A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON THE LEVEL OF SATISFACTION

OF THE GRADE 12 AdDU SHS LEARNERS WITH THE

QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY
THE SATELLITE CANTEENS

A Quantitative Research
presented to the Faculty of Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School

in partial fulfilment of the requirements in

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 and APPLIED INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION

Beluan, Yumilcka Rafhaella M.

Bunda, Gwyneth
Cacar, Rulyn Marie
Fernandez, Vincent Cedric
Ondap, Jasper Timoteo
Orilla, Jerome Ray
Pulma, Joshua Elijah
Ramos, Jireh Donn Felichi

Grade 12- ANCHIETA

ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Ronolfo Susalo Jr.

Research Adviser

February 2019
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
It is common knowledge for schools to have food service operations that

provide healthy and nutritious meals for the consumption of students as they attend

classes on a day to day basis. These food service operations are commonly located

in the canteen of a school. A canteen is a place where food is sold and served

within a certain area (Canteen, n.d.). According to Boquiren (n.d.), a canteen usually

has a staff that will run the whole operations of the place as well as interacting with

the customers by serving them their orders and attending to their needs. Running a

canteen pertains to hands-on preparation of food that will require attention to raw

materials, personal hygiene, kitchen hygiene, and proper food handling operation in

terms of storing food to avoid spoilage and probable food poisoning of the future

consumers (Cruz et al., 2018).

Moreover, a canteen is not only an area where anyone can eat but it is also a

place where an exchange of money for services occurs. Thus, running a canteen is

also equivalent to running a business. In line with the principles of customer

relationship management, running a business pertains that customer satisfaction

must be met in order to maintain a delightful customer relationship. Customer

satisfaction refers to the fulfilment that a customer gets whenever the service or

product provided by a certain firm lives up to his/her expectations (Business

Dictionary, n.d.).

A study conducted by Chang, Suki, and Tam in 2014 relates customer

satisfaction in a school cafeteria to four major factors namely; food quality, staff

performance, price fairness, and ambience. The quality of the food being prepared
by the canteen staff has food properties that are the best predictors of customer

satisfaction in terms of food services. Moreover, a cafeteria staff's behaviour often

affects a student's perception of the quality of service being provided to them.

Additionally, price fairness refers to the customer's assessment of whether or not

the product's price is reasonable, justifiable and acceptable. On the other hand,

Chang, Suki, and Tam (2014) also state that ambience refers to the setting where

the cafeteria is located as well as the spatial arrangement of table and chairs in line

with the food service operations. Ambience may also refer to the sanitation of a

cafeteria. The sanitation of a food establishment can highly affect the perception of

the customer on the service quality of such firm.

In the Philippines, Department of Education Order No. 8 of 2007 states that

canteens should serve as a venue for the development of proper and healthy eating

habits of the students (Cruz et al., 2018). In line with this, Presidential Decree No.

856 Code on Sanitation of the Philippines declares that sanitation requirements

should be met by establishments offering food services. It also specifies

requirements for food handlers in order to maintain a high standard of sanitation and

necessary health measures. Furthermore, Cruz et al. (2018) emphasizes that this

declaration from the government reflects the responsibilities of the canteens to

handle food properly and to provide safe food to students. Poor handling of food can

greatly affect the quality of food being served to customers. This may also lead to

affect the other factors that are in line with the achievement of customer satisfaction.

Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) is an institution that is no longer alien to

the existence of school canteens. AdDU is a school that has huge buildings which

has satellite canteens on specific floors. The grade 12 learners, who are situated in

the Finster building of the campus, purchase products and services from these
satellite canteens on a day to day basis. With this, it is imperative for this study to be

conducted as it will serve as an aid to the service providers of the satellite canteens

to improve their service quality by providing a firsthand account of the level of

satisfaction of their customers. Given that, this paper aims to determine the level of

satisfaction of the grade 12 learners on the satellite canteens situated in the Finster

building of AdDU. The limited number of studies conducted on satisfaction levels of

the satellite canteens in AdDU have interested the researchers to dig into this

phenomenon.

Review of Related Literature and Studies

In this section, the researchers will discuss the related literature on the

study, the definition of school satellite canteens, the sub-variables of the level of

satisfaction, and the purpose of this study.

In college and universities, many students rely on their school canteens for

their snacks and lunches. School canteens play an important role in contributing to

students’ food intake and nutrition (Commonwealth of Australia, 2013). As the needs

of teenagers and young adults are greater compared to children and adults, their

food requirements are used for growth and for development activities. Therefore, it is

important for these school canteens to provide quality service, accessibility and also

clean facilities for students to assist in making healthy food choices (Mensink,

Schwinghammer & Smeets, 2012). Canteens serve not only to provide meals but to

also educate and cultivate healthy food choices and habits within the students.

