Customers satisfaction in pediatric inpatient services: A multiple criteria satisfaction analysis

ObjectiveTo assess customer satisfaction determinants in a public pediatric inpatient service and propose some strategies to enhance the consumer and customer experience.MethodsWe applied a Multiple Criteria Customer Satisfaction Analysis to estimate the value functions associated with each satisfaction (sub)criterion and determine the corresponding weights. We characterized satisfaction criteria (according to the Kano's model), estimated the customers' demanding nature and the potential improvements, and proposed strategic priorities and opportunities to enhance customer satisfaction.Main findingsStrategies for satisfaction enhancement do not depend solely on the criteria with the lowest satisfaction levels and the estimated weights, each criterion's nature, the customers' demanding nature, and the technical margin for improvements.ConclusionsAreas deserving attention include clinical staff's communication skills, the non-clinical professionals' efficiency, availability, and kindness; food quality; visits' scheduling and quantity; and facilities' comfort.     

Enhancing satisfaction and sustainable management: Whale watching in the Azores

This study explores satisfaction with whale watching tours in relationship to expectations and demographic variables and identifies tour aspects that contribute to satisfaction. Based on a survey of 466 participants it applies both importance-performance (IP) analysis and a performance-only perspective to strengthen the reliability of the results and enable a critical analysis of both approaches. Environmental friendly conditions were the most important expectation. Seeing one whale, seeing lots of whales, the cost of the trip and the boat type were the most influential factors contributing to satisfaction. Cost has not been previously identified as a factor influencing the satisfaction of whale watching customers. Satisfaction was related to participants' place of residence, with Northern Americans and Northern Europeans being more satisfied than participants from Southern and Western Europe. Some results of the IP analysis have little impact on satisfaction, suggesting that the performance-only approach provides a more valid insight into satisfaction.     

The relationship between sense of community and satisfaction on future intentions to attend an association's annual meeting

Annual association meetings are imperative to associations because they are the biggest revenue source outside of membership dues. The constant challenge for associations is to come up with innovative ideas to create a meeting experience that can build attendance and retain members year after year. This study proposes that the psychological factor sense of community drives people to an association meeting every year. The purpose of the study is to understand the sense of community at an annual meeting among association members and whether sense of community has an influence on future intentions to attend the annual meeting. In addition, the mediating effect of satisfaction on sense of community and future intentions is examined.     

Environmentally responsible behavior in ecotourism: Antecedents and implications

This study explores the environmentally responsible behavior of tourists engaged in ecotourism. It proposes a behavioral model in which perceived value, satisfaction and activity involvement with respect to the eco-travel experience shape the tourist's environmentally responsible behavior. Unlike other studies that view environmentally responsible behavior as a generic trait, this study explores whether the level of environmentally responsible behavior can actually change as a result of the eco-travel experience. A total of 328 valid questionnaires were obtained and analyzed using partial least squares. The results show that perceived value, satisfaction and activity involvement can promote environmentally responsible behavior of tourists. While perceived value directly affects environmentally responsible behavior, satisfaction and involvement play the roles of partial mediators in the behavioral model. Thus, enhancing tourist's value perception about the eco-travel activity is the first in a sequence of steps that would strengthen environmentally responsible behavior via increasing the ecotourist's activity involvement and satisfaction levels. Finally, the implications for the key stakeholders in the ecotourism industry are discussed.     

Profiling satisfied and dissatisfied hotel visitors using publicly available data from a booking platform

We develop a set of models for predicting hotel visitor satisfaction and the probability of complaints about various service aspects. Our empirical analysis is based on 3630 reviews from one of the Dubai hotels. We identify profiles of visitors who are likely to be dissatisfied with the hotel service and need special attention, as well as of visitors, who are likely to be satisfied with the service and, therefore, do not require extra attention. The predictions are based on observable characteristics of visitors, thus making it possible for hotel managers to apply the models in their everyday work. Using content analysis we also reveal specific problems that different groups of visitors encountered and infer which of the problems has the highest impact on the overall satisfaction with the hotel.     

