A causal relationship model of the information seeking,food quality and brand image influencingthe consumers' decision to use thai cuisine restaurant services
Abstract:
This research aimed to develop a causal relationship model of the informative seeking, food quality, and brand image influencing the consumers decision to use Thai cuisine restaurant services and to validate consistency of a causal model with the empirical data. It was a quantitative research. The research instrument was online questionnaire. The samples of this study were 400 consumers who had ever used the services of Thai cuisine restaurant located in Muang district, Chonburi. The samples were selected by twostage samplings, purposive and quota sampling technique. Data were analyzed using basic statistics, Pearsons product moment correlation and using AMOS to validate the causal model. The results indicated that the developed causal relationship model was consistent with the empirical data. Goodness of fit indexes were: (x 2 ) = 92.743,p-value = 0.175, (x 2 /df)= 1.145, GFI = 0.972, CFI=0.995, AGFI=0.953, NNFI=0.993, NFI=0.966, RMSEA = 0.019, SRMR = 0.031, RMR = 0.020. In addition, the informative seeking and food quality had the positive effects on the consumers decision to use Thai cuisine restaurant services, and the effect levels were 0.270 and 0.933, respectively. On the other hand, brand image had the negative effect on the consumers decision to use Thai cuisine restaurant services, and the effect level was 0.36. Moreover, the variables in model could explain the variance of consumers decision to use Thai cuisine restaurant services at 55.5 percent. From this study, Thai restaurant entrepreneurs can apply the result of this study for planning marketing strategies. The result of this study can also be used as a guideline for restaurant operation and management, as well as a guideline for managing the communication channels in order to reach the target consumers effectively.