Symposia & Conferences
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Item The Role of Service Quality on Customer Repurchase Intention of Fast Foods by Examining the Mediation of Customer Satisfaction(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Anuradha, P. A.; Gunawardane, W. A. D. N. R.The fast-food industry in Sri Lanka, particularly in the Western Province, has experienced remarkable growth over recent years. Franchised fast-food restaurants are becoming a dominant segment in this rapidly evolving market. This competitive environment necessitates that businesses prioritize exceptional service quality to ensure customer satisfaction and increase repurchase intentions. The primary objective of this study is to examine the role of service quality in influencing consumer repurchase intentions, with a particular focus on franchised fast food restaurants in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. This study was conducted using a quantitative research design and relied on collecting primary data through survey administration of a pre-set questionnaire to 400 respondents through a convenience sampling method. Data analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics and involved describing the demographics of respondents along with key variables. The study’s findings underscore the significant and positive impact of all five dimensions of the DINESERV model on customer satisfaction. Among these, tangibility and reliability emerged as the most critical dimensions influencing customer perceptions of service quality. Additionally, customer satisfaction was found to strongly mediate the relationship between service quality and repurchase intentions. These results align with previous studies while also offering new insights specific to the Sri Lankan fast-food context, particularly in the franchised restaurant segment.Item The Impact of Customer Experience on E-Word of Mouth in the Local Cafe Industry in Sri Lanka(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Dilshan, U. G. H.; Udara, S. W. I.This research examines the impact of customer experiences on electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) within the thriving cafe industry of Sri Lanka. In the scope of digital marketing, understanding and leveraging e-WOM is crucial for enhancing customer engagement and securing a competitive edge. However, with its growing importance, there is a notable lack of empirical study on how various aspects of the customer experience namely, the physical environment, aesthetic appeal, and service quality, affect e-WOM, particularly in Sri Lanka. A thorough review of existing literature highlights this shortage, indicating a significant opportunity for focused research to uncover the dynamics between customer experience facets and e-WOM. Grounded in a positivist research philosophy, the study embraces a deductive approach to test hypotheses derived from established theories. Utilising a cross-sectional survey design, the research captures data from 391 participants through a carefully constructed questionnaire, based on prior academic work. This questionnaire investigates various dimensions of customer experience that potentially influence e-WOM, ranging from environmental aesthetics to service responsiveness. The sampling strategy employed was convenience sampling, aimed at efficiently collecting data from respondents who frequent cafes, ensuring that the sample was representative of typical cafe consumers. Data collection was executed through online platforms and direct interactions to widen the research's scope and enhance the reliability of the findings. For data analysis, the study employed SPSS software, utilising regression analysis techniques to explore the strength and significance of the relationship between the studied variables. The results of the analysis reveal a strong positive correlation between the quality of customer experience and the likelihood of customers engaging in e-WOM. Each individual dimension of customer experience (environment, aesthetic experience, and service quality) independently demonstrated a significant positive impact on e-WOM. These findings underscore the critical importance of holistic customer experience management in cafes, suggesting that enhancing these aspects can significantly encourage positive e-WOM. Managerially, the findings of this study are invaluable, offering clear strategies for cafe owners and marketers to enhance customer experience and effectively promote e-WOM. The empirical results of this study contribute significantly to the limited scholarly resources on e-WOM within Sri Lanka's café industry. By providing these insights, the study lays a solid foundation for future research and offers practical approaches that can be employed immediately. These strategies are particularly crucial in the digital age, where online word-of-mouth can significantly influence public perception and consumer behaviour. Implementing the recommended changes could improve customer satisfaction, increase loyalty, and ultimately, bring greater business success to the competitive cafe market. However, the research recognises limitations in its design, primarily the study's cross-sectional nature, which may not capture evolving trends over time. To address these issues, future studies are encouraged to adopt a longitudinal approach. Such an approach would allow researchers to track the progressive impact of customer experience improvements on e-WOM over extended periods. This continuous study may give more precise insights, allowing café owners and marketers to successfully refine digital marketing efforts. Longitudinal data enables businesses to better understand the long-term effects of their customer experience strategies, respond to changes in consumer behaviour, and improve overall business success in the dynamic café industry.Item Effect of Perceived Quality Assurance on Customer Loyalty in Automobile After-Sales Services: Investigating the Mediating Role of Customer Relationship Management(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Perera, G. M. V. D.; Jayawardene, S. M.This research investigates the impact of perceived quality assurance (PQA) on customer loyalty (CL) in the automotive after-sales service sector in Sri Lanka, focusing on the mediating role of customer relationship management (CRM). Sri Lanka’s unique market dynamics, marked by high vehicle ownership costs and reliance on after-sales services, create a critical need for customer retention strategies. This study addresses the discrepancies in the literature regarding the mediating role of CRM in strengthening the relationship between service quality dimensions touch, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy and customer loyalty. Previous scholars have highlighted how integrating quality assurance practices and CRM contributes to sustainable customer engagement and loyalty. In developing countries such as Sri Lanka, the quality of after-sales service is critical for automobile customer loyalty because vehicles are often repaired and used for a long time due to the high purchase cost. Hence, the engagement of automobile customers with aftersales services is very high in countries such as Sri Lanka. