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In 2021, the airline industry was affected by COVID-19, and many airlines suffered losses. The main reason for the loss were the decline in revenue and the surge in costs. Therefore, in terms of creating the competitive advantage of airlines, "price war" is no longer applicable, and improving service quality has become an effective means. Customer satisfaction is the most effective indicator to measure service quality. In this study, a satisfaction evaluation system is established based on structural equation model and customer satisfaction importance matrix. Then, a questionnaire is designed to analyze the influence of different factors on customer satisfaction. The research finds that brand image and perceived quality have a great impact on customer satisfaction. In addition, some suggestions for airlines to improve customer satisfaction are given. © 2023 SPIE.
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Many studies have analyzed the asymmetric relationship between hotel service quality attributes and satisfaction, and tried to find consumers' satisfiers and dissatisfiers, aiming at enhancing satisfaction more efficiently. However, the impact of COVID-19 has led to changes in consumers' expectations for hotel services, and the above findings might face invalidation. To date, we are still unknown whether consumers' satisfiers/dissatisfiers changed. This study fills this research gap by mining online reviews of five-star hotels from Shanghai and Beijing before and during the pandemic. The results found that the asymmetric categories of Sleep quality and Internet/Wi-Fi attributes have changed. Specifically, Sleep quality and Internet/Wi-Fi became dissatisfiers from hybrids, indicating that hoteliers only need to maintain their normal performance, and do not invest too many resources because they bring no satisfaction;attributes like Room, decoration, etc. remain hybrids. Additionally, we performed opinion extraction for the dissatisfier attributes to further understand what causes consumer dissatisfaction. The results contribute to the literature by shedding light on the pandemic's impacts on the asymmetric effects of service quality attributes. The cause analysis can help hoteliers develop specific measures to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19.
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After the global tourism industry has experienced the impact of the pandemic, it is critical that people gain confidence in traveling and have the impression that staying in hotels is now safe, because only in this way tourism businesses such as hotels can be fully successful in recovering. For this reason, the researchers guided by a descriptive research design and quantitative research approach, aimed to determine what people think about staying in a hotel, particularly in terms of safety and security, price, location, and service quality, in the time of COVID-19 pandemic recovery stage, focused on the local community of Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines, being one of richest cities in the country and the place where the researchers reside. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the perspective of the respondents has been performed in terms of their age, sex, and educational attainment, identifying which age, sex and educational attainment groups have more positive or negative attitude, and a higher or lower level of hotel stay intention compared with other groups. Being the first study that has assessed the tourism market particularly in terms of their perspective on hotel stay as the hospitality industry attempts to recover from the impact of the pandemic, this is expected to provide a clear picture of the need for management of hotels to continuously work on marketing efforts highlighting the information that it is now safe to practice tourism and stay in their establishments, hence, serving as a guide in coming up with promotional strategies and an action plan, as well as a motivation for researchers who wish to determine the same in their locality or country.
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Despite an increased emphasis on improvement in airline service quality concerning consumer behavior, such as passenger repurchasing as a result of their behavioral intention over the last several decades, there is still much less concern with the nature of airline service quality than should exist in the so-called "logistics service quality” and less concern with examining the specific behavioral intention preceding repurchasing behavior together with the theory of planned behavior. As such, this study aims to explore these issues, along with the psychological factors of the theory of planned behavior, that can lead to repurchasing behavior via word-of-mouth intention (WOMI). With an online survey of 383 respondents experienced with flying, the results reveal that the logistics service quality and each determinant in the theory positively influence a passenger's repurchasing behavior through WOMI. Accordingly, service marketers can implement service design and apply integrated marketing communication by learning from repurchasing behavior that was formed by the given factors to retain their existing customers. Moreover, this study is the first to empirically and explicitly validate dimensions of airline services through the lens of logistics that are deemed fit with the nature of the airlines. It advances the understanding of theory approaching and connects what has hampered its advancement in a body of knowledge, simultaneously in a context of airline context where it should not be relegated to transportation and consumer and service orientation.
