The effect of restaurant attributes on customers’ expectations and experiences in formal full service restaurants in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Published ArticleThe purpose of this study was to assess the effect of restaurant attributes on customers’ expectations and experiences in formal full service restaurants. The attributes included in this research were food, service and ambience as independent variables and expectations and experiences as dependent variables. The aims were to: (a) assess restaurant attributes that are important for customers’ expectations and experiences, (b) to determine which restaurant attributes had a significant relationship with customers’ expectations and experiences. The questionnaire was based on Markovic, Raspor & Markovic’s (2010) research. In order to meet the surveys’ goals, correlation coefficient and regression analysis were conducted. The results of correlation coefficient reveal that all three restaurant attributes had a significant correlation (p<0.05) with expectations. The strongest correlation with expectations was service (r=0.76). Customers’ experiences showed that all the attributes had a weak to moderate (r≤0.5) positive correlation with customers’ experiences. The strongest correlation with experiences was food (r=0.54). The first regression model showed that all three dining attributes were significantly related (p<0.05) to customers’ expectations. The level of service (t=10.73) was rated as the most important attribute for expectations. The second regression model showed that all three dining attributes were significantly related (p<0.05) to experiences. The second model indicated that respondents rated food (t=7.51) as the most important attribute for experience. The results reveal that although good food is an essential component for customers’ experiences, however, the level of service plays a pivotal role for customers’ expectations in formal full service restaurants

Expectations and perceptions of customers in mall restaurants in an East London shopping mall using the DINESERV approach

Published ArticleShopping malls have become distressed in South Africa, with statistics showing a decline of 5.3% in tenant mix in 2013 compared to 2012, as retail stores in malls decline due to online shopping and the changing consumer value equation and culture. As such, to reposition and resuscitate shopping malls, restaurants have become an important part of the leasing strategy in malls. However, despite lowering their prices and spending marketing funds on promotions, mall restaurants seem to be finding great difficulty in determining customer expectations. With this as background, the focus in this study was to gain insight into restaurant customers’ expectations and perceptions in Hemmingways shopping mall using the DINESERV model. Customers’ expectations and perceptions were measured on a five point Likert-type scale. The empirical results show that, on a 5 point Likert scale, the overall mean score for expectation items was 4.50 whilst for perception items was 3.46. The overall DINESERV gap was -1.04, implying that mall restaurants did not meet customers’ expectations. The results of this study serve not only to identify customers’ expectations and strengthen customer loyalty in mall restaurants, but also improve the mall’s reputation and increase customer satisfaction

Liberalisation initiatives of the airline industry in southern Africa: Progress achieved and hindrances to implementation.

The purpose of this study is to identify liberalisation initiatives in the airline industry and their effects on airline performances in southern Africa. The study addresses the liberalisation of the airline industry, namely, the Paris Convention, the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs), and pooling agreements. The research involved an extensive literature search of liberalisation initiatives on the airline industry in southern Africa. This was complemented with personal interviews with several key personnel from seven regional airlines. From the study it is clear that southern African governments still oppose liberalisation by claiming to protect their sovereignty, yet they do not realise that the economic costs of this largely surpass the political costs they might need to face if the national airlines do not manage to compete in a liberalised environment and are obliged go out of business. Furthermore, the bilateral regulatory system remains a bottleneck in the overall development of the air transport network in southern Africa, thereby restraining the region’s potential for tourism growth and regional stability and sustainabilit

The effect of restaurant attributes on customers&apos; expectations and experiences in formal full service restaurants in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of restaurant attributes on customers&apos; expectations and experiences in formal full service restaurants. The attributes included in this research were food, service and ambience as independent variables and expectations and experiences as dependent variables. The aims were to: (a) assess restaurant attributes that are important for customers&apos; expectations and experiences, (b) to determine which restaurant attributes had a significant relationship with customers&apos; expectations and experiences. The questionnaire was based on Markovic, Raspor &amp; Markovic&apos;s (2010) research. In order to meet the surveys&apos; goals, correlation coefficient and regression analysis were conducted. The results of correlation coefficient reveal that all three restaurant attributes had a significant correlation (p&lt;0.05) with expectations. The strongest correlation with expectations was service (r=0.76). Customers&apos; experiences showed that all the attributes had a weak to moderate (r≤0.5) positive correlation with customers&apos; experiences. The strongest correlation with experiences was food (r=0.54). The first regression model showed that all three dining attributes were significantly related (p&lt;0.05) to customers&apos; expectations. The level of service (t=10.73) was rated as the most important attribute for expectations. The second regression model showed that all three dining attributes were significantly related (p&lt;0.05) to experiences. The second model indicated that respondents rated food (t=7.51) as the most important attribute for experience. The results reveal that although good food is an essential component for customers&apos; experiences, however, the level of service plays a pivotal role for customers&apos; expectations in formal full service restaurants

