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Full Length Research Paper
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The effects
of service quality and lifestyle on consumer choice of
channel types: The health food industry as an example
Chin-Hung Liu* and Wei-Shih Tsai
Department of Business Administration, National Chin-Yi
University of Technology, 35, Lane 215, Sec. 1, Chung-Shan
RD, Taiping City, Taichung County, 411 Taiwan, R. O. C.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
chungl@ncut.edu.tw.
Tel:
+886-4-2392-4505 ext. 7782 or 7715.
Fax: +886-4-2392-9584.
Accepted 30 April, 2010 |
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Abstract |
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Nowadays, many people have to live a bustling life, more and
more of them choose to eat out and eat fast food. The health
food industry is developing in a rapid pace. All kinds of
marketing channels are dedicated to the sale of health foods,
resulting from a significant reform of the structure of the
health food marketing channels. As competitions are intense and
multiple channels are available for consumers, how to identify
the factors affecting consumers’ choice of the health food
channels is an imperative issue for health food providers. This
study focuses on consumers of health foods in Taiwan as a
research subject. The questionnaire survey is executed by the
sampling method. The collected data was analyzed by using
statistical methods such as correlation analysis. The research
findings indicate: (1) Service quality has a significant and
positive relationship with choice of channel types; (2)
Satisfaction of service quality in the aspects of personnel
interaction and problem solving significantly influences
consumer’s choice of channel types; (3) Both price and leisure
factors of lifestyle significantly affect consumer’s choice of
channel types; and (4) Some demographic variables may
significantly influence consumer’s choice of channel types and
perception of service quality.
Key words:
Service quality, lifestyle, choice of channel type, health food
industry. |
