Role of Airport Physical Environments in the Satisfaction Generation Process: Mediating the Impact of Traveller Emotion

As the use of international airports has been increasing, airports have emerged as a remarkable background in the tourism industry. To address this, the present study aimed at (1) investigating the relationships among the variables of airport physical environments, customer emotion, and satisfaction, (2) verifying which attribute of airport physical environments has significant impact on customer emotion, and (3) examining the mediating role of emotion between airport physical environments and customer satisfaction. The snowball method was introduced to collect the data. According to the findings from the structural analysis, three components of airport physical environments had decisive effects on pleasure. However, most of airport physical environments were insignificant on arousal, and arousal had invalid impact on satisfaction. Customer emotion was found as a partial mediator between the identical attributes of airport physical environments and customer satisfaction. Discussions and implications for airport practitioners, limitations, and suggestions for future research were also provided.     

Hotel Guests' Cumulative Satisfaction Updating Process in the Context of Service Failure and Service Recovery

ABSTRACT

Consumers constantly revise their satisfaction judgments as they gain new service experience. While some researchers found that consumers weigh their prior cumulative experience more heavily than their most current individual service encounters when updating their cumulative overall satisfaction, others found the opposite result. Following the development of the literature, this study investigated customers' satisfaction updating process in the context of service failure and service recovery in the hotel industry. The results of the data analysis show that when updating overall satisfaction, participants weighed their current service encounter satisfaction more heavily than prior cumulative overall satisfaction, regardless of different levels of service failure and service recovery. The findings of this research also suggest that once customers experience service problems, it is difficult to bring customers' satisfaction level back to where it was.     

Design of Destination and Attraction-Specific Brochures

The design of destination and attraction-specific brochures is examined, with particular reference to attributes of attractiveness and utility. Results from three focus groups are employed to generate hypotheses, which can be tested. Implications are drawn on the design and use of brochures and their role in trip motivation and destination choice.     

Getting Along with Others

ABSTRACT

In the foodservice industry, customer service is a key performance indicator. This performance indicator comprises two components: a core aspect (food quality) and a relationship aspect (personality of the server). This paper explores the role of personality and its influence on the relationship aspect of customer service. In particular, the authors examine the significance of the agreeableness personality trait on customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth promotion. The findings suggest that developing a method to measure the agreeableness personality trait could assist foodservice managers in selecting candidates that have a greater likelihood of delivering quality customer service.     

酒店前厅服务质量与顾客满意度分析——以北京诺富特和平宾馆为例

前厅部作为酒店的窗口,直接代表了整个酒店的形象,不仅如此,前厅部还承担了酒店的大量工作,重要性不言而喻.只有提供高效和优质的服务,才能让顾客感到满意.运用科学的方法搜集信息并进行分析,发现酒店存在的问题和漏洞,并对酒店前厅服务质量进行评估和检测,提出补救方法和改进建议,成为各个酒店的当务之急.总之,提高酒店服务质量,可以增加顾客的满意度,并促进酒店经营的良性发展以及增强酒店的竞争优势.     

Measuring Personal Service Quality

Abstract

This study examined the personal service quality of international tourism hotels in China by measuring international hotel customer's satisfaction level and their perceived importance evaluation of personal service attributes. Six international hotels in Beijing and three departments (reception, food and beverage, and housekeeping) in each hotel were selected in this study. Responses from 472 customers were used for the data analysis of this study. It was found that customers identified friendliness and willingness to provide service in all three departments as service attributes with which they were very satisfied. Foreign language ability was identified as the least satisfactory in the reception and food and beverage departments. Customers also regarded friendliness and willingness to provide service as very important.     

Customers’ Perceptions of Employee Engagement: Fortifying the Service–Profit Chain

This study investigated the three dimensions of employee engagement: dedication, energy, and absorption from the customer’s perspective. The service–profit chain (SPC) and employee behavior that promotes customer satisfaction and loyalty were examined. The results revealed that certain aspects of employee engagement are more readily perceived by consumers and more likely to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. Findings showed that energy and dedication combined were most likely to foster feelings of satisfaction and loyalty among hospitality patrons. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to the literature by enhancing the SPC, revealing new insight into employee engagement, and linking employee engagement to positive consumer outcomes. Hospitality industry professionals may find that employee engagement benefits the customers’ perceptions of the establishment, ultimately increasing profitability. This study utilizes the SPC in the hospitality context and proposes a new link in the chain: employee engagement.     

How Various Segments of Visitors Perceive l’Accueil in the Places Where They Eat,Sleep, and Play

‘Accueil’ is a French word that means feeling welcome somewhere and being introduced into a process that takes the visitor from being an outsider (a stranger) to being an insider (one of us). Accueil also means feeling the host’s genuine pleasure in welcoming his or her guests through words, attitudes, and actions. Based on a survey (n = 1,003) done for the Quebec Department of Tourism¹, we look at how different segments of visitors perceived the ‘accueil’ they received while traveling in the province of Quebec. The results are analysed for lodging, restaurants and attractions. We found that accueil is perceived differently depending on the age of the visitor, the group size and its composition. To a lesser extend, it is also influenced by gender and social status. The characteristics of the trip (distance, purpose and length) have little impact on accueil.     

