English Abstract
Abstract :
Purpose: The primary purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between design-driven innovation (DDI) combining interior design (ID), brand design (BD), packaging design (PD), and marketing content design (MCD) on customers' behavioral intention (CBI) toward restaurants within the food-service industry in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It also explores the mediating role of business image (BI) in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: This thesis is based on a quantitative method using a structured questionnaire targeting restaurant customers in Bahrain. Four hundred respondents participated in the survey. Findings: The results revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between DDI and CBI; when design tools drive innovation, the customers' behavioral intention will increase by 101.7%. It is also evident that interior design increases CBI by 57.2%, followed by packaging design with a percentage of 54.2%, brand design with a percentage of 52.3%, and marketing content design by 50%. Although DDI has a significant positive relationship with BI, and BI has a significant positive relationship with CBI, the results revealed that BI does not mediate the relationship between DDI and CBI. Research limitations/implications: This thesis is limited to customers' points of view; therefore, management's points of view may lead to different results. It is also limited to Bahrain's food-service industry. Practical implications: It will assist restaurants' management in understanding the new motivational factors to remain competitive and attract them. It will also guide them through utilizing design as a tool for innovation which, in turn, can contribute to the strategic business models to increase business profitability. In addition, it will benefit educational institutions by providing innovation-focused design majors that meet restaurant market requirements for customer-experience development. Novelty: This thesis is the first in Bahrain to consider design-driven innovation in a comprehensive model for the food-service industry, including all four types of design in this thesis, with the business image as a mediator. Recommendations: This thesis recommends that applying the four types of designs, ID, BD, PD, and MCD, together for a restaurant business strategy will increase customers' behavioral intention almost double. If businesses apply each design type separately, it can still increase CBI by nearly 50%. Future Research: Future studies can address an observational method to explore customers' attitude and compare it with their behavioral intention. Future research may apply the framework to other industries and countries and follow a comparative approach. Further studies could investigate other stakeholders' points of view to get a holistic view. Other motivational factors can be added and compared to the variables in this model.
Keywords: Innovation, Interior design, branding, packaging, business model, customer behavior, intention, commercial, restaurants, marketing
