Customer Attitudes towards Hotels - A Case Study of Turkish Hospitality Industry

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for the support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/thesis stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/thesis has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with the university.

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ABSTRACT

The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent the measurement of service quality helps a hotel increase its customer satisfaction and customer attitude rates and improve its business performance through its service offerings, by analysis of the zone of tolerance and service gaps. The survey research method was used for this study. The survey consisted of the questionnaire which comprised of closed-ended questions. The key informants were the customers and users of the services of the hospitality industry. The sample size consisted of 50 customers or users of the services of the hospitality industry. Service quality continues to be a major area of concern for researchers. It has an association with business performance, profitability, customer satisfaction and customer attitude and customer loyalty. The researchers have thus been motivated to explore this are more. The purpose of this thesis was to define and measure the zone of tolerance as illustrated in the service quality literature. This thesis contributes to the service quality literature first by empirically showing that a zone of tolerance does exist. Conjoint analysis was also found to be one way to accurately measure this zone. Secondly, four other zones or levels were found to exist in consumers' expectations. These zones exhibit the same characteristic as the zone of tolerance, in that consumers tend to rank quality within the zones as similar, but quality differs between the zones. Finally, this thesis also adds to the tourism body of literature by comparing and contrasting the hotel, airline and amusement park industries in terms of consumer expectations of service quality.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Research1

Problem Statement2

Aims and Objectives2

Significance3

Thesis Disposition3

Chapter I: Introduction3

Chapter II: Literature Review3

Chapter III: Methodology4

Chapter IV: Data analysis and Discussion4

Chapter V: Conclusion4

Key Word Used5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW6

Hospitality7

Service Quality Models8

Expected service-perceived service gap11

Perceptions12

Factors influencing perceptions of service13

Customer satisfaction and customer attitude and Service Quality15

The Quality of Life18

Service Quality22

What Is SERVQUAL Model26

Description27

History28

Applications28

Process28

Benefits29

Disadvantages29

Conditions30

SERVQUAL in Hotel Industry30

Tourism33

Tourism in Turkey34

Problems for Turkish tourism35

Service Quality and Tourism37

Hotel Segment38

Hotel Segment and Service Quality39

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY41

Research Design41

Outline of the Overall Strategy42

Research Instrument Used43

Questionnaire43

Sample44

Data Collection Method44

Data Analysis45

Underlying Assumption45

Rationale for Method45

Possible Alternative to Selected Methods46

Any Difficulties and Uncertainties46

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION47

Service Quality, Customer satisfaction and customer attitude and Business Performance: Definition and Description63

Relationship between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Attitude and Business Performance65

Ethical Concern71

Informed Consent72

Confidentiality72

Reliability/Dependability73

Validity74

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION76

Summary of Service Quality Literature78

Summary of the Tourism Literature79

Contributions80

Research Limitations81

Further Research81

REFERENCES83

APPENDIX120

Appendix A: ...