An Innate Preference of Bumblebees for Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Phaseolus vulgaris Plants Infected With Three Different Viruses

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)-infected tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) attractive to bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.), which are important tomato pollinators, but which do not transmit CMV. We investigated if this effect was unique to the tomato-CMV pathosystem. In two bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars, infection with the potyviruses bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) or bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV), or with the cucumovirus CMV induced quantitative changes in VOC emission detectable by coupled gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In free-choice olfactometry assays bumblebees showed an innate preference for VOC blends emitted by virus-infected non-flowering bean plants and flowering CMV-infected bean plants, over VOCs emitted by non-infected plants. Bumblebees also preferred VOCs of flowering BCMV-infected plants of the Wairimu cultivar over non-infected plants, but the preference was not significant for BCMV-infected plants of the Dubbele witte cultivar. Bumblebees did not show a significant preference for VOCs from BCMNV-infected flowering bean plants but differential conditioning olfactometric assays showed that bumblebees do perceive differences between VOC blends emitted by flowering BCMNV-infected plants over non-infected plants. These results are consistent with the concept that increased pollinator attraction may be a virus-to-host payback, and show that virus-induced changes in bee-attracting VOC emission is not unique to one virus-host combination

Effect of a titania covering on CNTS as support for the Ru catalysed selective CO methanation

One of the major set-backs in the selective CO methanation process, as the final clean-up step in removing residual CO from reformate gas feed, is the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction. This reaction is an undesired reaction because, it runs parallel with the selective CO methanation reaction. This increases the CO outlet concentration. The catalytic performance of ruthenium supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs), titania coated carbon nanotubes (NCNT-TiO2 and CNTs-TiO2) and TiO2 anatase (TiO2-A) for selective CO methanation was investigated. The feed composition relevant to reformate gas was used but in the absence of steam. The experiments were conducted within a temperature range of 100 °C and 360 °C. It was observed that carbon dioxide methanation was suppressed until CO methanation attained a maximum conversion for all the catalysts studied. The Ru/NCNT showed higher activity than Ru/CNT at all temperatures examined due to the nitrogen incorporation in the carbon domains. Both Ru/CNT and Ru/NCNT however promoted the RWGS reaction at temperatures above 250 °C. The Ru/CNT-TiO2 catalyst recorded the highest activity for both the CO and selective CO methanation followed by Ru/TiO2-A. The presence of titania on the carbon nanotubes significantly retarded the RWGS reaction from about −120% CO conversion to about 80% CO conversion, while selectivity towards methane increased in all catalysts with increasing temperature

Interventions to reduce pesticide exposure from the agricultural sector in Africa: a workshop report

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted. This was followed by a qualitative survey among stakeholders involved in pesticide research or management in the African region to learn about barriers to and promoters of successful interventions. The project was concluded with an international workshop in November 2021, where a broad range of topics relevant to occupational and environmental health risks were discussed such as acute poisoning, street pesticides, switching to alternatives, or disposal of empty pesticide containers. Key areas of improvement identified were training on pesticide usage techniques, research on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at exposure reduction and/or behavioral changes, awareness raising, implementation of adequate policies, and enforcement of regulations and processes

RNA localization in neurite morphogenesis and synaptic regulation: current evidence and novel approaches

It is now generally accepted that RNA localization in the central nervous system conveys important roles both during development and in the adult brain. Of special interest is protein synthesis located at the synapse, as this potentially confers selective synaptic modification and has been implicated in the establishment of memories. However, the underlying molecular events are largely unknown. In this review, we will first discuss novel findings that highlight the role of RNA localization in neurons. We will focus on the role of RNA localization in neurotrophin signaling, axon outgrowth, dendrite and dendritic spine morphogenesis as well as in synaptic plasticity. Second, we will briefly present recent work on the role of microRNAs in translational control in dendrites and its implications for learning and memory. Finally, we discuss recent approaches to visualize RNAs in living cells and their employment for studying RNA trafficking in neurons