Abstract

Consumer behavior and consumer preference are two different but related areas in marketing. This study was conducted to develop a construct of service quality in the fastfood chains. Demographic characteristics of the respondents were interacted to simulate effects on the perceived quality of service. A total of 417 respondents participated in the study. Most of the respondents were in their teens or early 20’s, of these, most were female students.  An exploratory factor analysis revealed six components explaining service quality. These were physical setup and prompt service, cheerfulness of the service crew; food selection and food display; staff knowledge of the product and the prices of it; and finally, the accessibility to the place. Further, ordinal regression indicated no statistical characterization of the respondents according to age, sex (male or female), and occupation (working or student) to indicate particular preference of services offered by an establishment. This suggests that preferences of food chain are influenced by the fastfood’s crews attending with promptness; affordability of the food and its variety; and that the establishment is readily accessible to the eating public.

Key words: Service quality, factor analysis, ordinal regression.