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A new scale to measure customer’s expectations about service dimensions: Application to the hotel service

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31 gru 2024

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Consistency and reliability analysis of the dimensions complexity degree (CD), information and communication power (ICP), and environment and social responsibility (ESR)_

Variable KMO test Cronbach’s alpha (score reliability) Item Component 1 Component 2 AVE CR
29.CD_buy 0.751
30.CD_ort 0.639
31.CD_cfm 0.783
Complexity degree (CD) 0.910 0.895 32.CD_spc 0.797 0.532 0.900
33.CD_do 0.779
34.CD_ins 0.850
35.CD_flex 0.818
36.CD_exp 0.699
37.ICP_pro 0.696
38.ICP_ling 0.804
Information and communication power (ICP) 0.840 0.855 39.ICP_con 0.852 0.563 0.865
40.ICP_det 0.840
41.ICP_acc 0.820
42.ESR_clm 0.569
43.ESR_mat 0.853
44.ESR_wtr 0.893
Environment and social responsibility (ESR) 0.917 0.929 45.ESR_recy 0.885 0.611 0.926
46.ESR_eco 0.903
47.ESR_pol 0.862
48.ESR_stff 0.741
49.ESR_vol 0.808

Level of controllability of service dimensions by the service provider_

Dimensions Brief definition Control by the service provider Authors
Degree of customisation or standardisation/service package structure Level of adaptation of the service to each customer’s needs and/or desires. Yes Salegna and Fazel (2013); Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Silvestro et al. (1992); Bowen (1990); Lovelock (1980); Lovelock (1983); Liu et al. (2008); Shafti et al. (2007); Cunningham et al. (2005); Van der Valk and Axelsson (2015); Ostrom and Iacobucci (1995); Karmarkar (2004); Lovelock (1984); Dotchin and Oakland (1994); Verma (2000); Trinh and Kachitvichyanukul (2013)
Degree of customer contact Level of customer’s presence in the service process. Yes Salegna and Fazel (2013); Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Silvestro et al. (1992); Bowen (1990); Shafti et al. (2007); Cunningham et al. (2005); Chase (2010); Van der Valk and Axelsson (2015); Lovelock (1984); Dotchin and Oakland (1994); Verma (2000)
Tangibility/Intangibility Level of physical features in the service. N/A Salegna and Fazel (2013); Cunningham et al. (2004); Cunningham et al. (2006); Bowen (1990); Lovelock (1980); Lovelock (1983); Shafti et al. (2007); Cunningham et al. (2005); Parasuraman et al. (1985); Lovelock and Gummesson (2004); Parasuraman (1998); Judd (1964); Lovelock (1984); Grönroos (1983); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011); Kotler and Armstrong (2010); Dotchin and Oakland (1994); Dey et al. (2015)
Relationship or interpersonal interaction Type of relation between the customers and the service provider (formal or no formal). Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Lovelock (1983); Liu et al. (2008); Shafti et al. (2007); Cunningham et al. (2005); Solomon, et al. (1985); Lovelock and Wirtz (2011); Dotchin and Oakland (1994)
Nature of service delivery (continuous or discrete transactions) Level of service continuity between the customers and the service provider. N/A Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Silvestro et al. (1992); Bowen (1990); Lovelock (1980); Lovelock (1983); Cunningham et al. (2005); Lovelock (1984); Vandermerwe and Chadwick (1989); Lovelock and Wirtz (2011)
Riskiness Level of risk that customers perceive across different types of services. Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Cunningham et al. (2005); Murphy and Enis (1986); Zeithaml (1981)
Judgement/Decision Level of judgement exercised by the contact personnel about customers and the nature of necessary information for accomplishment of a task by the employee. Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Lovelock (1983); Shafti et al. (2007); Cunningham et al. (2005); Mills and Margulies (1980)
Switching Level of easiness of customers to change the service provider. Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Bowen (1990); Cunningham et al. (2005); Lovelock (1984)
Effort Level of energy and value that customers spend in achieving the service. No Murphy and Enis (1986)
Consumer involvement or customer participation Level of customers’ contribution to the service process. Yes Bowen (1990); Van der Valk and Axelsson (2015); Larsson and Bowen (1989); Karmarkar and Pitbladdo (1995); Trinh and Kachitvichyanukul (2013); Dey et al.(2015)
Place orientation or value added back office/front office The places that the service process use. N/A Silvestro et al. (1992); Liu et al. (2008); Shafti et al. (2007)