Effect of service recovery on customers’ perceived justice,satisfaction, and word-of-mouth intentions on online shopping websites

As consumers become better informed and more demanding about their purchase of services, service provider's failure to satisfy all consumers during delivery of service is unavoidable. Consequently, to alleviate consumer dissatisfaction that results from service failure has become important. However, empirical consensus has been lacking on the effects of various service recovery activities. Thus, this study examines the impact of different types of service recovery on customers’ perceptions of justice, post-recovery satisfaction, and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions. The results indicated that consumers’ perceptions of distributive and interactional justice differ by the types of service recovery and supported significant relationships among perceptions of justice, satisfaction, and WOM intentions. The results implied that consumers respond differently to different types of service recovery and that consumers particularly favor apology among types of service recovery.     

Big data for big insights: Investigating language-specific drivers of hotel satisfaction with 412,784 user-generated reviews

This study leveraged the advantages of user-generated reviews with the aim of offering new insights into the determinants of hotel customer satisfaction by discriminating among customers by language group. From a collection of 412,784 user-generated reviews on TripAdvisor for 10,149 hotels from five Chinese cities, we found that foreign tourists, who speak diverse languages (English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian), differ substantially in terms of their emphasis on the roles of various hotel attributes (“Rooms,” “Location,” “Cleanliness,” “Service,” and “Value”) in forming their overall satisfaction rating for hotels. Chinese tourists domestically exhibit distinct preferences for room-related hotel attributes when compared to foreign tourists. Major interaction effects are revealed between the attributes “Rooms” and “Service” and between “Value” and “Service”.     

The Magnitude of Change Effect in Store Remodeling

While store remodeling can increase customer sales, not all remodeling efforts are successful. In this study, two treatment stores from a large national retailer are matched with control stores in a field experiment. Even though the cost of remodeling the treatment stores was the same, and the remodeled stores had identical layout, color, furnishing and interior design, one store had a 12% lift in sales while the other had only 1%. We show that a key determinant of remodeling success is the perceived magnitude of change between the initial and final condition of the store. Indeed, customer psychological and sales responses are greater when the perceived magnitude of change between the condition of the store prior to remodeling and the store after remodeling is larger. Importantly, these positive effects continue for as long as 12 months after remodeling. We further find that the profile of customers drawn to the remodeled stores differs based on the perceived magnitude of change, as do the environmental attributes that contribute to customer perceptions of the remodel.     

Dental tourism: Examining tourist profiles,motivation and satisfaction

Despite the overwhelming interest in medical tourism research, knowledge in dental tourism, which is its subspecialty, remains limited. This study is the first to measure tourist profiles, travel motivation and satisfaction among inbound dental tourists in Malaysia. We purposely sampled twelve selected private dental clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka and Penang; and distributed the questionnaires to their inbound dental tourists. A total of 196 inbound tourists responded to the questionnaire, mainly from Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. In order of importance, the main motivation factors were dental care quality, dental care information access, and cost-savings. Tourists were extremely satisfied with dental care services received in the country. While dental care quality, dental care information access and supporting services positively influenced tourist satisfaction; cost-savings and cultural similarities had negative influences. Based on the research findings, we propose some managerial and marketing recommendations.     

Three dimensional product presentation quality antecedents and their consequences for online retailers: The moderating role of virtual product experience

This study investigates the impact of three-dimensional (3D) product presentation quality (3D-Q) on attitude toward presented product and attitude toward website, which in turn affect users’ satisfaction. Therefore, this research developed a hypothetical online retailer website, which presents a variety of 3D laptops that allows users to control the content and form of the 3D flashes. We measured 3D-quality based on a multi-dimensional construct. In other words, we define and operationalize 3D-quality based on information quality, system quality, authenticity, and enjoyment (second-order). We employed a non-student sample (n=410) to collect the data. We find that 3D-quality determines perceptions of attitude toward presented product and attitude toward website, which in turn influence users’ satisfaction. Furthermore, we find that virtual product experience moderates the relationships between attitude toward presented product, attitude toward website and users’ satisfaction. Our study provides important implications for e-tailers.