Canteens provide services to the entire school community. School canteens

have an impact in school life through the canteens’ provision of important dietary

requirements to students and even to the school staff (eduflow, 2013). As such, a

school’s performance can be affected by the quality of canteen services. A study

conducted by Maddock, Warren and Worsley (2018) state that school canteens

mostly offer services at lunchtime and during recess periods. However, they also

recognized that some schools also offer food services before classes begin; thus,

some school canteens also offer services for breakfast meals.

However, AdDU has a unique system of school canteens. AdDU utilizes

satellite canteens on certain floors of the school's buildings. Satellite canteens are

like pseudo-independent food establishments that serve almost the same thing as

what the main establishment offers. These establishments belong to one of the

strategies that a business utilizes to expand its location and generate greater profits

(Ashe-Edmunds, 2018). Granted that, AdDU's satellite canteens provide similar food

services as what most school canteens offer which are particularly recess and lunch

meals. In line with the principles of marketing, it is known that services being offered

vary in quality regardless of brand name, as such, independence of such institutions

calls for a minor difference in management and overall service and product quality

which serves as a challenge towards brand uniformity (Niblock, 2017). Customer

satisfaction also rests on the perceived service quality displayed by the main

establishment. Failure to meet or exceed these expectations can result to adverse

effects towards customer satisfaction.

Level of Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction, according to Fornell, Johnson, Anderson, Cha, and

Bryant (1996) as cited in the study of Khadka and Maharjan (2017), refers to the

overall judgement in line with the consumption experience of customers with the

good or service over time. Additionally, this is not only influenced by product features

and quality but also by the price and the various personal and situational factors. In

line with the study conducted by Chang, Suki and Tam (2014), customer satisfaction
rests on four major factors namely: food quality, staff performance, price fairness,

and ambience.

Food Quality

Food quality pertains to the quality characteristics of food such as texture,

appearance and flavour that are acceptable to the customers (2018, STANDS4

LLC). Hwang et al. (2003) and Qin and Prybutok (2009), as cited in the study of

Chang, Suki and Tam (2014), state that properties of food can be the best predictor

of customer satisfaction. In addition, a customer's satisfaction on price, food safety,

and the environment is dependent towards the food quality offered (Mohaydin,

Chand, Aziz, Bashir & Irfan, 2017). As such, the degree of satisfaction of school

canteens lies mostly on the quality of food and the diversity of meal and snack items.

Staff Performance

Employees of a certain business institution are the ones in direct contact with the

customers and are the ones making connections between the establishment and its

target customers (Turkay & Sengul, 2014). The way the service is performed by

employees affects customers' perceptions regarding service quality (Paulin et al,

2000 as cited in Turkay & Sengul 2014). According to Barlett and Han (2007), as

cited in Chang, Suki and Tam (2014), student-staff interactions such as friendly

gestures and high responsiveness affect and influence students' satisfaction

regarding the goods and services being offered.

Price Fairness

According to the study of Chang, Suki and Tam (2014), customers make

comparisons between their current payment and their normative expectation;

customers try to evaluate whether the payment is higher or lower than the perceived
price. Price fairness, also known as “payment equity”, is the customer’s perceived

fairness of price or usage trade-off (Martin-Consuegra et al., 2007; Oliver and Swan,

1989 as cited in Chang, Suki and Tam, 2014). Moreover, Oliver and Swan (1989), as

cited in Chang, Suki and Tam (2014), assert that the more equitable customers

perceive the price to be, the more satisfied they will be with the goods or services

being offered. Thus, price fairness or payment equity can be a factor influencing

customer satisfaction.

Ambience

Customer satisfaction does not only rest on how good the food is and how it is

delivered by the staff but also on the place where the food is presented. Stroebelle

and De Castro (2004) state that eating takes place in an environmental stimulus

known as ambience. As such, one's satisfaction in eating can be influenced by the

many external factors present in an establishment. According to Story et al. (2008),

these factors can refer to influences within the individual's immediate settings, such

as the package, plate shape, lighting, and dining companions.