Degree of labour intensity Level of resources offered by the provider to accomplish the service process. Yes Liu et al. (2008); Shafti et al. (2007); Dotchin and Oakland (1994); Verma (2000)
Extent of demand/supply imbalances or variety of customer demands Level of demand fluctuations over time. No Lovelock (1980); Lovelock (1983); Lovelock (1984)
Diversity of demand Level of uniqueness of customers’ demands. Yes Larsson and Bowen (1989)
Physical environment or physical goods and facilities General, functional, and environment characteristics of the service provider. Yes Lin et al. (2013); Lovelock (1980)
Product/process focus The type of emphasis of the service provider can be on the product or on the service process. N/A Silvestro et al. (1992); Shafti et al. (2007); Grönroos (1983)
Personal quality of an employee: behaviour/contact person/friendliness The behaviour characteristics of the contact personnel Yes Lin et al. (2013); Crosby and Stephens (1987); Ostrom and Iacobucci (1995); Jankalová (2016)
Value (pricing and timing) The price paid for the service and the time spent for acquiring or consuming the service. No Lin et al. (2013)
Service delivery (collective and individual) Customers can share time, space, or equipment when consuming the service. N/A Ng et al. (2007); Lovelock (1980); Hill (1977); Lovelock (1984)
Customer’s service encounter activity sequence The steps that form the service encounter. Yes Collier and Meyer (1998)
Number of pathways built into the service system design by management The steps that form the service encounter defined by the service provider. Yes Collier and Meyer (1998)
Communication/Communication time All the forms of communication made between the service provider and the customers. Yes Kellogg and Chase (1995); Parasuraman et al. (1985); Mills and Margulies (1980); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011)
Intimacy/Attachment The level of confidence and trust between the service provider and the customers, and employee’s identification with customers Yes Kellogg and Chase (1995); Mills and Margulies (1980)
Information (richness or asymmetry) The level of information exchange between the service provider and the customers. Yes Kellogg and Chase (1995); Mills and Margulies (1980); Krishnan and Hartline (2001); Zeithaml (1981)
Differentiation or divergence The definition of the service mix in order to distinguish it from competitors. Yes Bowen (1990); Shostack (1987)
Importance of people/employees The level of significance that service provider employees have in the service process. Yes Bowen (1990); Lovelock (1984)
Multi-site vs. single-site delivery The location of the service delivery. N/A Lovelock (1980); Lovelock (1984)
Breadth of service package The number of services that compose the whole service. Yes Lovelock (1980)
Timing and duration of benefits; permanent effect vs. temporary effect The duration of the benefits received when acquiring the service. N/A Lovelock (1980); Hill (1977)
Allocation of capacity to customers The management of service capacity by the service provider according to demand fluctuations. Yes Lovelock (1980)
Time-defined vs. task-defined transactions The definition of the service according to the duration or to the accomplishment of a task. N/A Lovelock (1980)
Nature of customer/service system interaction The level of customer interaction in the service system. Yes Wemmerlöv (1990)
Nature of service (customer–provider interaction) The effort of acquiring the service can be from customers or from the service provider. N/A Lovelock (1980); Vandermerwe and Chadwick (1989)
Method of service delivery (nature of interaction and availability) The way that the service is delivered according to its availability. Yes Lovelock (1983)
Purpose of delivery/consumption The core benefit that customers search from acquiring a service. No Ng et al. (2007); Parasuraman (1998)
Reliability The ability of the service provider to perform the service as promised, right at the first time. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985); Jankalová (2016)
Security/Riskiness The level of physical safety, financial security and confidentiality that customers perceive across different types of services. Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Cunningham et al. (2005); Murphy and Enis (1986); Zeithaml (1981); Parasuraman et al. (1985); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011)
Credibility The level of trust, believability and honesty of the service provider perceived by customers. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985)
