DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.186297.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

Restaurant Physical Environment and Diners’ Loyalty: A Multigroup Structural Equation Model of Occasional and Frequent Customers in Northern Peru

Marco Agustín Arbulú Ballesteros, Christian David Corrales Otazú, Sarita Jessica Apaza Miranda, Sofía Irene Delgado Wong, Irma Rumela Aguirre Zaquinaula, Ericka Julissa Suysuy Chambergo, Luisa Angelica Orejuela Guerrero, Cecilia Paula Luisa Gómez Zúñiga, Victor Ángel Ancajima Miñán, Mirian Azucena Vilela Ubillús
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Background Servicescape models of restaurant loyalty typically assume that every diner weighs the physical environment, perceived price, and satisfaction in the same way. This study submits that assumption to a formal test and asks whether the evaluation chain that links the physical environment to loyalty is reconfigured when diners are grouped by how often they visit. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 705 diners was conducted in full-service restaurants across five cities of northern Peru: Chiclayo, Trujillo, Piura, Cajamarca, and Tumbes. The data were analyzed with covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) in Mplus 8.3, using robust maximum likelihood estimation and 10,000 bootstrap draws with bias-corrected confidence intervals. The procedure was complemented by measurement invariance testing, a multigroup comparison of occasional (n = 304) and frequent (n = 401) customers, and an importance-performance analysis (IPA) computed in RStudio. Results Thirteen of the sixteen direct and mediation hypotheses were supported. Decor and ambient conditions shaped both price perception and satisfaction, and satisfaction was the near-exclusive antecedent of loyalty (standardized coefficient = 0.940; coefficient of determination = 0.883). The serial chain from the physical environment through price and satisfaction to loyalty held for decor and ambient conditions but not for spatial layout. None of the four between-segment differences reached significance (Wald chi-square = 3.56, degrees of freedom = 2, p = 0.169), although the decor-to-satisfaction path was significant only among frequent customers. Conclusions The evaluation chain is structurally robust across segments. Managers can anchor strategy on satisfaction while directing decor investment toward their repeat clientele, rather than designing a different value proposition for each type of customer.

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