Towards an understanding of total service quality in hotels

The importance of service quality for business performance has been recognized in the literature through the direct effect on customer satisfaction and the indirect effect on customer loyalty. The importance was recognized by Parasuraman et al. [1985. A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing 49(4), 41–51] in the development of SERVQUAL, a measure of perceived service quality across industries. Although the importance of service quality and service quality measurement has been recognized, there has been limited research that has addressed the structure and antecedents of the concept for the hotel industry.This research addresses the antecedents and structure of service quality in the context of the luxury and first class hotel sectors. The data are analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis approaches and a structural model is used to test the structure of service quality.The paper clarifies the dimensions and structure of service quality in the hotel industry. The clarification of the dimensions is important for managers in the hotel industry as it identifies the bundles of service attributes consumers find important. The clarification of the structure is also important as it confirms, in a hotel context, that customers see service quality in its entirety as a second order dimension.     

The Effects of Travel Agent Characteristics on the Development of Trust: A Contingency View

Abstract

Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long-term relationships between travel agents and their customers. Prior research across service industries has documented that both “person-related” (e.g., empathy, politeness, and customer/service representative similarity) and “offer-related” (e.g., customization, competence, reliability, and promptness) service representative characteristics have an impact upon trust. However, the relative importance of these characteristics, and in some cases the direction of their relationships with trust has varied across studies. In this paper, we posit a contingency model of trust, suggesting that within the travel agency industry, the effects of the above variables on trust will be moderated by length of customer/service provider relationship. Our model is tested in a business-to-business context by means of a mail survey involving 487 small business owners. The small business owners provided data about their relationships with their travel industry service providers (i.e., agents). Our results demonstrate how corporate travel agencies can work toward the establishment of trust with their clients under varying market conditions.     

游客间互动对再惠顾意愿的影响研究——基于游客体验的视角

同顾客与员工、顾客与服务环境之间的互动研究相比,服务接触中顾客间互动的研究明显匮乏,这也逐渐成为了服务接触理论进一步深化研究的关键领域。文章基于顾客体验的视角,构建并实证检验了游客间互动对游客再惠顾意愿影响的概念模型,发现了游客间互动的4个维度在影响游客体验价值各层面上存在的差异性以及体验价值的不同维度在游客间互动对再惠顾意愿影响中的不同中介作用：礼仪违背、友好交谈对情感性、认知性、社会性体验价值有显著影响,并间接影响游客的再惠顾意愿;一方面干扰和争执对功能性、情感性体验价值有显著的负向影响,建议与帮助对体验价值的4个维度有显著正向影响,进而间接影响游客的再惠顾意愿,另一方面干扰与争执对再惠顾意愿有直接的负向影响,建议与帮助对再惠顾意愿有直接正向影响作用。此外,有效辨识出各人口统计变量的不同水平对各研究变量影响的差异。这对于旅游企业开展良好的顾客关系管理具有重大的指导意义和价值。     

Delivering Quality Service

ABSTRACT

Quality in tourism-related services, like in services in general, are basically about balancing customer perceptions and expectations. Successful service providers are able to meet and, whenever possible, exceed consumers' needs and wants. This way, it is possible to provide memorable experiences to visitors. In delivering services, due to certain specific characteristics of services (e.g., intangibility, simultaneity, variability and perishability), the human element, in particular the ‘face-to-face’ interaction with the customer, plays a fundamental role. The study stresses the contribution of interpersonal variables for the success of service organisations. It discusses how commitment to customer service, and supportive supervisors and co-workers, influence the relationship managers' ability to satisfy customers. The main findings were as follows: (i) commitment to customer service and co-workers' support have direct and positive effects on the ability to satisfy customers; (ii) commitment to customer service is the most important determinant of the ability to satisfy customers, and works as a mediator for the other independent variables; (iii) co-workers' support, having both direct and mediated effects, is a more important predictor than supervisors' support. The available data indicates that there is a need for specific training for supervisors, in order to increase their awareness of the impact of their performance on the service delivered by contact employees. Moreover, it is important that service organisations are capable of providing employees with a holistic view of the service delivery chain. This includes not only relationship managers, but also those who are not in direct contact with external customers. Apart from these training aspects, the results of this study should also be considered in relation to other management issues, namely in human resources management. Organisations should prevent the risk of losing those employees that show more commitment to customer service and more ability to satisfy customers. Employee retention exerts a positive impact on repurchase, which, in turn, influences profitability. In light of these findings, some managerial implications are suggested.     

SERVQUAL and PAT

Abstract

Two approaches to measuring the quality of restaurant services are compared, both of which employ the expectancy-discon-firmation paradigm. A SERVQUAL style of questionnaire provided quality measures, which were used to differentiate foodservice establishments, but the data showed several statistical weaknesses, and respondents had trouble contextualizing the questions. Profile Accumulation Technique (PAT) was similarly able to distinguish between different restaurants, and the data had greater internal validity. However this methodology is based upon different assumptions from those underlying SERVQUAL, and there are also implications of cost and expertise. The paper concludes that instruments derived from SERVQUAL cannot claim to apply the theoretical basis of the expectancy- disconfirmation paradigm, whereas PAT is capable of assessing quality according to the paradigm. However, at present it cannot always be assumed that restaurant customers use the expectancy disconfirmation mechanism for evaluating all meal experiences. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods are discussed and implications for further research are identified.     