顾客感知的旅游服务不公平事件研究——基于关键事件分析法

本研究运用关键事件法探讨顾客感知的服务不公平性问题。作者在广州收集顾客在旅游服务中经历的不公平关键事件264个。对这些事件的分析表明,顾客在旅游服务中感知的不公平涉及结果公平性、程序公平性、交往公平性和信息公平性4个方面。在此基础上,作者对企业的经营管理者如何提高顾客感知的服务公平性提出了一些建议,最后对研究局限性、未来需要进一步研究的问题进行了讨论。     

旅游地顾客满意度测评指标体系的研究及应用

市场的竞争力来自顾客的满意度。本文根据旅游业的“食、住、行、游、娱、购”6要素特点。运用美国密歇根大学质量研究中心费耐尔(Fomell)教授的顾客满意度指数理论,构建旅游地顾客满意度指数测评的因果模型(Tourism Destination Customer Satisfaction Index,简称TDCSI)和旅游地顾客满意度测评指标体系,并对其进行了实证检验,证明该模型和指标体系较为科学、合理和可行。     

Alternate Measurement Approaches to Recreational Customer Satisfaction: Satisfaction-Only Versus Gap Scores

This study blends service quality and importance-performance methodologies to extend previous research beyond traditional customer service domains. The study examined water-based recreationists' importance and satisfaction ratings across a battery of 19 individual attributes within four domains relevant to outdoor recreation satisfaction (facilities, services, information, and recreation experience). Both the satisfaction-only item scores and gap scores (difference between importance and satisfaction level) were analyzed to determine their relationship within their respective satisfaction domain and with overall satisfaction. The satisfaction-only measures were found to be significantly better indicators than the gap scores of domain-level and overall satisfaction. The items were found to be stronger predictors within the four satisfaction domains than within the overall satisfaction model.     

Business Traveler Satisfaction with Hotel Service Encounters

Abstract

This study examines customer satisfaction with a series of hotel services. Five service encounters were examined in a sample of business travelers (n = 140) who had stayed in Hong Kong hotels. Overall satisfaction and repurchase intention were differentially impacted by the various service encounters. Business center encounters had the greatest effect on business traveler satisfaction, followed by check-out and check-in encounters. Interestingly, room and restaurant encounters had the least impact on satisfaction. The delivery of good core services alone cannot guarantee customer satisfaction. Hotels must also pay attention to peripheral service delivery, because these encounters help to shape the customer's overall level of satisfaction and repurchase intention.     

Customer Relational Benefits and Relationship-Marketing Outcomes: Comparing Three Transaction Types of Travel Product

Given the increasing popularity of the Internet and TV shopping, travel agencies are using these electronic channels to conduct business transactions. However, few studies investigate how customers' relational benefits affect relationship-marketing outcomes in the travel industry. This study examines the effects of the relational benefits on customer satisfaction and loyalty by focusing on three types of transaction used for travel products. The results indicate that confidence and social benefits, but not special treatment benefits, positively affect customer satisfaction. All three types of customers' relational benefits are positively related to loyalty. The influences of confidence benefits on satisfaction and loyalty are stronger for Internet transaction than interpersonal transaction and TV shopping transaction. The influences of social benefits on satisfaction and loyalty are stronger for TV shopping transaction than interpersonal transaction and Internet transaction. Therefore, the relationships among customer relational benefits, satisfaction, and loyalty are moderated by the three types of transaction.     

An Assessment of Key Hotel Guest Contact Personnel in Handling Guest Complaints

Abstract

The quality of a guest's hotel experience is frequently dependent on the consistency with which hotel standards of service are applied. Where the existing systems break down, guests will complain. This should be viewed as an opportunity for the hotel's management. However, some hotel direct guest contact personnel may view guest complaints as causes for panic rather than opportunities for improving the hotel operation. Guests whose complaints were resolved satisfactorily were willing to return back to the hotel. Proficiency in handling their complaints results in greater guest satisfaction and loyalty. The application of the research will be on Hotel Assistant Managers/Guest Relations Agents to investigate whether they are applying the necessary steps and techniques to solve guests' complaints related either to tangible or intangible products in hotels. Results indicate that Hotel Assistant Managers and Guest Relations Agents could improve their effectiveness in handling guests' complaints. Assistant Managers were found in this study to be better at handling complaints than Guest Relations Agents.     

基于顾客价值的经济型酒店顾客满意度测评研究

培育和维护满意的顾客是经济型酒店获得和保持竞争优势的重要条件,而顾客对酒店产品感知利得和利失的比较对顾客满意度的形成具有重要的影响。该研究以现有的顾客满意度理论为基础,结合经济型酒店的顾客需求和产品服务特征,从顾客价值获得的角度构建经济型酒店的顾客满意度测评模型,建立了顾客满意度测评指标体系,并进行了实证分析。研究表明,经济型酒店的卫生状况、支持系统、交通便利程度以及价格等方面的顾客满意度较低。最后,根据实证分析结果提出了经济型酒店提高顾客满意度的建议和对策。