Recipes for Better Customer Satisfaction in Internet-Famous Drinks Shops: A Fuzzy-Set QCA Approach

Abstract

This study develops a five-dimension customer satisfaction scale for the Internet-famous drink industry and investigates the asymmetric impact of different dimension combinations on customer satisfaction. Through a content analysis of 24,581 online reviews, we identify 22 items across five dimensions describing the unique features of this industry. Then, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method was performed to analyze the responses from an offline survey of 1,012 consumers. Findings show that, as a dissatisfier, environmental quality is mainly responsible for customer dissatisfaction. Combined with environmental quality or service quality, as a satisfier, customer engagement in social media played a prominent role in improving customer satisfaction. Additionally, service quality is not essential when brand and culture, drink attributes, environmental quality, and customer engagement in social media are performed well. Our findings advance current theorizations on customer satisfaction in the food and beverage sector and offer managerial implications for managers of Internet-famous tea shops.