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