Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) system on the development of customer engagement in the restaurant industry. This study is also aimed at investigating the impact of customer engagement on cognitive and affective commitment, behavioural loyalty, satisfaction, trust and involvement. We also expect to find a positive impact of customer engagement on other measurements such as revenue growth ratios, sales, frequency of visit, profitability, satisfaction, intentions to revisit, money spent per visit and word-of-mouth referral.

In order to validate the model, a survey was administered to Osco! restaurant and Sarah B. bar patrons. The results confirmed the validity of the scale, as well as the profile of the customers. This first round of data collection also confirmed the existence of a positive and significant relationship between customer engagement and the following variables: cognitive and affective commitment, behavioural loyalty, satisfaction and trust.

Then, following the implementation of the Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) system, a second survey was administered to the active members of the program. This confirmed the reliability of the scales once again and it highlighted the differences between the profiles of the customers and the SCRM members. The regression analysis also confirmed the positive and significant relationship between customer engagement and the following variables: behavioural loyalty, satisfaction and trust. The analysis of the financial results also confirms the impact of the Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) system on sales, revenue growth, profitability and average amount spent per visit.