Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention: Evidence from Klang Valley Customers of Local Coffee Shop in Malaysia

The competition between local coffee shop has intensified as a result of the rise in worldwide coffee consumption, necessitating the search for strategies to encourage repeat business. In light of this context, the goal of this study is to examine factors namely: product quality, service quality, restaurant environment in influencing customer satisfaction and revisit intention among customers on local coffee shops in Malaysia. The data was gathered through distribution of questionnaire among 394 respondents who had experiences patronizing local coffee shops in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Findings revealed that product quality, service quality and restaurant environment can lead to customer satisfaction and revisit intention among customers. It served as a foundation for future academicians or researchers that would like to explore on Coffee Shop Restaurant Management as this study will give better understanding of product quality, service quality and restaurant environment influencing customer satisfaction and revisit intention on local coffee shop among customers in Malaysia. In encapsulating the industry perspective, this study will benefit several parties comprise of coffee shop restaurant operators, owners, managers and customers to better understand strategies that can be adopted to strengthen their restaurant reputation and image by satisfying customers’ needs and wants. Future


Introduction
The food and beverage industry worldwide are developing tremendously over the past decade.It comprises of several type of restaurants, coffee shops, cafeterias, fast food, pubs, delis, food processing, catering, food transport services and more offering several cuisines ranges from eastern to western menu.According to the Food & Beverage Industry Report Malaysia 2020, in Malaysia, food and beverages industry is one of the largest contributors to Malaysia economy.It has been identified as one of the rapid market and main contributors to the national account (Flanders Investment & Trade, Malaysia Office, 2020).Moreover, food & beverage industry was valued approximately at RM108.5 billion in 2018, growing at a rate of 7.6 per cent per year.In general, the Food & Beverage industry in Malaysia are diverse offering a wide range of processed foods for Asian tastes and dietary preferences to many western recipes.While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) business in food & beverage offers product ranges from cocoa and chocolate products, fishery products, cereal products, processed fruit and vegetables, pastry, food ingredients, herbs and spices to beverages.
Coffee fits into the Food & Beverage category due to it is both a beverage and consumable product.Coffee cultivation, roasting, packaging, distribution and retailing are all part of the food and beverage sector.In Malaysia, a positive and growing trend can be seen towards coffee culture with vibrant and diverse environment that represents the country's multicultural heritage and influences from various locations.Influences from Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Western coffee practices can be found, resulting in a distinct blend of flavors and processes."Kopi" which means coffee in Malay, is one of the most iconic coffee drinks in Malaysia.Kopi is typically strong, thick and is frequently brewed using a process similar to the traditional sock filter known as a "sock" or "kain" which is a fabric strainer.Kopi is usually taken with sugar and condensed or evaporated milk in a form of either "kopi-o" (black coffee), "kopi-c" (coffee with evaporated milk and sugar) and others.The current innovation with regards to coffee are handcrafted and premium coffee products.This booming coffee culture has led to the emergence of a large number of coffee shops in Malaysian cities and towns over the years (Beh, 2022).Third-wave coffee shops particularly in Klang Valley area have sprung up, focusing on high-quality coffee beans, precision brewing procedures and latte art.Interestingly, these coffee culture has attracted young market segments with more convenient, fashionable products and attractive look/ new concept-style coffee shops and cafes (Flanders Investment & Trade, Malaysia Office, 2020).Among the branded and popular coffee shop chains include the internationally renowned Starbucks, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Dôme and San Francisco as well as plentiful locally owned independent shops (Lee, Rajaratnam & Konar, 2018).These cafes frequently provide a variety of coffee styles such as espresso-based drinks, pour-over coffee, and others.On average, most Malaysians consume 2.5 cups of snack coffee supplemented by biscuits/cookies per day.Most cafes in Malaysia offer a wide range of food including desserts and pastries.
