ABSTRACT
Foodservice providers in Hong Kong have been trying to get a share of the university market due to the increasing demand from university students in recent years. Though competition is high among foodservice firms, little research on customers' needs and levels of satisfaction has been carried out. The purpose of the study was to assess customers' expectations of and satisfaction with foodservice at three universities. A survey was conducted in spring 1996, and 292 questionnaires were completed and used for analysis. The results of the survey indicate that food quality, price, hygiene and food variety were the crucial factors that strongly affect customers' satisfaction levels. Service quality, on the other hand, was not a significant attribute in this context. The findings also suggest that there is a positive correlation between customers' satisfaction levels and their perceptions of the service providers' performance: the higher the perceived performance level, the higher the level of customer satisfaction. It is, therefore, imperative that food service contractors maintain a continuous improvement program for their operations, so that they do not lose their contracts to competitors.