Empirical Analysis of Key Drivers of Student Satisfaction with University Catering Services: Application of the SERVQUAL Model

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_59How to use a DOI?

Keywords

SERVQUAL model; university cafeteria; service quality; student satisfaction; responsiveness

Abstract

Research Background and Purpose: University student cafeterias serve as vital logistical hubs supporting academic and research activities, where service quality directly impacts student satisfaction and campus belongingness. Using the ‘Cheery World’ cafeteria in Building O of Macau University of Science and Technology as a case study, this research employs the SERVQUAL model to diagnose service quality gaps and identify key drivers influencing overall student satisfaction. Our researching method focused on SERVQUAL evaluation framework, which was constructed, which included five dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy.

Our study has found three-dimensional discoveries: Firstly, students’ perceived service quality in the cafeteria generally falls short of expectations, particularly in assurance and reliability. Secondly, regression analysis revealed that responsiveness (P=0.455, p<0.001) is the strongest predictor of overall student satisfaction among the five SERVQUAL dimensions, demonstrating significantly greater explanatory power than other dimensions. Thirdly, correlation analysis confirmed strong positive correlations between responsiveness and reliability/assurance (r>0.7, p<0.001), indicating significant interactive effects among service dimensions.

What’s else, this study theoretically elucidates the pivotal role of responsiveness in university cafeteria services and its synergistic relationships with other service dimensions. Practically, it provides concrete recommendations for cafeteria managers, including establishing a “feedback-response” closed-loop management system, optimizing resource allocation during peak hours, and empowering frontline staff. These findings offer data-driven decision-making support for enhancing catering service quality in similar higher education institutions.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jiankai Hao
AU  - Jianhan Li
AU  - Yue-Ming Wu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/12
TI  - Empirical Analysis of Key Drivers of Student Satisfaction with University Catering Services: Application of the SERVQUAL Model
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 3rd International Conference on Applied Economics, Management Science and Social Development (AEMSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 609
EP  - 616
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_59
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_59
ID  - Hao2026
ER  -