Consumer research in the restaurant environment. Part 2: Research design and analytical methods Jaksa Kivela, John Reece, Robert Inbakaran The Authors Jaksa Kivela, Associate Professor, Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, People's Republic of China John Reece, Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology and Intellectual Disability Studies, RMIT University, Bundoora, Australia Robert Inbakaran, Lecturer in Tourism, Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract In Part 1, a model of dining satisfaction and return patronage was developed and described. Based on extensive review of the relevant consumer behaviour literature the model was developed and underpinned by the disconfirmation and expectancy theory. As noted in the article, disconfirmation theory is widely accepted as an account of the process by which customers develop feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, that is, when customers compare new dining experiences with some basis that they have developed from prior experiences. On the other hand, the assumption that a customer will weigh various restaurant attributes is based on expectancy theory. In the majority of studies using disconfirmation theory, expectations are formed according to customers' pre-experience beliefs and standards that they use to measure their purchase experience. These theories bring together the social, psychological and cultural concepts into four distinct groups of variables: input variables both internal and external, process variables and output variables (Lowenberg et al., 1979; Finkelstein, 1989). This paper is a continuation and explains: how the model of dining satisfaction and return patronage was operationalised, that is, how the research instrument was developed; how the sample size and survey procedures were developed and conducted; and how the selection of analytical procedures was conceived. Article type: Theoretical with Application in Practice. Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Restaurants, Hong Kong. Content Indicators: Research Implications** Practice Implications** Originality** Readability* International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Volume 11 Number 6 1999 pp. 269-286 Copyright © MCB University Press ISSN 0959-6119 1. Operationalisation of the model of dining satisfaction and return patronage Measures of dining experiences, attribute importance, customer expectations and satisfaction have been diverse and dependent upon the domain of research, in both the number of attributes and level of abstraction. In the hospitality and tourism context, numerous service quality research instruments have been used to measure customer satisfaction. However, in the restaurant context (excluding the fast-food category) there is a lack of survey instrument development, with the exception of guest comment cards. Equally, service quality models such as SERVQUAL and DINQUAL have not been able to identify the salient attributes that are particular to restaurant operations. It could be argued that restaurateurs and restaurant marketers continue to be hampered by both the lack of appropriate customer feedback and problems related to the content validity of guest comment cards, i.e. they measure post-dining perceptions only. In addition, due to high levels of fragmentation and diversification in both the range of products, i.e. menus and menu items and market segments, it is difficult to generalise restaurant customer satisfaction results. This is because restaurant industries have a distinct product structure that is differentiated by price, location, theme/ambience, service level, cuisine and style, which at the same time demand a wide variety of market segments for the same products. It must also be noted that until this study, similar dining