Despite the food & beverage industry growth and vast employment opportunities, coffee shop owners, managers and operators need clear insights on the important attributes that can attract customers and keep up with the fierce competition and sustainability (Beh, 2022;Lee et al, 2018).Gaining a competitive advantage over the current competitive market is the main focus for improving business service capabilities and service quality improvement (Pérez-Morón et al, 2022;Tseng et al., 2015).In addition, evolving of customer demographic and lifestyle in particular especially after Pandemic has make them to seek new and special experience (Presenza et al., 2019).As customers perceived experience in food & beverage industry has increased, the coffee shops cannot only rely on environment per se but need to focus on other variables to ensure returning customer.Today, the view that customer perspective only uses sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch to understand the environment is insufficient (Pérez-Morón et al, 2022;Wozniak, 2013), as customers are the main source of revenue and sustainable growth for this food & beverage industry specifically the coffee shops.Acquiring new customers is less economical than retaining an existing customer.Consequently, repeat customers are more financially profitable than new customers (Yong et al., 2013).Customers' revisit intention has received special attention both in academia and in practice.The term "revisit intention" refers to customers' intention to buy again and behavior that leads to a willingness to recommend a particular product/service to others (Yong et al., 2013).Revisit intention is a sign of brand loyalty and a sign of consumer satisfaction.It is undeniable that the unique feature of coffee shops that have barista, contribute to the fast growing of food & beverage industry.According to Goodwin (2019), a barista is a person who prepares and usually serves espresso-based coffee drinks.It is also referred to coffee shop employees who prepare both espresso and regular coffee drinks.Although the word barista technically refers to people who are trained and qualified to make espresso, it can also be used to refer to anyone who has a high level of skill in making espresso shots and espresso drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos.Due to customers have many options in selecting coffee shops, it is important for restaurant owners and managers to understand what factors influence customers' revisit intention (Mannan et al., 2019).This study will assist the owner in increasing coffee shop revisit intention by achieving customer satisfaction, and it may be used as a guideline for the owner and researchers to improve consumer satisfaction in the future (Thomas et al., 2021).Customer satisfaction is important because it can lead to a variety of benefits, such as providing a solid foundation for repurchase intent and fostering customer loyalty.Despite the importance, previous studies have rarely investigated attributes related to customer satisfaction in the area of coffee shop service (Lee, Moon & Song, 2018).Hence, this study is crucial and require empirical evidence to integrate and equip coffee shops owners/managers to prepare for the rapidly changing economic trends.Looking at a bigger perspective, the continuous efforts taken by coffee shops owners/managers on focusing of factors that influence customers revisit intention would probably encourage business survival, maintaining customers and reduce the number of unemployment in the country in the long run.
The paper is organized as follows.The following section provides a literature review on Factors influencing Customer Satisfaction namely: Product Quality, Service Quality, Restaurant Environment, and Revisit Intention.Then, the research method is described, focusing on data collection and the variable measurement whereas findings section presents the results through descriptive statistics, statistical tests and the final section includes the conclusions of the study.

Literature Review Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention on Local Coffee Shop: An Overview
In the early 1900s, British colonialism developed the local coffee shop in Malaysia, where traditional Malaysian coffee was provided with affordable meals tailored to the tastes of the locals, and this is the gathering place for the community to mingle and meet one another (Choong et al., 2013).According to Thomas et al (2021), local coffee culture has begun to develop, beginning with the commercialization of "kopitiams" and the branding of local coffee shops and progressing to services that include not only selling product but also looking into the implementation of technology as part of marketing plans to attract younger generations.Over the last several years, coffee shop outlets of various brands have proliferated throughout Malaysian towns and cities (Beh, 2022).As a result, there has been a significant rise in the number of coffee shops in cities and mostly Malaysians prefer to drink coffee outside of their homes with friends, business partners besides enjoying the leisure atmosphere.The growing number of customers, particularly young people and business users, creates a need for stylish outlets, a variety of flavors, and a well-presented coffee shop (Pérez-Morón et al, 2022;Lee et al., 2013).