心理契约违背对饭店顾客忠诚的影响——服务补救策略的调节效应

针对服务企业普遍面对的服务补救低效与顾客忠诚保持的挑战,文章基于心理契约与前瞻性服务补救理论,构建了顾客心理契约违背、服务补救和顾客忠诚间关系的分析框架,实证分析了心理契约违背对顾客忠诚的作用机理,并检验了服务补救策略对这一关系的调节效应。通过对262名饭店顾客的问卷调查,采用回归分析法处理数据,研究结果表明:心理契约违背两个维度与饭店顾客忠诚两个维度均呈显著负相关关系,顾客心理契约违背程度越高,顾客忠诚度越低;服务补救在心理契约违背与饭店顾客忠诚的关系中起到部分调节作用,即当企业服务出现失误而使顾客感知心理契约违背发生时,如果能采用恰当的服务补救策略,可以降低心理契约违背对顾客忠诚的负面影响。     

Customer co-creation of travel services: The role of company support and customer satisfaction with the co-creation performance

The tourism industry is characterized by high-contact services in which co-creation of customers plays a major role. This paper develops a conceptual model of customer co-creation of tourism services and empirically tests this model in a travel agency context. Applying a SEM-approach, company support for customers is found to significantly affect the degree of customer co-creation. The degree of co-creation further positively affects customer satisfaction with the service company, customer loyalty, and service expenditures. A test of the moderating effect of the customers' satisfaction with their own co-creation performance on satisfaction with the service company and on service expenditures suggests that those customers who are satisfied with their co-creation activities spend more on their travel arrangements, but that they are less satisfied with the company. Important implications for co-creation theory and practice in high-contact service industries can be derived.     

A systematic review of AI technology-based service encounters: Implications for hospitality and tourism operations

The hospitality and tourism industry faces serious challenges during public health emergencies such as COVID-19. Managers are concerned not only about how to maintain business and provide humanized services but also about social distancing. This study presented artificial intelligence (AI) technology-based service encounters as a possible solution and examined the antecedents and consequences of the encounter triad including customers, employees, and AI. Based on a systematic literature review, the study identified 4 modes of AI technology-based service encounters: AI-supplemented, AI-generated, AI-mediated, and AI-facilitated encounters. In addition, the study developed an integrated model to specify the factors that influence AI technology-infused service encounters in general and the customer service outcomes that result from the encounters. The findings contribute to service management and AI application theoretically and practically.     

Study on the Degree of Importance of Convention Service Factors

ABSTRACT

As customers come to understand that service is one of the most important industry products, identifying customer needs and providing what they want will be essential to a successful approach in service-related industries. In consideration of the increased importance of service in the convention industry, this article identifies convention service factors and provides statistical analysis based on data from the actual industry. The results of this research will enhance an understanding of the factors used by customers to evaluate the quality of convention service and help planners improve their performance in the planning of conventions.     

Service-leadership competencies for hospitality and tourism management

Competency models have become useful tools for management development in hospitality and tourism organizations. At the same time, these models provide limited focus on leadership behaviors that facilitate employee service performance and customer satisfaction. The present study seeks to address this issue by developing a “service-leadership” competency model for use in the hospitality and tourism context. The following study reports on the results of interviews with 110 industry managers, which yielded a model of some 100 behaviors in 20 competency areas. These competencies cluster into 3 high order categories, namely business savvy, people savvy and self savvy. The results of the study are discussed in the context of extant research.     

Customer value in the hotel industry: What managers believe they deliver and what customer experience

Delivering value for customers has become a central theme in business. The paper examines customer value from two perspectives, i.e. that of service provider and that of the customer. A total 231 managers and 385 customers responded to the survey. The results indicate that managers’ perception of customer value is different to what customers’ experience as customer value. The differences persist across different classes of hotels. These results suggest there is a need to align management and customer perspectives to optimize customer value as delivered and experienced. Specifically, hotels should invest in customer understanding and customer linking activities.     

Analysis of Hoteliers' E-Commerce and Information Technology Applications

ABSTRACT

Numerous research studies are being conducted that are related to e-commerce and information technology (IT) applications in the hospitality industry with regard to operational, profitability, productivity, and management perspective. The focus of this study is to examine current e-commerce and IT applications in the hospitality industry and to identify the business travelers' needs relative to advanced e-commerce and IT applications to improve customer service. Hoffman and Chung (1999) stated that what customers want most is not what restaurants and hotels are necessarily implementing. This study discusses the typical problems and obstacles of implementing e-commerce and IT applications in hospitality, using the lodging e-commerce and IT applications to satisfy customers, and developing the lodging e-commerce and IT applications as a corporate competitive advantage. Moreover, this study investigated a variety of e-commerce and IT applications related to customer service, satisfaction, and retention as well as e-commerce and IT applications as a distribution channel for receiving travelers' information and accommodation booking. This study provides valuable implications for the hospitality practitioners about customer needs relative to e-commerce and IT applications.     

