The Influence of Background Sounds, Physical Sounds, and Managers’ Proactive Customer Service Regarding Situational Sounds on Customer Satisfaction in the Restaurant Industry

Abstract

Noise complaints in restaurants have been accelerating and unpleasant sounds erode customer satisfaction. Restaurant ambient noise, such as background and physical sounds influence customer satisfaction and effectively controlling the sound environment in restaurants is challenging, particularly situational sounds generated by customers. Situational sounds address how customers are influenced by other customers dining in the same restaurant and highlight a type of sound that cannot be easily managed by employees. Situational sounds can be loud conversation among fellow customers or misbehaving children. Concerns with situational sounds are less about how they impact customer satisfaction, and more about the way in which managers handle them. Thus, managers find a proactive service approach to be most effective when handling situational sounds in a restaurant. For example, strategically placing a large noisy group in a separate room or further away from other customers in the restaurant can mitigate the negative impact to other diners. The results of this study confirmed that background sounds, physical sounds, and managers’ proactive customer service regarding situational sounds impact customer satisfaction. However, the interactive effects of background sounds, physical sounds, and managers’ proactive customer service regarding situational sounds do not influence customer satisfaction. Based on the results, recommendations for restaurant managers are provided to decrease controllable unpleasant noises caused by background and physical sounds as well as strategies for effectively executing proactive customer service to handle situational sounds.