Qualidade dos serviços e preços em restaurantes turísticos

Abstract

The growth of the restaurant sector has been steady in recent years. The Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants – ABRASEL (2025) indicates that the sector closed 2024 with the creation of 240,000 direct and indirect jobs in bars and restaurants. Given this growth, service quality and price perceptions have become essential for customer satisfaction and the generation of competitive advantages in gastronomic businesses. The central objective of this dissertation is to analyse the relationship between price and service quality in tourist restaurants. The southern zone of the city of Natal/RN, specifically the Ponta Negra neighbourhood, was chosen as the research locus. This area is designated as a Special Area of Tourist and Landscape Interest (AEITP) under Supplementary Law No. 208 of 7 March 2022, as established in the Master Plan of the city of Natal/RN. The research methodology follows a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive approach with a non-probabilistic convenience sample. Two instruments were used for data collection. The first was applied to Decision-Makers of tourist restaurants and consisted of 15 questions based on the vignette technique. According to Renold (2002), vignettes are scenarios designed to explore the subjective issues of interviewees. The second instrument was a structured interview guide with open-ended questions, using the in-depth interview technique applied to managers of an association representing the restaurant sector. Additionally, Python software (version 3) was used to transcribe the interviews, while Iramuteq was employed to generate word clouds and similarity analysis. Furthermore, Bardin’s (2016) Content Analysis (CA) was used to guide the interpretation of the participants’ discourse. The main findings highlight that, according to the interviewees’ perceptions, food quality and customer service are crucial elements for consumer loyalty. However, pricing strategies are applied based on operational costs and market adaptation. As a final result, the research identifies the ever-challenging need to balance competitive pricing and service quality, particularly during low-season periods.