more desirable. Table below summarizing the response rate of the
study.
Table 4.1 Summary of Response Rate
Type Questionnaire Distributed Number of Response Percentage of Response Rate
Google Form 250 171 68.4%
4.2 Profile of Respondents
This study plans to collect the respondent demographic data of respondent based on the gender, age, races, income level, marital status,
nationality, time spent on Instagram per day, frequency of visits, and average expenditure per visit The number of females involved in this
study is slightly higher than male which is 93 respondents (54.4%) and 78 respondents (45.6%) respectively. The highest involvement in this
research is respondents age between 21 to 30 with a total number of 99 respondents (57.9%), followed by 45 respondents (26.3%) age
between 31 to 40, 23 respondents (13.5%) age below 20 and lastly 4 respondents (2.3%) age over 40 years. Most respondents in research are
come from Chinese, which consist of 104 respondents (60.8%). The second and third highest frequency which shows a total of 38 (22.2%)
and 15 (8.8%) respondents from Indian and Malay. There are 11 respondents (6.4%) from Baba Nyonya and 3 respondents (1.8%) from
others such as Sikh, Indonesian and Mixed Sino Kadazan. The study also consists of 102 (59.6%) single respondents, 40 (23.4%) married
respondents and 29 (17.0%) married and with kid’s respondents. This study has been participated by 163 (95.3%) Malaysian and 8 (4.7%)
non-Malaysian. The majority of 65 (38%) respondents reflect that the time spent on Instagram per day is between 2 to 3 hours. There are 68
(39.8%) respondents stated that they had visited the restaurant 2 to 3 times, followed by 45 (26.3%) respondents visited 4 to 5 times. Lastly,
46 (26.9%) respondents have an average expenditure of RM31-RM70 on each visit; 45 (26.3%) respondents have an average expenditure of
RM71-RM100 on each visit; 40 (23.4%) respondents have an average expenditure of RM16-RM30 on each visit; , 21 (12.3%) respondents
have an average expenditure of RM15 and below on each visit; 19 (11.1%) respondents have an average expenditure of RM101 and above
on each visit. Table 4.2 illustrates the demographic data to be collected in this study.
Table 4.2 Summary of Respondent’s Demographic Profile
Demographic Category Frequency (F) Percentage (%)
Gender Female 93 54.4
Male 78 45.6
Age Below 20 23 13.5
21-30 99 57.9
31-40 45 26.3
Over 40 4 2.3
Races Chinese 104 60.8
Malay 15 8.8
Indian 38 22.2
Baba Nyonya 11 6.4
Others 3 1.8
Income level RM 2000 and below 84 49.1
RM 2001 – 3000 33 19.3
RM 3001 – 4000 33 19.3
RM 4001 – 5000 19 11.1
RM 5001 and above 2 1.2
Marital Status Single 102 59.6
Married 40 23.4
Married with Kids 29 17
Nationality Malaysian 163 95.3
Non-Malaysian 8 4.7
Time spent on Instagram per day Less than 1 hour 13 7.6
1 -2 hours 43 25.1
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2 – 3 hours 65 38
3 – 4 hours 32 18.7
More than 4 hours 18 10.5
How many times have you visited the restaurant？ 0 - 1 29 28.7
2 - 3 68 39.8
4 - 5 45 26.3
More than 5 times 9 5.3
What is the average expenditure on each visit？ RM 15 and below 21 12.3
RM16 – RM 30 40 23.4
RM 31 – RM 70 46 26.9
RM 71 – RM 100 45 26.3
RM 101 and above 19 11.1
4.3 Descriptive Analysis
According to Ahmad (2015), descriptive analysis is necessary in research to enable researchers to identify the association among variables,
detect outliers and typos, and prepare for conducting further statistical analyses. The below table illustrates the descriptive analysis of this
study on the average of independent variables and dependent variables on their mean, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values.
With the sample size of 171, the highest mean value is professional photography (PP) which is 3.7904 whereas the lowest is endorsed brand
attitudes (EBA) which is only 3.2524. For standard deviation, 0.74817 shows the highest dispersion on Visit Intention (VI). On the other
hand, 0.51110 shows the lowest dispersion on professional photography (PP).
Table 4.3 Mean and Standard Deviation for Each Variables
PP_ LVC_ UPAL_ BR_ EBA_ VI_
N Valid 171 171 171 171 171 171
Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean 3.7904 3.5478 3.4094 3.2417 3.2524 3.2632
Std. Deviation .51110 .63900 .60234 .69667 .71157 .74817
Minimum 2.00 1.50 2.00 1.67 1.00 1.33
Maximum 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
4.4 Normality Test
Normal distribution, also known as Gaussian distribution, aims to determine the probability distribution of data whether they are symmetric
about the mean or relatively similar, occurring more frequently near the calculated data mean. Therefore, a normality test is being carried
out to see if all data are normally distributed and collected within the proper range and skewness. Hair et al. (2010) claimed that the data can
be considered normally distributed if the p-value of each item is between -2 to +2 for Skewness and is between -7 to +7 for Kurtosis Test.
Table 4.4 Result of Normality Test
PP_AVG LVC_AVG UPAL_AVG BR_AVG EBA_AVG VI_AVG
N Valid 171 171 171 171 171 171
Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Std. Error of Mean .03908 .04887 .04606 .05328 .05441 .05721
Std. Deviation .51110 .63900 .60234 .69667 .71157 .74817
Skewness -.621 -.441 -.045 -.145 -.349 -.255
Std. Error of Skewness .186 .186 .186 .186 .186 .186
Kurtosis 1.641 .668 -.252 -.495 -.030 -.697
Std. Error of Kurtosis .369 .369 .369 .369 .369 .369
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Based on the above result, all the variables are considered normally distributed. The Skewness p-value for professional photographs (PP),
lower visual complexity (LVC), uniform page appearance and layout (UPAL), brand recognition (BR), endorsed brand attitudes (EBA) and
visit intention (VI) are within the range of ± 7.0 whereas for Kurtosis test, the p-value are located within the range of ±2.
4.5 Reliability Test
Reliability tests act as a measurement tool conducted to know the reliability and the consistency of measurement items to avoid any bias
result. In this study, Cronbach's Alpha was used to test the reliability. (Pallant, 2005) stated that the ideal Cronbach alpha coefficient of a
scale should be above 0.70 and it also is indicated that higher values indicate higher reliability. Thus, the table below shows the result of
reliability then of each independent variable and dependent variable. It can be concluded that all the variables are acceptable and reliable in
this research as all the Cronbach’s alpha values achieved 0.70 and above.