Technically, food has grown in close proximity to the consumer, i.e., produced within a few miles of the point of sale, in the same city, or in the same state.Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of Malaysia is a well-known café paradise for frahling lovers and its residents.As coffee has diverse simultaneously, it plays several roles in everyone's life.For some frahling lovers, coffee is a religion.For some, coffee is just a kick-starter or a way to start the day, while for others it's like medicine, and some just cannot live without a cup in their hand throughout the day.Not only does everyone have a different interest in coffee, but they also consume it differently.
This study focusses on three (3) variables namely: product quality, service quality and restaurant environment.Product quality is an important restaurant attributes in influencing customers revisit intention to coffee shop restaurants.Product covers all the beverages specifically coffees and food items, pastry, cakes, sandwiches.In terms of the product quality, customers can assess from different characteristics including taste, temperature, portion size, varieties of menu and nutritional value (Michelle et al., 2018).Food quality, rather than service quality and ambience, is one of the main determinants of customer satisfaction, according to (Sulek and Hensley, 2004).According to Delwiche (2004) and Namkung et al. (2007), food or coffee qualities such as appearance and quality are significant sensory components that are connected to food quality elements such as taste, sight, and smell.Coffee quality is linked to coffee product qualities such as coffee freshness, flavor, smoothness, temperature, and fragrance (Lee et al., 2018).To preserve quality, Malaysian coffee shops acquire coffee beans directly from businesses, roast them at the appropriate temperature and powder them (Thomas et al., 2021).In some countries, instant coffees and filter coffees contain an element called chicory, which is combined with coffee powder in various amounts to modify the taste.This chicory powder is harmful to one's health.As a result, pure coffee beans are utilized in coffee powder to ensure that chicory is not combined and to preserve quality.This assures the highest level of quality.
Service quality on the other hand would set it apart from other aspects of a coffee shop and would have a great potential to entice consumers to return.Service quality has been identified as a major component of customer happiness and a key factor of competitiveness in the restaurant sector (Moreo et al., 2019).This is in line with study from Saulina and Syah (2018) that highlighted customers frequently use service quality to assess the quality of the coffee shop.Customers may seek other acceptable choices if the service given does not match their expectations, thus having a good service quality is crucial for a restaurant's overall success, and restaurant owners must invest effort into determining what decides it (Mhlanga, 2018).According to the SERVQUAL scale proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988), service quality that have five dimensions: responsiveness, tangibles, dependability, empathy, and assurance may be used to analyze the service process and offer basic information to the group's owner in order to improve service quality (Johnson & Mathews, 2016).In conjunction with that, Andaleeb and Conway (2006) discovered that service reliability and responsiveness characteristics are more appropriate in the food segment.Restaurant and service organizations implicitly delivers service dependability to its customers.This service dimension is critical because customers are more inclined to do business with organizations who can deliver on their promises (Ko, 2008).Concerns concerning service responsiveness include dealing with customers' requests and responding to their queries and complaints as soon as possible (Ko, 2008).
Moreover, restaurant environment covers a wide range of coffee shop atmosphere, ambience and design elements such as style, layout, lighting, furniture, scent, music, temperature, color, wall composition, window and more (Ha et al, 2010).Atmospherics can be defined as a careful design of a premise designed to generate specific emotional effects on customers in order to increase their purchase likelihood (Heung & Gu, 2012).The coffee shop environment can create positive or negative emotions in customer, which greatly influences their viewpoint of the coffee shop restaurant.Furthermore, the atmosphere in the coffee shop setting consists of a broad range of ambience, visually attractive design elements and different physical appearance of a restaurant that can put the customer in a good mood and influence their buying behaviour (Hultén, 2012).Moreover, empirical evidence indicated that physical environment quality has a strong relation in determining the characteristics of customers (Sinniah et al., 2018).Restaurant atmospherics have a strong influence on customers' dining satisfaction and their behavioural intention (Cakici et al., 2019).Cleanliness is an important factor to consider in the restaurant sector.When customers evaluate the quality of the eating space supplied, they consider restaurant cleanliness to be a crucial consideration (Barber & Scarcelli, 2009).Ambient elements are intangible background factors that influence consumer perceptions and responses to the environment subconsciously (Nguyen & Leblanc, 2002).Scent is described as "a scent that does not originate in any one thing but is present in the environment" (Mattila & Wirtz, 2001).Smell is one of the five senses that is most strongly associated with emotional reactions that influence human behavior.A good restaurant fragrance can increase arousal levels and affect guests' willingness to stay.
