Students' Satisfaction with University Canteens Foodservice: the role of gender

Purpose – Based on the main studies presented in the literature, this work aims to examine the level of student satisfaction towards the university canteens food service provided by an Italian university. Notably, the objectives of the study are twofold: (1) to determine whether there is any significant difference in students’ satisfaction towards university food service in terms of gender; (2) to examine the relationship between university food service quality and the overall satisfaction. Methodology – The study is based on the results of a survey carried out through an online questionnaire by 551 students attending the University of Urbino. Findings – The findings revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between gender and ambience. In addition, menu and ambience have a positive and significant impact on student satisfaction. Practical implications - The findings of this study will help the management of public universities to improve the quality of services in their canteens for the satisfaction of their students. Originality/value - To the authors’ knowledge, there have been no previous studies about university food service quality conducted in Italy. The study contributes to enrich the service quality literature.