Service Quality, Relationship Outcomes, and Membership Types in the Hotel Industry: A Survey in Korea

Abstract

With the ongoing attention to long-term relationships between service providers and customers, this study delved into such influential factors that include service quality and its relationship outcomes (trust, satisfaction, and continuance commitment), and those relationships among variables along with membership effects in the hotel industry. Survey data from 300 hotel customers in Korea were used to test hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Findings are as follows: interaction and environment service quality had a positive impact on trust, whereas outcome service quality had a positive impact on satisfaction. Additionally, trust was positively associated with satisfaction, and satisfaction was positively associated with continuance commitment. Memberships could strengthen the positive relationships between outcome quality and trust, interaction quality and customer satisfaction, and trust and continuance commitment. From these findings, hotels should improve service quality, generate customers' trust, satisfaction, and continuance commitment, and induce them to the membership programs for long-lasting relationships with them.