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how CRM activities mediate the relationship between perceived service quality and customer loyalty of automobile aftersales industry. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between perceived quality assurance and customer loyalty in automobile aftersales services with special reference to Sri Lanka. A quantitative research approach was adopted using a structured survey distributed to a sample of 400 vehicle customers in Sri Lanka. Data collection targeted key dimensions of service quality, CRM practices, and loyalty indicators. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis, was performed using SPSS software. Hypotheses were developed based on a conceptual framework integrating PQA, CRM, and CL and were tested to determine the strength and direction of relationships among the variables. The results confirm that all dimensions of perceived service quality significantly affect customer loyalty, with assurance and reliability showing the highest impact. CRM emerged as an important mediator, enhancing the impact of reliable quality assurance on loyalty. The findings are consistent with the existing literature, highlighting the importance of service quality dimensions in driving loyalty while expanding knowledge by emphasizing the mediating role of CRM. This study reaffirms the need to integrate robust CRM systems to bridge quality gaps and develop deeper customer relationships. Demographic results indicated that most of the participants were male, had been associated with service providers for more than seven years and lived in the western Province. Cronbach’s Alpha and KMO values were applied to assess the internal reliability and validity of items: all Cronbach’s Alpha values, and all KMO values were above the accepted criteria. Pearson coefficient yielded positive correlation between responsiveness, empathy, and customer loyalty where responsiveness and empathy were most correlated with each other with correlation coefficients higher than 0.7. Estimated results of the regression analysis showed that perceived quality assurance had a very significant positive influence on the dependent variable, customer loyalty and mediating role of CRM. As the table of model summary statistics presented, the R squared values were 0.629 meaning high explanatory power. The overall model indicated the values of B = 0.994 and the significance value of 0.000 for confirming all hypothesis. The study’s reliance on cross-sectional data limits its ability to observe long-term dynamics of customer loyalty. Given the self-reported nature of the data, social desirability bias may affect survey responses. In addition, the single market – Sri Lanka – limits the generalizability of the findings to other geographic contexts or industries. Future studies could address these limitations through longitudinal designs and multi-market comparisons. Theoretically, this research contributes to the limited knowledge on the mediating role of CRM in the PQA-CL relationship in developing economies. In practice, it provides actionable insights for automotive service providers in Sri Lanka, emphasizing the integration of quality assurance and CRM to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Recommendations include standardizing service quality delivery, investing in CRM training, and leveraging data analytics to personalize customer interactions. These steps can guide practitioners in designing effective after-sales strategies. Future research could explore digital CRM tools and evolving customer expectations in the automotive sector.Item Information System Success Factors and Its Influence On The Adoption Of E-Government Services In Sri Lanka(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Kelaniya., 2024-11-01) Nethmini, U. T.; Parameswara, N. P.; Endagamage, D. M.In the contemporary landscape, the Sri Lankan government places great emphasis on harnessing digital technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its services (ICTA, 2020). However, the mere integration of digital technology into government services does not inherently guarantee substantial improvements; rather, its impact largely hinges on citizens' willingness to utilize these e-government services (Dayaratna-Banda & Dissanayake, 2022). Furthermore, the uptake of e-government services remains relatively low in Sri Lanka (Withanage et al., 2022). Hence, it becomes imperative to explore the factors that influence a citizens' intention to adopt e-government services. Drawing on the DeLone and McLean IS success (D&M) model, the study aims to examine the influence of Security, System Quality, Information Quality and Service Quality on the citizens’ intention to use e-government services. The study adopts a deductive approach and follows a quantitative research design. To examine the hypotheses, we distributed 350 questionnaires to Sri Lankan citizens who have internet access and have utilized online passport application, birth/marriage/death certificate, and vehicle revenue license services. The sample size was calculated using Cochran’s Sample Size Formula. The survey was conducted via a Google Form, and we received responses from 250 individuals. Analysis of the data indicated that Security, Service Quality, and Information Quality shows a significant impact on the intention to use e-government services. However, our findings did not show a significant impact of System Quality on the intention to use e-government services. This research fills a theoretical gap by revealing the influence of security and quality- related factors on the intention to use e-government services in Sri Lanka. Understanding these key factors will guide policymakers in formulating strategies to enhance the citizens' intention to use government websites for information and transactions. The study could be further extended to include other e-government services and a larger sample size representing the population.