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Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism
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Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 131172

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Javier Sánchez García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Business Administration and Marketing Department, Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castellón de la Plana, Spain
Interests: tourism; service quality; data analysis; structural equation modelling; consumer behavior; loyalty
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ramon Palau-Saumell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chair of Business Management Department; Research Coordinator, UG and PG Marketing Programs Coordinator, IQS School of Management, Universitat Ramon Llull, Via Augusta, 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: consumer behavior in offline and digital environments; services and tourism marketing; new technologies adoption; the effects of social network sites participation; tourism impacts on resident attitudes
Prof. Dr. Santiago Forgas-Coll

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Business Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: cover all aspects of services and tourism marketing in online and offline environments, with a primary focus on consumer behavior (motivations, perceptions, sensations, emotions, experiences, expectations, Implications, image, quality, attitude, trust, satisfaction, behavioral intentions)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The literature on service quality has arisen from two research traditions to measure service quality: i) the Nordic European tradition that uses technical and functional dimensions (Gronroos, 1984); ii) the North American school which uses SERVQUAL multidimensional scale (Parassuraman et al., 1985) or SERVPERF (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Since then, a growing body of literature has been focusing on measuring service quality in tourism, mainly using SERVQUAL, from which other scales have been derived, such as LODGQUA and HOLSERV (hospitality) and DINESERV (restaurants). These scales have allowed researchers to identify the influence of service quality on other variables in hospitality and leisure, such as destination image, satisfaction, trust and loyalty. Additionally, service quality is an objective measure and does not take into account the subjective perceptions of service quality, which in turn are more affective and holistic, leading to concept of experiential quality. In sum, experiential service quality refers to the psychological outcome resulting from the tourist participation in tourism and leisure activities. Nonetheless, the literature that analyzes experiential service quality is scarce in leisure and tourism, and even more in sustainable tourism environments. In this Special Issue, we invite manuscript submissions of empirical research to go beyond the traditional conception of service quality, in order to better understand the role of experiential service quality and its outcomes in a wide range of sustainable leisure and hospitality contexts. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • experiential service quality
  • satisfaction
  • loyalty
  • attachment
  • involvement
  • well-being
  • sustainability

Prof. Dr. Javier Sánchez García
Prof. Dr. Ramon Palau-Saumell
Prof. Dr. Santiago Forgas-Coll
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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18 pages, 714 KiB  
Article
An Assessment Model for Evaluating Asymmetric Effects of Attribute-Level Performance on Satisfaction
by Yanchun Jin, Yoonseo Park and Jiaohui Yu
Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4323; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164323 - 09 Aug 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3036
Abstract
The effects of attribute performance on satisfaction have been widely addressed in the discussion on satisfaction. In traditional view, customer satisfaction should be enhanced by improving product or service attribute performance. However, as theoretical and empirical studies have shown, the linkage between attribute [...] Read more.
