Chapter one Introduction
1.1 Research Background
With the rapid development of Internet technology, mobile application has already become an indispensable part in modern daily life. People now can access effective information services through a downloadable application. Its rapid development not only impacts directly on the structure of business, but also changes people's daily life. More and more people have accepted the convenient of the electronic commerce while Food-ordering applications are also becoming popular for its unique convenience and immediacy.
In 2014, China’s Internet food take-away market scale has already surpassed 15 billion yuan and the order quantity has come to 370 million (23 June, 2015, Http://www.analysys.cn/report/detail/11581.html). Since more and more Food-ordering applications, such as Eleme, Baidu Waimai, are pouring into the Internet food take-away market, how to win among the fierce competition has become the major concern for Meituan Waimai Application.
1.2 Significance and purpose
Meituan Waimai Application is established in November 2013. After one year’s expansion, it has covered more than 250 cities all over the country. The maximum order quantity can come to more than 1.7 million in a single day (23 June, 2015, Http://www.analysys.cn/report/detail/11581.html).
In this case however, despite the rapid development stage Food-ordering applications enters, the ability for food industry to develop a new software still is at the low level. Most China’s Food-ordering applications employ western business-model for reference.
Since several Food-ordering applications have already emerged in Xuzhou, there are some difficulties for Meituan Waimai Application’s development. Customer satisfaction has always been seem as a key research element. As one of the main user group of Meituan Waimai Application, college students are chosen to be the research subject. College students are selected based on a variety of factors, but might be classified as “Their willingness of accept new things,” “The feature of their accommodation” and “The convenience for data collection.”
The thesis will study the factors which affect customer satisfaction among college students in Xuzhou. Analyzing college students’ satisfaction degree on each service can help Meituan Waimai Application find its own strengths and weaknesses. The thesis can also provide some favorable reference for Meituan Waimai Application’s development.
1.3 Methodology
Before starting the thesis, some background research have been done on Meituan Waimai Application. Some business information are found on its website. Based on the interview and information, questionnaires were sent out. The data collected by questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS19.0 and EXCEL 2007.
Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Customer Satisfaction
2.1.1The definition of Customer Satisfaction
Cardozo(1965) first describes customer satisfaction in marketing way in a paper called An Experimental Study of the Customer Effort, Expectation, and Satisfaction. He points out that customer satisfaction will spur customer repurchase behavior and bring fame(p.244-249). Howard & Sheth (1969) regrades customer satisfaction as the buyer’s psychological statement. Customer will judge the rationality of their cost and return(p.18). Oliver(1981)observes, customer satisfaction involves two cognitive variables: one is perceived performance; the other is the gap between customer expectation and perceived value(p.88-93). Customer satisfaction is a kind of emotional response based on particular product or service trade. Edwardson (1998) notes, “customer satisfaction is only a kind of consumption emotion”. When customer satisfaction is high, the repurchase intention will improve relatively(p.34-38).
“Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance in relation to the buyer’s expectations. In general, satisfaction is a person’s feelings to pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance(or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. If the performance falls short of expectation, the customer is dissatisfied.If the performance matches the expectations,the customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted ”( Kotler, 2003, p.61). 大学生美团外卖应用的顾客满意度研究(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_32287.html