<p>This study explored the role of idiosyncratic service experience by redefining the wow experience in the context of boutique hotels. Despite the expansion of the boutique hotel segment, which seeks to provide a unique and singular experience, in the lodging industry and the growing popularity of pursuing novel experiences among Millennial consumers, the role of idiosyncratic experience in consumer behavior has not been explored. This left the potential antecedents and consequents of idiosyncratic hotel stay experience—and its role in consumer’s decision-making process—unknown. In this study, a consumer’s perception of a hotel stay experience, which is unusual in an interesting and surprising way, is coined as the perceived quirky experience (PQE). Utilizing the Mehrabian-Russel model, the relationship among boutique hotel service quality aspects, motives and barriers, PQE, and behavior intentions were examined. The consumer decision-making process is expected to be influenced by the optimal stimulation level (OSL); thus, the group differences between stimulation avoiders and seekers were also explored. </p> <p>Methodologically, the current study also seeks to provide a novel approach to amalgamate qualitative and quantitative data. By integrating qualitative analysis of 175,407 TripAdvisor reviews and quantitative analysis of field data (n = 498), topic modeling using an unsupervised machine learning process was performed. Identified keywords were used for aspect-based sentiment analysis and to construct measurement items for the quantitative study stage. Statistical tests were performed using logistic regression and path analysis—and multi-group analysis. The results of this study suggested that boutique hotel-specific service quality aspects have a stronger effect on PQE, and this internal state leads to strong behavioral intentions regardless of temporal differences. The consumer’s stimulation-seeking tendency influenced multiple paths in the consumer’s decision-making process. </p> <p>This study is the first to explore the role of idiosyncratic service experience in the boutique hotel setting and makes theoretical contributions to understanding consumer behaviors involving the perception of uncommon and interesting experiences. The findings of this study provide practical contributions to boutique hotel developers regarding the relative importance of service quality aspects to create a unique and singular stay experience and also provide hotel and brand managers with insightful marketing implications.</p>

Global Alliance of Marketing and Management Associations (GAMMA). The purpose of this study was to propose and empirically test a sport spectator behavioral model. The model presented here is a micro-level perspective of value creation in the context of live sporting events. This study used directional hypotheses to compare the influence of different value dimensions on specific customer behaviors in the setting of North American professional sport. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine path coefficients for the hypothesized relationships in the model. Organization-related value propositions were found to be stronger predictors of perceived economic, hedonic, and social value. One exception to this was customer density, which negatively impacted certain value perceptions. The hedonic value was found to have the strongest influence on customer in-role and extra-role behavior. The behavioral model tested here can be used in future studies to examine how sport organizations and their customers can create value in the live event setting and how the roles performed by each stakeholder influence future behavior. Findings suggest there are several actions marketers and managers can take to increase customer perceived value and prompt spectators to attend future events or act as advocates for the organization.

The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceptions of library services offered at Walters State Community College. This research involved LibQUAL+™, a nationally known academic library assessment instrument that measures three dimensions on a scale of approximately 22 aspects of service, divided into 6 groups (Heath, Kyrillidou, & Askew, 2004, p.264). These 3 dimensions are the following: Affect of Service (AS), Information Control (IC), and Library as a Place (LP). Responses of 666 students at Walters State Community College, Morristown, Tennessee, indicated the students' perceptions of acceptable minimum level of service, perceived levels of service, and desired levels of service. Each dimension was assessed by mean scores and p values to determine students' level of satisfaction with the library. Independent samples t tests were conducted to analyze the association between perceived means of the 3 service quality dimensions for the following: (1) Walters State Community College compared to 4 other community colleges, (2) male and female students at Walters State Community College, (3) traditional students 22 years old and younger and nontraditional students over age 22 at Walters State Community College. Pearson's correlation was conducted to analyze the relationship between library budgets and library services. Based on the findings of this study, Walters State Community College Library's mean scores were higher than the other 4 community college's in the 3 service quality dimensions. However, Walters State Community College's results indicated substantial room for improvement in the Affect of Service dimension. The mean scores between male and female students at Walters State College showed no differences among the 3 service quality dimensions. The findings also indicated that nontraditional students over age 22 rated Affect of Service and Information Control higher than did traditional students age 22 and younger. In addition, findings indicated a fairly strong relationship between library budget and the Information Control dimension for the 5 community colleges studied. The data offered in this study provided useful information for library self-study and ideas for improving the college's library services.