The effects of attribute performance on satisfaction have been widely addressed in the discussion on satisfaction. In traditional view, customer satisfaction should be enhanced by improving product or service attribute performance. However, as theoretical and empirical studies have shown, the linkage between attribute performance and overall satisfaction is asymmetric and nonlinear, which means that it is not a definite relationship between high performance of attribute and satisfaction. Regarding the research on delivering asymmetric effects, the Kano model was utilized extensively in the previous studies. But this method suffers from lacking a validity testing and failing to take account of the degree of attribute’s importance. To get a more effective access to measuring the asymmetric and nonlinear effects of attributes on customer satisfaction, this study presents an integrated approach which can express asymmetric effects through evaluating the significance of different attributes to satisfaction based on response surface analysis and importance grid analysis methods. In this paper, an empirical study on rural tourists’ satisfaction was undertaken using this integrated method. Furthermore, compared with the regression with a dummy variable method, this proposed approach shows more responsive to enhancing attribute performance and makes allowance for improving a certain target attribute in the customer satisfaction improvement process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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17 pages, 881 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Effects of Airport Servicescape on Airport Users’ Behavioral Intentions: A Case Study of Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 (T2)
by Jin-Woo Park and Young Kyung Ryu
Sustainability 2019, 11(15), 4171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154171 - 02 Aug 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4543
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of physical and social servicescapes on cognitive and affective satisfaction, as well as airport image, with gender as a moderating effect between variables. A total of 283 airport users were surveyed, and structural [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of physical and social servicescapes on cognitive and affective satisfaction, as well as airport image, with gender as a moderating effect between variables. A total of 283 airport users were surveyed, and structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationships between variables. The results showed that only physical servicescape had a significant effect on cognitive and affective satisfaction, and affective satisfaction had a significant effect on airport image. In addition, the gender differences indicated a significant effect between the physical servicescape and cognitive satisfaction. This study is distinct in that it is the first attempt to verify the relationship between airport physical servicescape, social servicescape, airport users’ cognitive and affective satisfaction, and airport image on gender differences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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23 pages, 914 KiB  
Article
The Importance of Sustainability in the Loyalty to a Tourist Destination through the Management of Expectations and Experiences
by María Magdalena Solís-Radilla, Lucio Hernández-Lobato, Luis Jose Callarisa-Fiol and Héctor T. Pastor-Durán
Sustainability 2019, 11(15), 4132; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154132 - 31 Jul 2019
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 7201
Abstract
Sustainability has become one of the key factors for the development of tourism both nowadays and in the future. The need to integrate environmental, socio-cultural and economic factors is a consequence of the evolution of society itself, the introduction of new information and [...] Read more.
Sustainability has become one of the key factors for the development of tourism both nowadays and in the future. The need to integrate environmental, socio-cultural and economic factors is a consequence of the evolution of society itself, the introduction of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and a new way of understanding tourism and the world in general. Tourists increasingly seek a unique quality in their travels and are better informed before deciding on a tourist destination to spend their holidays or leisure time. They want to have unique, memorable experiences, and because of that, they are willing to look for those destinations that can offer them something different. The generation of expectations is no longer the sole responsibility of companies and public and private organizations in destinations, since information may be in the hands of the individuals themselves who can share it in social networks, blogs, or on platforms such as Booking or TripAdvisor, among others. This forces companies and public and private organizations to rethink the way in which and when they relate to tourists in general. With all these considerations, one of the objectives of this study was to analyse the way in which sustainability interrelates with the generation of expectations, experiences and perceptions and the effect on the possibilities of returning to a tourist destination and even recommending it in social networks to friends and acquaintances. For this reason, the destination of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, was chosen, a mature destination of sun and beach that, in recent years, has been immersed in a process of change where one of the axes is sustainability. This study used a convenience survey with 310 valid questionnaires with tourists who stayed more than three days in Acapulco during the months of December 2016 to February 2017. The questionnaires were completed at different points of the destination and by participants over 18 years of age. We used SEM (Structural Equations Modeling) and EQS (Structural Equation Modeling Software) for statistical analysis. The results of the study showed how expectations influenced experiences and the intention to return to the destination and recommend it (WOM), thus, we proposed a series of recommendations for public and private agents that manage this tourist destination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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22 pages, 3384 KiB  
Article
Quality in Tourism Literature: A Bibliometric Review
by Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon, Yeamduan Narangajavana-Kaosiri and Yeamdao Narangajavana
Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3859; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143859 - 16 Jul 2019
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 6357
Abstract
The literature about quality has experienced an important expansion in the tourism sector in the last decade. This is a result of the importance of quality issues when attempting to maintain and expand sustainable business models for tourism organizations and destinations, which are [...] Read more.
