AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER RETENTION IN THE CONTEXT OF LOCAL PAKISTANI FOOD RESTAURANTS

The core objective of this study is to analyze the factors impacting the consumer retention towards local Pakistani food restaurants. This study examines the influence of Food Quality, Word of Mouth, Perceived Value/Price, Service Quality, and Ambience on Customer Satisfaction. Likewise, it also examines the impact of Customer Satisfaction on Consumer Retention. The data was collected in form of an on-line google questionnaire from 377 participants comprises of housewives, university students, and professionals. The data has been analyzed by using statistical software SPSS version 17 and SmartPLS version 3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model has been applied and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) model has been further used to analyze the direct relationship between the data and to test the proposed model. The findings of the analysis show that all the values of Cronbach's Alpha, inner VIF, outer loading, and path coefficient are satisfactory and the model seems fit to the context. The finding reveals that, Word of Mouth, Perceived Value/Price, Service Quality, and Ambience have a positive impact on Customer Satisfaction which consequently influences the Customer Retention. Unlike the rest of the variables, H1 is rejected which shows that Food quality does not play a significant role in customer satisfaction and retention. The study further shows that consumer understanding of service quality, price paying, word of mouth and environment are key determinants of customer satisfaction and hence, it tends to balance customer satisfaction between satisfaction variables and consumer retention. The results further suggest that consumer satisfaction partly mediates the interaction between revisit expectations.