NUTRITION AND DIETETICS AND HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT

The Level of Satisfaction of the Students of the University

of the Immaculate Conception on School Canteen
Emma Sagarino, Nathalie Rose Birondo, Kimberly Jane Omega,
Ivy Katherine Pansri, Jennifer Polinar,
Ivy Rose Quijano, and Kara Marilois Yap
Nutrition and Dietetics, Hotel and Restaurant Management
and Tourism Management
University of the Immaculate Conception

ABSTRACT

T
he University of the Immaculate Conception canteen at Fr. Selga
campus plays a very important role in providing food to the
employees and students. One of the functions of the canteen is
to provide a kind of service that will satisfy its clientele, hence this
investigation was conducted to assess whether the targeted customers
of the canteen are satisfied of its services. The survey, which utilizes
researchers-made validated and reliability-tested questionnaires,
covered 150 purposively chosen respondents who were equally
distributed among the five academic programs in the campus. T-test
and Analysis of variance were used to meaningfully analyze the data.
Results show that although generally the respondents are satisfied with
the school canteen in terms of marketing mix particularly product, price,
people and place there are still areas that need improvement. These
concerns include limitedness of variety of food and serving of viand
which are too salty, limited number of tables and chairs, insufficient
floor area and lack of ventilation, relatively unaffordable prices, and
lack of attentiveness and friendliness of the staff.

Keywords: Evaluation, student satisfaction, school canteen, marketing

mix, descriptive design, Davao City

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INTRODUCTION

The University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC) canteen at Fr.

Selga campus is noted to have a clean and wide space for its clientele
– the students and personnel. The canteen offers variety of food where
diners can choose from. The canteen usually opens at 8:00 o’clock in the
morning and closes at 5 o’clock in the afternoon; for breakfast, lunch
and snacks. The canteen is also accessible for the clientele because it is
within the school ground.

Despite of the evident good features of the UIC main campus

canteen, the clientele are heard of expressing some issues and concerns
and these include unreasonableness of price, limited choices of food,
small portion of serving and insufficient ventilation. With these concerns
presented and with no published articles regarding the assessment of the
satisfaction of the students on the UIC canteen services, the researchers
evaluated and assessed on how satisfied is the target market of the UIC
school canteen.

Customer satisfaction according to Andaleeb and Comway (2006) is

influenced most by responsiveness of the frontline employees, followed
by price and food quality. They have noted however, that physical
design and appearance of the restaurant did not have a significant
effect. Thus, this investigation will focus on the four Ps – Product, Price,
People, and Place. The researchers still included the place as it would
like to confirm whether the respondents find the environment of the
canteen convenient to dine with. The findings of this study may serve as
a basis for the feasibility of converting the conventional school canteen
set-up into a food court.

Theoretical Framework

The investigation is founded on Expectancy-Disconfirmation

Theory developed by Oliver (1977) who suggests that consumers form
satisfaction judgment by evaluating actual product/service. But prior

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to the purchase, the consumers have already set expectations. These

expectations are validated during the purchase, which serves as the
standard for evaluation leading to disconfirmation or judgment and
this judgment serves as the basis for satisfaction. In this study, the
respondents were able to possibly set standards as to dining places
particularly on school canteens which could be developed based on
their regular dining experiences in the place. Hence, they were a good
source of feedback in the evaluation.

Conceptual Framework

In this investigation, the level of satisfaction (dependent variable)

encompasses four Ps – product, price, people and place which are
aligned with certain components of the marketing mix (Zeithhaml,
1988). It was being conceived that the level of satisfaction may vary
depending on the personal factors – sex, year level and course (Figure
1). The product refers to the variety and provision of varied food and
drinks (Cartagena, 2014) and its appealing presentation. Price would
be limited to its reasonableness and affordability. As to people it
covered the efficiency and quality of service of the staff. While for place,
it encompassed the comfortableness, sufficiency of space, availability
of furniture, ventilation, cleanliness and quietness of the environment
(Jung, Lee and Oh, 2009).

