PurposeThis paper aims to investigate customers' perceptions of four service quality aspects – service environment, service delivery, game service, and food service – in the casino setting among Chinese players.Design/methodology/approachThe study examined the proposed model through a 2(gambler type: leisure versus hardcore)×2(gender: male versus female) multivariate analysis of variance of the four casino service quality aspects.FindingsBased on a sample of leisure and hardcore casino players, the results show significant differences between the two types of patrons on the four casino service dimensions. In addition, significant gender‐by‐player interaction is revealed.Research limitations/implicationsThis study sheds new light on the understanding of the direct and moderating roles of gender and type of casino players on service evaluation in the literature. The research findings should be interpreted with caution as the results are derived from a Vegas‐like casino in Macau among a mass‐market Chinese casino clientele.Practical implicationsThe findings extend service research by illuminating perceptual differences in different casino service quality dimensions in the Asian leisure milieu. Casino operators should take customers' gender and player type into account and design service offerings that are more attractive to female and leisure consumers, as they represent a large potential casino clientele.Originality/valueThe findings extend the customer contact model and further the understanding in regard to the service quality perception in the burgeoning casino gambling industry in the Far East.
Purpose
The scant literature on MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourists’ gambling behavior calls for a need to explore how their decision to gamble (hereafter, “gambling decision”) may unfold. Consequently, several questions germane to the inter-relationships among event tourists’ characteristics, casinos attributes, and gambling behaviors remain largely unaddressed. This paper aims to address the void in the literature by investigating event participants’ gambling decision.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected based on two samples, and a multilevel design was used to test the proposed model. Demographic and event-related participant characteristics were examined as antecedents of gambling decision at the individual level. Event goers’ accommodation characteristics such as brand equity and type of hotel were explored as cross-level effects on the individual-level factors and relationships.
Findings
Results of the study illustrate a joint influence – in terms of both direct and moderating effects – of individual-level and organizational-level characteristics on gambling decision. In particular, brand equity moderates the relationships leading from demographic and event-related characteristics to gambling decision.
Practical implications
The inter-relationships among events, accommodations and casinos present an opportunity for hospitality practitioners to better integrate these three services in a more coherent experiential offering for the ever-demanding MICE attendees. Findings also help practitioners to justify their targeting strategy.
Originality/value
The proposed framework presents the dynamic nature of the hospitality industry in which the event, hotel and casino sectors are interdependent, a picture hitherto prevented by the single-level oriented nature of gambling and hospitality research which largely focuses on the individual perspective. Given the dynamic nature of the hospitality industry, the findings elucidate a complex interdependency of customer needs.
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