The literature about quality has experienced an important expansion in the tourism sector in the last decade. This is a result of the importance of quality issues when attempting to maintain and expand sustainable business models for tourism organizations and destinations, which are critical to strengthen competitiveness in the new framework. This relevance has been reflected in the tourism literature, with numerous papers focusing on the topic of quality. Nevertheless, despite its importance, there is a lack of studies and reviews of this literature. In order to overcome this problem, this paper develops a bibliometric and visualization analysis of the literature that examines the topics of tourism and quality together. Specifically, the article studies the 4625 documents on this issue published until the end of 2018 in the Web of Science Core Collection database, by using the co-occurrence of keywords, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-authorship analyses. In addition, the VOSviewer program was used to map the diverse clusters or relationships among the literature. The results showed the trends and impact of this literature, and also the main papers, authors, journals, institutions, and even countries that focus on tourism and quality aspects together. They are useful for researchers and practitioners when dealing with this topic, in order to better understand the situation of this issue and its development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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12 pages, 399 KiB  
Article
Service Quality Scales and Tourists with Special Needs: A Systematic Review
by Mireia Ferri Sanz, Estrella Durá Ferrandis and Jorge Garcés Ferrer
Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3844; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143844 - 15 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3315
Abstract
This paper reviews the most commonly used scales for measuring service quality in sustainable tourism destinations to analyse if the requirements of tourists with special needs are considered. Results highlight that most of the recent research on service quality in tourism published in [...] Read more.
This paper reviews the most commonly used scales for measuring service quality in sustainable tourism destinations to analyse if the requirements of tourists with special needs are considered. Results highlight that most of the recent research on service quality in tourism published in scientific journals is focused on a relative reduced number of validated scales. Variables related to tourists with special needs are often omitted or represent a reduced weight in the complete scale. Thus, this paper highlights the importance of including variables that collect the perceptions of service quality in this target group to better understand the individual perception of service quality and to move forward to sustainable tourism, considering the social dimension. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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24 pages, 1361 KiB  
Article
Loyalty Model Proposal of Travel Agency Customers
by Andrzej Dudek, Daria Elżbieta Jaremen, Izabela Michalska-Dudek and Marek Walesiak
Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133702 - 05 Jul 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4634
Abstract
Customer loyalty to a destination and accommodation services constitutes a frequent object of research; however, customer loyalty to travel agencies is rarely analyzed. The presented article is an attempt to fill in this research gap. Its purpose is to construct and verify the [...] Read more.
Customer loyalty to a destination and accommodation services constitutes a frequent object of research; however, customer loyalty to travel agencies is rarely analyzed. The presented article is an attempt to fill in this research gap. Its purpose is to construct and verify the model covering the impact of the selected factors on the loyalty level of customers of travel agencies operating in Poland. The conceptualization of the loyalty model of travel agency customers (based on the European path-based EPSI model) proposed in the article was first used to illustrate the existing correlations in customer behavior to analyze and explain the development of the loyalty phenomenon vis-a-vis travel agency customers. The aforementioned assumptions—having applied the structural equation modelling (SEM)—were reflected in the development of the theoretical model of travel agencies customer loyalty, the empirical verification of which (N = 1151) allowed us to determine the impacts of selected factors (i.e., the perceived quality of the travel agency’s offers, its image and the satisfaction with its service buyers) on the loyalty level of travel agency customers. It has been shown that two major factors have positive impacts on the loyalty of travel agency customers: (i) the perceived quality of travel agency offers, and (ii) its image. Furthermore, the conducted analysis highlights the positive influence of the perceived value of travel agency offers on the loyalty of customers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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18 pages, 589 KiB  
Article
Exploring Service Quality among Online Sharing Economy Platforms from an Online Media Perspective
by Eduard Cristobal-Fransi, Francisco Hernández-Soriano, Berta Ferrer-Rosell and Natalia Daries
Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3690; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133690 - 05 Jul 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4819
Abstract
The sharing economy has become a new socioeconomic activity that allows the co-creation, production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between individuals, driven by Web 2.0 and e-word of mouth. How these online platforms communicate their content is critical. This paper seeks [...] Read more.