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PurposeThe present situation of COVID-19 pandemic has put the health-care systems under tremendous stress and stringent tests for their ability to offer expected quality of health-care services, as it decides the sustainability and growth of health-care service providers. This study aims to deliver a quantitative framework for service quality assessment in the health-care industry by classifying the health-care service quality parameters into four balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives.Design/methodology/approachTo determine the service quality for the Indian health-care system, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory and analytical network process are integrated in a fuzzy environment to contemplate the interaction among BSC perspectives and respective performance measures.FindingsThe results indicate "internal processes” perspective assumes the key role within BSC perspectives, while performance measures "nursing staff turnover” and "staff training” play the key roles. The results also signify that "patient satisfaction” is the most vital issue and can be strongly influenced by measures belonging to the "learning and growth” perspective. In "learning and growth” perspective, "staff training” is the most decisive criteria, very highly influencing "patient satisfaction”, highly influencing "profitability,” "change of cost per patient (both in and out patients)” and "outpatient waiting time” while moderately influencing "staff satisfaction,” "bed occupancy” and "nursing staff turnover”. Moreover, "staff training” criteria have a positive influence on "nursing staff turnover.”Originality/valueThe contributions of this study are in two folds in the domain of quantification of service quality for the health-care system. First, it delivers an assessment framework for Indian health-care service quality. Second, it demonstrates an application of the framework for a case situation and validates the proposed framework.
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The adoption of e-learning systems has been increasing and reports indicate that Asia has the highest percentage of the growth towards e-learning systems. Following this backdrop, the main purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of the E-service quality, Facebook usage, artificial intelligence, and student satisfaction on the usage of the E-learning systems. Sample data was collected from students enrolled in any institute offering e-learning in Malaysia. A total of 500 questionnaires were disseminated to the participants identified via online polling and a total of 412 usable questionnaires were evaluated for SEM. The findings of the study show that the usage of Facebook, Artificial intelligence, the satisfaction of students, and E-service quality affected the use of the E-learning systems. Students' satisfaction was also found to positively mediate with AI, FBU, ESQ, and ELS. E-learning adoption is increasing in Malaysia and the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has also invigorated the need for the development of effective e-learning programs so that the education of students doesn't get interruptions. The present study has important theoretical and practical implications in this regard;the findings can be applied to the development of e-learning systems of the country
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The objective of the research was to propose a conceptual model with the integration of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and the Contingency Theory, and with the review and analysis of the topics e-Service Quality (e-SQ), e-Relationship Quality, e-Trust, e-Satisfaction, Disruptive Factors, Technology Platform, Customer Involvement and Interaction, Value Co-Creation and Continuous e-Loyalty. E-service is strategically used to create brand value. E-commerce will strongly depend on trust. Therefore, online companies must make and maintain a loyal customer base. The face-to-face pre-purchase research, post-purchase feedback, website, and social media technologies have changed e-commerce into more social commerce. The imposition of accelerated technology, consumer interaction, and the fierce COVID-19 pandemic are the factors that most influence value co-creation. The current crisis and new challenges affect the quality of relationships, consumer loyalty, and value co-creation. © International Association for Computer Information Systems. All Rights Reserved.
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Background: The hospitality industry is recovering, evolving, and adapting itself in the post COVID-19 era through innovative and sustainable practices backed by the use of technology in entire hotel operations. The hotel Front Office department is no exception in utilizing these evolved practices to understand and influence the customer behaviour while exploring all possible measures to enhance the overall guest stay experience in the post-COVID times. The Front Office department plays a vital role in the passage of accurate and timely information required for flawless guest management in the hotels. Throughout the COVID-19 period, the Front Office practices have evolved through different stages depending upon the factors such as guest preferences, safety and security measures, hygienic conditions, sustainability and use of technology. Objectives: The major objectives are to study the post COVID-19 Hotel guest preferences of non-star category hotels with respect to changing scenario in the Hospitality Industry, to analyse the gaps between hotel guest expectations and perceptions in service quality with special mention of the front office department and to highlight the future challenges faced by hotel industry and suggest possible measured to overcome these challenges. Methodology: Hybrid research approach has been adopted in this study. Grounded theory in qualitative research approach with interview and semi-structured questionnaires are the data collection tools. Survey method with structured questionnaire are quantitative data collection tools. Collected data were analysed through content and thematic tools for qualitative data and quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics (Mean, SD, percentage) and paired t-test as an inferential statistical tool has been applied in this study for conclusion purpose. Results: Result indicates negative as Expected value - perceived value = - (negative). Conclusion: It is concluded that hotel-guests' are not satisfied as provided facilities are not as per guests' expectation. This study gives overview of guests' expectation. It helps hoteliers for modification of hotel's facilities for the guest. The limitation of the study is that the study is conducted in NCR only. Hotels of the same category in the other cities/town may be conducted for getting actual scenario of the phenomena of the hotels. In addition, the study proposes that hotels should adjust their room and service pricing to reflect the reduced demand during the COVID era. Furthermore, the hotel industry will face ongoing challenges, and hotels must be adaptable to remain competitive. By embracing new technologies, providing distinctive experiences, and implementing sustainable practices, hotels can overcome these challenges and flourish in the years ahead.
