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Several problems have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the public transportation sector. Data from 2021 show that the number of bus passengers in Bangkok has decreased by 40-60% below normal conditions, and the number of bus passengers in Jakarta has decreased by around 76% compared to June 2019. In the new normal period, public transport is required to implement strict health protocols in its operations. This paper aims to evaluate potential indicators underlying the intention to use public transport during a pandemic. The target groups are public and paratransit buses in Bangkok and Jakarta, two metropolitan areas in ASEAN that have been greatly affected by this pandemic. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed in each city. The outcome from the structural equation model reveals a relatively similar finding in both cities. Tangibility is one of the five dimensions of service quality that is influential in both cities;this indicator affects the intention to use public transportation in Jakarta (Coeff. = 14.670, p-value < 0.001) and Bangkok (Coeff. = 1.164, p-value < 0.001). In this study, confidence (CO) is significant for the intention to use public transportation in both cities with a coefficient of 0.105 for Bangkok and 0.969 for Jakarta. Furthermore, the health measure indicator (HM) has a significant value on passenger confidence (CO) in using public transportation for both cities (Coeff. = 0.808, p-value = <0.001 in Bangkok and Coeff. = -1.413, p-value = 0.008 in Jakarta). Health measures such as wearing a mask, always washing hands and not traveling if unwell are considered to be the right policies to prevent the spread of the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. This practical implication can become a core strategy for improving the quality of public transport services in similar cities.
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Wearing a facemask is an effective part of personal hygiene management (WHO, 2020). Not only can it offer healthy people some protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, but it can also reduce the spread of the virus. Wearing facemasks, as a part of the various regulations and guidelines encouraged by the Chinese government and hospitality firms, has been widely accepted by the public in the post-COVID-19 era in China. But few studies have considered the effects of employees wearing facemasks on the customer service experience. Based on signaling theory, this experimental study explores the effects of hotel employees wearing facemasks on customer perceptions of service quality. The results indicate three main effects. (a) Having employees wear facemasks can improve perceptions of customer service quality. (b) Customers commonly feel that female employees wearing facemasks could provide higher service quality than male mask-wearing employees, but the improvement in customer perception with male employees wearing facemasks is greater than the situation between facemask-less and facemask-wearing females. (c) Customer perceptions of employee expertise, employee trustworthiness, and hotel trustworthiness play serial mediating roles. Recommendations to help hotel managers improve customers' service evaluations during the COVID-19 pandemic are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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Increased use of social media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, affects consumer behavior in making purchases, one of which is transactions made by followers of online travel agencies (OTA). This research was conducted to study the relationship between followers of the Instagram account Online Travel Agency (OTA) and the Online Travel Agency (OTA). The type of research design used is quantitative survey research using the SEM (Structural Equation Model) method and the analysis tool using Smart-PLS 3.0. People in DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, who have utilized online travel agencies were the study's unit of analysis (OTA). The results showed that Stimuli significantly affected Perceived Content Quality, Stimuli significantly affected Perceived Entertainment, Stimuli significantly affected Perceived Service Quality, and Site Attachment significantly affected Repurchase Intention. © 2022 IEEE.
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Nature has healing powers that provide physical and mental benefits to tourists and reduce their anxiety related to COVID-19. However, few empirical studies have examined the emotional mechanism that induces tourists to feel satisfied with, rather than anxious about, their lives. We explain the underlying impact mechanism that connects nature and subjective well-being in a natural heritage context by analyzing data collected from a sample of 534 tourists in Wulingyuan (south-central China). Our study revealed interesting and meaningful findings: (a) nature has healing powers that directly and indirectly (via awe and place attachment) influence tourists' sub-jective well-being;(b) tourists with a relatively low level of positive emotions who become attached to a destination, subsequently experience a greater degree of healing;and (c) there are significant gender differences concerning the healing powers of nature among tourists. These findings contribute to well-being research by highlighting the underlying emotional mechanism whereby nature influences tourists' subjective well-being. The paper also demonstrates the moderating effects of positive emotions and gender in the proposed model, which offers valuable practical insights for governments in tourist destinations.
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PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of perceived service quality (PSQ) on the behavioural intention (BI) of patients in Indian government hospitals. The underlying mechanism of trust and patient satisfaction (SAT) is examined as multiple mediating effect. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Data from 510 respondents were collected using structured questionnaires. Six government hospitals, namely, S.M.S. Hospital, J.L.N. Hospital, New Medical College Hospital, Maharana Bhupal Medical Hospital, Mathuradas Hospital and P.B.N. Hospital, were selected from the cities of Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner, respectively. The data were collected from adult patients (>18 years old) who spent at least two nights in a government hospital between 1 October, 2020 and 30 December, 2020. PSQ formed as a reflective-formative model was analysed using the repeated indicator approach. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using SMART-PLS software was used to test the hypothesised model(s) derived deductively from literature. FINDINGS: The findings support the following conclusions: (1) the positive relationship between PSQ and BI is significant; (2) SAT mediates the PSQ and BI relationship; (3) trust mediates the PSQ and BI relationship; (4) the mediation effect of SAT is stronger than that of trust. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results indicate that, in order to enhance the positive BI of patients towards government hospitals, it is necessary for the hospitals to work on strategies to enhance the service quality provided to patients. The outcome of this study will enable state government hospitals to get a better understanding of the different dimensions of service quality and will help in observing the factors that contribute to patients' satisfaction and trust in building long-term relationships by encouraging a positive BI. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: There is a dearth of research in India that evaluates the relationships between the constructs PSQ, trust, BI and SAT in the context of healthcare service. This empirical study is an attempt to fill this gap by focussing on the government hospitals in India.