The sharing economy has become a new socioeconomic activity that allows the co-creation, production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between individuals, driven by Web 2.0 and e-word of mouth. How these online platforms communicate their content is critical. This paper seeks to develop a scale for measuring the perceived quality of websites that offer information about sharing economy services focused on online peer-to-peer accommodation. The resulting model is validated by means of structural equations and is composed of four dimensions (efficiency; reliability, privacy/security; and communication). The influence that perceived quality exerts on satisfaction and loyalty is then explored from an online media perspective. A scale resulting from the combination of these two areas of knowledge (online media and e-service quality) may take advantage of the more beneficial features they have to offer and provide us with as balanced and convergent a model as possible. The results of the study show that all of the initial hypotheses are confirmed except one. Efficiency, reliability and privacy/security positively influence the perceived quality of a collaborative accommodation portal, whereas communication does not. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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19 pages, 854 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Repurchase Intention of Premium Economy Passengers Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior
by Jun Hwan Kim and Hyun Cheol Lee
Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3213; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113213 - 10 Jun 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6871
Abstract
This study investigates the repurchase intention of passengers who have experienced premium economy class. To achieve the research purpose, we examine the relationship among psychological factors, perceived price, perceived service quality, perceived value and repurchase intention using a research model extended from the [...] Read more.
This study investigates the repurchase intention of passengers who have experienced premium economy class. To achieve the research purpose, we examine the relationship among psychological factors, perceived price, perceived service quality, perceived value and repurchase intention using a research model extended from the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The survey data were collected both airside and landside at two major Korean international airports from 382 passengers who used premium economy class. The results show that the repurchase intention of passengers is influenced by the attitude, perceived behavioral control, and perceived value derived from price and service quality; repurchase intention is not influenced by the subjective norm. These findings will enable air carriers to better understand the intention of premium economy passengers with respect to psychological and service value perspectives. They can also be used to improve marketing capabilities and the sustainable profitability of premium economy service. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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16 pages, 803 KiB  
Article
Authentic Leadership and Job Satisfaction: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)
by Asier Baquero, Beatriz Delgado, Raquel Escortell and Juan Sapena
Sustainability 2019, 11(8), 2412; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082412 - 23 Apr 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6720
Abstract
The relationship between leadership and job satisfaction has attracted considerable scientific interest, especially in relation to the quality of tourism businesses. This study investigated this relationship within the framework of authentic leadership. The study also explored differences between outsourced workers and internal hotel [...] Read more.
The relationship between leadership and job satisfaction has attracted considerable scientific interest, especially in relation to the quality of tourism businesses. This study investigated this relationship within the framework of authentic leadership. The study also explored differences between outsourced workers and internal hotel employees in terms of the influence of authentic leadership on job satisfaction. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) offered valuable new insight. This study was based on a sample of 58 heads of department of four/five star hotels in the Canary Islands, Spain. The results suggest that high levels of leadership in the four subscales of authentic leadership (balanced processing, relational transparency, self-awareness, and internalized moral perspective) are sufficient to increase job satisfaction. The same outcome is achieved with high levels of balanced processing, even though it is accompanied by low transparency and low levels of internalized moral perspective. There are no major differences between outsourced workers and internal employees, except in terms of the importance of self-awareness. These results can help hotel managers reflect upon leadership and can provide new approaches for scientific research in this area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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17 pages, 257 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Service Quality and Customer Loyalty: The Role of Customer Satisfaction and Switching Costs in the Pakistan Cellphone Industry
by Noor Ul Hadi, Nadia Aslam and Amir Gulzar
Sustainability 2019, 11(8), 2408; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082408 - 23 Apr 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 8445
Abstract
Generally, the current scenario in the hyperactive corporate world, and specifically in the telecom sector, renders companies to compete concurrently on two fronts: Expansion of their customer base and the retention of their current customers. In order to explore and examine the latter [...] Read more.
