The Effects of Apartment Meal Service Attributes on Residential Satisfaction, Community Pride, and Continuance Intention: A Multi-Group Analysis by Living Area Type

Recent housing environments increasingly function as lifestyle-oriented spaces, extending the role of apartment meal services beyond basic food provision. While foodservice research has largely focused on institutional or commercial settings, limited attention has been given to apartment meal services as residential-based experiential amenities. This study examines the structural relationships among apartment meal service attributes, residential satisfaction, community pride, and residential continuance intention. Data were collected from 400 residents across four apartment complexes, and structural equation modeling with multi-group analysis was employed to explore these relationships and contextual differences. The findings indicate that meal service attributes are significantly associated with residential satisfaction and community pride, and both variables show significant positive relationships with continuance intention. Multi-group analysis further suggests that the strength of certain structural paths differs between central and non-central living areas. These results imply that apartment meal services may function as housing-based lifestyle infrastructure and provide an extended perspective for understanding foodservice within a residential experiential context.