Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Department of Consumer Science
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
It involved an investigation of consumers’ attention to sustainability aspects, functional performance and status features when choosing major household appliances. Apart from securing additional funding for a 2011 project based on the success of this project, one international publication resulted from this endeavour, while another was submitted and a third article is in process. The findings will also be presented at an international conference in Bonn in 2011.
Contact person: Prof AC Erasmus.
Students’ overall quality of life on a university campus is greatly influenced by their satisfaction with foodservice. A survey was done to determine and describe the satisfaction levels of the University of Pretoria’s residential students regarding their meal experience in terms of food, service and ambiance, in order to provide the Department of Residence Affairs and Accommodation at the University of Pretoria with recommendations for improvements regarding the quality of the meal experience. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from a stratified random sample of 878 respondents selected from 22 residences and analyzed by using means, medians and chi-square tests. Food was indicated as the most important aspect of the meal experience followed by service and ambiance. Factors associated with the satisfaction of the food component of the meal experience were price, regular incorporation of new menu items and offering healthy menu items. Operating hours significantly affected perceptions of service whereas cleanliness was regarded important for ambiance. Statistically significant relationships were found between satisfaction and specific profile characteristics such as ethnic group, gender and number of years of using a specific dining hall.
Contact person: Dr GE du Rand.
|
