Paper Title
The Effects of Franchisee Gender on Consumer Perceptions of Performance and in Quick Service Restaurants
Start Date
8-1-2011 10:30 AM
End Date
8-1-2011 11:45 AM
Track
1. Track 1 – Formal Paper Presentation
Subject Area
Food Service
Faculty Member
Dr. Sheila Scott-Halsell; sheila.scott-halsell@okstate.edu
Abstract
By 2015 restaurant revenues are to reach $2.2 trillion (GIA, 2009). Despite the revenues that foodservice generates, one factor remains missing in the restaurant community: women franchisees. In the most recently published report by International Franchise Association (2002), women ownership constituted 13.2% of franchised restaurants. The purpose of this paper is to explore how women franchisees perform in critical restaurant operations including cleanliness, friendliness, service failure and recovery. Using a nationally franchised restaurant, this study finds that franchise gender plays a critical factor in customer perceptions of a restaurant. Moreover, the main and interaction effects between each of the four variables of service failure, recovery, friendliness and cleanliness are tested against overall restaurant revenues. Practical and theoretical implications, and future research is discussed.
Keywords
Franchising, restaurants, quick service, gender, cleanliness, service, friendliness, performance
The Effects of Franchisee Gender on Consumer Perceptions of Performance and in Quick Service Restaurants
By 2015 restaurant revenues are to reach $2.2 trillion (GIA, 2009). Despite the revenues that foodservice generates, one factor remains missing in the restaurant community: women franchisees. In the most recently published report by International Franchise Association (2002), women ownership constituted 13.2% of franchised restaurants. The purpose of this paper is to explore how women franchisees perform in critical restaurant operations including cleanliness, friendliness, service failure and recovery. Using a nationally franchised restaurant, this study finds that franchise gender plays a critical factor in customer perceptions of a restaurant. Moreover, the main and interaction effects between each of the four variables of service failure, recovery, friendliness and cleanliness are tested against overall restaurant revenues. Practical and theoretical implications, and future research is discussed.