Table 4.5 Result of Reliability Test
NO MEASUREMENT ITEMS CRONBACH’S
ALPHA
VISUAL EFFECTS
(I) PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY (PP)
1 I believe a high-quality photo on food & beverages make me feel happiness and connectedness. 0.708
2 I believe a nice food & beverage photo will increase my appetite.
3 I believe a professional food photo will increase my curiosity and mentality of wanting to have a try.
4 Photo of Nancy’s Kitchen make me feel happiness and connectedness.
5 Photo of Nancy’s Kitchen successfully increase my appetite.
6 Photo of Nancy’s Kitchen make me feel curious and mentality of wanting to have a try.
(II) LOWER VISUAL COMPLEXITY (LVC)
PP1 A simple visual design seems more engaging and likeable for me. 0.813
PP2 A simple design will provide a better insight and understanding in limited processing time.
PP3 Simple and interesting style can better convey the tonality of the brand.
PP4 Nancy's Kitchen provides a simple visual design.
PP5 Information posted by Nancy’s Kitchen is easily understandable
PP6 Nancy’s Kitchen has their own unique brand tonality.
(III) UNIFORM PAGE APPEARANCE & LAYOUT (UPAL)
UPAL1 A uniform layout design influence pleasure. 0.723
UPAL2 Unified the appearance and layout increase my interest in continuing browsing the profile.
UPAL3 Instagram page appearance and layout of Nancy’s Kitchen is systematic, neat, and tidy.
UPAL4 The layout of Nancy’s kitchen profile provides a sense of professionalism.
UPAL5 Instagram page appearance and layout of Nancy’s Kitchen has good contrast on tone, color, and layout.
UPAL6 I enjoy browsing Nancy’ Kitchen profile and its posts.
BRAND EXPOSURE
(I) BRAND RECOGNITION (BR)
BR1 I think I understand what type of food is being sold. 0.837
BR2 I often hear about Nancy’s Kitchen.
BR3 Nancy’s Kitchen is my closest brand of restaurant.
BR4 I am very familiar to all the products of Nancy Kitchen.
BR5 The brand of the restaurant is easily recognizable.
BR6 I easily recall the post of Nancy’s Kitchen in Instagram.
(II) ENDORSED BRAND ATTITUDES (EBA)
EBA1 I have a strong feeling about Nancy’s Kitchen. 0.871
EBA2 I always pay attention to the restaurant and Instagram posts.
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EBA3 I feel the restaurant is different from others.
EBA4 How likely are you to revisit the restaurant?
EBA5 How likely are you to recommend the restaurant to your friends?
EBA6 How likely are you to be willing to share the restaurant photo or posts?
VISIT INTENTIONS
After browsing its Instagram profile, …
VI1 I plan to visit Nancy’s Kitchen. 0.812
VI2 I truly want to visit Nancy’s Kitchen.
VI3 I have higher intention of visiting Nancy's Kitchen compared to other restaurants.
4.6 Validity Analysis
To ensure that all the measurement items of the questionnaire are valid in this study, a validity test is required. Kaiser Mayer Olkin (KMO)
Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity were implemented for validity analysis. KMO is conducted to examine the
strength of the partial correlation between the variables. The closer the KMO values, the more ideal for the data validation. If the KMO value
is less than 0.50. From the result of Table 4.5, the KMO value is 0.804 (>0.50) representing a strong partial correlation among the variables.
For Bartlett’s test of Sphericity, it is used to test the null hypothesis that the correlation matrix is an identity matrix. It is not an ideal factor
of analysis if the correlation matrix is identity which means the variables are unrelated. The value of a significant statistical test from the
study is 0.00 (<0.05) which shows that the correlation matrix is not an identity matrix (rejection of the null hypothesis).
Table 4.6 KMO and Bartlett’s Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .804
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 524.163
df 15
Sig. .000
4.7 Correlation Analysis
In this study, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted in order to evaluate the relation between the 2 variables, which consist of one
independent variable (x-axis) and one dependent variable (y-axis). The coefficient correlation numerical value ranges are between -1.0 to
+1.0. The values of -1 mean that the two variables have perfect negative correlation, while the values of +1 show a perfect positive correlation.
Thus, the positive and negative sign refers to direction, whereas the value r = 1 indicates the perfect strength of the relationship between two
variables (Pallant, 2007). The closer the value to 1, the stronger the correlation. No correlation at all between two variables if the r = 0.
Figure 4.1 Scatter plot on the relationship between visitors’ visit intention and (a) professional photography, (b) lower visual complexity,
(c) uniform page appearance and layout, (d) brand recognition and (e) endorsed brand attitude.
(a) (b)
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(c) (d)
(e)
According to Guilford (1956), the suggested strength of the relationship on the p-value are as guide:
Table 4.7 Interpretation of p-value on Correlation Coefficient
R-value Relationship
< 0.20 slight negligible relationship
0.20 – 0.40 weak relationship
0.40 – 0.70 moderate relationship
0.70 – 0.90 high relationship
> 0.90 very high and dependable relationship
Table 4.8 Result of Person Correlation Between Variables
Independent Variables R-value Relationship
1.Professional photography 0.193 Slight positively relationship
2.Lower visual complexity 0.171 Slight positively relationship
3.Uniform page appearance and layout 0.295 Weak positively relationship
4.Brand recognition 0.308 Weak positively relationship
5.Endorsed brand attitude 0.521 Moderate positively relationship
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4.1 Multiple Regression Analysis
Multiple Regression is a statistical method used to analyse the relationship between a single dependent variable and several independent
variables. Multiple regression analysis was performed in this study in order to find out which is the strongest predictor that motivates
visitor intention to visit at Nancy’s Kitchen, looked into the beta coefficient value and the largest value was the most influential variable
for this group according to Julie Pallant (2007).
Table 4.9 Result of Multiple Regression Analysis
a
Coefficients
Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients
Result
Model B Std. Error Beta T Sig.
1 (Constant) .002 .302 .005 .996
PP_AVG .124 .105 .085 1.183 .239 Reject H1
LVC_AVG .059 .087 .050 .680 .498 Reject H1
UPAL_AVG .153 .099 .123 1.540 .126 Reject H1
BR_AVG .022 .087 .021 .256 .798 Reject H1
EBA_AVG .611 .078 .581 7.845 .000 Accept H1
a. Dependent Variable: VI_AVG
Based on the above result, professional food and beverage photography (β =0.124, p>0.05), lower visual complexity (β = 0.059, p>0.05),
uniform page appearance and layout (β =0.059, p-value>0.05), brand recognition (β =0.022, p>0.05), and endorsed brand attitude (β
=0.611, p<0.05). Thus, H1, H2, H3, H4 are rejected while H5 is accepted.
