Measuring customer service quality in sports and leisure centres

Howat, Gary; Absher, James D.; Crilley, Gary; Milne, Ian James Judy

doi:10.1080/136067196376456

Cited by 182 publications

(125 citation statements)

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“…Las subescalas del cuestionario conforman una estructura que está en consonancia con las herramientas Eventqual (Calabuig & Crespo, 2009) o Epod (Nuviala, Tamayo, Iranzo, & Falcón, 2008;Nuviala, Grao-Cruces, Tamayo, Nuviala, Álvarez, & Fernández-Martínez, en prensa). No obstante, una de las aportaciones fundamentales del presente trabajo está en el tratamiento de forma separada de espacios esenciales en el desarrollo del servicio, diferenciando así entre la instalación deportiva y el espacio deportivo en el que se desarrolla la actividad, recogidos en una sola subescala en otros estudios (Hernández, 2001;Howat, Absher, Crilley, & Milne, 1996;Nuviala et al, 2008;Rial, Varela, Rial, & Real, 2010). De la misma forma, el vestuario recibe un tratamiento individualizado al igual que en el estudio de Cabello y Cabra (2009), pues supone un punto estraté-gico al concentrar tanto a los usuarios que finalizan las actividades como a los que las comienzan.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess perceived quality in sports services

Ruíz¹,

Morales‐Sánchez²

2015

CCD

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ResumenEl objetivo del presente estudio fue examinar la estructura factorial del Cuestionario de Evaluación de la Calidad Percibida en Servicios Deportivos. Para ello se realizaron tres estudios diferentes con una muestra total de 867 usuarios (426 hombres y 431 mujeres), con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 81 años. Los resultados mostraron que el instrumento presenta adecuadas propiedades psicométricas. El índice de discriminación de los ítems mostró valores superiores a .40 y el nivel de consistencia interna fue adecuado en todas las subescalas ( > 0,75). El análisis de componentes principales mostró una solución estable compuesta por once factores, que explicaban más del 50% de la varianza en cada una. Los índices de bondad de ajuste para el modelo obtenido y puesto a prueba mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio fueron adecuados. Además, esta estructura dimensional se mostró invariante en función del género, mostrando equivalencia factorial y métrica. Futuros estudios deberían aplicarse a servicios de naturaleza y titularidad diferente, así como examinar la invarianza de medición en otras culturas.Palabras clave: calidad de servicio, evaluación de la calidad, servicios deportivos, calidad percibida. AbstractThe aim of this research was to examine the factorial structure of a questionnaire to assess perceived quality in sports services. For this purpose, three different studies were performed with a total sample of 867 users (426 men and 431 women), age between 14 and 81 years. The results showed that the instrument has adequate psychometric properties. The discrimination index of the items showed values above .40 and the level of internal consistency was adequate in all subscales ( > 0.75). Principal component analysis showed a stable structure composed of eleven factors, which explained more than 50% of the variance in each subscale. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated an adequate goodness-of-fit-indexes for the model obtained. Additionally, through a multi-group analysis, the findings indicate that the dimensions are not significantly different among gender, showing structural and metrical equivalence. Futures studies should apply different nature and ownership to services, as well as examine the measurement invariance in other cultures.Key words: service quality, quality assessment, sports services, perceived quality. IntroducciónLa calidad supone una estrategia de diferenciación al representar un mayor potencial de éxito (Al-Dweeri, 2011), convirtiéndose en uno de los constructos de mayor interés en el contexto de la gestión y los servicios deportivos dentro de las investigaciones actuales, más aún teniendo en cuenta el entorno al que se enfrentan las organizaciones de servicios, con cambios en las necesidades de los clientes y con una extensa diversidad en cuanto a demanda. La capacidad de una organización para ser competitiva y retener al usuario no sólo depende del desarrollo de servicios personalizados e innovadores, o en el feedback mutuo e inmediato con sus usuarios (Al-Dweeri, 20...

