Differences in service quality perceptions of stakeholders in the hotel industry

Abstract

Purpose – Studies in the service quality evaluation literature have generally attempted to determine the service quality perception level of customers by mainly focusing on customers’ quality evaluations. However, the nature and characteristics of differences in service quality perceptions among customers, managers and employees are not sufficiently researched. In this study, the differences in service quality perceptions among the aforementioned stakeholders are examined. Design/methodology/approach – Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the significant differences between stakeholder’s perceptions of service quality, using a sample of 845 hotel stakeholders (customers, employees and managers). Findings – The findings showed that employees perceived service performance to be at a high level, while customers perceived it to be at a low level. According to the post-hoc test, even though managers’ perception of service quality performance was lower than that of employees, no significant difference was found between them. In addition, it was determined by second-order confirmatory factor analysis that the lowest explanation ratio was the tangible dimension in SERVQUAL. Originality/value – One major shortcoming in the concept of service quality is that stakeholders perceive service quality differently. In particular, a hotel business that lacks service quality may face issues such as negative customer satisfaction, lack of customer loyalty and lower competitive advantage. However, while most of the studies on the hotel sector in the literature focus mainly on the evaluation of customers for service quality, other stakeholders’ (employees’ and managers’) perceptions have been ignored. Therefore, the current study’s contribution to the literature explores the differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the hotel industry.

The Effect of Service and Food Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Hence Customer Retention

“…Izogo and Ogba (2015), Dedeoğlu and Demirer (2015) and Zamil, Areiqat and Tailakh (2012) all found the same results. In contrast, Qin, Prybutok and Zhao (2010) found that only three attributes, tangibles, reliability and responsiveness, were particularly salient dimensions in fast food restaurants in China.…”

“…Convergent validity was tested by calculating the average variance extracted (AVE) by each factor. The results for convergent validity presented in Table 2 indicate that the variance for each factor is greater than the minimum recommended standard of 0.50 (Dedeoğlu & Demirer, 2015), which means that the convergent validity of the measurements is verified. The square root of AVE was used to examine discriminant validity.…”

“…As noted by Santouridis and Trivellas (2010), service quality is measured using this instrument as the gap between customer expectations and perceptions, characterized by five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Not all studies adopting this instrument use the same dimensions (Dedeoğlu & Demirer, 2015). However, Hui and Zheng (2010) argued that SERVQUAL is one of the most effective and stable models for measuring service quality.…”

“…Many studies have been conducted examining service quality, food quality and customer satisfaction constructs in different settings in different countries, for example the healthcare industry (Yeşilada & Direktör, 2010), the automobile repair services sector (Izogo & Ogba, 2015), the hotel industry (Dedeoğlu & Demirer, 2015), retail settings (Anselmsson & Johansson, 2014;Omar, Shaharudin, Jusoff, & Ali, 2011), tourism industry (Debata, Patnaik, Mahapatra, & Sree, 2015;Al-Tit & Nakhleh, 2014), the gaming industry (Wu, 2014), the telecoms and cellular sector Ali, Rehman, Yilmaz, Nazir, & Ali, 2010;Omotayo & Joachim, 2008), public transport (Kumar, 2012), the banking sector (Malik, 2012) and hair care services (Jeon, Dant, & Gleiberman, 2014), as well as the food industry (Marinelli, Simeone, & Scarpato, 2015;Wang, 2015;Kafetzopoulos, Gotzamani, & Psomas, 2014;Bujisic, Hutchinson, & Parsa, 2014;Jang & Ha, 2014;Wettstein, Hanf, & Burggraf, 2011). The results of these studies have confirmed the significance of relationships between these constructs.…”

Service Delivery and Drivers of Customer Satisfaction as Determinants of Public Relations of Food Establishments in Region XI

“…Adding to the dilemma, this industry sometimes falls short of being able to measure the value of public relations to their business (Lymperopoulous, Chaniotakis & Soureli, 2006) [33]. As explored in the vast literature, various authors have already examined service quality, food quality and customer satisfaction constructs in different settings in different countries, such as in the healthcare industry (Yeşilada & Direktör, 2010)[50], the hotel industry (Dedeoğlu & Demirer, 2015) [17], retail settings (Anselmsson & Johansson, 2014[6]; Omar, Shaharudin, Jusoff, & Ali, 2011), tourism industry (Debata, Patnaik, Mahapatra, & Sree, 2015 [16]; Al-Tit & Nakhleh, 2014) [4], the gaming industry (Wu, 2014), as well as the food industry (Marinelli, Simeone, & Scarpato, 2015 [34]; Wang, 2015 [46]; Kafetzopoulos, Gotzamani, & Psomas, 2014 [28]; Bujisic, Hutchinson, & Parsa, 2014 [13]; Jang & Ha, 2014; Wettstein, Hanf, & Burggraf, 2011) [47]. Hence, the growing number of studies devoted to such topics that are being published is a clear evidence to the increased importance of these constructs.…”