Generally, the current scenario in the hyperactive corporate world, and specifically in the telecom sector, renders companies to compete concurrently on two fronts: Expansion of their customer base and the retention of their current customers. In order to explore and examine the latter concept, the current study hypothesizes the effects of sustainable service quality on customer loyalty with a mediating role of customer satisfaction conceptualized through the reciprocity theory. The study also considers the suggested moderating role of switching cost by theorizing the Apostle model. Pertinently, the satisfied customer may not be loyal if the switching cost is low, since the dynamics of the switching cost provide a useful insight into the phenomenon of retaining the customers through customer satisfaction. The research opts for explanatory study where data were conveniently collected. The study has used the PROCESS macro model 4 and 14 to analyze the data. Findings reveal that the role of customer satisfaction is significant but the effect of the switching cost was considered to be insignificant, elucidating that a satisfied customer will remain loyal even if the switching cost is low. It means that sustaining service quality longitudinally did not affect customer loyalty in the presence of a low switching cost. With a view to complement the study, managerial implications of a switching cost have also been discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
17 pages, 642 KiB  
Article
Effects of Selected Positive Resources on Hospitality Service Quality: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement
by Chung-Jen Wang and Kuan-Ju Tseng
Sustainability 2019, 11(8), 2320; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082320 - 17 Apr 2019
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 5459
Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the mediating role of work engagement for the effects of deep acting, perceived organizational support, and self-efficacy on service quality under the conservation of resources (COR) theory and the job demands–resources (JD-R) model. Questionnaires were rigorously distributed by [...] Read more.
This paper aims to investigate the mediating role of work engagement for the effects of deep acting, perceived organizational support, and self-efficacy on service quality under the conservation of resources (COR) theory and the job demands–resources (JD-R) model. Questionnaires were rigorously distributed by stratified random sampling. Data were collected from hospitality frontline employees (HFLEs) of hotels and restaurants in Taiwan during a period of two months. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to assess the data. Empirical results demonstrated work engagement is a significant mediator, enriching the antecedents and consequences of work engagement in hospitality literature. The findings suggest hospitality practitioners should consider a high-performance work system (HPWS) as an employee management tactic to implement sustainable human resource management (HRM). This practice can augment hospitality frontline employees’ willingness to stay in organizations in the long term and to maintain a satisfying service quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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12 pages, 325 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Mind-Body Exercise on Sustainable Psychological Wellbeing Focusing on Pilates
by Suk-Kyu Kim, Jae-Lan Shim and Gun-Soo Han
Sustainability 2019, 11(7), 1977; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11071977 - 03 Apr 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4379
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the theoretical model of mind–body exercise and to examine its effect on psychological wellbeing focusing on Pilates. A total of 219 surveys from Pilates participants were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The result of this [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the theoretical model of mind–body exercise and to examine its effect on psychological wellbeing focusing on Pilates. A total of 219 surveys from Pilates participants were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The result of this study indicated service quality has a significant direct effect on participation satisfaction (+). Service quality does not have a significant direct effect on sustainable participation intention. Participation satisfaction has a significant direct effect on positive emotion (+). Participation satisfaction has a significant direct effect on negative emotion (−). Participation satisfaction has a significant direct effect on sustainable participation intention (+). Service quality has a significant indirect effect on sustainable participation intention mediated by participation satisfaction (+). The findings of this study will be valuable data for healthcare experts to establish more effective mental health strategies concerning mind–body exercise. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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19 pages, 929 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Role of Service Delivery in Remarkable Tourism Experiences
by Dalilis Escobar Rivera, Marti Casadesús Fa, Paulo Alexandre Costa Araújo Sampaio and Alexandra Simon Villar
Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1382; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051382 - 06 Mar 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3653
Abstract
The purpose of the article is to analyze through a service-experience framework the consequences and contingency factors of Service Delivery (SD) in Remarkable Tourism Experiences (RTE) and explore to what extent these factors interact to evoke delight behaviors in customers. The proposal was [...] Read more.
