Food Quality as a Determinant of Student Satisfaction in Higher Education Food Courts
Keywords:
taste, freshness, temperature, healthy option, student satisfactionAbstract
This study examines the relationship between food quality attributes (taste, freshness, temperature, and healthy options) and student satisfaction in university food courts at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Pulau Pinang Branch. Drawing upon service quality theory and expectation-confirmation perspectives, the study employs a quantitative cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 132 students using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics and regression. The findings indicate that all four food quality attributes are significantly and positively associated with student satisfaction, with taste emerging as the strongest predictor. Freshness and temperature also demonstrate substantial positive relationships, while healthy options contribute meaningfully to overall satisfaction. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining high food quality standards to enhance students’ campus dining experiences. Practical implications for university food service management are discussed.
References
Akbara, A. Z., Chua, B. L., Han, H., & Raposo, A. (2021). Investigating International Students’ Perception of Foodservice Attributes in Malaysian Research Universities. Sustainability, 13(15), 8190. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158190
Akter, M., Sadekin, M. N., & Patwary, A. K. (2020). An Empirical Study on Students’ Satisfaction from Mawlana Bhashani Science & Technology University, Bangladesh. Review of Economics and Development Studies, 6(2), 363-379. https://doi.org/10.47067/reads.v6i2.215
Andaleeb, S., & Caskey, A. (2007). Satisfaction with Food Services. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 10(2), 51-65. https://doi.org/10.1300/J369v10n02_04
Bashir, M. A. A., Ariffin, H. F., Baba, N., & Mantihal, S. (2013). The impact of food quality and its attributes on customer satisfaction at Malay restaurants. In Hospitality and Tourism: Synergizing Creativity and Innovation in Research (p. 175). CRC Press.
Green, B., & Nachtigal, D. (2012). Somatosensory factors in taste perception: Effects of active tasting and solution temperature. Physiology & Behavior, 107(4), 488-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.05.010
Haque, A. K. M. A., Afroza, K., Kabir, S. M. H., & Maruf, T. I. (2024). Students’ satisfaction towards cafeteria foods: Evidence from Malaysian public universities. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 16(2), 192-210. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTEL.2024.137834
Khalid, K., Sumantry, N., Bakar, N., Anuar, J., & Musa, M. (2025). Exploring Factors Influencing Students’ Satisfaction at Arked Meranti, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Information Management and Business Review, 17(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v17i1(i)s.4439
Lee, J., & Whaley, J. (2018). Determinants of dining satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 28(3), 351-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2019.1523031
Lemon, C. (2021). Tasting temperature: neural and behavioral responses to thermal stimulation of oral mucosa. Current Opinion in Physiology, 20, 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2020.12.005
Li, X., Braakhuis, A., Li, Z., & Roy, R. (2022). How does the university food environment impact student dietary behaviors? A systematic review. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, 840818. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.840818
Luong, T., & Hussey, J. (2022). Customer Satisfaction with Food Quality in Buffet Restaurants in Vietnam. Events and Tourism Review, 5(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.18060/26117
Misiran, M., Yusof, Z. M., Sapiri, H., & Abdullah, I. (2022). Students satisfaction towards cafeteria in university campus – A case study. Journal of Statistical Modelling and Analytics, 4(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.22452/josma.vol4no1.1
Mohd Fauzi, N. F., & Rusali, R. (2024). Student Satisfaction with On-Campus Cafeteria Services at a University in Kuantan, Pahang. International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 8(4), 3121-3132. https://doi.org/10.31436/ijahs.v8i4.949
Namkung, Y., & Jang, S. (2007). Does Food Quality Really Matter in Restaurants? Its Impact On Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 31(3), 387-409. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348007299924
Ndraha, N., Hsiao, H., Vlajic, J., Yang, M., & Lin, H. (2018). Time-temperature abuse in the food cold chain: Review of issues, challenges, and recommendations. Food Control, 89, 12-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.01.027
O’Donnell, A. J., Mansfield, D., Loiacono, B., Withington, M. H., Cory, M., Sagan, D., & Buscemi, J. (2022). Barriers and facilitators to high school meal program participation: a qualitative study of students and their caregivers. Journal of School Health, 92(12), 1186-1193. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13214
Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17(4), 460-469. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378001700405
Raihen, M., Akter, S., & Sardar, M. (2023). Food Satisfaction among Students: A Study of Present Public University Students in Bangladesh. Journal of Mathematics and Statistics Studies, 4(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.32996/jmss.2023.4.1.1
Sadekin, N., Akter, M., Hassan, M., Romli, A., & Melan, M. (2020). A Conceptual Model of Students Food Satisfactions’ on University Canteen Food Service Attributes. Solid State Technology, 63(2), 1393-1401.
Serhan, M., & Serhan, C. (2019). The Impact of Food Service Attributes on Customer Satisfaction in a Rural University Campus Environment. International Journal of Food Science, 2019, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2154548
Smith, R. A., White-McNeil, A., & Ali, F. (2020). Students’ perceptions and behavior toward on-campus foodservice operations. International Hospitality Review, 34(1), 13-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/IHR-06-2019-0009
Sriyalatha, M., & Kumarasinghe, P. (2021). Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention towards Fast Food Restaurants in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 11(5), 12-19. https://doi.org/10.31033/ijemr.11.5.12
Sulek, J., & Hensley, R. (2004). The Relative Importance of Food, Atmosphere, and Fairness of Wait. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 45(3), 235-247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880404265345
Sullivan, G. M., & Artino Jr, A. R. (2013). Analysing and interpreting data from Likert-type scales. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 541-542. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-13-00354.1
Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed., pp. 481-498). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd
Wongsunopparat, S., & Yunjia, Z. (2022). Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior Focusing on LAZADA, SHOPPEE and JD. Business and Economic Research, 12(2), 117-134. https://doi.org/10.5296/ber.v12i2.19725
Wooten, R., Lambert, L. G., & Joung, H. W. (2018). Evaluation of students’ satisfaction with three all-you-can-eat university dining facilities. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 21(5), 539-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2018.1483691
Yago, C. S. (2025). Service efficiency and students satisfaction in school canteen: Basis for service enhancement. International Research Journal of Educational Technology, 8(8), 739-748. https://doi.org/10.70127/irjedt.vol.8.issue08.739
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gading Journal for the Social Sciences (e-ISSN 2600-7568)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
License Terms
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
