EXAMINING SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE E-COMPLAINTS AND SERVICE QUALITY IN BANGKOK HOTELS

Abstract

Purpose – There are few studies examining the reliability of e-complaints in the hotel industry. This topic is important for hotel managers as it can help them in distinguishing emotional complaints from factual complaints. Therefore, this study aims to examine and classify customers’ e-complaints regarding hotel service quality and classify them into subjective and objective categories based on factual and non-factual opinions. Design/methodology – Content analysis and descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data (e-complaints about Bangkok hotels) collected from a secondary source. Findings – It was found that approximately 54% of e-complaints regarding service quality in Bangkok hotels were objective complaints (factual opinions) while 46% were subjective complaints (personal feelings). The study indicated that customer complaints resulted from hotel performance which was below than customer expectations. In addition, both types of e-complaint were found to be associated with the five dimensions of SERVQUAL, implying that hotels still had problems with service delivery in all service dimensions. Originality of the research – Due to the insufficient literature on the reliability of customer ecomplaints in the hotel industry, this study identified the characteristics of subjective and objective e-complaints and their relationship with SERVQUAL, thereby extending knowledge of ecomplaints and service quality in the hotel industry. The findings are expected to assist hotel managers in better understanding the nature of online complaints, thus offering a complementary approach to service improvement.