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Background: Measles Rubella (MR) immunization coverage for schoolers in Semarang City decreased to 92.7% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in practice, many parents still complain about MR immunization services for schoolers. Aims: This study aimed to determine parental satisfaction with MR immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This quantitative study used a cross-sectional approach. Purposive and proportional sampling was used to select 102 samples. Data collection was done through questionnaire, and data were analyzed using the chi-square test and importance-performance analysis test. Results: The lowest suitability dimension level was tangibility (81.52%), followed by responsiveness (86.6%). The reliability dimension had the highest average conformity level (92.87%). The priority items for improvement were related to health workers' compliance with the use of complete personal protective equipment (PPE), spacious immunization service rooms, registration officers' responsiveness in giving directions, punctual immunizations distribution, polite and friendly registration services officers, as well as health workers' initiative to remind parents about health protocols. Bivariate analysis showed there was no relationship between respondents' characteristics and their satisfaction level. Conclusion: Parental satisfaction with MR immunization services for schoolers did not match their expectations;therefore, it is necessary to improve future immunization services. © 2022, Airlangga University. All rights reserved.
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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted the aviation industry worldwide. Several restrictions and regulations have been implemented to prevent the virus's spread and maintain airport operations. To recover the trustworthiness of air travelers in the new normality, improving airport service quality (ASQ) is necessary, ultimately increasing passenger satisfaction in airports. This research focuses on the relationship between passenger satisfaction and the ASQ dimensions of airports in Thailand. A three-stage analysis model was conducted by integrating structural equation modeling, Bayesian networks, and artificial neural networks to identify critical ASQ dimensions that highly impact overall satisfaction. The findings reveal that airport facilities, wayfinding, and security are three dominant dimensions influencing overall passenger satisfaction. This insight could help airport managers and operators recover passenger satisfaction, increase trustworthiness, and maintain the efficiency of the airports in not only this severe crisis but also in the new normality.
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PurposeThe Bed and Breakfast (B&B) enterprises generally lack sufficient human resources and time to conduct research on important social media marketing factors for visitors' satisfaction and visitors' intentions. Therefore, this study aims to provide crucial social media marketing and factors and service quality elements for improving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in B&B sectors. This study also provides some recommendations for attracting more visitors and increasing customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through social media.Design/methodology/approachFirst, social media marketing factors and service quality elements were identified through the systematic literature review. Then these identified factors and elements were used to design a survey questionnaire for collecting data. The research data included responses of 64 B&B enterprises and 625 customers. The collected data was analyzed by feature selection approaches including Decision Tree algorithm and Information Gain to identify the key factors for improving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.FindingsThe findings of this study determined that featured choice is an important social media marketing factor, and assurance is the common service quality element for both B&B enterprises and their customers in terms of satisfaction and loyalty.Originality/valueThis study adds a value to the growing literature on customer satisfaction and loyalty in B&B sectors by exploring key social media marketing factors and service quality elements. The study reveals several implications for theories and practices. The findings hopefully help B&B enterprises better social media marketing with less workforce and budget.
