Understanding Customer Exit Behaviour: The Moderated Mediation Role of Satisfaction and Barriers in the Restaurant Industry

Abstract

The present research attempts to demonstrate how customers decide to switch from one casual dining restaurant to another, using the pull-push-mooring theoretical framework. Push factors, such as poor food quality and low satisfaction levels serve as the primary drivers prompting customers to switch. The pull variables include switching motives such as availability of attractive alternatives that encourages customers to switch to competing restaurants. The elements that determine the stability of the mooring variables such as switching barriers have a significant moderating impact. The study employs structural equation modelling (SEM) based on data collected from 563 adult respondents within the National Capital Region (NCR) of India to validate the casual relationship and the strength of the relationships between food-related attributes, customer satisfaction, and switching barriers and switching motives on the switching intention of customers at casual dining restaurants. The findings offer practical implications for restaurant managers, enabling them to design targeted strategies aimed at reducing customer churn, enhancing satisfaction, and fostering long-term loyalty.

Keywords: Switching Intention, Food-Related Attributes, Switching Barriers, Switching Motives, Customer Satisfaction

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