Tarisai Fritz Rukuni, Reabetswe Gladys Parkies, Amos Khoza
The South African fast-food industry is facing excessive competition amidst a rise in economic and household income constraints. Main players in the South Africa fast-food industry include the Kentucky Fried Chicken, Steers and Wimpy with the largest market share of 16 %, 11% and 10%, respectively. Achieving high service quality that leads to customer satisfaction is of paramount importance for these fast-food outlets. Among others, an understanding of customers’ opinions of the predictors of service quality and applying it in creating efficient service delivery is of paramount importance to achieve consumer satisfaction. However, extant literature observes that most fast-ffod outlets ignore the importance of incorporating service quality when devising their competitive strategies. Consequently, such approach has resulted in the loss of market share. It was upon this background that the objectives of this study were two-fold, thus to (i) assess customers’ perceptions of service quality; and (ii) determine how service quality influence customer satisfaction. A quantitative descriptive case study approach was conducted to collect data from a sample size of 300 customers using a structured questionnaire at fast-food outlets at the Menlyn Park mall in the City of Tshwane in South Africa. SPSS v28 was utilised to conduct descriptive and multivariate analyses including mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses. This study found that customers had negative perceptions of service quality measured through empathy, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and tangibility. Significance evidence also showed that there is a positive relationship between service quality predictors and customer satisfaction. From this study it is recommended that management of fast-food outlets should constantly improve their levels of empathy, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and tangibility. Also, this study provides invaluable insights on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the context of the fast-food industry in South Africa an area that shows evidence of limited research.