The Influence of Social, Design and Ambient Factors of Store Environment on Customer Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions

Store environment has become an important part of restaurant service that can help businesses create positive impact on customer behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of store environment on customer perceptions of store and quality, and their effects on customer behavioral intentions in a restaurant service setting. Data were collected from 447 customers of ethnic restaurants from midscale operating in Hanoi, Vietnam, by a stratified random sampling method. This research reveals that all three store's environmental factors (social factor, design factor, ambient factor) influence customer's perception of store and customer service quality, whereas only social and design factors influence customer's perception of food quality. Social factors have the strongest influence on customer's perception of store (beta = .37, p= .000, and also the perception of customer service quality (beta = .40, p = .000). Design factors have the strongest influence on customer's perception of food quality (beta = 0.5, p = .000). Furthermore, store overall perception (beta = .55, p = .000), customer service quality perception (beta = .30, p = .000), and food quality perception (beta = .10, p = .03) have positive effects on customer behavioral intentions. This study then suggests that restaurant service providers should improve the quality of store environment to shape positive customer perceptions and impact on behavioral intentions. The findings support practitioners with clues to build up store environment in a restaurant for customers to have positive perceptions that can lead to some behaviors in the future such as store re-patronage, and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.