Developing an Economy-Hotel Service Quality Scale in a Non-smoking Environment

Abstract

Objectives: Sustainability of the non-smoking environments remain a challenge, as the effect declines over time due to inadequate regulations and incomplete law enforcement. The hotel industry is even more obliged to promote non-smoking environment policies. Numerous studies have explored the dimensions of hotel service quality; however, most of them have been conducted for international tourist hotels. Studies on the service quality of economy-hotel are scarce. The present study developed a reliable and valid scale for measuring service quality for business travelers. The components of the economy-hotel service quality (EHSQ) scale were reconstructed according to theoretical definitions and a literature review, in which the variables representing EHSQ characteristics were adopted. This study administered a survey among hotel business travelers to ensure the validity of this scale, which yielded 472 valid responses. Following factor analysis, item-to-response, and correlation analysis, 5 dimensions with 24 items were extracted, namely reliability, facility, empathy, pleasantness, and rooms and dining. In conclusion, this developed scale is a valid service quality measurement in the economy-hotel industry. Finally, economy-hotels are very competitive in providing better service quality and a non-smoking environment.