Adds to the existing body of research on service quality and demonstrates that SERVQUAL is not a generic service quality measure for all industries.

The evaluation of customer satisfaction is a primary goal for any service firm that would like to survive in this increasingly competitive market. Keeping tourists satisfied and delighted is even more important for the Mauritian tourism industry given that the destination faces fierce competition abroad. Developing a measure of hotel service quality is an important precursor to attracting and retaining tourists and hence ensuring the survival of hotels. SERVQUAL has been proposed as a generic measure of service quality that may be applicable to hotel services. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether SERVQUAL dimensions are pertinent to the hotel industry. Results from this study verify SERVQUAL dimensions, but demonstrate additional dimensions that are specific to the hotel sector.

With the explosive popularity of Facebook as a social media, there has not been much research that examines Facebook marketing and its implications for businesses. This paper represents an exploratory effort into this direction and analyzes existing Facebook marketing practices and tools, their benefits, and concerns associated with this type of social media marketing. Practical implications are suggested for organizations using Facebook as a social marketing tool and areas for future research are identified.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the influence of switching barriers on patients' private general practitioner (GP) service expectations and tolerance zoneDesign/methodology/approachFrom 750 questionnaires distributed to a convenience sample, 257 were completed and returned, yielding a 34 per cent response rate.FindingsThere was a significant association between switching barriers and what patients expected from their GPs. Switching barriers did not have a significant association with the tolerance zone.Practical implicationsPrivate GPs can develop strategies to overcome switching barriers. For example, they can develop personal relationships with their patients, re‐familiarise themselves with the patient's medical history before the consultation and provide better services to patients who perceive high switching barriers and hence higher adequate expectations.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature relating to healthcare service quality.

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