An empirical study of behavioural intentions in the Taiwan hotel industry

Abstract

The issue of behavioural intentions has attracted the attention of hotel marketers and academics because favourable behavioural intentions help hotels to retain customers. The marketing literature has identified that service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and demographic variables are significant determinants of behavioural intentions. This suggests that behavioural intentions are a multi-dimensional concept. Despite the importance of behavioural intentions, there is limited research on this construct in the hotel industry. The aim of this research was to gain an empirical understanding of behavioural intentions in the Taiwan hotel sector. A multi-level model was used as a framework for the analysis. The dimensions of service quality as perceived by hotel customers were identified through the literature review and focus group discussions. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to examine the interrelationships between behavioural intentions, service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value and image, and to determine if perceived value plays a moderating role between service quality and customer satisfaction. Finally, customer perceptions of these constructs were compared based on demographic factors such as age, gender and income. The findings of this study were based on the analysis of a sample of 580 customers who had stayed at a five-star hotel in Kaohsiung City of Taiwan. Support was found for the use of a multi-level model and the primary dimensions: Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality and Outcome Quality, as broad dimensions of service quality. The 12 sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by hotel customers, were identified. These were: Employees’ Conduct, Employees’ Expertise, Employees’ Problem-Solving, Customer-to-Customer Interaction, Décor & Ambience, Room Quality, Availability of Facility, Design, Location, Valence, Waiting Time and Sociability. The results indicated that each of the primary dimensions varied in terms of their importance to overall perceived service quality, as did the sub-dimensions of the primary dimensions. In addition, the statistical results supported a relationship between perceived value and service quality, image and service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value, image and service quality, and behavioural intentions, image and customer satisfaction. The results also revealed that customer perceptions of the constructs were primarily affected by their purpose of travel and occupation. The results contribute to the services marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions constructs in the Taiwan hotel industry. This research also provides an analytical framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on service quality and the effect of service quality on constructs, such as, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. This study will assist the management of the hotel industry to develop and implement a market-oriented service strategy in order to achieve a high quality of service, upgrade customers’ levels of satisfaction, and create favourable future behavioural intentions.