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Personal Profile Level of Satisfaction

Sex Product
Year Level Price
Course People
Place

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study

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Primarily, this study aimed to determine the level of satisfaction

of students who patronize the school canteen and to test whether
their level of satisfaction significantly differ in terms of their profile.
Specifically, it sought to attain the following objectives, which is to
determine what is the profile of the respondents in terms of sex, course,
year level; the level of satisfaction of the respondents in the school
canteen services as regard to product, price, people and place, and to
test whether the respondents level of satisfaction significantly differ
when they are grouped according to sex, course and year level and to
identify the areas in canteen services that needs improvement.

METHOD

This study employs quantitative design specifically the descriptive-

comparative. This design is appropriate in the sense that the study
was intended to describe the level of satisfaction of the respondents
on the school canteen. More so, it attempted to compare their level of
satisfaction according to profile grouping.

The study was conducted at the University of the Immaculate

Conception particularly the campus in Father Selga Street, Davao
City where a canteen is available to college students and faculty.
This campus holds classes for six college academic programs – Music,
Nutrition and Dietetics and Hotel and Restaurant Management and
Tourism Management (ND/HRM/TM), Information Technology
Education, Pharmacy and Medical Laboratory Science (MLS). Nursing
was not included in the study. In terms of respondents, we conducted
a minimum of 30 students in our survey. Nursing had the lowest
average of students in which it didn’t met the required numbers that
the researchers needed.
Respondents

The 150 respondents coming from the five programs were

purposively chosen as only those who are eating in the canteen
were invited to be the respondents of the study. The researchers

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were attempted to fairly distribute the respondents among the five

programs. And for those 30 students, the researchers asked permission
to use at least three to five minutes of their time to answer the survey
questionnaire.

The primary data gathering instrument is adopted from a similar

study of a group of business students of UIC. The instrument has been
validated and reliability tested with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .896
which is interpreted as good. It is composed of three parts: the profile,
satisfaction and suggestion sections. The profile part is on a checklist
form, the satisfaction part utilizes a four-point Likert scale: 4 – highly
satisfied, 3 – satisfied, 2 – fairly satisfied and 1 – dissatisfied while the
last part provides for a space for suggestions for improvement.

Prior to data gathering, the researchers were able seek permission

from the Dean of College to conduct the survey among the target
respondents. Basically, the prospecting of respondents was done inside
the canteen. After which, the chosen respondents has been invited to
fill-in the questionnaire. The enumerator/researcher was able to look
over all items that must be answered and should be properly filled-up
before thanking the respondent.

Percentages were used for the presentation of profile, mean was

utilized to meaningfully present the satisfaction levels, and qualitative
responses for the factors that need improvement are categorized in
terms of product, place, price, and people. The level of satisfaction was
interpreted using the mean range illustrated below:

Range Description

1.00 - 1.75 Dissatisfied

1.76 - 2.50 Fairly Satisfied
2.51 - 3.25 Satisfied
3.26 - 4.00 Highly Satisfied

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Profile of the Respondents

Figure 2 presents the profile of the respondents and it showed

that there are more females (64%) as compared to males (36%). This
profile jives with the over-all population of the University – there are
more female students than males.

Figure 2. Sex of the respondents

In can be seen in figure 3 that the 150 respondents were equally

distributed five programs – ND/HRM/TM (30), Pharmacy (30), MLS
(30), Information Technology (30) and Music (30).

Figure 3. Program levels of the respondents

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It can be gleaned in figure 4 that majority of the respondents are

first year college students (61%). Moreover, second year and third year
are almost equal 34% and 31%, respectively.

Figure 4. Year level of the respondents

The Level of Satisfaction of the Student

in the UIC School Main Canteen

Data in table 1 shows that the respondents in general are satisfied

to the UIC Fr. Selga canteen (m=2.79). It means that the school canteen
management needs to discover and implement strategies to improve
their operation to increase the satisfaction level of their customers.