Related Studies

A study conducted by Hanif, Hafeez and Riaz (2010) on the factors affecting

customer satisfaction in Rawalpindi City, Pakistan concluded that customer

satisfaction is very significant in a business because it adds value to the brand by

creating a good reputation from the customers’ positive impressions on the products

offered. In addition, Hanif, Hafeez and Riaz (2010) also concluded that price fairness

plays a very important role in meeting a customer’s satisfaction. This is because

once a customer deems a product’s price compatible and fair with the value it offers,

this will affect a customer’s repurchase decision. Moreover, a study conducted by

Bassey (2014) on The Effect of Perceived Price Fairness on Customer Satisfaction

and Loyalty in North Cyprus also asserts that customers who are satisfied with the

price of the product show high willingness to repurchase products from the same

business at higher costs. On the other hand, a study conducted by Chang, Suki and

Tam (2014) on the Student Satisfaction with the Service Quality of Cafeteria in

Malaysia determined that students' level of satisfaction is influenced more by food

quality than by staff performance, price fairness and ambience. The food quality

being referred to here is in terms of food handling being done by the canteen staff in

terms of cleanliness while serving the food, careful handling and storing of the food

and menu variation.

In the Philippines, a study conducted by Boquiren (n.d) in Caloocan City

determined that students who avail services from school canteens consider the price

of the product the most when determining their level of satisfaction. Additionally, the

students' level of satisfaction is also determined by staff performance through the

fast pace of service being provided by the canteen staff as well as the positive

behaviour that they exhibit.

A research conducted by Yumul et al. (2014) in Tarlac State University

suggested that canteens can maintain student satisfaction by preserving good

ambience, clean facilities and high food quality. Furthermore, a systematized and

prioritized staff performance is also a way to help meet the students' satisfaction with

the services provided by canteens. However, the students were commonly

dissatisfied with the price that the products came with especially because the

amount of the products were not enough to live up to the value of its price. With this,

Yumul et al. (2014) recommended that canteens should place their price range

within the amount that students can afford.

 With all of these mentioned, it can be observed that these studies were

concentrated on canteens; however, no study had focused on satellite canteens

that are also existing in some establishments, particularly in AdDU. Satellite

canteens, although they are an extension of the main canteen, can still have a

difference in terms of service provision to its customers. Because of this, the level of

satisfaction between the main canteen and satellite canteens may vary. Therefore,

this study aims to fill in the gap that was not identified by the previous studies and

that is to give recognition to the level of satisfaction of students who purchase

products from satellite canteens.

Theoretical Framework

According to the Assimilation Theory of Consumer Satisfaction using

Festinger’s theory of dissonance (1957) as basis for the theory, consumers tend to

make a comparison between the expectation of a product or service and the

product’s perceived performance. If there is a difference between the consumer’s

expectation of the product and the product’s perceived performance, it would create

a dissonance –the customer or consumer would be dissatisfied as to the product or

service that they bought. Additionally, Anderson (1973) states that customers avoid

dissatisfaction by adjusting their perception about a certain product and its

perceived performance to meet their expectation. Basically, customers lower their

expectation about a certain product to avoid such dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the

equity theory of consumer satisfaction, as explained by Shodhganga Research

(n.d.), emphasizes that the transaction of both parties must be equal. This means

that the customer or consumer should receive a product with the same quality or

value as to what they have paid.

 In line with the theories of consumer satisfaction to the study, it represents as

a basis for understanding the level of satisfaction that grade 12 students of AdDU

SHS feel or receive after buying products or availing services in the AdDU – Jacinto

Campus.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of

the Study
The conceptual framework represents the variable that will be used in the

study which is the level of satisfaction of the grade 12 students of AdDU SHS

regarding the food quality, staff performance, price fairness of the products, and

ambience in the satellite canteens of the Finster Building in Ateneo de Davao

University – Jacinto Campus.

Statement of the Problem

The grade 12 learners of AdDU SHS purchase goods and services that are

being sold by the satellite canteens that the school offers for each floor. Each

satellite canteen has their own goods and quality of services that can set a specific

level of satisfaction for grade 12 learners. This study aims to find out how each

satellite cafeteria can improve their services and contribute more to the satisfaction

of grade 12 learners.

The following questions have been formulated as a guide for this study:
 1. What are the services that the grade 12 learners of AdDU SHS avail from

satellite canteens?

2. What is the level of satisfaction of the grade 12 learners of AdDU SHS to the

services provided by the satellite canteen per floor in terms of:

2.1 Food quality

2.2 Staff performance

2.3 Price fairness

2.4 Ambience

3. Which variable of customer satisfaction should satellite canteens of AdDU

SHS focus on to improve their service quality?

Significance of the Study

This study aims to provide relevant information about the satisfaction level of

Grade 12 Senior High School learners of AdDU towards the services of satellite

canteens, specifically those learners who purchase their food at their designated

floor canteens. This study is significant because it benefits the learners, canteen

owners, future researchers, and AdDU.

For the learners, this study will give the students substantial information about

what and how canteen services should be delivered. It shows them where they are

and how big of a role they play in this situation. With the learners being the main

recipient of satellite canteen services, it is important that they know how much of an

impact the level of satellite canteen services have in their student lifestyle.