Speed or responsiveness The level of employees’ determination to offer a service. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011)
Understanding/knowing the customer The level of knowledge that the service provider has about customers. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985)
Courtesy or empathy The personnel of contact professionalism, respect, education, consideration, friendliness and polite appearance. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff, (2011)
Access/Convenience The easiness of contact and level of availability that customers require to the service provider. Yes Cunningham et al. (2006); Cunningham et al. (2004); Cunningham et al. (2005); Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011); Jankalová (2016); Parasuraman et al. (1985)
Competence The service provider skills, competences and knowledge to provide the service. Yes Parasuraman et al. (1985)
Complexity/Degree of specifying The number and difficulty of service performance steps definition. Yes Shostack (1987); Karmarkar (2004)
Role similarity The roles of each service provider. N/A Solomon et al. (1985)
Tie strength with a client The power of the interaction between the service provider and the customers. Yes Smedlund (2008)
Service scope (degree of bundling) Combinations of individual services into one integrated service. Yes Kowalkowski et al. (2009)
Service focus (level of customer integration) The type of focus of the service regarding the level of customers’ integration. Yes Kowalkowski et al. (2009); Fitzsimmons et al. (1998)
Service process The structure of the service offers regarding service scope and focus. Yes Kowalkowski et al. (2009); Lovelock and Yip (1996)
Service core The essential aspects of the service. Yes Crosby and Stephens (1987); Iacobucci and Ostrom (1993)
Overall satisfaction The customer’s evaluation of satisfaction with the service. No Crosby and Stephens (1987)
Heterogeneity The service is not uniform, it is always performed differently. Yes Lovelock and Gummesson (2004); Kotler and Armstrong (2010)
Perishability Service’s inability to be saved, stored or reused. N/A Lovelock and Gummesson (2004); Kotler and Armstrong (2010)
Price Customers can be price sensitive, depending on the purchase situation. Yes Ostrom and Iacobucci (1995)
Degree of routinisation of the service process The level of technology used on service process to make it more predictable. Yes Wemmerlöv (1990)
Serviced objects in service process The service can be processed on goods, people or information/images. N/A Wemmerlöv (1990); Dotchin and Oakland (1994)
Degree of consumer internal research or Problem awareness The customers’ knowledge about a service. No Davis et al. (1979); Mills and Margulies (1980)
Transferability The easiness of replacing employees in the service workflow. N/A Mills and Margulies (1980)
Power The control of critical information by the service provider. Yes Mills and Margulies (1980)
Physical effect vs. mental effect Services can make changes on either the physical or mental conditions of the customers. N/A Hill (1977)
Inventories absent The lack of inventory in services as a result of intangibility. N/A Karmarkar and Pitbladdo (1995)
Extent to which customer needs to be physically present Services that involve the customers in its processing. Yes Lovelock and Yip (1996)
Usefulness Customer’s evaluation of the utility of the service. No Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011)
Knowledge of service providers The level of information that service providers have about customer’s needs. Yes Venkateswaran and Maleyeff (2011)
Ease of service generation The number of skills required to generate the service. N/A Chakraborty and Kaynak (2014)
Value of service What the customers spend in a service encounter. No Chakraborty and Kaynak (2014)
Type of user The type of customer can be individual or organisational. N/A Dey et al. (2015)
Environmental orientation The green attributes and practices that care for environment protection. Yes Chen et al. (2015)
Ecologic Eco-friendly practices, activities, and education. Yes Ban and Ramsaran (2017)
Environmentally friendly and healthy equipment The use of natural and ecofriendly materials in the service process. Yes Bastič and Gojčič (2012)
Eco-behaviour of hotel staff Employee’s environmentally conscious attitude. Yes Bastič and Gojčič (2012)
Efficient use of energy and water The implementation of actions to reduce water and energy consumption. Yes Bastič and Gojčič (2012)