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.     

Mainstreaming sustainable tourism with user-centred design

Abstract

Efforts to design and communicate sustainable tourism products have been based on the premise of explicit market demand for sustainability. This study tests whether it is possible to design mainstream sustainable tourism products that circumvent customer scrutiny of their sustainability features, by making sustainability implicit (as part of quality product design) and communicating hedonistic benefits instead. This is akin to using the peripheral route of communication, as explained in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, as the central route emphasises the consumer-driven message of overall quality of experience; the approach lessens the need for customers to be conscious of the sustainability consequences of their actions. The methodology proposed to achieve this is user-centred design (UCD), which places insights into customer needs, values and demands at the heart of new product design. We designed sustainable tourist activities using UCD and then appraised customer demand for them. Although this may seem counterintuitive, the results show that it can be more effective than traditional methods in mainstreaming sustainable activities, through choice-editing of unsustainable ones and normalising the appearance and communication of sustainability, provided a focus on sustainability is maintained by the product provider.     

How Service Quality Affects Customer Loyalty in the Travel Agency: The Effects of Customer Satisfaction,Service Recovery,and Perceived Value

This study develops a conceptual model of the effects of service quality on customer loyalty that reflects the mediating role of customer satisfaction and the moderating role of service recovery and perceived value, and applies this model to the travel industry. A survey and analysis confirm that customer satisfaction is positively influenced by service quality, and customer loyalty is positively influenced by customer satisfaction. Furthermore, customer loyalty is indirectly influenced by service quality through the mediator of customer satisfaction. The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is found to be stronger for customers who have a positive experience of service recovery; and the correlation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is stronger for customers who perceive high service value.     

Service quality in restaurant operations in China: Decision- and experiential-oriented perspectives

Using the decision- and experiential-oriented perspectives as theoretical guides, this article reported an empirical assessment of service quality in restaurant operations. We proposed and tested a conceptual model of service quality using structural equation modeling. Using data from a sample of 284 customers from two large full-service restaurants in southern China, we investigated the relationships of service quality, customer satisfaction, and frequency of patronage. The results supported the significant links between service quality and customer satisfaction, service quality and repeat patronage, but not customer satisfaction and repeat patronage. The study has provided important insights into service quality and customer satisfaction in the field of restaurant operations.     

Improving employee service levels through identifying sources of customer satisfaction

A major source of satisfaction for customers of hospitality operations is the service employees provide. In order for employees to be trained to perform activities which provide customer satisfaction, it is necessary for the hospitality manager to determine what service actions bring about satisfaction. The major thrust of this article is to describe an objective approach for designing an instrument that may be used to identify components of customer satisfaction. The identification of these specific measurable behaviours will be a great asset to hospitality managers in training and evaluating their employees, ultimately leading to a higher level of customer satisfaction.     

Explaining a Community Touristscape

Abstract

Numerous research studies are being conducted that are related to e-commerce and information technology (IT) applications in the hospitality industry with regard to operational, profitability, productivity, and management perspective. The focus of this study is to examine current e-commerce and IT applications in the hospitality industry and to identify the business travelers' perceptions and needs relative to advanced e-commerce and IT applications to improve customer service. Hoffman and Chung (1999) stated that what customers want most is not what restaurants and hotels are necessarily implementing.

This study discusses the typical problems and obstacles of implementing e-commerce and IT applications in hospitality, using the lodging e-commerce and IT applications to satisfy customers, and developing the lodging e-commerce and IT applications as a corporate competitive advantage. Moreover, this study investigated a variety of e-commerce and IT applications related to customer service, satisfaction, and retention as well as e-commerce and IT applications as a distribution channel for receiving travelers' information and accommodation booking. This study provides valuable implications for the hospitality practitioners about customer perceptions and needs relative to e-commerce and IT applications.     

Analyzing Quality of Supply Chain Management in Hotels of Isfahan Using the Partial Least Squares (PLS)

ABSTRACT

Hotels, as one of the major tourism service providers, must offer high quality products to survive in this severely competitive environment so that they can preserve their competitive advantage dealing with other competitors. Therefore, considering the high importance of this subject, this study aims to analyze the quality of hotels supply chain in Isfahan- Iran. On this account, the literature of quality in supply chain is reviewed and seven factors affecting the supply chain are identified. Then research hypotheses are raised in accordance with the seven factors. Data was gathered using questionnaire and Partial Least Square was applied in order to analyze the data. The obtained results indicate that focus on customer, supply chain quality leadership, supply chain quality strategies, supply chain quality information and process approach results in an increase in supply chain quality; meanwhile, the two hypotheses regarding supplier quality management and human resources development of supply chain are rejected. The results of this article will be beneficial to hotels which want to increase the level of their service quality.     

Hospitality,Tourism, and Lifestyle Concepts

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the significance of the lifestyle concept for the management of service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality and tourism industry. It discusses aspects of its continuing evolution and outlines the contents of articles relevant to this volume, providing a brief summary of the articles collected. It concludes by identifying a number of opportunities for further research into hospitality and tourism lifestyle concepts.