| dc.description.abstract | Globally there is a growing demand for food away from home as a result of higher income, changes in consumption patterns and the time pressures created due to work. The food industry has become highly competitive as the number of food outlets is increasing to meet the demand. In order to succeed in such competitive industry restaurant operators in Uganda need to understand the perceptions of customers towards there restaurants therefore, The purpose of this study was to examine customer perceptions of restaurants experience in Uganda according to their demographic characteristics: gender, age, nationality and education and it was guided by the following objectives aims; (1) To identify the different products offered to customers in Café Java’s restaurants. (2)To identify the factors that influence customers to dine in Café Java’s restaurants. (3) To examine attendance patterns of customers in Café Java’s restaurants
The study was a case study on Café Java’s restaurants in Kampala city and five restaurants where sampled. A sample size of 100 respondents was obtained and included 20 respondents from each restaurant, Convenience sampling was used as the sampling technique because of the fast pace of the nature of the restaurant business its self. The data was collected using questionnaires and later analyzed using SPSS. The findings revealed that Café Java’s has a wide range of products on offer to the clients. Findings also indicate that the majority of the participant's opinion showed excellent rating for factors such as the speed of service, cleanliness of restaurants, atmosphere and location. These could be the influencing factors dining in Café Java’s restaurant sand it is evident from the research, that respondents deem the nutrition of food to be the least important factor when selecting these restaurants, It was also apparent that the respondents expect more when selecting restaurants with more menu choice, fresher foods and size of the portion.
However some of customers had different attending patterns to these restaurants some used to attend once a week and these had a highest percentage giving special occasions as the major factor and time being the least factor. The study recommends, Café Java’s should maintain the quality of its products in order to attract more new and repeat customers, these restaurants can gain relative advantage if they provide consumers with convenient locations and provide meals in a quick timely fashion. This implies Café Java’s restaurants need to understand consumer traffic patterns and have efficient and consistent operations, what takes place during the interaction between customers and staff (waiters) can have a considerable impact on the experience that customers experience as customers spend time to interact with staff, which is crucial that service providers in restaurants pay close attention to training staff in customers relations. | en_US |