People as an indicator got a mean level of 3.03 which signifies

that respondents find the crew attentive and friendly. However,
among the four (4) P’s, the item that yielded the lowest is the Place
(m=2.54). This result could imply that they have some issues as regard
the place and this include the intensity of noise inside the canteen.
As observed, the canteen “patronizers” tend to extend their stay even
after completing their meals to chat, to discuss class-related topics, to
do their assignment, to play with their gadgets and many more. This
is a common scenario almost every day because of the limited student

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lounge in the Fr. Selga campus. Moreover, other issues pertaining to

place include insufficiency of ventilation; the ambiance is not conducive
for dining, and no enough tables and chairs.

Ambience in a dining place is an important element to satisfy the

customers. Accordingly, studies have shown that ambiance can affect
everything from perceptions to responsiveness and reliability that can
result to high levels of customer satisfaction (Dustin, n.d.).

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Table 1. Level of satisfaction of respondents on school canteen

Indicators Mean Description

Product
Presentation of food in the display cabinets 3.09 Satisfied
Cleanliness of Food 3.26 Highly Satisfied
Variety Of Food 2.83 Satisfied
Taste Of Food 2.84 Satisfied
Food Provision Of Nutritious Drinks Food 2.92 Satisfied
Provision Of Nutritious Drinks 2.89 Satisfied
Sub-Mean 2.97 Satisfied
Place
Comfortableness of the place 2.67 Satisfied
Space of the Dining Area 3.26 Highly Satisfied
Availability of the dining area 2.52 Satisfied
Ventilation Of Place 2.34 Satisfied
Cleanliness 2.85 Satisfied
Ambience of the Environment 2.62 Satisfied
Quietness of the Environment 2.17 Satisfied
Sub-Mean 2.54 Satisfied
Price
Affordability 2.63 Satisfied
Reasonableness 2.60 Satisfied
Sub-Mean 2.61 Satisfied
People
Attentiveness of the Staff 2.99 Satisfied
Friendliness of their Service Crew 3.09 Satisfied
Reasonableness of the Serving Time 3.01 Satisfied
Efficiency in Facilitating Payment Transaction 3.03 Satisfied

Sub-Mean 3.03 Satisfied

Over-All Mean 2.79 Satisfied

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Comparison of the Level of Satisfaction

To test the significant difference in their level of satisfaction, t-test was

used and the results are shown in Table 2. Data shows that a significant
difference exist in the level of satisfaction as regards to sex in favor of the
female group. It means that the male counterpart are more concern about
practicality which means that they want bigger serving of food particularly
with rice. This preference and behavior of male can be explained by
their need to consume more calories as compared to women. According
to Burgess (n.d), “men tend to be more physically powerful mass than
women thus need more calories just to maintain their existing weight.”

A male respondent in an interview had disclosed the following

observation he had with the school canteen – “balik-balik ang food”
(the food that being displayed does not vary everyday), “gamay ang
serving” (unreasonable volume of serving), “bahaw na bread usahay”
(some bread are seemed to be not freshly baked). He also added that
the canteen management are not innovative in coming up with variety
of choices like offering of combo meals and providing add-ons for free
such as soup and drinks.

Table 2. T-test in the level of satisfaction of the respondents as regard

to sex

Sex n x p-value Interpretation

Female 73 2.89 Significantly

.037
Male 31 2.69 Different

As regard to the concern whether the respondents differ in their

level of satisfaction when grouped according to program, the results of
the analysis are shown in table 3. In terms of product, the p-value of
.004 signifies that they significantly differ particularly the Pharmacy
and MLS in favor of the MLS group. It means that MLS students are
more satisfied as compared to the Pharmacy group.

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When it comes to place and price their satisfaction is of the same

level meaning they are all equally satisfied (p>.05). As to people, the
level of satisfaction of the UIC canteen students significantly differ
(p<.05) particularly the Pharmacy, MLS, IT, and Music in favor of the
MLS group. This result means that MLS group has significantly higher
level of satisfaction since this group probably has broader perspective in
life. This kind of perspective in life could be attributed to the immersion
program which allows them to experience living in a simple community.