Subject(s)
Inpatients , Intention , Adolescent , Adult , Government , Hospitals, Public , Humans , Patient Satisfaction , Quality of Health Care , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global humanity adversely. The developing country like India which has 17.7% of the total world population lacks the healthcare infrastructure but trying to lead the battle from the front with its available healthcare infrastructure and great care for patients. The global data also suggests that India has outperformed so many developed countries in caring its population. This study is an attempt to gauge the perceived service quality of patients regarding the healthcare services on HEALTHQUAL model. The primary study was conducted among 138 patients who received the healthcare services during devastating second wave of COVID-19 at Pacific Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur (India). For the correlation was calculated between the improvement of care and the HEALTHQUAL dimensions, namely empathy, safety, tangibility, and efficiency. AMOS was also applied for analyzing the data. The results clearly indicate the high relationship between the improvement of care and the HEALTHQUAL dimensions, namely empathy, safety, tangibility, and efficiency. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to augment the perceived service quality (PSQ) dimensions as well as evaluate the effects of pandemic susceptibility and severity by appending crucial enablers of customer satisfaction (CS) in the restaurant industry (RI). Design/methodology/approach The top 10 restaurants from Mumbai and Kolkata were selected based on the Conde Nast Traveller Magazine List, 2020. The study used a cross-sectional design to collect responses from 840 respondents across the two major metropolitans of India after the second wave of COVID-19 by employing a structured questionnaire. The proffered hypotheses in this study were validated using factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques. Findings This research espies pivotal facilitators of CS and customers' perceived value (CPV). The results divulge that food quality (FQ) and tangibility dimensions markedly enhance CS while the FQ and digital technologies (DT) dimensions augment CPV in Indian restaurants. The study asserts that CPV acts as a partial mediator between FQ and DT on the one hand and CS on the other. In addition, perceived pandemic susceptibility (PPSU) and perceived pandemic severity (PPSE) moderate the association between CPV and CS in restaurants. Research limitations/implications This study exemplifies the critical enablers of CS and CPV that may invigorate restaurant owners, managers and policymakers to prioritize the identified dimensions to aggrandize CS and CPV quotients. Originality/value The study enriches the literature by assimilating DT and CPV dimensions in a comprehensive theoretical framework. The research is unique in attempting to unfurl the moderating effects of PPSU and PPSE in the RI.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework which takes into account the perceived risk (PR) and the perceived benefits (PB) of using mobile payment systems (MPS) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The study proposes a conceptual framework incorporating the uncertainties/risks associated with MPS like perceived technology uncertainty (PTU), perceived regulatory uncertainty (PRU), perceived service intangibility (PSI) and perceived information asymmetry (PIA), along with the benefits of using MPS such as trust, mobility, health consciousness (HC) and fear of Coronavirus (FOC). A survey comprising 1,253 participants was conducted in India. The proposed model was empirically examined through partial least square structural equation modelling. Findings The outcomes of the study revealed a significant positive influence of PTU, PRU, PIA and PSI on PR. On the other hand, HC and FOC were identified as the major antecedents having a significant positive influence on PB. Both PR and PB had a significant influence on the intention to adopt MPS, but the influence of PB was greater than the influence of PR. Practical implications The enablers and inhibitors play a crucial role in understanding the intention to adopt MPS. HC and fear of acquiring Coronavirus can be aggressively marketed by the government and service providers as a strategy to maintain social distancing. Government should address the regulatory concerns associated with the usage of MPS so as to alleviate any negative perception among the general public. Originality/value The current study is a novel attempt to understand the intention to adopt MPS in India as precautionary health behaviour to curb the transmission of Coronavirus pandemic. The study uses two constructs, HC and FOC, to better understand the behaviour of the people and explain the intention to adopt MPS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 lockdown worldwide, classroom education continues remotely through online. The question remains, comparing with the face-to-face education, does online education has a similar satisfaction level among the students? There are only a few studies that examine the perceived service quality of online education. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to analyze the factors of perceived service quality of online education during a pandemic. RESEARCH DESIGN: A structured questionnaire elicits information from 147 students from different study backgrounds of various universities worldwide. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used for data analysis and model design. Research constructs evaluation for reliability and internal consistency are subsequently performed. A snowball random sampling method is applied for data collection. RESULTS: Findings from the fsQCA analysis identify four core factors that underpin student satisfaction through positive perceived service quality of online education. Alternative paths are determined based on gender, students' current education status, and their loyalty toward online education. We also introduce two topologies of perceived quality regarding online education and student satisfaction. ORIGINALITY: Because of the primary nature of the data, this is firsthand experience gathered from different universities around the world who have willingly or unwillingly experienced online learning during the pandemic. The fsQCA technique for examining perceived service quality of online education. CONCLUSIONS: The findings contain a number of contributions, illustrating different topologies of the student from different backgrounds and their intention, satisfaction and loyalty towards e-learning, and identifying causal factors that influence willingness to recommend online education.