Influence of customer personality on perceived attractiveness and similarity in a food service context

ABSTRACT Utilizing a customer style inventory, in this research we find that customer personality is associated with customer behavior in a food service context. We collected responses from 125 independent and 99 franchise coffee houses recruited using an online survey platform. Based on partial least-structured structural equation models, our findings demonstrate that brand and recreation consciousness influence both brand attractiveness and similarity. Impacts of quality consciousness on attractiveness and novelty consciousness on similarity are also found. Brand attractiveness leads to customer positive purchase intention toward the coffee houses. However, customer price consciousness and impulsiveness do not significantly influence positive behavior. Finally, we compare the impact of customer consumption styles on customer behavior between independent and franchise coffee houses. We observe higher impacts of quality consciousness among independent coffee house customers, whereas recreation consciousness is more influential among customers of franchise coffee houses.