This study sought to determine customer satisfaction levels of faculty and staff with their technology support office in a large university in Florida. The focus of research was to determine if there were any differences in customer satisfaction based on four demographics: gender, faculty versus staff, educational level and age. An anonymous customer satisfaction survey included 26 Likert-type scale questions measuring 16 service quality dimensions was administered to the population. The 16 service quality dimensions included 10 dimensions from Zeithaml et al. (1990), five dimensions from Besterfield et al. (1995, 2003), and one dimension, overall satisfaction. Findings showed there was a statistically significant difference in two demographics, gender and faculty versus staff. Regarding gender, there were no differences in 14 of 16 dimensions examined. The two dimensions with differences were tangibles and understanding the customer, with males having lower customer satisfaction than females. Regarding faculty versus staff differences, there were no differences in all the dimensions other than the courtesy dimension for which faculty had a lower level of customer satisfaction level than staff. Regarding educational level and age, there were no differences in any of the 16 dimensions.

This exploratory study considered the problem of assessing quality in academic libraries. The research question that framed the investigation asked whether service quality scores from the LibQUAL+ instrument were related to the following college or university characteristics: institutional type, enrollment level, or the level of investment made in libraries. Data regarding Carnegie classification, FTE enrollment, and library expenditures were collected for 159 college and university libraries that participated in LibQUAL+ during 2006. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and regression analyses were calculated and the Bonferroni adjustment was applied to significance levels to compensate for errors caused by repeated calculations using the same data. Several statistically significant relationships were found; notably, negative correlations were found between each of the LibQUAL+ scores and total library expenditures. The study suggested that higher expectations among library users in large, research libraries led to slightly lower LibQUAL+ scores. Implications for practice included that survey results should only be used as one component of an assessment strategy, and practitioners might consider the potential role of library marketing or public relations efforts to influence user expectations. Recommendations were made for future research including replicating some aspects of this study with a more representative sample, analyzing respondent comments as well as score data, and exploring whether there are reliable differences in results for different types of institutions or among groups of respondents (students and faculty, or faculty by discipline).

Social responsibility and ethics have been shown to have a positive influence on consumer behavior, however the vast majority of related research has measured this relationship indirectly through scenario analysis of hypothetical firms rather than consumers' perceptions of real-world firms. This dissertation focused on a real-world application of the theory. Each hypothesis that specified a positive relationship was supported. These results show that Brand Social Responsibility Image not only positively influences Brand Loyalty, but also influences the perception of both Product Quality and Service Quality. Concurrently, it was found that both Product and Service Quality Image influenced Brand Loyalty. When controlling for the effect of other variables, some of the relationships proved to be weaker than expected. There were three hypotheses that tested the moderating effect of Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image. The moderating influence of Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image (RSRI) on the relationships between Brand Social Responsibility Image (BSRI) and Product Quality Image and between BSRI and Brand Loyalty were greatest for low levels of BSRI. Consumers rated Product Quality Image and Brand Loyalty lowest under conditions of L-BSRI and H-RSRI. Alternatively, when BSRI was high, both high and low treatments of RSRI resulted in similar sample means for both Product Quality Image and Brand Loyalty (i.e., minimal moderating effect). Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image (RSRI) appeared to moderate the relationship between Brand Social Responsibility Image (BSRI) and Service Quality Image at high levels of BSRI. In other words, the perception of service quality was relatively high when both BSRI and RSRI were viewed as being high. Under conditions of H-BSRI and L-RSRI, Service Quality Image was substantially lower. Under conditions of L-BSRI, there was very little difference between L- and H-RSRI. / Ph. D.

