Nurturing and Maintaining Customer Relationship in the Foodservice Industry

Abstract

This paper examines the essential practices for nurturing and maintaining customer relationships in the foodservice industry. Drawing on an instrument developed from a multi-method study and empirical literature, the study identifies four core relationship-marketing dimensions, trust, communication, empathy, and commitment, and tests their influence on customer loyalty. A validated 31 item scale was developed and subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across a representative sample of Malaysian foodservice patrons (fine dining, fast-food, coffee shops and hawker centres). The results show that all four dimensions positively relate to loyalty, with trust and communication emerging as the strongest predictors. Managerial implications focus on service consistency, tailored communication (including digital touchpoints), employee empathy training and commitment mechanisms to secure repeat patronage. Recommendations for future research include cross-country validation, digital relationship extensions, and longitudinal tracking of relationship investments and lifetime value.