Customer satisfaction is inextricably linked to perceived restaurant quality.Customers demand high perceived restaurant quality when dining at restaurant in today's industry (Yong et al., 2013).Customers are more likely to be happy with perceived restaurant quality if they have a positive experience and the restaurant fulfills or surpasses their expectations (Harrington et al., 2011).The essential qualities evaluated in these studies may be classified into three major groups: productrelated attributes (e.g., coffee quality, coffee selection, coffee presentation, and price), service-related attributes (e.g., speed of service, staff friendliness, and so on), and other attributes (Thomas et al., 2021).
Revisit intention is crucial in coffee shop business to ensure customers coming back to the restaurant as highlighted by Cole and Scott (2004) it means a strong desire or plans to revisit the same place.Coffee shops are frequently used as meeting locations for individuals to talk, relax and catch up.Restaurant operators remain aware of customers' intention to revisit because the cost of attracting new customers is high compared to the cost of retaining existing customers (Um et al., 2006).Generally, the positive image of restaurants increases the customer's willingness to revisit (Ryu et al., 2007).In addition, the review intention is influenced by the evaluation of previous experience, new attractions and promotional tools (Aziz et al., 2012).The revisit intention of customers has been studied in many sectors, such as tourism, hospitality, hospitals, retail, banking, and telecommunications.Structural equation modelling or logistic regression has been used to create a number of models of the factors that influence revisit intention (Chun & Nyam-Ochir, 2020).In this study, customer revisit intention can be defined as customer would like to come back to the coffee shop in the future, would consider revisiting this coffee shop in the future, would recommend this coffee shop to my friends or others, would say positive things about this coffee shop to others and would encourage others to visit this Coffee Shop (Ryu et al., 2012).

Findings Respondents Background Profiles: Klang Valley Area
This quantitative study focused Klang Valley population specifically Kuala Lumpur as they are the capital city of Malaysia, with many instagrammable cafes.A non-probability convenient sampling technique was utilized.Questionnaires were being distributed to 394 respondents as referred to (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970).The respondents' profiles are presented in table 1.From the overall total of 394 respondents, results shown that there were 158 respondents for male (40.1%) and 236 (59.9%) female respondents.Most of the respondents were Millenials in the group age of 26-30 years old with 164 respondents (41.6%), followed by 31-35 years old with 72 respondents (18.3%).Respondents in the age group of 36-40 years old are 68 respondents (17.3%), 63 respondents (16.0%) for 21-25 years old group.The Gen X age group (46-50 years old) were only 24 respondents (6.1%) and only 3 respondents (0.8%) for 50 years old age group.In terms of education, majority respondents are holding bachelor's degree with 248 respondents (62.9%), followed by Diploma, 72 respondents (18.3%),Master degree, 57 respondents (14.5%), High secondary and equivalent have 11 respondents (2.8%) and the least were PHD, 6 respondents (6%).Majority of the respondents were married 222 respondents (56.3%) and 172 respondents were single (43.7%).Additionally, in terms of respondents' monthly income, majority of the respondents (132 respondents, 33.5%) were in the RM1001-RM3000 group monthly income, followed by RM3001-RM5000 monthly income (109 respondents 27.7%).2021), the coffee processed using contemporary coffee machines, blended with fresh milk, and topped with palm sugar, vanilla syrup, bubblegum, and biscuits.This type of modern coffee shop is mushrooming in practically every area.The degree to which the product specification meets the customer's expectations is referred to as product quality.Customers are more likely to believe that the transaction is worthwhile if they believe that the product specification meets their needs.Additionally, Lee et al (2018), highlighted that service linked to the process of providing services, notably the service strategy and staff members' ability to meet client demands.If the service provided does not meet their expectations, customers may look elsewhere for acceptable options.As a result, having high service quality is essential to a restaurant's overall performance, and restaurant owners must put effort into figuring out what determines it.Moreover, findings indicated that Restaurant Environment influence customer satisfaction.Operating a coffee shop with environmental considerations in mind benefits the overall sustainability of the business.This includes eliminating waste, preserving resources and making eco-friendly decisions in all parts of the coffee shop's operations with regards to the coffee products.As many customers nowadays are environmentally sensitive and appreciate organizations that exhibit a commitment to sustainability, thus creating an environmentally friendly coffee business helps attract and maintain customers that respect eco-friendly practices.The strategies on upgrading the restaurant environment and ensuring coffee shop always look appealing will definitely encourage customer loyalty.Physical environment quality has been demonstrated to be strongly correlated with customer satisfaction (Thomas et al., 2021).It strongly influences how customers behave.The physical atmosphere of a service has a psychological impact on the desire to use the same product in different locations in the future (Suguna et al., 2018).