4.2 Test of Best Predictor
The study found that the endorsed brand attitude was the most significant predictor that influenced visitors’ visit intention towards a restaurant
selection which obtained the value in (β =0.611), followed by uniform page appearance and layout with the value of (β =0.153).
5.0 DISCUSSION
5.1 Discussion of the Results and Findings
The discussion is based on the research objective of the study that was collected through the questionnaire that has been collected from the
respondents and will highlight the key findings from the previous chapter based on the empirical data.
H 1: There is significant relationship between professional food and beverage photography and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant
selection.
01
H : There is no significant relationship between professional food and beverage photography and visitors’ visit intention towards
restaurant selection.
The result in Table 4.7 and Table 4.8 showing the professional food and beverage photography are not supported where the beta value and
significant value are (β =0.124, p>0.05) and it shows a slight or almost negligible relationship between two variables (R-value=0.193).
Therefore, professional food and beverage photography of Instagram Nancy’s Kitchen is no significant with the visitor visit intention. The
null hypothesis is accepted.
In this study, consumers may have negative views on professional food and beverage photography. Previous studies have shown that visual
effects are indeed more powerful and effective than text-based effects. The same things implied to a too strong sensory stimulation will bring
corresponding expectations. Frida (1986) pointed out that emotions are produced and experienced because they are related to one's attention
and belief. This kind of psychological reaction to the result inconsistent with previous expectations is called disappointment (Bell, 1985).
Therefore, in order to avoid disappointment in the future, some people may adopt a specific strategy to establish self-protection consciousness
in the deep of mind for professional food and beverage photography, and their behavior is not completely influenced by sensory stimulation,
that is, to reduce their expectations for obtaining expected and uncertain results. Thus, while using professional images, it is necessary
to build visitors' confidence in the brand，so as to avoid that issue of not being in conformity with the professional photography posted on
social platforms (Instagram) when visitors dine in the restaurant.
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H 2: There is significant relationship between lower visual complexity and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
H : There is no significant relationship between lower visual complexity and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
02
Based on results on Table 4.7 and Table 4.8, the hypothesis testing showing lower visual complexity on visitors’ visit intention is not
supported with (β = 0.059, p>0.05, r =0.171), It indicates lower visual complexity is not significant towards visitors’ visit intention. Hence,
the null hypothesis is accepted.
According to the research results, followers or visitors of Nancy's Kitchen hold a negative attitude towards low visual complexity and think
that this theory has little effect on their visiting intention. In other words, it can also hinder visitors' preference for the suggestion of higher
visual complexity and think that more complex visual design has more attractive and pleasant features, which is in line with the prior
reported research on the relationship between visual complexity and its effect, so that a higher ratio can get greater pleasure and arouse
interest in complex picture. Therefore, more complicated visual marketing tools, such as advertisements and promotion, can be
implemented on Nancy's kitchen Instagram.
H 3: There is significant relationship between uniform page appearance and layout and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant
selection.
03
H : There is no significant relationship between uniform page appearance and layout and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant
selection.
The result from the findings shows uniform page appearance and layout values (β =0.059, p>0.05, r =0.295), which means H3 is not supported
due to values are not within range. So, uniform page appearance and layout is not significant with visitors’ visit intention towards
restaurant selection. Thus, null hypothesis is accepted.
According to Karimov et al. (2011), the website design not only visually establishes the first impression of the brand or product in customers'
minds, but also acts as a platform for users to further understand and communicate the brand through the information on the website.
However, in this study, the research effect of Eroglu et al. (2003) was not achieved, as the page appearance and layout of the website did not
bring visitors a sense of pleasure and awakening, let alone stimulate their visit intention to the restaurant. The finding demonstrates that there
is an indirect and no significant relationship between uniform page appearance and layout of Nancy’s Kitchen and visit intention which
deviate from previous studies. Through observation, Nancy's Kitchen's Instagram profile page layout is messy and irregular, which indeed
does not really contribute much to stimulate visitors' visit intention.
H 4: There is significant relationship between brand recognition and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
H : There is no significant relationship between brand recognition and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
04
Based on Table 4.7 and Table 4.8, hypothesis testing analysis show that the hypothesis is supported with (β =0.022, p>0.05) with a weak
positively relationship (r =0.308). This result proves that brand recognition has no significant effect on visitors’ visit intention toward a
restaurant selection. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted.
Brand recognition plays a very crucial role in enterprises, just like what (Goodrich, 2011; He An, 2012), (Perfect and Skew, 1994; Shapiro
et al., 1997), (Krugman, 2000) stated that it is the most sensitive and effective method to evaluate memory. According to the findings,
brand recognition has an indirect impact on visit intention which shows that the brand recognition is not enough to be a factor to stimulate
visit intent. Even some of the visitors knew of the brand, but there was no desire to visit it. Therefore, the marketer can accede the purchase
stimulus while holding the activity to build brand recognition. For instance, if customers are dining in, they can enjoy the discount on the
spot as long as they post their meal photos to Instagram story and hashtag Nancy’s Kitchen. In this way, customers are being satisfied with
the promotion given, brand recognition and visit intention can be boosted.
H 5: There is significant relationship between endorsed brand attitudes and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
05
H : There is no significant relationship between endorsed brand attitudes and visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
The result in Table 4.7 and Table 4.8 showing the endorsed brand attitudes are supported where the beta value and significant value are (β
=0.611, p<0.05) and it shows a moderate relationship between two variables (r =0.521). Therefore, endorsed brand recognition is positively
significant with the visitor visit intention. Hence, null hypothesis is rejected.
This result matched those witnessed in the earlier academic paper of (Coates et al, 2006; Goodrich, 2011; Shapiro et al., 1997) who advocated
on the study of pure exposure effect, brand attitude can be influenced by rapid and frequent scanning of brand information. It can better
show people's positive attitude towards an unfamiliar brand under a brief and repeated brand exposure (Lee and Ahn, 2012). The visitors
reflect that there is a significant relationship between endorsed brand attitudes toward their visit intention on Nancy’s Kitchen. Therefore,
marketers need to make more efforts in enhancing endorsed brand attitudes. By making good use of social media to create high frequency of
exposure, consumers' experience and cognition of enterprises and their products (including ideas attached to products, culture, after-sales
service, etc.) or services can be improved, so as to establish a lasting and stable mutual demand relationship between enterprises and
consumers.
