Honors Theses

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Nutrition and Hospitality Management

First Advisor

Laurel Lambert

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate students' satisfaction with and importance of nine attributes of three unique all-you-can-eat university dining facilities at the University of Mississippi, the Grill at 1810, Marketplace at the Residential College, and the Rebel Market. The attributes included food quality, service quality, variety of menu items, cleanliness, nutritional content, availability of healthy options, location, atmosphere/environment, and image/reputation. Additionally, the study evaluated students' satisfaction with each university dining facility overall, the students' satisfaction versus importance at each facility. This information was used to determine attributes that may need improving within each university dining facility and areas that are performing well. A survey was distributed to students from October 19 to 25, 2015 during the hours of 11:00AM to 1:00PM. There were 341 surveys returned with 16 being excluded due to incomplete answers, resulting in a total of 325 for the final count. Results showed that student participants were significantly more satisfied overall with the Grill. The Grill was significantly more satisfactory in seven of the nine several attributes (food quality, service quality, variety of menu items, cleanliness, nutritional content, availability of healthy options, and image/reputation) compared to both the Rebel Market and Marketplace. The Rebel Market was significantly more satisfactory for two of the attributes (variety of menu items and food quality) compared to Marketplace. Students' ranking of the importance of attributes showed no significant differences. In all three university dining facilities, satisfaction was significantly less than importance for food quality, service quality, and variety of menu options indicating these are the areas in which management needs to focus the most.

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Nutrition Commons

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