Understanding the Subjective and Objective Assessments of Service Quality through Spa Customers’ E-complaints in Bangkok

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite there being several studies about customers’ e-complaints in hotels and other tourism businesses, little research has focused on the spa business and service quality. In particular, there is very limited literature investigating the subjective and objective assessments of service quality in hospitality and tourism research. This study, therefore, aims to examine the subjective and objective assessments of service quality through spa customers’ e-complaints in Bangkok. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data collected from a secondary source. The findings revealed that most e-complaints (53%) involved the subjective assessment of service quality reflecting customers’ personal feelings, and the remainder (47%) involved the objective assessment based on factual information. The study has conceptualized the subjective and objective assessments of spa service quality in regard to how customers complained about spa services. The findings not only assist spa businesses in acquiring a more thorough understanding of their service quality problems through customer complaints, but also support service improvements. The study contributes to the literature by offering another perspective and a better understanding of service quality assessment.