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The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in contact universities entering the distance learning market, creating new competition for Open Distance Electronic Learning (ODeL) institutions. To achieve sustainable competitive advantage, these institutions need to formulate sound strategies to attract and retain students. This study investigated the precursors and outcomes of perceived value in achieving student loyalty in ODeL institutions. A quantitative approach was employed to gather data using self-administered online questionnaires, with 1 430 responses. The partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was used to test the proposed model. The results indicate that an ODeL institution's reputation and service quality positively influence student value, while the outcomes are trust, commitment, and student loyalty. However, institutional reputation was found to have more influence on student value than service quality, and commitment had more influence on loyalty than trust. While a number of studies have been conducted on the relationship between the variables/constructs, service quality and reputation as determinants of customer value and trust and commitment's influence on loyalty, they do not show the differences in the magnitude of each variable. This study showed that although all these factors correlate and positively influence one another, there are major differences in the magnitude of influence. It is thus recommended that ODeL institutions should formulate strategies aimed at enhancing institutional reputation, value, and student commitment in order to retain student loyalty. © International Network for Higher Education in Africa, University of Kwazulu-Natal. All rights reserved.
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Purpose: This study aims to fill this paucity of knowledge by exploring and formulating a formative index to measure the up-to-date quality of online food delivery (DEQUAL). The quality measurements for online food delivery have not been well recognized and even little is known after the COVID-19 outbreak. This study fills this paucity of knowledge by exploring and formulating a formative index to measure the up-to-date quality of online food delivery (DEQUAL). Design/methodology/approach: Owing to the explorative nature and the lack of developed quality theory under the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, DEQUAL is conceptualized as a formative construct. This study adopts a mixed-method approach including expert interviews and online surveys to ascertain the underlying structure of DEQUAL. Findings: Using partial least squares structural equation modeling as the analytical method, the results support that DEQUAL is a formative construct with 32 indicators. This study provides a measurement index with robust psychometric properties to assist practitioners in evaluating DEQUAL. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes a theoretical and empirical-based conceptualization of DEQUAL as a multi-dimensional construct. Supplementing the past studies which commonly applied the reflective approach, this study evinces that the formative approach is also appropriate and thence furnishes the relevance of the formative index in the service management theories. Practical implications: Practitioners are suggested to apply the validated indicators for service audit and customer relationship management. By systematically monitoring and measuring the online food delivery service quality, restaurants can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Originality/value: This study offers various insights to the service quality literature in the food delivery service context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The COVID-19 outbreak has had detrimental consequences on the cruise industry due to the suspension of commercial cruise trips, and these effects remain apparent in Saudi Arabia. The offered service quality (SQ) in the post-COVID-19 era seems to be a critical element for improving customer experiences and satisfaction, enhancing destination attractiveness, increasing revenue, and maintaining repeat business. The current study aimed to assess the impact of service quality on tourists' satisfaction and corporate image as well as the intention to pay for cruise trips and revisit the destination among 315 tourists in Saudi Arabia. Service quality was measured using five subscales of the SERVQUAL scale, including reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Tourists' satisfaction was significantly influenced by four domains of SQ, whereas the intention to pay more, intention to revisit the destination, and corporate image were significantly predicted by ≤3 domains of SQ. The study's findings can help the cruise industry to improve its offerings and create more personalized and engaging experiences that meet the changing needs of customers in the recovery period after the COVID-19 outbreak.
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The recent COVID-19 pandemic experience intensified the significance of hygiene in the service industry. It is crucial to measure how service practice adaptations and technology adoptions in servicescapes have been perceived by customers regarding hygiene in the post-COVID-19 era. However, the extant hygiene scales do not serve the purpose to measure hygiene contributions of technology-specific and service practice-specific changes. Thus, the purpose of this research was to develop a multi-item unidimensional perceived hygiene construct. Sequential mixed-methods research (Qual-Quan) was employed. Participants were sampled among restaurant patrons. A four-item perceived hygiene development (pHd) construct was successfully developed. Hospitality and service researchers and practitioners can utilize this scale to measure perceived hygiene improvements of particular technology adoptions and service practice adaptations in service settings.