Table 3. Analysis of variance in the level of satisfaction in the UIC school

main canteen when respondents are grouped according to program

Indicators n x p-value Interpretation

PRODUCT
ND/HRM/TM 30 3.03
PHARMACY 30 2.89
.004 Significantly
MLS 30 3.29
Different
IT 30 2.84
MUSIC 30 2.95
PLACE
ND/HRM/TM 30 2.53
Not
PHARMACY 30 2.49
.682 Significantly
MLS 30 2.68
Different
IT 30 2.54
MUSIC 30 2.47
PRICE
ND/HRM/TM 30 2.57
Not
PHARMA 30 2.53
.816 Significantly
MLS 30 2.77
Different
IT 30 2.62
MUSIC 30 2.63
PEOPLE
ND/HRM/TM 30 2.98
PHARMACY 30 2.94
MLS 30 3.40 .008 Significantly
IT 30 2.89 Different
MUSIC 30 2.95

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The level of satisfaction of the respondents was also compared

when they are categorized according to year level and the data are
shown in table 4. As regard to product there satisfaction is of the same
level (p>.05). It means that they are all satisfied in terms of the product
served in the canteen regardless of their year level. However in terms of
place, a significant difference exist in their level of satisfaction in favor
of the 3rd year. This result implies that the 3rd year is a lot more satisfied
as compared to the 4th year. The 4th year student could have higher level
of standards because of their longer exposure to different restaurants
or food outlets.

When it comes to price they did not significantly differ as manifested

by the p-value of .31 which is greater than .05. It could be noted however,
that when it comes to people there level of satisfaction is significantly
different particularly the 1st year and 3rd year group in favor of the 1st
year group. This result implies that the 1st year respondents are more
naïve as compared to the 3rd year in the sense that there exposure to
school canteens as college students is still limited.

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Table 4. Analysis of variance in the level of satisfaction when respondents

are grouped according to year level

Indicators n x p-value Interpretation

PRODUCT
First year 61 3.10
Not
Second year 34 2.92
.132 Significantly
Third year 31 2.89
Different
Fourth year 17 2.83
Fifth year 7 2.81
PLACE
2.59
First year
61 2.37
Second year Significantly
34 2.76 .049
Third year Different
31 2.35
Fourth year
17 2.41
Fifth year
7
PRICE
First year 61 2.67
34 2.56 Not
Second year
31 2.60 .312 Significantly
Third year
17 2.35 Different
Fourth year
Fifth year 7 3.07
PEOPLE
First year 61 3.19
Second year 34 3.00 .033 Significantly
Third year 31 2.81 Different
Fourth year 17 2.82
Fifth year 7 3.25

The respondents have indicated the following concerns in line with

product – limitedness of variety of food and serving of viand which
are too salty. As regard to place, they have noted the limitedness of
tables and chairs, insufficiency of the floor area and lack of ventilation;
as to pricing the respondents are hoping to find food that are more
affordable in the canteen; and with the manpower issues these include
lack of attentiveness and friendliness of the staff.

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Matrix 1. Areas that need improvement

Items Category

Variety of food (7) Product

Salty food (2)
More tables and chairs (16) Place
Expansion of area (34)
Ventilation (25)
Expensive (1) Price
Affordable (15)
Manpower (3) People
Attentiveness of the staff (2)
Friendliness of the staff (1)

Conclusion

It can be concluded that UIC main canteen “patronizers” are

satisfied in the school canteen. Female respondents are more satisfied
than their male counterparts. Among the programs covered in the
survey the Pharmacy, Music and ITE are noted to have lower level of
satisfaction as compared to other programs. Statistically data show that
the 4th year and 3rd year groups have lower level of satisfaction than
other groups.

Moreover, respondents feel the need for innovation to serve varied

menus that are regularly being changed on a daily basis. The floor
area of the school canteen must also be expanded to accommodate
more tables and chairs and ventilation must be enough to maintain its
coolness which could possibly result to better ambiance. Most of them
could have limited allowance for food thus they are expecting for more
affordable food serving as compared to those which are being served in
the nearby “carenderias.”

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Cartagena (2014). Are the foods and drinks in your school canteen
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John Burgess, “men tend to mass more than women and need
more calories just to maintain their existing weight.” Retrieved
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www.qoura.com/why-do-men-eat-more-than-women

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