The impact of perceived similarity to other customers on shopping mall satisfaction

This study highlights the role of social presence with other consumers in influencing consumers' satisfaction evaluations by exploring a question: can non-interactive social presence of other people affect satisfaction with shopping mall experience? Based on Latané's (1981) social impact theory and Byrne's (1971) similarity-attraction paradigm, this study posits that a mere presence of other shoppers can be influential when there is perceived similarity between a customer and others. Further, the similarity perception is hypothesized to influence customer's mall satisfaction through affective and cognitive processes. The findings from a large-scale online survey with consumer panel subjects in the U.S. support all study hypotheses.     

The impact of service failure on brand credibility

Recent studies have examined the consequences of brand credibility, with the majority of works embedded in physical goods. Despite the growing attention service branding receives, little is known about how service failure and recovery efforts impact on brand credibility in service organisations. The purpose of this study is to examine how brand credibility is affected by service failure and an organisations recovery efforts. An online self-completion survey of airline consumers (n=875) was employed to test the relationships between the focal constructs. The results show that a service firm’s effective complaint handling positively impacts satisfaction with complaining, overall satisfaction and service brand credibility. The study also finds that the higher the perceived magnitude of failure, the more difficult it is to satisfy a customer. These results demonstrate that it is possible to maintain service brand credibility during a service failure, provided brand managers develop and implement effective complain handling procedures.     

Heterogeneity in the quality–satisfaction–loyalty framework

Few studies have attempted to compare the results of quality–satisfaction–loyalty (QSL) models across different groups to account for heterogeneity across Business-to-Business dyads. This study confirms the mediation effects of trust, commitment and information sharing in the QSL causal chain, and compares the confirmed model across selected sources of heterogeneity originating from the variance in actor demographics and market characteristics. Our study employed a focal firm approach to consider a network of buyers in the South African Computer Aided Design (CAD) industry. Data was collected from 497 respondents and the empirical model was tested using variance based Structural Equation Modelling and Finite Mixture modelling. Beyond offering further support for the quality–satisfaction–loyalty causal chain, the study provides evidence of heterogeneity often associated of high context emerging markets.     

Facilitating reef tourism management through an innovative importance-performance analysis method

This study presents a quantitative analysis of visitor satisfaction and its relation to tourism attributes on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. It applies a modified version of the importance-performance analysis to determine various attributes’ range of impact on, and asymmetrical contribution to, visitor satisfaction. The analysis of 369 visitor surveys identified a complex relationship between satisfaction and environmental, operational and customer service attributes. It also identified those attributes which have a strong satisfaction-generating potential when they perform well, such as the diversity of the marine life, interactions with other passengers, comfort of the boat, quality of the entertainment, knowledgeable crew, quality of the information provided and the destination of the trip, and attributes with a high dissatisfaction-generating potential when they perform poorly, e.g. customer service, comfort of the trip, weather, quality of the coral, and cost of the trip. The study also considers the use of attribute-based studies of satisfaction within protected-area tourism and the management of visitor experiences.     

Measurement specification and leisure satisfaction

Abstract

A comparison of specific expressive and instrumental indicators of satisfaction were compared against general measures of satisfaction. Research was conducted to explore specific indicators of satisfaction which included expressive measures representing major intrinsic goals of a leisure activity and instrumental measures which serve to facilitate those goals. Expressive indicators of satisfaction involving core experiences were most salient in explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction. Specific instrumental indicators of satisfaction did not contribute significantly to explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction.     

The role of social identification and hedonism in affecting tourist re-patronizing behaviours: The case of an Italian festival

Since the 1990s Europe and other continents have been organising a significantly larger number of festivals with the objective of stimulating tourism and exploiting potential economic opportunities. The prominence of these events has led to intense competition between festivals in attracting visitors and it has become important to analyse factors which might influence attendees’ retention. Drawing on existing literature on retail and service sectors, this study aims to identify the role played by emotions, hedonism, satisfaction, and social identification in mediating the effects of environmental factors on attendees’ re-patronizing intention. This study includes an on-site survey of 449 visitors attending an Italian festival gaining in popularity, and analyses data using a structural equations model. Results suggest that hedonism and social identification are key-facilitators between environmental cues and attendees’ re-patronizing intention.     

Measuring customer experience in situ: The link between appraisals,emotions and overall assessments

Customer experience is frequently researched using one-off recall studies, missing the opportunity to assess the momentary fluctuations associated with consumption in real time. To address this gap, this study investigates how specific experience appraisals of an event affect emotions at different points in time, as well as determining how these appraisals contribute to overall satisfaction, recommendation, and repeat visitation. Fifty-one event goers report their experiences on four occasions (three during and one post event). Results show appraisals of having fun predict feelings of joy at each of the three sampling periods, whereas appraisals of sensory experience predict feelings of inspiration. Overall, sensory appraisals at Time-2 and appraisals of fun at Time-3 are associated with higher ratings of recommendation and repeat visitation. This research extends the understanding of customer experience by demonstrating the differential role of appraisals and emotions in real time and the flow-on effects to post experience assessments.     

The influence of volunteer motivation on satisfaction,attitudes, and support for a mega-event

Although there are numerous studies on volunteering in tourism, little research has been done on volunteer support for mega-events. This study develops a theoretical model investigating the relationship between volunteer motivation and support for the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea through mediating effects of satisfaction and attitudes toward volunteering and the Expo venue. An onsite survey of 489 volunteers at the Yeosu Expo was conducted. The structural equation model reveals that patriotism and intrinsic motivations significantly influence volunteer satisfaction, which in turn exerts a significant effect on attitudes toward volunteering and the Expo venue. Also, volunteer attitudes toward volunteering significantly influence volunteer attitudes toward the Expo venue, which in turn have a significant effect on support for the Expo. The study suggests that patriotism and intrinsic motivations can leverage support for mega-events through enhancing mediators of satisfaction and attitudes.     

Influence of sustainable hospitality supply chain management on customers’ attitudes and behaviors

This study aims to identify the impact of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management actions on customers’ attitudes and behaviors including satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services utilizing data collected from U.S. consumers who frequently stay at hotels. Findings suggest that while both environmental and economic dimensions’ actions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management have positive influences on customer satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services, the social dimension actions are found to have a positive influence on customer satisfaction and a negative influence on customer willingness to pay a premium. Results also indicate that customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between social dimension actions and customer loyalty. In addition, customer satisfaction positively influences customer loyalty, which ultimately increases customer willingness to pay a premium. The implications of the research findings are provided.     

Sources of satisfaction with luxury hotels for new,repeat, and frequent travelers: A PLS impact-asymmetry analysis

There are differences in service expectations according to travelers' experiences. This study aims to identify the structure of service quality factors with regard to satisfaction with luxury hotels concerned with new, repeat, and frequent travelers to Macau. The data are analyzed by a partial least squares (PLS) impact-asymmetry analysis in order to explain how the structure of factors can influence the behaviors of three visitor segments. The results of this study explore the transformation of the factor structure of customer satisfaction across different experiences encountered. This study contributes to the knowledge of life cycle theories using three-factor theories that position most of the quality attributes in the introduction stage as excitement factors; they show various types of factors in a growth stage, and they unify to performance factors when the products and services mature. Thus, asymmetrical analyses are highly appropriate for studying customer behavior throughout the customer life cycle.