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Shifting to mobile payments from offline payments can be considered as a social distancing measure in times of a pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak is currently entering its 'endemic' stage;continued usage of mobile-based payment services is thereby warranted as a social distancing mechanism. This could be true in case of any other pandemic/endemic outbreaks like SARS/Nipah virus outbreaks. The current study examines how the 'perceived' health threat posed by COVID-19 and mobile payment service quality (MPSQ) influence consumers' perceived value toward continuous usage of mobile payment services (MPS) in India. In addition, the investigation considers other factors that prompt consumers to continue using the service. Customers, who used mobile payment applications for making cashless transactions during the pandemic, formed the subjects of the study. Data were collected from 720 mobile payment users. The research model integrates the concept of health threat in health belief model to means-end chain model to explain why a customer opts to choose m-payment at times of a pandemic, and what prompts him/her to continue with its usage. The model was empirically tested with structural equation modeling, along with mediation and moderation analysis. It was found that MPSQ, perceived susceptibility, and perceived severity of COVID-19 significantly enhanced consumers' value perceptions regarding MPS, which leads to satisfaction and continuance intention of using the same. In addition, the study also found a significant positive moderating role of consumer involvement on the relationship between perceived health threat, perceived value, and MPSQ. The threat of COVID-19, being an endemic, or occurrence of similar pandemics persists, and adopting contactless transactions via MPS to comply with social distancing norms may improve customer value perceptions that could aid in the persistence of MPS usage. Also, derivation of value perceptions out of the service quality acts as a driver to continuous usage.
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The main objective of the research presented in the paper is to examine the impact of the COVID pandemic on the volume of passenger and freight traffic and the quality of the services provided by Sofia Airport, as well as to examine the factors influencing the demand for air freight transport and the extent of their impact. The authors focus on using two approaches, namely SERVPERF and SERVQUAL, in studying factors influencing the demand for transport. The study analyses a system of indicators with independent influences on the demand for air transport, but they are all related to the development of macroeconomic indicators at the national level under the influence of the COVID pandemic. The study of the impact of the pandemic on the service performance and quality of services provided by Sofia Airport allows us to predict the volume of transport activity and to plan the activities of airlines and ground operators, their transport capacity, as well as the need for adopting measures for recovery of the airport from the negative impacts of the pandemic and the necessary investments in airport facilities. The authors argue that evaluating the service performance and the quality of services could contribute to developing appropriate measures for recovery. They summarized appropriate measures based on the leading quality indicators for air transport services.
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Given the generally stressful job demands of the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the work passion and emotions of hotel employees is particularly important. Based on the conservation of resources theory and the job demands-resources model, this study develops a multiple mediation model to investigate how frontline hotel employees with different types of work passion choose emotional labor strategies under the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of different choices on their service quality. A two-stage survey using data from 206 frontline employees of five-star hotels in China explored how work passion influences emotional labor and thereby affects emotional expression as well as service quality. The results showed emotional labor partially mediates the relationship between work passion and emotional expression, which in turn mediates the relationship between emotional labor and service quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way business is handled. Besides, people's purchasing habits have been impacted by new safety, social, and health restrictions. Thus, the purpose of this research was to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic impact in the relationships between the built environment, price level, and service quality on supermarket customers' satisfaction. For this purpose, a survey of 245 supermarket customers in southern Brazil was conducted at two different times: before and during the pandemic. The results point out that the price level, toilets, and location are essential to explain satisfaction at all times. Comfort presented importance before the pandemic, configuration, and service quality in pandemic times. These features are essential for supermarket management to prioritize efforts on attributes and dimensions relevant to customers.
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This study explores the mediating role of e-satisfaction during the pandemic on the relationship between e-service quality and e-loyalty of banking customers in Pakistan. The data were collected from 442 customers of online banking services in Pakistan during the Covid-19 pandemic, following a survey-based study. Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) and Preacher and Hayes (Behav Res Methods, 40(3):879-891, 2008) mediation technique which utilizes the bootstrapping method has been used to explore mediation. The findings show that e-service quality has a significant positive effect on the e-loyalty of the customers of online banking services. Relationships between e-service quality and e-loyalty of online banking customers in Pakistan are significantly and fully mediated by their online satisfaction in unusual situations. This study would help the bankers to implement more effective marketing strategies to retain their customers and attract potential customers, particularly during non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic. It will help them identify the areas of e-services that need improvement to enhance the satisfaction and loyalty of the customers. The bootstrap method for mediation along with Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) leads to using a more sophisticated methodological technique to explore the mediation. The Oliver Expectancy-Disconfirmation Paradigm (EDP) in electronic banking setup during non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic also served as a unique contribution to this study. Application of Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) mediation along with Preacher and Hayes (Behav Res Methods, 40(3):879-891, 2008) leads to more robust findings for the study in non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic. The study findings add scientific value as they are applicable to the banking sector in particular in non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic and the overall service sector in general. Further, as two different methods of mediation have been employed and this makes the study more rigorous and scientific.