The purpose of the article is to analyze through a service-experience framework the consequences and contingency factors of Service Delivery (SD) in Remarkable Tourism Experiences (RTE) and explore to what extent these factors interact to evoke delight behaviors in customers. The proposal was validated with empirical data from 284 tourists collected through survey method on remarkable experiences in hotels and restaurants. Both an exploratory and a confirmatory analysis were developed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The result highlights to what extent SD components identified (service staff, service availability, and customer service interaction) affect RTE and aid to evoke CD in tourists with high-quality memories. The service-experience model goes beyond the frontline employees with a service-oriented perspective to better understand the emerging factors that provide happiness in customers. The organizational staff is the most important component influencing a customer’s happiness and love feelings. The empirical findings support a model and measurement scale that allows analysis of the impact of SD component statements about customer delight (CD). The study shows the antecedents and interactions among SD emergent factors in RTE, specifically regarding CD behavior. The model proposed in this study links SD components and basic emotions and has important practical implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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24 pages, 913 KiB  
Article
User Acceptance of Mobile Apps for Restaurants: An Expanded and Extended UTAUT-2
by Ramon Palau-Saumell, Santiago Forgas-Coll, Javier Sánchez-García and Emilio Robres
Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 1210; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041210 - 25 Feb 2019
Cited by 181 | Viewed by 18915
Abstract
This paper examines the adoption of mobile applications for restaurant searches and/or reservations (MARSR) by users, as part of their experiential quality. Following an extended and expanded version of UTAUT-2, this research proposes eight determinants of intentions to use: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, [...] Read more.
This paper examines the adoption of mobile applications for restaurant searches and/or reservations (MARSR) by users, as part of their experiential quality. Following an extended and expanded version of UTAUT-2, this research proposes eight determinants of intentions to use: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price-saving orientation, habit, social influence, and perceived credibility. The data were collected from Spanish users of MARSR applications (n = 1200), and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings confirm the need to extend and expand UTAUT-2 by incorporating perceived credibility and the social norm approach. The results gathered from SEM indicate that the drivers of intentions to use MARSR are, in order of impact: habit, perceived credibility, hedonic motivation, price-saving orientation, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. Habit, facilitating conditions, and intentions to use are significantly related to use. Additionally, the moderating effects of gender, age, and experience were tested by means of a multi-group analysis. The users’ experience was seen to exert a moderating effect in some of the relationships hypothesized in the model, while gender and age did not play a significant role. The findings have both research and practical implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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13 pages, 1118 KiB  
Article
Effects of Service Quality Policies in the Tourism Sector Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Spanish Hotels and Restaurants
by Llorenç Bagur-Femenías, Jordi Perramon and Marc Oliveras-Villanueva
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 872; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030872 - 07 Feb 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4376
Abstract
In the last few years, it has become essential, in order for companies to ensure their survival, to approach the customer and bet on quality. This is due to the importance of tourism in many economies and the increase in supply and demand. [...] Read more.
In the last few years, it has become essential, in order for companies to ensure their survival, to approach the customer and bet on quality. This is due to the importance of tourism in many economies and the increase in supply and demand. For this reason, there are numerous studies found in literature that evaluate the extent to which quality practices impact finances and competitiveness of tourism companies. Furthermore, the usual practice in many of these studies is to classify all types of tourism businesses in the same category, even though there seem to be significant a priori differences between them. The main objects of scrutiny in this study are restaurants and hospitality. The analysis of the aggregate results of two surveys carried out among executives in Spain that employed SEM methodology demonstrates that quality practices have influence, albeit indirectly, on a firm’s performance in a positive way. However, separate analysis of subsamples show disparities between hotels and restaurants. This paper illustrates that, although both subgroups operate in the same sector, they obtain different results from implementing quality policies. Therefore, the specific features and typology of the selected tourism company should be considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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14 pages, 660 KiB  
Article
How DMO Can Measure the Experiences of a Large Territory
by Simona Franzoni and Michelle Bonera
Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020492 - 18 Jan 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4019
Abstract
This paper aims at providing a methodology for analyzing and measuring the experiences offered by a large territory by investigating online conversation on the “things to do” or in other words the experiences by TripAdvisor platform. Opinions and comments are able to influence [...] Read more.
