Measuring customers’ satisfaction and loyalty in Thai wellness spas

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study develops a framework to explain the loyalty formation process of customers of Thai wellness spas. It examines the process of determination used by customers regarding their perceived value of the spa experience, satisfaction, desire, and loyalty intentions, which depend on the experiences they gain from wellness spa services. The proposed framework and hypothesised relationships were evaluated using structural equation modelling. Data were gathered by surveying 550 Thai wellness day-spa customers in Bangkok, Thailand. The conceptual model satisfactorily fit the data, and the mediating roles of value, satisfaction, and desire were identified. The wellness spa service experience, the perceived value of the spa experience, satisfaction, desire, and loyalty intentions showed significant correlations with each other. Overall, the results indicated that satisfaction is the most salient variable in building customer loyalty intentions. This study employed multidimensional approaches to the attitudinal loyalty phase and successfully built on the existing literature on sequential loyalty frameworks. Its important theoretical and practical implications stem from a highly holistic view of the formation process of Thai wellness spa customers’ loyalty.