Jay Kandampully

Relationships and impacts of service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and image: an empirical study

In todays world of intense competition, satisfying customers is only the base line and may not be sufficient for survival. Management should focus on gaining customer loyalty by enhancing customer perceptions of service quality and increasing as perceived by the consumer value. Although previous studies have addressed the importance of service quality, satisfaction, perceived value, and image, the precise nature of the relationships that exist between these constructs and the understanding of their effect on customer behaviour still remains a key issue. This empirical study seeks to understand the relationships that exist between service quality and perceived value and how they impact customer satisfaction, corporate image, and behavioural intentions. The proposed model indicates that delivering high quality service and creating superior customer value can result in achieve high customer satisfaction, thus effecting the firms corporate image, and ultimately leading to consumer retention.

Managing brands and customer engagement in online brand communities

Purpose – Given the dramatic technology‐led changes that continue to take place in the marketplace, researchers and practitioners alike are keen to understand the emergence and implications of online brand communities (OBCs). The purpose of this paper is to explore OBCs from both consumer and company perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – The study provides a synthesis of the extant OBC literature to further our understanding of OBCs, and also puts forth future priorities for OBC research.Findings – A conceptual framework is provided that extends our understanding of OBCs and consumer engagement. Four key OBC dimensions (brand orientation, internet‐use, funding and governance) are identified and three antecedents (brand‐related, social and functional) are proposed of consumer‐OBC engagement.Originality/value – This study is the first to explore key dimensions of OBCs, and the differing but related perspectives of the consumers and organizations involved.

Do hoteliers need to manage image to retain loyal customers

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to understand the relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction and how they impact corporate image and customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from several cities in Mauritius. The study sample included participants who stayed in various hotels in Mauritius; the participants were randomly approached and invited to participate in a survey on their respective hotels services.Findings – Corporate image is influenced both by service quality and customer satisfaction, which in turn influences customer loyalty. Thus, the key to customer loyalty appears to be the fostering of a favorable image of the hotel firm created by improving service quality and satisfying customers.Research limitations/implications – Given the difference in values and cultures among different countries, the findings need to be confirmed by further evidence from other countries. Future research should further investigate the impacts of service quality, custom...

The role of customer satisfaction and image in gaining customer loyalty in the hotel industry.

ABSTRACT Customer loyalty has become a topical issue in research and practice due to its proven dominance in a hotel organizations success. The present research adds to the body of knowledge in services marketing in the hospitality industry by improving understanding of the relationships among customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and image. This research identifies the factors of image and customer satisfaction that are positively related to customer loyalty in hotels. Research findings from the data collected from chain hotels indicate that hotel image and customer satisfaction with the performance of housekeeping, reception, food and beverage, and price are positively correlated to customer loyalty. Performance of housekeeping, however, was found to be one of the most important considerations for customers of hotel chains.

Buying environment characteristics in the context of e‐service

Purpose – This study aims to examine how buying environment characteristics, which are not directly associated with price or product information, are related to overall e‐satisfaction; and how e‐satisfaction and e‐loyalty are interrelated.Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of 366 female and male college students from three universities (East coast, Midwest and West coast) participated. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling via LISREL 8.0 were conducted.Findings – The findings showed that, of the six dimensions of buying environment characteristics, convenience, web appearance and entertainment value had a direct effect on e‐satisfaction. In addition, the study found a significant positive relationship between e‐satisfaction and e‐loyalty.Research limitations/implications – Generalizing the results is limited by the use of a convenience sample of college students. To generalize the findings, more diversified random samples across gender a...

Exploring Consumer Perceptions of Green Restaurants in the US

Consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards environmentally sustainable practices in restaurants is an under-explored area in the hospitality literature, despite the growing ‘green’ trend. This article analyses data collected from 455 restaurant customers across five casual dining restaurants to gain insight into consumer attitudes towards, and willingness to pay more for, restaurants that engage in ‘green’ practices. The findings illustrate that there is an unfilled market niche for ‘green’ restaurants, as customers care about restaurants protecting the environment and would be willing to pay more to offset any additional costs associated with ‘green’ practices.

An exploratory study of service quality in the Malaysian public service sector

Purpose – The paper seeks to obtain a better understanding of the extent to which service quality permeates within the Malaysian public service sector by drawing on management and customer perceptions of service quality.Design/methodology/approach – Two separate surveys were distributed to managers and customers across 86 branches of a public sector department within the Malaysian Ministry. The manager survey comprised instruments relating to organisational service performance, while the customer survey contained instruments relating to service quality and customer satisfaction. A total of 430 manager and customer surveys were completed, representing a 95 percent response rate.Findings – The results support the conceptual model in demonstrating a strong correlation between service quality dimensions, service performance and customer satisfaction. In particular, service providers classified as “excellent” were rated most favourably in terms of responsiveness, access and credibility.Research limitations/imp...

Customer loyalty: a review and future directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry.

Purpose – This article aims to provide a summary review of what is already known about customer loyalty and identifies some emerging issues that play an important role in it. As a result of dramatic changes in the marketplace and in consumers’ connections with the hospitality industry, researchers and practitioners are keen to understand the factors that underpin customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – By synthesizing extant customer loyalty literature, this article seeks further understanding of loyalty and offers priorities for ongoing loyalty research. Findings – Using conceptual models, this study provides a framework designed to extend the understanding of customer loyalty and the impact of the evolving role of engaged customers. Practical implications – Companies are advised to create emotionally engaged, loyal brand ambassadors by focusing on emerging areas, such as customer engagement, brand citizenship behaviors, mass personalization, employee engagement, brand ambassadors (both employees...

Technology, service quality, and customer loyalty in hotels: Australian managerial perspectives

Traditional brick‐and‐mortar companies are embracing the use of modern technologies to enhance the services they offer and to gain customer loyalty. The objectives are to stay in the forefront of today’s marketplace and to improve service, efficiency, and profitability. The hospitality industry has transformed itself into a global industry, and, as one of the largest industries in the world, it serves as an excellent example of an industry that has transformed itself in response to changes in customer requirements and demands. Continuous technological developments and their adoption in the hospitality industry have provided numerous opportunities and challenges. This paper examines the perceptions of international hotel managers on the adoption of technology in their hotels. The results emphasise the growing demand of hotel customers for various technology‐supported services. Technology is found to have affected the ability of hotels to support employees, enhance the quality of service, improve efficiencies, gain competitive advantage, maintain relationships with customers, and increase profitability.

Market oriented learning and customer value enhancement through service recovery management

While recovering from service failures is often viewed as an operational concern, service providers can also adopt a strategic and conceptual service vision for managing their service recovery. This paper discusses how the management of service failures can be utilised as a catalyst to effectively initiate organization‐wide learning and can serve as a reflection of the firms market orientation to enhance value. Failure‐recovery, at its inception, acts as an external‐to‐internal trigger that initiates numerous changes (innovations) – operational changes, strategic changes and conceptual changes. These changes guide the implementation of various value enhancing innovations throughout the entire organization and positively affect the firms service vision and mission.