Malay Restaurant : Restaurant Characteristic and Food Attributes Effects on Customer Preferences ”

“Malay Restaurant : Restaurant Characteristic and Food attributes Effects On Customer Preferences

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MUHAMMAD JABIR BIN ABU BAKAR

2005107392

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MARKETING)

FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

SHAH ALAM

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of Study

Food has had special meaning and significance for humankind throughout history.Those who did not eat well tended to die. Thus, humans became aware that food is crucial for everyone for his and her survival. Food began to take on special sociopsychological significance because it fulfills basic physiological needs essential for life.Food is something with which every living person has had contact, usually on a daily basis, throughout life, or that individual would not have survived.

The rich Malaysian food heritage has enabled the local restaurant industry to flourish. As a result, many travel writers and food critics have hailed Malaysia as a food paradise with a vibrant and diverse food service /restaurant industry. Euromonitor International (2008) reported that in 2007, the full-service restaurant sector continued to be the leading type of foodservice in Malaysia in both numbers of units and in value terms. Today, Malaysia is home to some of the finest fine dining restaurants in the region (Tourism Malaysia, 2005).

According to Lee (1988) this limelight is very much due to the political stability and close inter-cultural relations among the ethnic groups, along with the government roles. Ramli et al (2003) noted that in line with this development, the array of foods and restaurants in Malaysia were burgeoning. Othman et al. (2005) named three other factors contributing to the prosperity and changes in Malaysian food. First, the emergence of technology and development of modern equipment such as sophisticated cooling, freezing, heating and as well as other products have enabled the chefs and cooks to create new dishes in their operation....