The Impact of Web Quality on Consumer’s Offline Patronage Decision (With Special Reference to Casual Dining Restaurant Industry in Colombo).

Abstract

The role of web sites has grown significantly in recent years. Previously known for being a marketing tool to supplement the efforts of salespeople and retail outlets, web sites now fulfill a vital function in the consumer’s buying behavior. Web sites are frequently utilized because of their convenience, allowing browsers to visit 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provide potential customers the ability to comparison shop multiple brands and/or products. Previous research has shown that web sites can be an important tool for hospitality and tourism marketing. Oftentimes, restaurant companies are found in a position of embracing the presence of a company web site as the complete internet marketing solution. Restaurant websites appear to be fairly strong in providing information in a technologically savvy environment. The primary focus of this research is on web site quality of casual dining restaurants in Colombo to study its relationship with consumer offline patronage decision. Based on a sample of 188 respondents drawn from Colombo district, the study measured the relationship between web quality and patronage decision following the quantitative methodology of conducting research. Researcher utilized the questionnaire method as the mean of primary data collection. The results proved that there exists a moderately strong yet positive relationship between web quality and consumer offline patronage decision. This research will give industry practitioners some insight in to the perceptions regarding the quality of web sites and how it will generate more patrons to the business in order to allow the organizations to make changes to their web strategy accordingly.