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5.2 Managerial Implications
The findings of this paper bring a vast managerial implication, especially the marketer of Nancy's Kitchen. People always think that
professionals will be the best, but we often overlook that while pursuing professionals, we must be authentic and avoid the feeling of being
deceived by visitors or consumers. In addition, image-based and text-based elements can be mixed in a visual merchandising strategy to
deliver information and advertisements more effectively. Through this research, marketers must also know that a messy profile page and
layout of social media (Instagram) is not enough to stimulate visitors' visiting intention. Besides, people always pay attention to strengthening
brand recognition. In fact, we can create brand recognition and purchase incentives at the same time and create a positive brand recognition
attitude towards those visitors. In short, the actual contribution of this research is to better understand the visual effects, brand exposure and
the factors affecting visitors’ visit intention towards restaurant selection.
5.3 Limitation and Recommendation of the Research
This study suffers from a few limitations. First, it has restriction on population. In the early stage of the research, the target sampling group
was only open to Instagram followers of Nancy's Kitchen, but it was not announced to the public, but gradually many underlying problems
were discovered. 511 followers does not mean that there are indeed 511 customers, some of whom are business accounts, and will not even
make any contribution to our research, and the participation of followers is not impressive as well. Later, the researcher began to adjust the
target sampling group, expanding it to the customers who had dine in Nancy's Kitchen. Even though it had increased the participation rate.
However, the study suffers another difficulty, whereby only a few customers who go to restaurants are aware of and pay attention to Nancy’s
Kitchen's Instagram account. As a result, these may have an impact on the result’s accuracy and dependability. Secondly, as the research
design is correlational, which is opposed to experimental, and thus it does not permit causal inference. Although all the hypothesis is being
proven by statistical data and a fairly complex series of outcome, there are some threats that remain plausible especially on the temporal
precedence and spurious effect. Future research might try to apply some true experiments to prove that those data are indeed more reliable.
Thirdly, this study only focuses on one restaurant, which is Nancy’s Kitchen, so it is not arbitrary to judge whether other restaurants will get
similar data if they are the same. After all, different restaurants bring different customer groups and profiles. Therefore, in order to get more
reliability data, it is suggested that in the future research, more in-depth and accurate research and exploration can be carried out by adopting
multiple comparison schemes.
6.0 CONCLUSION
The research studies on the relationship between the visual effect and brand exposure towards visitors' visit intention towards Nancy’s
Kitchen. There are five research objectives, research questions and hypotheses being conceived and proposed. A conceptual research
framework is then formed. By using a quantitative approach, 250 survey questionnaires were distributed using systematic sampling and
convenience sampling. All the data collected were later on examined by using SPSS analysis. The main findings shows that professional
food and beverage photography, lower visual complexity, uniform page appearance and layout, and brand recognition of Nancy’s Kitchen
showed no significant relationship toward visit intention. However, the endorsed brand attitudes are positively significant towards the
visitors’ visit intention. Future researchers could conduct a causal experiment approach for more in-depth investigation and adopt multiple
comparison schemes with other restaurants.
7.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I want to express my greatest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr Noor Hazarina Hashim for her guidance, ideas, encouragement, and
moral support throughout these two semesters. I was able to improve my skills with her precious comments and advice. I would also like to
thank everyone who had been involved in helping me to complete this project whether directly or indirectly.
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FYP PROPOSAL
AHIBS UTM SKUDAI JULY 2022
FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT
ROUMUMMY BAKERY
LIM HUEY NEE, DR MAZILAH BINTI ABDULLAH
Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru
*Corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
The bakery industry is an industry that has a large influence on consumerism. Hence, it is crucial to building a company reputation in a
market. As a consequence, business is dedicated to figuring out customer dissatisfaction. The particular reason for the circumstance is that
there is a close relationship between food attributes (quality of food, quality of service, quality of setting, and price and value) and customer
satisfaction in the bakery industry. This study aimed to determine the influence of independent variables on Roumummy Bakery’s customer
satisfaction. A total of 126 completed and available questionnaires were collected through purposive sampling. This research applied
multiple regression analysis. The aim was to determine the factors influencing customer satisfaction in Roumummy Bakery. This research
found that quality of food, quality of service, and quality of setting influenced the customer satisfaction of Roumummy Bakery, while price
and value had no significant influence on it.
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Quality of Food, Quality of Service, Quality of Setting, Price and Value
Abstrak
Industri bakeri merupakan industri yang mempunyai pengaruh besar terhadap kepenggunaan. Ia adalah penting untuk membina reputasi
syarikat dalam pasaran. Akibatnya, perniagaan berdedikasi untuk memikirkan ketidakpuasan pelanggan. Alasan khusus untuk keadaan ini
ialah terdapat hubungan rapat antara atribut makanan (kualiti makanan, kualiti perkhidmatan, kualiti tetapan, dan harga dan nilai) dan
kepuasan pelanggan dalam industri bakeri. Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji pengaruh pembolehubah bebas terhadap kepuasan
pelanggan keseluruhan syarikat terpilih, Roumummy Bakery. Selaras dengan Roumummy Bakery mempunyai pemahaman yang mendalam
tentang kepuasan pelanggan dan dengan itu membangunkan dan melaksanakan rancangan yang sepadan. Sebanyak 126 undian yang telah
siap dan tersedia telah dikumpulkan. Penyelidikan ini menggunakan analisis kebolehpercayaan, multikolineariti, dan analisis regresi
berganda. Tujuannya adalah untuk menentukan kaitan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kepuasan pelanggan di Romummy Bakery.
Penyelidikan ini mendapati bahawa kualiti makanan, kualiti perkhidmatan, dan kualiti tetapan mempengaruhi kepuasan pelanggan
Romummy Bakery, harga dan nilai tidak mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan terhadapnya.
Keywords: Kepuasan Pelanggan, Kualiti Makanan, Kualiti Perkhidmatan, Kualiti Tetapan, Harga dan Nilai
■ 1.0 INTRODUCTION
The bakery industry is a huge business that caters for bakery products such as bread, cakes, cookies, sweet rolls, and pies. According to Arsovski, S.
(2010), there are various types of bakeries in the market. For example, plant bakeries that utilise automated production produce large quantities of
bakery products. At the same time, craft bakeries are small to medium-sized companies that produce various baked goods by using a combination of
manual skills and machinery. In-store bakeries are the bakeries that are situated in supermarkets and vary in production. Due to the advances in new
technologies, the bakery industry has undergone many changes and is often affected by the seasonality of production volume and the quantity produced.