The services sector is the largest economic sector in the world. In addition, the services sector is growing relative to the rest of the economy even in the countries that are still industrialising. The services sector consists of many subsectors, e.g. education, which currently is the largest global market after health care. Higher education has had a rapid increase in the number of students worldwide. In the Swedish educational scene Industrial Engineering and Management, a Master of Science programme, has long been one of the most applied to engineering-programmes in the country. Every year the average grade needed to be able to get accepted to the education has gotten higher. With these facts presented it can be argued that some of Sweden’s most prominent students apply to the specific education and university. When applying to Industrial Engineering and Management at KTH, these students have an expectation of what they will be attaining if attending. After experiencing the education and the university, the students will have a perception of the educational service. The university can be viewed as a service provider, where the service provided is the education, and the students at the university are the customers. Meeting or exceeding the expectations of customers is what the success of a service organisation depends on. It is therefore necessary to understand what determinates the satisfaction of the service after it is provided. If an organisation or a company does not have this understanding the service will not satisfy the customers.   The purpose of this study is to investigate and assess the existing gap, if any, between the perception and expectation of students at Industrial Engineering and Management programme at KTH. The main research questions addressed for the study thus are: What is the customer’s perception towards the quality of service provided? What is the customer’s expectation towards the quality of service provided? Does the quality of provided services meet the student’s expectation? Is there a gap between the existing perception and expectation?  The information is collected through an online survey tool sent out to five clusters of students of the education. The overall finding of the research study is that the customer’s perception towards the quality of the service provided is less than than the expectation’s of the quality of the serviced provided, which has created a negative gap between the customer’s perception and expectation. The quality of the provided services of the Industrial Engineering and Management programme at KTH does therefore not meet the student’s expectation. / Tjänstesektorn är den största ekonomiska sektorn i världen. Den växer till och med i relation till resten av ekonomin även i de länder som fortfarande industrialiseras. Tjänstesektorn består av många undersektorer, t.ex. utbildning, som för närvarande är den största globala marknaden efter hälso- och sjukvård. Högskole- och universitetsutbildning har haft en intensiv ökning i antalet studenter över hela världen. På den svenska marknaden har Industriell ekonomi på KTH länge varit en av de mest sökta och populära av alla civilingenjörsutbildningarna i landet. Varje år har utbildningens intagningspoäng blivit högre. Således kan det hävdas att en del av Sveriges mest framstående studenter söker sig till denna utbildning på just KTH. Universitet kan ses som tjänsteleverantörer, där den tjänst som tillhandahålls är utbildning, och studenterna vid universitetet är kunderna. Att uppfylla eller överträffa de förväntningar som kunderna har är vad framgången för en serviceorganisation avgörs av. Det är därför nödvändigt att förstå vad som avgör hur tjänsten upplevs. Om en organisation eller ett företag inte har denna förståelse är det svårt att tillfredsställa sina kunder via tjänsten. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och bedöma det befintliga gapet, om ett gap existerar, mellan perception och förväntan hos studenter vid civilingenjörsprogrammet Industriell ekonomi på KTH. De huvudsakliga frågeställningar som beaktas i studien är följande: Vad är kundens perception av kvalitén på tjänsten? Vad är kundens förväntan av kvalitén på tjänsten? Har kvalitén på de tjänster som tillhandahålls uppfyllt studentens förväntningar? Finns det ett gap mellan den nuvarande perceptionen och förväntan? Data till studien samlas in via ett online-enkätverktyg som skickas ut till fem kluster av studenter i utbildningen. Den övergripande slutsatsen av studien är att studentens perception på utbildningen som tillhandahålls är lägre än förväntningarna är, vilket har skapat ett negativt gap gällande den upplevda kvalitén på utbildningen.

