THE INFLUENCE OF WAITING TIME SATISFACTION ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY TOWARDS MULTI-STAGE SERVICES IN A FULL-SERVICE RESTAURANT: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Research shows waiting time in services is an important source of service evaluation by the customer. In fact, time is one component of the total 'cost' that the customer bears and cost is a core component of the perceived cost-benefit equation that the customer uses to evaluate her or his sustained patronage of a particular service. In most services, customers consider waiting as a waste of time. However, from the customer perspective, in the case of a full-service restaurant, waiting is expected and sometimes desirable also. Prior research, mainly in the west, suggests that when customers think that a wait for service is too long, they become less satisfied with overall service quality. Based on a research setting in a full-scale restaurant in India, this paper seeks answers to two research questions: First, what are the determinants of overall waiting-time satisfaction and second, what is the influence of waiting-time satisfaction on customer loyalty.