Service redundancy in fine dining: evidence from Taiwan

Purpose Service excellence has been recognized as a crucial means of achieving customer delight. Several recent studies have argued that redundant services may be perceived as unnecessary by customers; however, few studies have explored the construct of service redundancy. This study aims to identify and classify service redundancy in the foodservice industry. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with 72 participants, namely, 36 customers and 36 managers of fine dining restaurants in Taiwan. Content analysis of the data yielded the classification of service redundancy. Findings This study determined 16 categories of service redundancy categorized under three themes: service behavior, service regulations and environmental factors. Furthermore, six causes and four consequences of service redundancy were identified. Research limitations/implications Customers and managers of fine dining restaurants were interviewed; thus, the findings may not be fully generalizable to service redundancy in other restaurant types. Originality/value The contribution of this research is the construction of a model of service redundancy, which could serve as a theoretical foundation for further examination of service redundancy and the relationships between the related constructs.