Evaluation of customer satisfaction and service quality using SERVQUAL model: the case of fast-food restaurants in Iraq

Abstract

Due to the exponential growth in the number of fast-food outlets in the last two decades, the amount of people employed in the sector has significantly increased. Due to the country's growing consumption level, Iraqi consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about their food choices. The increased number of people spending money on fast food made it more available to them, leading to dramatic changes in their daily consumption habits. As the restaurant industry has risen, people's demands for the service industry have also increased. This paper adopted a quantitative method using a survey covering a sample consists of 200 regular customers in five Iraq fast-food restaurants.  Performance and consumer loyalty is evaluated using the SERVQUAL model. The findings indicate that the sample restaurants' quality dimensions can be ordered in ascending order from (concrete), reliability (reliability), response (response), certainty (warranty), to empathy (empathy).  The results also indicate that the quality of service for local fast-food restaurants is relatively reasonable but lower than that of international fast-food restaurants.