Discussing the Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Loyalty in Chinese Restaurants [2]
论文作者:英语论文论文属性:作业 Assignment登出时间:2014-03-13编辑:caribany点击率:15994
论文字数:3412论文编号:org201403101715007522语种:英语 English地区:瑞士价格:免费论文
关键词:Service QualityCustomer LoyaltyChinese Restaurantsimportant rolerestaurant mangers
摘要:This study has given an important insight on how service quality affects customer service in Chinese restaurants. The findings have shown that restaurant managers should focus on the human aspect of customer service which has a stronger impact on customer loyalty. The findings have also shown that customers are loyal to restaurants not due to the restaurants’ efforts on improving their relationships with their customers, but more due to the position of these restaurants with regards to their competitors on the market and their focus on high quality and image.
n. Gap 5 is considered the most important gap and is used as the overall definition of service quality by Ziethaml et al (1990).
Figure 1: Conceptual Model of Service Quality
Source: Ziethaml, Parasuraman and Berry (1990)
2.3 SERVQUAL framework
The roadmap for "getting it right the first time" begins with an understanding of what service quality entails. "Identifying the underlying dimensions of the service quality construct and the relative importance of these dimensions in consumer evaluation of specific service situations is the first step in the definition-and hence provision-of service quality" (Myerscough, 2002). Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry (1990) refined a questionnaire instrument called the SERVQUAL Scale, which measures customers' expectations and perceptions of quality dimensions. After statistical analyses of SERVQUAL, 97 constructs were narrowed down to five dimensions for evaluating service quality, as shown in table 1. ’ The five SERVQUAL dimensions, by virtue of being derived from systematic analysis of customers' ratings from hundreds of interviews in several service sectors, are a concise representation of the core criteria that customers employ in evaluating service quality" (Ziethaml et al. 1990, p. 26). The theoretical foundation of SERVQUAL is used as the foundation for numerous guest satisfaction research projects. Recently, Chen and Gupta (1995) used SERVQUAL to analyze service quality among guests, employees, and managers in the tourism sector. Similarly, for this study, the five major SERVQUAL dimensions are examined in personal interviews with employees and managers as well as in the results of guest comment cards. Feedback from employees and guests will help identify the service quality gaps at both properties.
Table 1: SERVOUAL Dimensions
Dimension Definition
Tangibles Appearance of facilities, personnel,& communication materials
Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately
Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
Assurance Confidence, knowledge, courtesy, security
Empathy Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers.
2.4 The significance of service quality towards customer loyalty
2.4.1 ERVQUAL and Service Quality
Bartlett & Han (2007) and El Hakim (2003) all used SERVQUAL as a reliable tool for quantification and measurement of service quality. The SERVQUAL instrument provides a standard which makes any research customizable and applicable to other service related issues across industries locally and globally.
Furthermore, analysis tools such as multiple regression analysis are also commonly used in order to correlate elements of service quality to loyalty. As Fu and Parks (2001) showed by using a multiple regression model, elements of service quality are factored differently and given varying levels of importance depending on the market studied, where for example, the elderly give more value to the friendliness and importance given to the customer than other aspects of service in restaurants such as the credibility projected by the restaurant server.
However, there is an apparent lack of prior research pertaining to the whole restaurant industry and the effect of service quality on customer loyalty in general and in the Chinese context in particular. Therefore, such a study would be more difficult in larger markets such as
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