The basic purpose of the research is to understand the significance of internal marketing in influencing frontline employees'job-related attitudes and service quality. Since rewards are considered to be an important compqnent of internal marketing, this research investigates relationships among frontline employee perceptions of rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic), attitudes (three components of organisational commitment viz. affective, normative and continuance, and job satisfaction), and service quality, in banking call centres. In this context, a conceptual model is presented comprising rewards as the antecedentsa, ttitudes as the mediating variables, and service quality of the frontline employees as the outcome variable. The model is empirically tested through a large sample study that is conducted among 4 call centres of a major retail bank in the UK. Following certain qualitative in-depth interviews at the exploratory stage, structural equation modelling (using AMOS) is carried out on 342 useable questionnaires (response rate of more than 50%), to empirically test the proposed framework for the study. The measurement and structural models, after validation and purification, provided satisfactory fit estimates across absolute, incremental and parsimonious measures. The results highlight the importance of rewards, as part of internal marketing, in maintaining employee attitudes, and improving service quality. Intrinsic rewards (like role clarity, training and skill variety) emerged as the most significant of all, as they were found to impact on service quality directly. Extrinsic social rewards (like supervision and team support) were not found to be significant, while the finding regarding extrinsic organisational rewards-service quality relationship was surprising. Although assumed important for perfon-nance, some had no direct effect (pay, and benefits satisfaction, extrinsic exchange), while others (working conditions and promotional opportunities) exerted a negative direct effect on service quality, although the indirect effect of most of these rewards was found to be positive. However, these rewards were considered important for influencing employee attitudes, which in turn influence service quality. In this context, the importance of employee attitudes like affective commitment and job satisfaction is emphasisedfor service quality. The empirical results of the study also reveal that it is the nature of commitment that matters in commitment-service quality relationship. Affective commitment emerged as the only attitude variable to bear a significant positive relationship with service quality. Job satisfaction was not found to impact on service quality directly, although the indirect effect was found to be positive. Normative commitment impacted on service quality indirectly, while continuance commitment was not found to be effective at all. Besides theoretical and methodological contributions, the thesis also provides strong managerial implications and directions for future research in applying internal marketing for improving service quality of frontline employees in call centres. Keywords: internal marketing, rewards, service quality, commitment, job satisfaction, UK banks, call centres, frontline employees.

This thesis is concerned with the quality of care for the elderly in nursing homes, responding to a critical social and demographic imperative. The aim of this study is to provide a service quality construct for nursing homes to increase client focus and satisfaction. The research is underpinned by the service quality literature. It utilises the SERVQUAL construct to explore the nature of service quality in nursing homes through semi-structured interviews with nursing home residents and resident's families. A service quality scale was constructed comprising six dimensions and 27 scale items capturing service delivery in nursing homes. This scale was purified through a survey of residents and family members (n=263). Through exploratory factor analysis, six importance and four experience factors were identified. Regression analysis was used to identify relationships between the factors, service quality and satisfaction. The results indicate that importance does not predict perceived quality, though experience of responsiveness and hospitality and courtesy and personal approach are indicators of service quality. Furthermore, quality emerges as a predictor of satisfaction. From these outcomes, a service quality construct was developed which comprises of service marketing and service quality dimensions. This thesis contributes to the construction of the concept of service quality in nursing homes, its dimensionality and thus the precursors of satisfaction. These have considerable implications for the management of nursing home services.homes, its dimensionality and thus the precursors of satisfaction. These have considerable implications for the management of nursing home services. / Sodexo the Netherlands

Abstract Background and Aim: A professional real estate agent offers a service that is constructed by the creation and maintenance of the relationship with both sellers and buyers. It's important for the real estate agent´s survival that he performs and delivers the service quality that customers expect. The gap model is a model used to measure various gaps in the customer's expectations in relation to the service. This study aims to investigate how selected gaps from the gap model are practically managed by professional real estate agents. In previous research, the gap - model has been criticized as it is not considered to be a dynamic but static model (McCollin, Ograjenšek, Göb &amp; Ahlemeyer-Stubbe, 2011; Seth, Deshukh &amp; Vrat, 2004). The static nature of the model can be considered to accumulate problems in the analysis of service and service marketing as these, unlike the model, are dynamic.  Method: The study is based on a hermeneutic scientific tradition and a social constructionist approach where qualitative research strategy has been used. The empirical material is based on semi-structured interviews. In order to understand and analyze the material, an inductive research approach is used. Conclusion: From the real estate agent´s perspective, three dimensions of communication are important. The study also highlights the importance of choosing the right staff. The real estate agent should be a reflection of the company he/she works for in order to perform as high service quality as possible.   Contribution of the study: This study makes a practical contribution to the individual real estate agent and to different real estate brokerage companies by highlighting how they should practically address gaps in customer expectations. The study also makes a practical contribution to real estate brokerage companies by highlighting the importance of employing real estate agents who reflect the company's ambitions.  Suggestion for future research: In this study, it becomes difficult to understand what includes good or poor communication, so it would have been good to design a model to measure the communication between customer and service provider more closely. Another suggestion for further research is to investigate which dimensions of communication other professional groups apply to practically remedy the gap. Investigating the gap - the model in the estate agency profession with a focus on the customers' experience of the service would also have been interesting.