The bakery industry is a very fast-moving and dynamic industry in Malaysia. This industry includes F&B outlets, commercial bakeries, stand-alone
bakeries, and home bakeries. The bakery industry in Malaysia has seen positive growth in the frequency of breakfast, tea breaks or even lunch. The
existing customers are increasing. One of the reasons is that the habit of accepting bakery products as a staple food among Malaysians has significantly
increased, especially the younger generation influenced by western culture. According to R. Hirchmann (2021), the sales value of manufactured bread,
cakes and other bakery products in Malaysia increased from RM 1.69 billion in 2012 to RM 3.03 billion in 2019. The enormous rise showed that the
acceptance of Malaysians towards bakery products increased.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
This study aimed to figure out the factors that influence customer satisfaction in Roumummy Bakery and provide solutions for the
improvement. Mrs Hoe Shi Jia established Roumummy Bakery in 2019. Mrs Hoe is a housewife. The mission of Roumummy Bakery is to
Bake like A Chef with Taste and Love. Roumummy Bakery is a company that operates online selling. Mrs Hoe posts the products and
Pembentangan Projek Sarjana Muda 2018, Sekolah Perniagaan Antarabangsa Azman Hashim UTM SPACE
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receives orders through social media platforms. The social media platforms used by Roumummy Bakery are Facebook and Instagram.
Roumummy Bakery has an official account on social media platforms. The products include cake, bread, cupcake, mooncake, egg tart,
Meringue, festival biscuit and limited desserts. Mrs Hoe said she also accepts custom orders and launches more new products to fulfil
customer needs. Mrs Hoe got married in 2019. Her husband is working in Singapore. They have a daughter. Mrs Hoe decided to open
Roumummy Bakery because she wanted an extra income to fulfil the future finance plan for the family. Firstly, she decorated the kitchen
area to be her working place in her house. Due to the increasing order, she noticed the kitchen area was quite crowded to put all the baking
utensils in. She rents an upstairs shop to be her working place. She noted that insisting on online selling is she prefers an enjoyable workplace.
She prefers to deliver the products to the customers. Mrs Hoe did the business plan, designed the layout, ordered the bakery equipment,
hired staff, created the social media account, advertised the bakery on her own with suggestions from family. The store opened at Segamat.
The business model is posting the products on social media: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, receiving orders and delivering to the
customer. Due to this uniqueness of depending only on social media for sales, the researcher is interested in the company knowing that it
has become an in trend and cheaper alternatives. It is also appealing during Covid-19 rather than visiting stores. Customers can order the
available products from Roumummy Bakery or order customisation. Regarding the company background, Roumummy Bakery is a stand-
alone bakery. The demand of customers brings development and prosperity towards bakery products in Malaysia. The competition in the
bakery industry grew. The researcher selected Roumummy Bakery as a lead-in to starting this research to understand this industry. The
research is conducted based on customer satisfaction levels towards Roumummy Bakery, identifying the problem from a preliminary study.
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION
The four main research questions of this study are:
i. Does the quality of food influence customer satisfaction.
ii. Does quality of service influence customer satisfaction.
iii. Does quality of setting influence customer satisfaction.
iv. Does price and value influence customer satisfaction.
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The four main research objectives of this study are:
i. To examine the influences of quality of food towards customer satisfaction.
ii. To examine the influences of quality of service towards customer satisfaction.
iii. To examine the influences of quality of setting towards customer satisfaction.
iv. To examine the influences of price and value towards customer satisfaction.
1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The bakery business is classified as a food and beverage industry. Kotsianis and Giannou (2002) pointed out that there are many small and
medium-sized bakery businesses operating compared with large-scale bakery production. This economic disaster does not impact this
industry because food is a daily need although it is not the staple food, the demand is still there. The most important thing for a business is
the company reputation. It reflects many aspects. Therefore, customer opinion is crucial and should be explored consistently because
customers are valuable assets. The company should focus voice of the customer to build a longer relationship between customer and
company. Companies can build direct interaction with the customer to know the customer needs. Customer satisfaction can be investigated
by conducting market research. Therefore, the researcher will figure out the factors influencing customer satisfaction.
Roumummy Bakery is an online business for customers to make orders and purchases, but customers will receive their purchasing products
face-to-face. Roumummy Bakery receives orders, communicates with customers, provides customer services using social media platforms.
The social media platforms selected by Roumummy Bakery are Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. This study will address the issue
through four main attributes: quality of food, quality of service, quality of the setting, and price and value (Serhan & Serhan 2019).
This study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to 30 existing customers of Roumummy Bakery. The questionnaire focused on their
satisfaction and expectations based on their previous experiences. The researcher collected and analysed the responses. Another way was
collecting data from the comments of customers on social media. The researcher analysed Facebook and Instagram accounts to collect useful
data. The problem was collected through the Fishbone Diagram in Figure and adapted to the research framework. Based on the
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preliminary study conducted on May 28, 2021, a questionnaire was distributed to 30 existing customers of Roumummy Bakery as
respondents; the company owner Mrs Hoe distributed the Google Form; the researcher concluded it into a research framework.
1.5 SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis was used to determine the overall functional and operational assessment of Roumummy Bakery.
Figure 1.1: SWOT Analysis of Roumummy Bakery
The SWOT analysis figured out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Roumummy Bakery (Gurl 2017). The analysis was
collected from the social media comments of Roumummy Bakery and the questionnaire completed by 30 respondents of Roumummy
Bakery. The strengths of Roumummy Bakery were tasty, excellent service provided, attractive packaging, promotion such as vouchers and
the lower price at specific festivals, personalised products, and online ordering. The company's weaknesses were fewer baking products,
delay in Facebook and Instagram replies, late delivery, immature customer service dealing, lack of promotion, high price, irregular operating
hours, and inconsistency of product quality due to handmade.
The pandemic brought opportunities to Roumummy Bakery because its varied business models such as online ordering and food delivery
have more advantages than competitors. Besides, there was a lack of competitors in the areas, which are Segamat, Labis, and Chaah.
Technology was one of the opportunities for Roumummy Bakery to operate the business through social media platforms including Facebook,
Instagram, and WhatsApp. The machine is also an opportunity for Roumummy Bakery to help with baking. The threats were the economic
situation during the pandemic. Customer income during a pandemic reduces, and the purchasing power of customers decreases. According
to Kleessen et al. (2007), baking products could be categorised as a snack, not staple meals. Customers will be forced to give up this
purchase.
1.6 PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS
Fishbone analysis has been applied to deepen the researchers’ understanding of the problem.
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Figure 1.2: Fishbone Diagram
The researcher understood specific problems in customer satisfaction towards Roumummy Bakery based on the Fishbone Diagram. Quality
of food attribute showed customer satisfaction influenced by lack of innovation, tasty, variety and some complained the bread bottom burnt.
Customer satisfaction evaluation of service quality affected by the handling company on social media is not mature, and the reply speed is
slow. Quality of set included the delivery time being late and the operating hours not being fixed. Price and value also influence customer
satisfaction by lack of promotion and high prices. The customer satisfaction problem can be decomposed into several variables to determine
through preliminary research.