In this study, researchers have discussed the coffee-drinking cultures and coffee shop restaurants overview.Coffee shops served as a social gathering place for people to meet and socialize.In Malaysia, coffee is not about simply the drink; it's also about socializing and spending time with friends and family.It is indisputable that coffee shops have grown quickly in Malaysia.Customers want to be able to buy their chosen coffee whenever and wherever they choose.For coffee shop owners to remain successful in the coffee business, all of the characteristics and aspects must be taken into account.The findings of this study offer methods, solutions, and approaches that Malaysian coffee shop proprietors can use to fully realize the idea and elements of serving the greatest coffee to all of their customers.It's interesting to note that this study's findings indicated all three (3) variables namely: Product Quality, Service Quality and Restaurant Environment influence Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention among customers in local Malaysia coffee shops.Product Quality is a crucial factor that must be prioritized, starting with the coffee's flavor, aroma and freshness besides the critical issues of service quality.The coffee beans for instance, have been roasted to give a brighter color as part of the quality procedures.Customers may become dissatisfied and decide not to return to the coffee shop if they have negative experiences.A good customer service will ensure customers feel like at home and undoubtedly come back.On the other hand, restaurant owners can train their personnel on handling difficult customers, dealing with complaints from patrons and other topics to improve the level of customer service.As Malaysia has a number of coffee-related events and festivals that showcase both local and worldwide coffee trends, thus activities seek to raise coffee awareness and educate the public about various brewing processes and coffee sources might assist restaurant operators in ensuring customers revisit intention.Finally, the study's findings contribute to the academic viewpoint by offering insightful information about current events and growing the body of scholarly literature.Theoretically, this study may be useful by raising knowledge of the traits of coffee customers.This might broaden the scope of service research by incorporating the coffee shop industry in the field of service-related literature and can add to the body of literature on hospitality and tourism.It's possible that the study could spark the curiosity of future researchers who will want to go into this subject in greater depth.Future research can focus on different customers market segments and other geographical location to see whether income and geographical location may affect factors (product quality, service quality and restaurant environment) influencing customer satisfaction and revisit intention.Further exploration can be replicated in other parts of the country to explore the coffee culture of the community.Other variables such as location preferences, price and brand image can also be considered.

Table 1
, findings postulated that there were 3 items that have same highest mean score, which were the respondent would like to come back to the coffee shop in future with mean score of 4.61 (SD= .63),respondents have intention to come back to the coffee shop again with mean score of 4.61 (SD= .65)and the respondents would say positive things about the coffee shop to others with mean score of 4.61 (SD= .65).The lowest mean score was on the respondents where they believe that they have made the right choice by choosing the coffee shop with the mean score of 4.52 (SD= .69).

Table 4
Pearson's Correlation (PC) for Product Quality and Customer Satisfaction (CS)Interestingly, this finding indicated that most local coffee shop in Malaysia provides good product quality in terms of taste of the coffee itself, aroma and freshness.As mentioned by Novi (