This paper aims at providing a methodology for analyzing and measuring the experiences offered by a large territory by investigating online conversation on the “things to do” or in other words the experiences by TripAdvisor platform. Opinions and comments are able to influence the choice of the tourist destination and to raise specific expectations, in order to find corrective measures to be taken to preserve or enhance the interest of a tourist destination. By applying the methodology advanced, Destination Management Organization (DMO) can collect useful information in order to make decisions and take action to protect and/or increase the competitiveness of the destination. The empirical observation, thought the methodology described herein, was applied in the Province of Brescia, Italy, a large territory marked by the presence of different destinations and experiences and Bresciatourism—Visit Brescia, the DMO of this territory, was involved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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15 pages, 1139 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Sustainability Correlation of Value Co-Creation and Customer Loyalty-A Case Study of Fitness Clubs
by Yu-Lung Lee, Lee-Yun Pan, Chin-Hsien Hsu and De-Chih Lee
Sustainability 2019, 11(1), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010097 - 24 Dec 2018
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6994
Abstract
Fitness gyms have been gaining popularity among Taiwanese people, which means growing competitiveness for fitness gym operators and the necessity for an examination on how to maintain customer loyalty. Since workouts may require more coaching and interactions than other types of exercise, this [...] Read more.
Fitness gyms have been gaining popularity among Taiwanese people, which means growing competitiveness for fitness gym operators and the necessity for an examination on how to maintain customer loyalty. Since workouts may require more coaching and interactions than other types of exercise, this study focuses on whether the increased customer interactions and involvement, which may be achieved when the operator works on developing customer value co-creation behavior, can generate increased customer loyalty toward fitness gyms. On the other hand, customers’regular behavior may influence customers’perceived necessity of interactions and involvement; this may in turn influence the correlation of value co-creation behavior and customer loyalty. Accordingly, regular behavior was employed as the moderating variable in this study. The study used SPSS software version 22.0 and AMOS software version 22.0 to evaluate the data collected. By convenience sampling, it distributed questionnaires to 470 subjects, and collected 470 copies, with a return rate of 100%. After eliminating the invalid samples, there were 453 valid samples, with a valid return rate of 96.3%. We distributed questionnaires at outside the fitness clubs in Taichung City from May 20th to June 13th, 2016. The study’s results indicate that value co-creation attitude, value co-creation subjective norm, and price affordability have positive effects on value co-creation behavior; value co-creation behavior has a positive effect on customer loyalty, and regular behavior has a negative moderating effect on the influence of value co-creation behavior on customer loyalty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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17 pages, 1433 KiB  
Article
Leisure Motivation and Satisfaction: A Text Mining of Yoga Centres, Yoga Consumers, and Their Interactions
by Susan (Sixue) Jia
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4458; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124458 - 27 Nov 2018
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5640
Abstract
Understanding the motivation and satisfaction of yoga consumers is of critical importance for both leisure service providers and leisure researchers to enhance the sustainability of personal lives in terms of physical wellness and mental happiness. For this purpose, this study investigated 25,120 pairs [...] Read more.
Understanding the motivation and satisfaction of yoga consumers is of critical importance for both leisure service providers and leisure researchers to enhance the sustainability of personal lives in terms of physical wellness and mental happiness. For this purpose, this study investigated 25,120 pairs of online ratings and reviews from 100 yoga centres in Shanghai, China using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)-based text mining, and successfully established the relationship between rating and review. Findings suggest that Chinese yogis are motivated by improving physical condition, improving psychological condition, gracing appearance, establishing social connection, and creating social isolation. In addition to teaching mainstream yoga, yoga centres also provide additional courses. From a consumer perspective, yogis are relatively satisfied with teachers, courses, and the environment, but complain about the supporting staff, membership price, and reservation service. Managerially, yoga centres are encouraged to continue attending to the motivations of yogis, specialising their guidance, and fostering strengths and circumventing weaknesses in their service. This study also contributes by verifying, elaborating on, and tentatively extending the framework of the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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11 pages, 217 KiB  
Article
Market Segmentation by Travel Motivations under a Transforming Economy: Evidence from the Monte Carlo of the Orient
by Tiantian (Tiana) Shi, Xiaoming (Rose) Liu and Jun (Justin) Li
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3395; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103395 - 23 Sep 2018
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5458
Abstract
Macau, the world’s largest casino hub with the largest gambling revenues, has received increasing attention as a research focus. Macau attracts more and more Chinese outbound tourists each year due to its gambling industry monopoly in Greater China. Macau is positioning itself as [...] Read more.