Consistency and reliability analysis of the dimension degree of customer involvement (DCI)_

Variable KMO test Cronbach’s alpha (score reliability) Item Component 1 Component 2 AVE CR
1.DCI_acq 0.522
2.DCI_be 0.706
3.DCI_stff 0.762
4.DCI_prof 0.765
Degree of customer involvement (DCI) 0.879 0.819 5.DCI_lyt 0.683 0.480 0.820
6.DCI_mach 0.349
7.DCI_cst 0.696
8.DCI_pack 0.650
9.DCI_ad 0.728

Consistency and reliability analysis of the dimension convenience level (CL)_

Variable KMO test Cronbach’s alpha (score reliability) Item Component 1 Component 2 AVE CR
10.CL_24h 0.615 0.340
11.CL_prb 0.758 0.321
12.CL_eqp 0.739 0.397
13.CL_cent 0.318 0.620
14.CL_rom 0.813 0.356
Convenience level (CL) 0.955 0.947 15.CL_hom 0.360 0.696 0.669 0.948
16.CL_dsg 0.105 0.859
17.CL_pro 0.833 0.303
18.CL_cnf 0.855 0.201
19.CL_sec 0.865 0.256
20.CL_sub 0.840 0.230
21.CL_pri 0.801 0.178

Variables included in the questionnaire_

Main dimensions (variables) Authors
Degree of customer involvement (DCI) Adapted from Kalamas et al. (2002); Ariffin and Maghzi (2012); and own Elaboration
Convenience level (CL) Adapted from Lee et al. (2016); Ladhari (2012); Rachau et al. (2015); Ayeh and Chen (2013); Ariffin and Maghzi (2012); Manhas and Tukamushaba (2015); Dortyol et al. (2014); and own elaboration
Contact personnel performance (CPP) Adapted from Ariffin and Maghzi (2012); Lee et al. (2016); Asad and Tim (2010); Blešić et al. (2014)
Complexity degree (CD) Adapted from Dortyol et al. (2014); Asad and Tim (2010); and own elaboration
Information and communication power (ICP) Adapted from Chen (2014); Ayeh and Chen (2013); Ladhari (2012); and own elaboration
Environment and social responsibility (ESR) Adapted from Bastič and Gojčič (2012) and own elaboration

Socio-demographic profile and moderating variables by country of residence_

PT ES FR IT RO BR MX UY BO CL NLE NEL NENL Total
Age
18 to 25 59% 14% 27% 12% 32% 16% 25% 22% 48% 17% 25% 0% 0% 29%
26 to 40 31% 32% 36% 40% 46% 41% 31% 32% 33% 37% 63% 29% 50% 36%
41 to 60 11% 50% 30% 44% 22% 38% 39% 44% 15% 35% 13% 42% 50% 31%
Above 60 0% 4% 7% 4% 0% 4% 6% 2% 4% 11% 0% 29% 0% 4%
Sex
Female 26% 36% 29% 22% 50% 42% 33% 47% 43% 30% 63% 46% 17% 43%
Male 74% 64% 71% 78% 50% 58% 67% 53% 57% 70% 38% 54% 83% 57%
Education qualification
Primary 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Secondary 22% 3% 0% 1% 3% 1% 0% 4% 18% 4% 0% 4% 0% 7%
Bachelor’s 36% 13% 6% 36% 24% 17% 35% 40% 48% 23% 13% 29% 0% 28%
Master’s/PhD 42% 84% 94% 62% 73% 82% 65% 56% 35% 73% 88% 67% 100% 65%
Annual household income (in relation to country’s average)
Far below 3% 3% 4% 1% 1% 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 2%
Below 17% 10% 9% 1% 3% 3% 2% 2% 12% 0% 0% 0% 0% 7%
Average 42% 38% 27% 55% 25% 21% 26% 29% 38% 19% 50% 29% 33% 32%
Above 36% 42% 48% 42% 48% 45% 57% 62% 39% 53% 38% 46% 33% 46%
Well above 3% 7% 12% 1% 23% 30% 15% 7% 11% 28% 13% 25% 33% 14%
Work in the tourism/travel industry
Yes 6% 9% 1% 3% 1% 1% 3% 0% 8% 4% 13% 4% 0% 4%
No 94% 91% 99% 97% 99% 99% 97% 100% 92% 96% 87% 96% 100% 96%
Frequency of hotel stay
I do not stay in hotels 13% 4% 4% 3% 2% 3% 3% 3% 14% 8% 0% 0% 0% 6%
Once per year 39% 13% 15% 12% 8% 16% 19% 30% 32% 25% 37% 13% 50% 22%
2 to 3 times per year 32% 30% 32% 31% 45% 38% 36% 33% 36% 32% 25% 29% 50% 35%
More than 3 times per year 16% 53% 49% 54% 45% 43% 42% 34% 18% 35% 38% 58% 0 37%
Hotel category type
I do not stay in hotels 13% 4% 6% 3% 4% 4% 3% 3% 15% 9% 0% 0% 0% 6%
1 star 2% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1%
2 stars 4% 2% 14% 4% 4% 4% 1% 0% 7% 1% 0% 0% 0% 4%
3 stars 38% 23% 50% 52% 59% 46% 15% 38% 38% 32% 62% 33% 83% 38%
4 stars 41% 68% 20% 41% 32% 41% 47% 54% 27% 44% 38% 54% 17% 42%
5 stars 2% 3% 4% 0% 1% 5% 34% 3% 11% 14% 0% 13% 0% 9%

Consistency and reliability analysis of the dimension contact personnel performance (CPP)_

Variable KMO test Cronbach’s alpha (score reliability) Item Component 1 Component 2 AVE CR
22.CPP_frd 0.463
23.CPP_knw 0.867
24.CPP_spc 0.834
Contact personnel performance (CPP) 0.902 0.941 25.CPP_clm 0.905 0.733 0.943
26.CPP_prof 0.898
27.CPP_edu 0.891
28.CPP_hel 0.881