Analysing bakery café attributes: the role of customer satisfaction as a mediator in information dissemination

Bakery cafés represent a growing sector that is in line with current trends and modernization. In Malaysia's competitive bakery café market, particularly in the Klang Valley, the need to understand the dynamics of customer satisfaction mediated by bakery café attributes is crucial. Therefore, this study aims to explore these relationships within the framework of the extended Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory. Quantitative research was conducted using an online survey method with 303 valid respondents selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data analysis involved SPSS 27 for descriptive statistics and SEM-PLS for structural equation modeling, including measurement and structural model evaluations. The findings revealed that customer satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between bakery café attributes and the dissemination of information. This mediation effect underscores the substantial influence of bakery café attributes on customers’ perceptions and behaviors. Practical implications include guiding bakery café operators in enhancing customer satisfaction through strategic attribute management. Moreover, this study contributes theoretically by validating the S-O-R framework in the context of bakery cafés, affirming the linkages from stimuli (attributes) to organismic responses (customer satisfaction) and subsequent behavioral outcomes.