Macau, the world’s largest casino hub with the largest gambling revenues, has received increasing attention as a research focus. Macau attracts more and more Chinese outbound tourists each year due to its gambling industry monopoly in Greater China. Macau is positioning itself as a ‘world center of tourism and leisure’ and has set out plans to become a broader-based tourist destination with economic diversification. Thus, an understanding of people’s varied motivations plays an important role in the current status of an environment with a moderate diversification of economic development. The objective of this study is to classify the outbound mainland Chinese tourists in Macau into more homogeneous subgroups on the basis of their travel motivations. Thirteen motivation items are extracted into four factors (namely knowledge and culture, relaxation, entertainment and gambling, and prestige) through exploratory factor analysis. Three distinct market segments are identified—freedom seekers, multi-purpose seekers, and fun and special interest in gambling seekers—based on a cluster analysis using k-means methodology. This study also presents the socio-demographic and trip characteristic differences among these three segments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
15 pages, 1881 KiB  
Article
Tourism Review Sentiment Classification Using a Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network with an Attention Mechanism and Topic-Enriched Word Vectors
by Qin Li, Shaobo Li, Jie Hu, Sen Zhang and Jianjun Hu
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3313; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093313 - 17 Sep 2018
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4385
Abstract
Sentiment analysis of online tourist reviews is playing an increasingly important role in tourism. Accurately capturing the attitudes of tourists regarding different aspects of the scenic sites or the overall polarity of their online reviews is key to tourism analysis and application. However, [...] Read more.
Sentiment analysis of online tourist reviews is playing an increasingly important role in tourism. Accurately capturing the attitudes of tourists regarding different aspects of the scenic sites or the overall polarity of their online reviews is key to tourism analysis and application. However, the performances of current document sentiment analysis methods are not satisfactory as they either neglect the topics of the document or do not consider that not all words contribute equally to the meaning of the text. In this work, we propose a bidirectional gated recurrent unit neural network model (BiGRULA) for sentiment analysis by combining a topic model (lda2vec) and an attention mechanism. Lda2vec is used to discover all the main topics of review corpus, which are then used to enrich the word vector representation of words with context. The attention mechanism is used to learn to attribute different weights of the words to the overall meaning of the text. Experiments over 20 NewsGroup and IMDB datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our model. Furthermore, we applied our model to hotel review data analysis, which allows us to get more coherent topics from these reviews and achieve good performance in sentiment classification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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Review

Jump to: Research

21 pages, 446 KiB  
Review
Service Quality in Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review and Keyword Network Analysis
by Jinsoo Park and EuiBeom Jeong
Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3665; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133665 - 03 Jul 2019
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 9970
Abstract
The tourism industry has received increasing attention as it has become one of the fastest developing business sectors around the world. Service quality in tourism has come to be regarded as an important impetus for economic growth; however, the focus on tourism service [...] Read more.
The tourism industry has received increasing attention as it has become one of the fastest developing business sectors around the world. Service quality in tourism has come to be regarded as an important impetus for economic growth; however, the focus on tourism service quality has not yet been satisfactorily or comprehensively reviewed. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review combining bibliometric, citation network and keyword network analysis. We selected the top five tourism journals from the SCOPUS database and then collected papers according to their keywords. Our results revealed the critical issues, topics, and changes over time regarding research on tourism service quality. The critical issues included the important impact of service quality on tourist behavior and service quality evaluation, and topics comprised (1) tourist satisfaction, (2) sustainable issues in tourism, (3) value of service quality for customers, (4) restaurant service quality, (5) customers’ perceptions of tourism, (6) service quality evaluation in tourism, and (7) service quality’s influence on customer behavior. Furthermore, the keyword network analysis results revealed the most influential keywords. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism)
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