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Section: Discussionunclassified

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess perceived quality in sports services

Ruíz¹,

Morales‐Sánchez²

2015

CCD

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“…Thus the customer's needs, perceived quality or customer satisfaction have become a basis for measuring services quality in particular. Many authors have approached services quality and consumer satisfaction as being synonymous (Howat, Absher, Crilley, Milne, 1996). It is evident that there exists opposite opinion on the relationship of service quality and consumers satisfaction.…”

Section: Theoretical Delineation Of the Issues Researchedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between Quality and Performance: Tourism Companies in the Czech Republic

Sedláček¹,

Suchánek²,

Špalek³

et al. 2011

Review of Economic Perspectives

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This article analyzes perception of quality as a factor of performance of companies operating in the tourism industry. The introduction defines business performance and quality with a focus on tourism companies. A synthesis of findings from empirical studies conducted abroad follows, and is focused on the determinants of performance of a company (success), including the quality management which emerged as one of the important factors, and so these findings justify the importance of quality management in business practice. The aim of this article is to find the perception of quality and emphasis on the quality management of tourism companies in the Czech Republic. To identify the specific characteristics of quality perception and management in this sector, comparative analysis of questionnaire results, and results of a financial analysis of companies from various sectors of the Czech economy, with emphasis on tourism, has been used. It has been proved that enterprises in the sectors surveyed perceive quality as the key factor in business performance; it was also empirically shown that companies with higher levels of service quality reach better values of financial indicators. Also it was found that although tourism companies perceive the service quality of as one of the key success factors, the level of its actual implementing is low. This is related to the fact that relatively good financial results can be achieved in this industry without adjustment of the maximum customer service. This fact is also confirmed by the findings that show that in comparison to companies in other sectors, tourism companies still perceive relationship between quality production and business performance as substandard. The paper focuses on a problem that is usually not solved in literature. Of course, there is a group of studies which deals with quality, service quality or performance, but authors did not find any specialized studies that look into the relationship between service quality and performance, moreover in conditions of the Czech Republic. For us, the most important thing is to fill this white place of science. Because of 63.6% enterprises in the Czech Republic pursue in the service sector (Czech Statistical Office, 2010), it is fundamental to asnwer the question of their quality, and especially the influence of their quality to their performance, thanks to permanently increasing and changing competitive environment.

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“…(food/drink and child minding) (Howat, Absher, Crilley, & Milne, 1996). There is a concern with CERM model measurement of the quality of services with reference to the customer's expectation -the ambiguity occurs when customers indicate their expectations, i.e.…”

Section: Service Attributes Of Sport Facilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of public sports facilities by the disabled in England

Kung

Taylor

2014

Sport Management Review

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Disabled sports participants are a small proportion of sports participants at English public sports centres; but they are important to the social inclusion agenda. This paper aims to provide a detailed insight into the preferences and behaviour of disabled sports participants. It investigated whether there were statistical differences: first, between the disabled sports participants and the non-disabled sports participants in terms of (1) social demographics, (2) patterns of participation, (3) travel, (4) sports activities and (5) customer satisfaction; and second, between age, ethnic, socio-economic and gender groups of their subsamples, on (2), (4) and (5) again. Disability is defined as having any long term illness or health problem which limits a person's daily activities or the work that a person can do. The data collected through the National Benchmarking Service, for 458 sports centres from 2005 to 2011, revealed that about 9% of over 150,000 sports participants were disabled. Swimming, using fitness equipment and keep fit related exercises were the top three most frequently stated main sports activities by the disabled. It was also more likely for the disabled to participate in organised activities, own a leisure card and participate regularly when compared with the non-disabled participants. In addition, the disabled were also more likely than the non-disabled to travel to the centre by public transport, from home and travel a longer journey time. The industry weaknesses as identified by the disabled relate to physical evidence of the sports centres, particularly cleanliness attributes. Measures that can be taken to increase sports participation by the disabled include competent support at sports centres, promotions through discount schemes or leisure cards, and free transportation to sport centres in catchment areas with high proportions of disabled in their population.

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Measuring customer service quality in sports and leisure centres

Cited by 182 publications

References 1 publication

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess perceived quality in sports services

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess perceived quality in sports services

Relationship between Quality and Performance: Tourism Companies in the Czech Republic

The use of public sports facilities by the disabled in England

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