Behavioral intentions in the full service restaurant industry: The effect service quality and organizational culture has on customers' intentions to return

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate the relationships between organizational culture, service quality and behavioral intentions in the full service, casual dining restaurant industry, a very complex and unique industry with a high failure rate. A key factor in restaurants' ability to succeed is in being able to generate repeat business. Seventy percent of a restaurants business base comes from repeat customers (Sanson, 2004). There is a greater challenge for restaurants to retain customers because of the high level of industry competition that exists. The goal of this research study is to identify the impact of service quality and organizational culture on customers' intentions to return.; The model for the study links three constructs: behavioral intentions (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996), service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985, 1988, 1991) and organizational culture (Cameron & Quinn, 1999).; A research instrument was developed (based on previous research studies) to measure the relationships between the constructs in full service restaurants. The sample included 293 participants from six independently owned restaurants in Florida and Connecticut. The results showed positive relationships between organizational culture, service quality and customers intentions to return. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and future research.