■ 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Oliver (1997) mentioned that satisfaction is the fulfilment level perceived by the consumers. It is a customer adjudication of the product or
service, providing the level of pleasure related to consumption, including insufficient or over- satisfaction. According to Krivobokova (2009),
customer satisfaction is an important aspect of a business because it is the key to success. Besides, it has become the area of greatest concern
to global companies. The advantages of getting a high level of satisfaction from customers are that they will repeat purchasing the product,
show their loyalty to the company, and make good influences to others. Contrarily, they will select competitors or brands and may complain
or express their dissatisfaction to the company and others. Company image may face a long-term influence. (Nair, 2013)
The important factors that affect customer satisfaction are product and service quality (Seyedi et al., 2012). Munusamy et al. (2010) also
pointed out that quality of service is the difference between the expectations of customers towards the service and the views or experiences
on service received. Several studies stated that customer satisfaction and customers’ revisit intention would be affected by setting quality.
The price and value also could be significant factors while purchasing food or beverage.
2.2 DEFINITION OF EACH VARIABLE
2.2.1 QUALITY OF FOOD
Food quality is a characteristic of food quality acceptable to customers (McWilliams, 2000). Food quality measurements include
the overall quality of food, the taste, the display of products, the nutritional value of the food and beverage, the diversity of food
products, the freshness when receiving the products, and the portion size of the products. W. G. Kim et al. (2009) stated that food
and beverage quality is the core in the food industry, it has been given importance.
2.2.2 QUALITY OF SERVICE
Andaleeb (2006) mentioned that quality of service might be a key factor in the food industry. Some studies found that the quality
of service is more important than the food quality in customer satisfaction. Nowadays, the quality of service appears regarding
customer expectations and opinions on the service provided by the company or business. Inkumsah (2011) mentioned the service
quality would influence customer satisfaction. Abo-Baker (2004) declared that quality of service shows an organisation’s ability
to fulfil the customer needs with service requirements, features and specifications that meet customer needs and meet or exceed
their expectations.
2.2.3 QUALITY OF SETTING
Kwun (2011) stated that the quality of setting referred to the operational facets and environment. The setting is a dimension that
influences customer insights. Several studies mentioned that the quality of setting referred to the cleanliness, environment,
atmosphere, packaging, lighting, operating hours and days, capacity, and comfort level.
2.2.4 PRICE AND VALUE
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According to Nadzirah et al. (2013), the primary factor of price and value is cost. The influencer of the choice and decision-
making towards picking food operations is the reasonable price (Li, 2011). Several studies conducted by many researchers stated
the price and value and price fairness. Price fairness is defined as the reaching result is reasonable or acceptable, judging from the
process or outcome (Bolton, 2003).
2.3 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
2.3.1 QUALITY OF FOOD
This quality makes customers consider revisiting the specific company. H. Oh. (2000) stated there is a high positive
relationship between customer satisfaction with the quality of food and beverage and customer intention to revisit. The
following research hypothesis is posited based on the explanation:
H1: Quality of food has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction.
2.3.2 QUALITY OF SERVICE
According to Yuksel and Yusel (2002), service quality notably influences customer satisfaction. Tan et al. (2014) pointed
out one of the most important elements in service quality is intangibility. Employees are very important to make the
foodservice outlet succeed. The customer perceptions of service quality will affect customer satisfaction due to the
interactions, the speed of service, and the friendly treatment. The following research hypothesis is posited based on the
explanation:
H2: Quality of service has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction.
2.3.3 QUALITY OF SETTING
Several studies stated that the operating hours and day, cleanliness, atmosphere, packaging, lighting, and capacity
significantly impact customer satisfaction and intentions to revisit (Klassen, 2005). Food packaging influences the quality
of the setting (Story et al., 2008). The atmosphere created a customer impression of the specific place because it is intangible
and composed of all related things. Accordingly, the research hypothesis is posited based on the explanation.
H3: Quality of setting has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction.
2.3.4 PRICE AND VALUE
Nadzirah et al. (2013) pointed out that food service operators are supposed to reconsider the prices to ameliorate satisfaction.
The customer expectations depend on the customer's price for receiving the products or services. When the price of a specific
product or service increases, the customer expectation towards the quality of service will consequently increase (Soriano,
2003). The price paid for the service determines the level of quality required and thus determines customer satisfaction. The
following research hypothesis is posited based on the explanation:
H4: Price and Value has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction.
2.4 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK MODEL
372
373 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
The speed of service provided
Service quality shows respect To measure customer by Roumummy Bakery QSV1
to customer expectations of satisfaction on the quality of The online customer service QSV2
the service provided by the service. of Roumummy Bakery
company or business The delivery service of
(Inkumsah, 2011). Roumummy Bakery QSV3
Roumummy Bakery's staff QSV4
knowledge of the items sold
Quality of Setting (Serhan and Serhan, 2019)
Operating hours of QST1
Kwun (2011) stated that the To measure the customer Roumummy Bakery
quality of setting referred to satisfaction on the quality of Products packaging of
the operational facets and the setting. Roumummy Bakery QST2
environment. The setting is a Delivery process of
dimension that influences Roumummy Bakery QST3
customer insights.
Price and Value (Serhan and Serhan, 2019)
I think the quality of
According to Nadzirah et al. To measure the customer Roumummy Bakery's
(2013), the primary factor of satisfaction on the price and products is worth the price PV1
price and value is cost. The value. paid.
influencer of the choice and I think the quantity of
decision making towards the Roumummy Bakery's
picking of food operations is products is worth the price PV2
the reasonable price (Li, paid.
2011). I am satisfied with the
promotion of Roumummy PV3
Bakery.
Customer Satisfaction Thuan (2020)
I will make more purchases for
Customer satisfaction To measure how customers Roumummy Bakery products CS1
measures how well a are satisfied with Roumummy in the future.
product's perceived Bakery. Roumummy Bakery always
performance meets a buyer's meets my needs. CS2
expectations Kotler and I will encourage others to
Armstrong (2012). purchase Roumummy Bakery CS3
products.
I give positive feedback about
Roumummy Bakery to other CS4
people.
I recommend Roumummy
Bakery to anyone who seeks CS5
my advice.
Table 3.2: Demographic Characteristics and Scale of Questionnaire
Section Number Description Scale
1 Gender Nominal
A 2 Age Nominal
B 3-8 Customer satisfaction Likert Scale
C 9-13 Quality of Food Likert Scale
E 17-19 Quality of Setting Likert Scale
F 20-23 Price and Value Likert Scale
3.1 DATA ANALYSIS
The SPSS was used to analyse the data acquired in the study (George and Mallery, 2010). This study employed percentages and
frequency to analyse the demographic of the respondents. The statistical test employed in this study is summarised below:
Table 3.3: Statistical Data Analysis
Type of Analysis Purposive of Analysis Rule of Thumb
373
374 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
Descriptive Analysis Numerical form in descriptive analysis
can be analysed and transformed from the
frequency, mean and mode
percentage, and standard deviation.
