Instructor: Prof. Dr. SALIH KATIRCIOGLU

Submitted by: Esmaeil Khaksar Shahmirzadi

The effect of hospitableness and servicescape onguest satisfaction in the hotel industry

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences(2013)

Ahmad Azmi M. Ariffin

Ehsaneh Nejad Nameghi

Noor Izyana Zakaria

Introduction

For hospitality firms, the hosting behaviour of the front line staff determines the competitive advantage.

Hosting behaviour- interpersonal relationship with the ultimate aim to create a memorable service experience

Commodification of good and service

Introduction

Hospitality is all about the style in which the service is delivered, servicescape is about the style of the physical environment

We are now living in the so called “experience economy” (Oh, Fiore, & Jeoung, 2007)

Employees are a part of service quality

Purpose of study

To investigate the influence of hotel hospitality on hotel guest

satisfaction along with the moderating effect of the hotel

servicescape on the relationship between hospitality and

satisfaction

Theories

Service marketing theory

Marketing mix theory

Background research

Hospitality and hosting behavior Five factor structure to explain the dimensionality of hospitality

specifically in the context of hotel services. Ariffin and Maghzi (2012)

a warm welcome

special relationship (e.g., accommodating guest requests)

sincerity

comfort

mixture of tangible and intangible elements

Guest Satisfaction

A pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfilment including levels of under- or over-fulfillment

To create satisfying and memorable hotel experiences,

Servicescape

Service environment where interaction between customers and employees takes place is termed servicescape, Dong and Siu (2012)

Figure 1. Elements of physical evidence

Model

Research Method

Structured questionnaire survey for data collection

The respondents consisted of foreign hotel guests who stayed at least two nights in Malaysian hotels located in the city of Kuala Lumpur for leisure within a five-month period

Judgment sampling technique was used

Research Method

Two graduates of fashion marketing were employed to facilitate the respondent selection process

Who dressed well would be able to assess the impact of servicescape on satisfaction in a more meaningful fashion

Research Method

The data were collected via central location , tourist attractions :main shopping malls in the Kuala Lumpur city centre at various times of the day.

The three main tourist attractions chosen (most popular among foreign tourists)

Each of these places has many cafés, bistros, and rest areas where the respondents could be conveniently approached.

Research Method

The targeted sample size for this study was 500. Boomsma (1983)

sample size of at least 200 respondents is required to perform modeling of moderate complexity

To test the hypotheses, hierarchical moderated regression was performed

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS 5 was employed to assess the measurement model before testing the hypotheses

Star rating

Star rating was employed as the control variable in this study

to determine the actual effect of hospitality on satisfaction.

Asking the respondents to identify the rating of the hotel they

used in the survey from a 1 to 5 star

Results

Total of 550 questionnaires had been distributed. Of these,

403 questionnaires were found to be useful for further

analysis. (73% response rate)

Measurement Model, Reliability, and Validity Checks

The values of Cronbach’s alphas for the three variables :0.87

to 0.93.( highly reliable)

Measurement Model, Reliability, and Validity Checks

X2 (39) =120.599 with p<0.001; CFI = 0.94 GFI = 0.97; RMSEA= 0.06

χ2 : Chi –square is a classic goodness-of-fit measure to show overall model fit

Comparative fit index (CFI) evaluates “the fit of a user specified solution, ranges from 0 to 1, 0 for a poor fit to 1 for a good fit

Goodness of fit index (GFI)  is a measure of fit between the hypothesized model and the observed covariance matrix

Measurement Model, Reliability, and Validity Checks

Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) about 0.05 or less would indicate a close fit of the model in relation to the degrees of freedom

results produced a significant Chi-square, other indices of goodness-of-fit. A “good model fit”

High convergent validity

Factor loading greater than 0.5. All items also have significant factor loading

Correlational Analysis

Hierarchical Moderated Regression Analysis

Post hoc calculations

Estimated power enable a researcher to estimate the likelihood that low power is to blame. null hypothesis

Using the software package G Power (Buchner, Faul, & Erdfelder,1992)

Effect sizes: small (f 2= .02), medium (f 2= .15), and large (f 2= .35) (Cohen, 1988).

Post hoc calculations

Large effect (0.592) for model one.

large effect size (0.633) for model two

large effect size (0.715) for model three

There was more than adequate power (i.e., power * 1) at the large effect size level for direct and interactional effect paths.

Discussion

Significant and strong positive relationship between the two variables

Providing attention to all aspects of service design including the physical environment and process elements.

customer satisfaction is very much related to feelings of pleasure and enjoyment (Oliver, 2010)

Implications

To hotel managers in their efforts to improve their hotels’

satisfaction index.

Apart from hospitable service, hotel management may do

well to give sufficient attention to the physical service

environment to ensure maximum customer satisfaction can

be achieved.

Limitations and Future Research

Sampling technique results should not be generalized to the larger population

it would be interesting to conduct a comparative study between local versus foreign hotel guests to examine the effects of servicescape and hospitality on overall guest satisfaction.

Limitations and Future Research

Improve by incorporating other important elements such as signage, parking, and landscaping

study in the other context of luxury restaurants as well as airline services could also prove interesting

Thank you so much