The Concept of Subjective Well-Being and Its Process in Restaurant Experiences
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 The concept of ubjecs tive well-being and its process in restaurant experiences Jee Hye Shin Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons Recommended Citation Shin, Jee Hye, "The oncc ept of subjective well-being and its process in restaurant experiences" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 11044. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/11044 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The concept of subjective well-being and its process in restaurant experiences by Jee Hye Shin A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Foodservice and Lodging Management Program of Study Committee: Haemoon Oh, Major Professor Mary Gregoire Miyoung Jeong Elena Karpova Jacques Lempers Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 ii TABLE OF CONTSNTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................v ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1. INSTRUCTION..............................................................................................1 Objectives of the Study...................................................................................................5 Significance of the Study................................................................................................7 Definitions ......................................................................................................................8 Organization of the Study.............................................................................................10 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .......................................................................11 Subjective Well-Being (SWB)......................................................................................11 Hedonic and Utilitarian Performance ...........................................................................31 Customer Satisfaction...................................................................................................33 Value.............................................................................................................................37 Behavioral Intention .....................................................................................................39 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................41 Research Model ............................................................................................................41 Research Hypotheses ....................................................................................................43 Research Design ...........................................................................................................49 Sampling .......................................................................................................................53 Data Analysis................................................................................................................55 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................59 Demographic Description of the Sample......................................................................59 Preliminary Analysis.....................................................................................................62 Structural Equation Modeling.......................................................................................65 Discussion.....................................................................................................................77 CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION .............................................................82 Summary of Research...................................................................................................82 iii Managerial Implications ...............................................................................................84 Limitations and Future Research ..................................................................................85 REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................87 APPENDIX A. COVER LETTER AND SURVEY INSTRUMENT ...............................104 APPENDIX B. HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL .........................................................112 APPENDIX C. CORRELATION MATRICES.................................................................113 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................116 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Definition and measurement of well-being......................................................13 Table 2.2. Summary of SWB studies ................................................................................23 Table 4.1. Characteristics of the restaurant customer sample ...........................................60 Table 4.2. Chi-square tests results of demographic variables between casual dining and fine dining restaurant respondents.............................................................61 Table 4.3. Kurtosis and skewness testing results ..............................................................63 Table 4.4. Reliability coefficients for the casual dining group .........................................66 Table 4.5. Reliability coefficients for the fine dining group.............................................67 Table 4.6. Convergent validity results for the casual dining respondents.........................71 Table 4.7. Convergent validity results for the fine dining respondents ............................72 Table 4.8. Discriminant validity results (squared correlation and average)......................74 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. Hypothesized framework .................................................................................42 Figure 4.1. Structural model for the casual dining restaurant group ..................................76 Figure 4.2. Structural model for fine dining restaurant group............................................77 vi ABSTRACT This research attempted to demonstrate the antecedents of Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and the effects of SWB, especially through the relationships among performance, satisfaction, value, SWB, and behavioral intention, in a dining out context. A conceptual model was developed and tested regarding the relationship between SWB-mediated satisfaction and value toward behavioral intention. The sample for this study consisted of fine dining (N = 157) and casual dining restaurant customers (N = 245). The proposed model was empirically tested through a field survey. Preliminary analyses, including kurtosis and skewness tests and internal consistency, were performed using SPSS 16.0. The proposed model and hypotheses tests were conducted using the LISREL 8.71 program. The results of preliminary analyses met the recommended guidelines suggested by previous studies. In confirmatory factor analysis, the overall fit of the measurement models was acceptable in both casual dining and fine dining restaurants. The structural model of both casual and fine dining groups exhibited an acceptable level of fit. However, for the hypothesis tests, both the casual and fine dining groups showed slightly different results. In casual dining restaurants, all path coefficients were statistically significant. In the fine dining group, satisfaction and value were driven only by utilitarian performance, but not by hedonic performance. SWB, a central concept examined in this study, was driven by customer satisfaction and value. Customer satisfaction, value, and SWB directly influenced customers’ behavioral intention, and SWB mediated satisfaction and value towards behavioral intention. vii These results provide valuable information for restaurateurs and managers following current trends seeking to satisfy customers’ needs. 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Happiness is generally everyone’s goal in which people pursue their happiness in everyday life. An America n survey revealed that people think about happiness, on average, at least once a day (Freedman, 1978). On that account, researchers have studied happiness for decades to understand what brings happiness to people. There are various reasons for seeking happiness. Happiness may come from the achievement of one’s personal life goals. Happiness can also be achieved from relative advantages in various living conditions such as a comfortable income, good health, a satisfying marriage, or lack of tragedy. People may even experience happiness from extreme and unexpected life events; for example, winning in the lottery (Lyubomirsky, 2001). Happiness can also be felt from small events in everyday life; for example,