Normality Analysis To determine whether a dataset is well Skewness and kurtosis = +2 to -2
modelled by a normal distribution and (Garson, 2012)
calculate the likelihood that random
variables under the dataset follow a
normal distribution.
Reliability Analysis To ensure the variables and scales used More than 0.7 (Hair, 2010)
in the questionnaire are trustworthy and
reliable.
Univariate Analysis To prevent outliers by measuring the Mahala Nobis D Square Test
range and variation of the dispersion in Z score between +4 to -4 (Hair,2010)
the data collected.
Multivariate Analysis To investigate more complex datasets Mahala Nobis D Square Test
than univariate analysis methods can Z score between +4 to -4 (Hair,2010)
handle.
Multicollinearity Analysis A statistical concept in which several Tolerance more than 0.2; VIF below
independent variables in a model are than 10 (Garson, 2012; Pallant, 2015)
related.
Multiple Regression Analysis A statistical tool for studying the p<0.1, **p<0.05, **p<0.001
relationship between two or more
variables.
■ 4.0 DATA ANALYSIS PLAN
This study collected 126 responses to analysis. The researcher discussed preliminary testing, demographic statistics, normality test,
multicollinearity analysis, and multiple analyses in this research.
4.1 RELIABILITY TEST
Cronbach's alpha is a measurement of assessing the internal consistency or reliability of a set of scale or test items. Table 4.1
illustrated Cronbach’s Alpha results after collecting 35 responses in the pilot study. The results were in the range from According
to Hair et al. (2010), the results of Cronbach’s Alpha must be in a value of 0.7 or higher to indicate it is accepted.
Table 4.1: Results of Cronbach’s Alpha
Variables N Cronbach’s Alpha
Quality of Food 6 0.788
Quality of Service 4 0.715
Quality of Setting 3 0.752
Price and Value 3 0.737
Customer Satisfaction 5 0.741
4.2 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS
The table below shows the respondent’s demographic profile results by gender, age, monthly income, and race.
Table 4.2: Summary of Respondent’s Demographic Profile
Profile of Respondents Frequency Per cent (%)
Gender
Male 83 65.9
Female 43 34.1
374
375 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
Age
18-24 years old 38 30.2
25-34 years old 52 41.3
35-44 years old 23 18.3
45-54 years old 9 7.1
55-64 years old 3 2.0
65 years old and above 1 0.7
Monthly Income
RM4,850 and below 68 54.0
Between RM4,851 per to RM10,970 34 27.0
Exceeds RM10,971 24 19.0
Race
Malay 37 29.4
Chinese 83 65.9
Indian 6 4.8
Other 0 0
4.1 PRELIMINARY TESTING: COMPLIANCE WITH REGRESSION ASSUMPTIONS
This research conducted a preliminary test to satisfy the multiple regression analysis’s assumptions. The assumptions were the
normal data: there were no extreme values (outliners) and no multicollinearity issues.
4.1.1 NORMALITY TEST
George & Mallery (2010) mentioned that the results for skewness and kurtosis must not be more than 2 and not smaller
than -2. Table 4.3 shows the skewness and kurtosis results for four variables and customer satisfaction. All variables
were found to have acceptable ranges of 2 and -2. Thus, this study gained the normal distribution data.
Table 4.3: Skewness and Kurtosis Result
Variables Items N Skewness Kurtosis
Quality of Food QF1 126 -0.903 2.023
QF2 126 -0.433 -1.215
QF3 126 0.587 -0.998
QF4 126 -0.708 -0.846
QF5 126 -0.903 2.023
QF6 126 -0.433 -1.125
Quality of Service QSV1 126 -0.428 -0.759
QSV2 126 -0.988 0.844
QSV3 126 -1.199 1.542
QSV4 126 -1.144 2.053
Quality of Setting QST1 126 -0.553 -0.889
QST2 126 -0.563 -0.655
QST3 126 -0.145 -1.187
Price and Value PV1 126 -0.077 -1.397
PV2 126 -0337 -1.079
PV3 126 -0.381 -0.936
Customer CS1 126 -0.337 -0.750
Satisfaction CS2 126 0.186 -1.160
CS3 126 0.100 -1.421
CS4 126 -0.676 -0.850
CS5 126 -0.375 -1.312
4.1.2 UNIVARIABLE AND MULTIVARIABLE ANALYSIS
2
Existence of extreme value (outliners) conducted after normality test. Standardised z score and Mahalanobis D Test
were conducted to determine univariate outliers and correspondingly defined the presence of multivariate outliers.
375
376 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
According to Hair et al. (2010), standardised z score values should be no values exceeding +4 to -4. Therefore, there was
no value existing extremes in the data (output is not attached due to size limitation). Furthermore, Tabachnik & Fidell
(2007) mentioned that the maximum value for four variables did not exceed 18.467. The results were shown in Table 4.4
whereas whether univariate or multivariate, it drew conclusions from extreme values and satisfied the outline's
assumptions.
Table 4.4: Results of MahalaNobis, D
2
Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation N
Mahal. Distance 0.176 12.383 3.968 2.712 126
4.2 STRUCTURAL MODEL: MAIN HYPOTHESIS TESTING
4.2.1 COLLINEARITY ANALYSIS
Tolerance and Variation Inflation Factor (VIF) conducted by tolerance more than 0.2 and VIF below 10 (Pallant, 2015).
The result showed there was acceptance with both hypotheses, and both hypotheses correlated with the dependent
variable, customer satisfaction.
Table 4.5: Collinearity Analysis
Collinearity Statistics
Model Tolerance VIF
Quality of Food 0.589 1.698
Quality of Service 0.596 1.678
Quality of Setting 0.378 2.645
Price and Value 0.386 2.588
a. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction
4.2.2 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS
2
The results of multiple regression analysis had shown in Table 4.6. The adjusted R for the customer satisfaction was
0.53% and showed that only 53% of customer satisfaction is significantly influenced by the factors: quality of food,
quality of service, quality of the setting, and price and value. ANOVA table showed value F (34.082), and the significant
value was not exceeding α (0.001); the value is p=0.000. The table concludes that the variables had a significant influence
on the dependent variable, customer satisfaction.
