Factors Affecting Business Performance of Thai Restaurants in the United Kingdom: A Structural Equation Model

• Main Authors: Supawan, Panadda, Deebhijarn, Samart
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: business performance; growth strategy; marketing mix; Thai restaurants; Thai food
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol20/iss2/4; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1299/viewcontent/RA_203.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

As Thailand fulfills its goal of becoming the “kitchen of the world,” it continually seeks to understand the various organizational issues surrounding the overseas operations of its Thai restaurants, for promotion and marketing purposes. This report discusses the data derived from a structural equation modeling of five factors—growth strategy, marketing mix, business characteristics, business norms, and business environment—in relation to the business performance of Thai restaurants in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Of the 1,600 Thai restaurants in the U.K., 300 were randomly sampled for the survey, from which either the restaurant owners or managers were interviewed using a self-accomplished questionnaire. Of the three predictors of business performance, marketing mix had the strongest effects, followed by growth strategy, and business characteristics. Of the three predictors of growth strategy and marketing mix, business norms and business characteristics were both dominant, followed by business environment. Overall, the structural equation model developed in this study had explained 64.8% of the business performance of Thai restaurants in the U.K. There is a need to re-examine the model factors in the context of industry-wide competition in order to understand the broader contexts of business performance.