For the canteen owners, this study will give them additional knowledge on how

canteen services must be delivered to their customers. Moreover, the study will
equip the owners with better decision-making skills and engage in a better course of

action that will maximize customer satisfaction.

For the future researchers, this study will enlighten them towards the subject of

satisfactory level of senior high school students. This will also prompt to open new

questions which can improve studies that are related to the satisfactory level of

customers towards the satellite canteens. Moreover, the information that the

researchers gathered can be used as a future basis for new research studies. The

research conducted will be open for further development.

For the school, this study is significant as being the sanctioning authority over

these satellite canteens gives them the responsibility to ensure that the service being

provided by these establishments meet the needs and expectations of the students.

With how much of an impact satellite canteens have over the performance of not just

the students but of the institution as a whole, it is equally important that they possess

knowledge of the standards and perceptions of the learners towards satellite canteen

services.

Scope and Delimitation

This study is descriptive in nature and attempts to determine the level of

satisfaction of the grade 12 learners of AdDU SHS on the service quality of the

satellite canteens in Finster building in terms of food quality, staff performance, price

fairness, and ambience. This study will utilize a proportionate stratified random

sampling where the researchers will get the same number of participants from the

three varying strands of the grade 12 learners. A proportionate stratified random

sampling will be used to avoid having a concentrated number of participants from a

specific strand. The primary data gathering method used was through a survey-
questionnaire to determine the learners’ level of satisfaction on the services offered

by the satellite canteens in the Finster building.

Definition of Terms

The following definitions for the respective terms were used operationally in this

study:

Satellite Canteen – A business that offers different varieties of food.

Satisfaction – It refers to the fulfilment of one's wishes, expectations, or needs

Food quality - it is the value of food products.

Ambience – The feeling or emotion derived from the environment based on how

furniture is situated and the overall sanitation of the area

Price fairness – The price of a product that is deemed reasonable by the customer

Staff performance – This refers to the overall performance of the employees that

are delivering services to consumers.

References:

Journal Articles

Mensink, F., Schwinghammer, S., & Smeets, A. (2012). The healthy school canteen
programme: a promising intervention to make the school food environment
healthier. Retreieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3368483/ on December 2,
2018

Khadka K. & Maharjan S. (2017). Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Retreived from
https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/139650/khadka_kabu%20%20
and%20%20maharjan_%20soniya.pdf?sequence=1 on December 2, 2018

Chang, M. , Tam, A. , & Suki N. (2014). Student satisfaction with the service quality
of cafeteria: a structural approach. Retreived from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266563244_STUDENT_SATISFAC
 TION_WITH_THE_SERVICE_QUALITY_OF_CAFETERIA_A_STRUCTURAL
_APPROACH on December 2, 2018

De Castro, JM. (2004). Effect of ambience on food intake and food choice. Retrieved
from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15325695

Mohaydin, G., Chand, A., Aziz, B., Bashir, M., & Irfan, J. (2017). International Journal
of New Technology and Research (IJNTR). Effect of food quality on customer
perceived satisfaction level and mediating effect of food safety on them,3(1),
34-41. Retrieved December 2, 2018, from
https://www.ijntr.org/download_data/IJNTR03010006.pdf.

Turkay, O. & Sengul, S. (2014). Employee behaviors creating customer satisfaction:

a comparative case study on service encounters at a hotel. Retreived from
http://www.ejthr.com/ficheiros/2014/Volume5/EJTHR_Vol5_2_Art2_Oguz.pdf
on December 2, 2018

Shodhganga Research. (n.d.). Conceptual framework of customer satisfaction.

retrieved from
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://shodhganga.i
nflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/100409/7/07_chapter%25204.pdf on December
1, 2018

Isac, F. & Rusu, S. (2014). Theories of consumer’s satisfaction and the

operationalization of the expectation disconfirmation paradigm. Retreived from
http://www.utgjiu.ro/revista/ec/pdf/2014-02/10_Isac,%20Rusu%201.pdf on
December 1, 2018

Websites

Australian Government:Department of Health. (2013). Role of the school canteen in

contributing to a health promoting school. Retrieved
from:http://health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/canteen-
mgr-tr1~role-school-canteen

Pilgrim T. (2013). School canteens are important. Retreived from

https://eduflow.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/school-canteens-are-important/ on
December 2, 2018
Ashe-Edmunds, S. (n.d.). Strategies for business expansion. Retreived from
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/strategies-business-expansion-74152.html
on December 2, 2018

Niblock R. (2017). Why franchise brand consistency is so important for business.

Retreived from https://www.proactive.marketing/franchise-brand-consistency/
on December 2, 2018

STANDS4 LLC. (2018). Food quality. Retrieved from

https://www.definitions.net/definition/food+quality