Results of Multiple Regression Analysis in Table 4.8 indicated hypotheses 1 (quality of food), 2 (quality of service), and
3 (quality of setting) positively influenced customer satisfaction of Roumummy Bakery by the result H1=p<0.001, H2 =
p<0.05, and H3= p<0.05. The standardised beta values were positive (0.332, 0214, 0.241). The results illustrated that the
quality of food, service quality and setting quality were supported in this research. On the contrary, hypothesis
4 (price and value) did not significantly influence customer satisfaction of Roumummy Bakery with the result
standardised beta value is 0.093 and H4= p>0.05 (0.356). This result illustrated that price and value was not supported
in this research.
Table 4.6: Model Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
a
1 .728 0.530 0.514 0.55209
a. Predictors: (Constant), Quality of Food, Quality of Service, Quality of Setting, Price and Value
b. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction
Table 4.7: ANOVA
ANOVA
Model F Sig.
1 34.082 0.000
a. Predictors: (Constant), Quality of Food, Quality of Service, Quality of Setting, Price and Value
376
377 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
b. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction
Table 4.8: Results of Multiple Regression Analysis
Coefficients(a)
Standardized Coefficients
Model Beta t Sig. ρ-value
1 (Constant) -0.441 0.660
H1 Quality of Food 0.332 4.069 0.000 p<0.001
H2 Quality of Service 0.214 2.653 0.009 p<0.05
H3 Quality of Setting 0.241 2.377 0.019 p<0.05
H4 Price and Value 0.093 0.926 0.356 p>0.05
q. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction
4.3 SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESES
There were 4 variables proposed in this study, as shown in Table 4.9. This implied that quality of food, service, and setting quality
were positively supported while price and value were not supported.
Table 4.9: Summary of Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis Testing
H1. Quality of food has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction. Supported
H2. Quality of service has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction. Supported
H3. Quality of setting has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction. Supported
H4. Price and Value has a significant positive influence on customer satisfaction. Not Supported
■ 5.0 DISCUSSION
As the first hypothesis, the quality of food indicated a significant influence on Roumummy Bakery’s customer satisfaction. It also was the
strongest factor when Roumummy Bakery’s customers evaluated their satisfaction level based on their experience. This result was consistent
with the past studies by Lombard (2009) and Haghighi, Dorosti, Rahnama and Hoseinpour (2012). This study asserted that food quality was
one of the most important factors resulting in higher levels of customer satisfaction. Hence, the positively significant influence and H1 is
supported in this research.
The second hypothesis, which was service quality, also showed a significant influence on customer satisfaction. Izogo and Ogba (2015),
Dedeoğlu and Demirer (2015) and Zamil, Areiqat and Tailakh (2012) all found the same results. This justified the quality of service as an
essential factor to satisfy the customers. Therefore, H2 is supported in this research because the quality of service had a significant positive
influence on customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, the quality of Roumummy Bakery's setting positively influenced customer satisfaction. Past studies by Kumar, Batista and
Maull (2011) stated that operations performance (including operating hours) strongly influenced satisfying customers. Perhaps, customers
emphasised the quality of the setting that adapted to their needs or made them feel comfortable. Thus, the quality of setting was one factor
that influenced the customer satisfaction of Roumummy Bakery.
Lastly, price and value were the only hypotheses indicating an insignificant influence on customer satisfaction. This result was consistent
with a past study conducted by Petr Suchanek and Maria Kralova (2019). The research could be concluded that when pricing a product based
on quality, price did not affect customer satisfaction, even if the customer was sensitive to pricing. This research also found that many
customers in the B40 category were willing to pay for the Roumummy Bakery’s products. It could be concluded that Roumummy Bakery
set the price correctly about its product quality; the price did not affect customer satisfaction.
5.1 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
According to the findings, the quality of food was the most influential factor influencing customer satisfaction of Roumummy
Bakery. Consequently, Roumumy Bakery should confirm the quality of products, which is bread, cake, biscuit, and dessert, before
delivery to the customers. It can prevent customers from decreasing customer satisfaction when receiving a burnt baking product.
Responses also showed some dissatisfaction about the portion size of the products. Roumummy Bakery can increase the portion
size of products. Salwa et al. (2015) found no significant differences in food portion sizes among middle- and high- income
households, but low-income households want larger food portion sizes. Due to the B40 income group being the largest range
customer of Roumummy Bakery, the portion size might be important for customer retention.
377
378 Lim Huey Nee & Mazilah (2022)
Quality of service was justified as an influence on customer satisfaction of Roumummy Bakery. According to Serhan and Tsangari
(2019), preserving the quality of service can ensure that the business continues its efforts in meeting or exceeding customer
expectations. Thus, Roumummy Bakery should train the employees to provide friendly service for the customer on social media
and during the delivery process and ensure employees know about the products sold. The schedule for employees to handle online
replies should be appropriate to ensure the speed of replying is satisfying the customers.
Moreover, the quality of the setting significantly influenced Roumummy Bakery’s customer satisfaction. Roumummy Bakery
should improve setting quality to build a higher customer satisfaction level. Serhan and Serhan (2019) pointed out that the improved
quality of setting with a reference can enhance customer loyalty and improve the organisation's reputation. Delivery process of
Roumummy Bakery should adapt with every single customer. For example, time for delivery in the evening or night. Roumummy
Bakery's operating hours should also be flexible before and during festival days.
5.2 LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The researcher faced a few limitations while conducting this research. First and foremost, the variables conducted in this research
are just a small subset of factors affecting customer satisfaction in Roumummy Bakery. Next, the researcher found it hard to reach
target respondents because Roumummy Bakery uses an online business model. Besides, the questionnaire should be in three
languages: English, Mandarin, and Malay because the customers include three races and some of them have a low educational
level.
The first recommendation for future research is getting help from the owner of the selected company. It will help in collecting
the data. Next, future research may conduct other variables other than this research to find out more factors in influencing customer
satisfaction, such as location-based on the literature review suggestion.
5.3 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the fundamental question of this research was to figure out the factors influencing customer satisfaction of the
selected company, Roumummy Bakery, through the quality of food, quality of service, quality of the setting, and price and value.
Statistical results showed that quality of food, quality of service, and quality of setting significantly influenced customer
satisfaction. Meanwhile, price and value did not have a significant influence on it. As a result, not all of these factors indicated
positive results. Therefore, other considerations may need to be further explored to increase customer satisfaction.
■ 6.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researcher wants to express the deepest gratitude to Dr Adaviah Binti Mas’od, Marketing Research lecturer, for teaching the knowledge.
Besides, accomplishment and success cannot be achieved without the guidance and support from the thesis supervisor, Dr Mazilah Binti
Abdullah. Deeply grateful to the expert validity person, Dr Thoo Ai Chin. Lastly, the researcher would like to thank those involved and who
provided valuable and useful data in this research.
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