This article presents the results of an exploratory study on customer perceptions of service quality in travel agencies, using data collected from 277 respondents. Six factors that explain service quality are identified. In order of importance, these factors are corporate image, competitiveness, courtesy, responsiveness, accessibility, and compe tence. Implications for developing marketing strategy and controlling service quality are given.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aaker, David (1981). "Factor Analysis: An Exposition." Multivariate Analysis in Marketing. Redwood City, CA: Scientific Press, pp. 163-71.
2.
Adams, Kathleen M. (1984). "Come to Tana Toraja Land of the Heavenly Kings: Travel Agents as Brokers in Ethnicity." Annals of Tourism Research, 11: 469-85.
3.
Andreason, Alan (1977). "A Taxonomy of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction Measures." In Conceptualization and Measurement of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction, H. Keith Hunt, ed. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute, pp. 11-35.
4.
Berry, Leonard (1980). "Services Marketing is Different." Business, May/ June: 24-28.
5.
Bitner, M.J., and B.H. Booms (1982). "Trends in Travel and Tourism Markering: The Changing Structure of Distribution Channels." Journal of Travel Research , Spring: 39-44.
6.
_ ( 1981). "Deregulation and the Future of the U. S. Travel Agent Industry." Journal of Travel Research, Fall: 2-7.
7.
Brown, Stephen, and Teresa Swartz (1989). "A Gap Analysis of Professional Service Quality ." Journal of Marketing, April: 92-98.
8.
Capella, L.M., and A.J. Greco (1987). "Information Sources of Elderly for Vacation Decisions ." Annals of Tourism Research, 14: 148-51.
9.
Carman, James (1990). "Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality: An Assessment of the SERVQUAL Dimensions " Journal of Retailing, 66 (Spring): 33-56.
10.
Churchill, G. (1979). "A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs." Journal of Marketing Research, February: 64-73.
11.
Conant, Jeffrey S., Terry Clark, John J. Burnett, and Gail Zank (1988). "Terrorism and Travel: Managing the Unmanageable ." Journal of Travel Research, Spring: 16-20.
12.
Darby, M.R., and E. Karni (1973). "Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud ." Journal of Law and Economics, April: 67-86.
13.
Day, Ralph (1977). "Toward a Process Model of Consumer Satisfaction ." In Conceptualization and Measurement of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction, H. Keith Hunt, ed. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute , pp. 153-83.
14.
Dichter, Ernest (1985). "What's in an Image." Journal of Consumer Marketing, Winter: 75-81.
15.
Eiglier, Pierre, and Eric Langeard (1975). "Une Approche Nouvelle pour le Marketing des Services ." Revue Francaise de Gestion, 2 (Spring): 97-114.
16.
_ ( 1987). Servuction: Le Marketing des Services. New York: McGraw-Hill.
17.
George, William R., and Leonard Berry (1981). "Guidelines for the Advertising of Services " Business Horizons, July/August: 52-56.
18.
Gitelson, Richard J., and Deborah L. Kerstetter (1990) "The Relationship Between Sociodemographic Variables, Benefits Sought and Subsequent Vacation Behavior: A Case Study." Journal of Travel Research, Winter: 24-29.
19.
Gitelson, Richard J., and J.L. Crompton (1983). "The Planning Horizons and Sources of Information Used by Pleasure Vacarioners." Journal of Travel Research , Winter. 2-7
20.
Green, P. , and D. Tull (1970) Recherche et décisions en Marketing. Presses Universitaires de Grenoble
21.
Gronroos, Christian (1982). "A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications ." European Journal of Marketing, 18 (4): 36-44.
22.
_ ( 1984). "An Applied Service Marketing Theory." European Journal of Marketing, 16 (17): 30-41.
23.
Hair, Joseph, Rolph Anderson, and Ronald Tatham (1987). Multivariate Data Analysis. Riverside, NJ: Macmillan Publishing Co.
24.
Harrell, G.D. (1977). "Market Planning to Increase Travel Agency Profits ." Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly , 17: 44-48.
25.
Hart, Christopher W. L., James L. Heskett, and Earl Sasser (1990). "The Profitable Art of Service Recovery." Harvard Business Review, July/ August: 148-56.
26.
Hostage, G.M. (1985). "Quality Control in a Service Business." Harvard Business Review, July/August: 98-106.
27.
Hruschka, Harald, and Josef Mazanec (1990). "Computer-Assisted Travel Counseling." Annals of Tourism Research, 17: 208-27.
28.
James, Don L., Richard M. Durand, and Robert Dreves (1976). "The Use of a Multi-Attribute Attitude Model in a Store Image Study." Journal of Retailing, Summer: 23-34.
29.
Kendall, K.W., and B.H. Booms (1989). "Consumer Perceptions of Travel Agencies: Communications, Images, Needs, and Expectations." Journal of Travel Research , Spring: 29-37.
30.
Kent, William E., Robert A Meyer, and Thomas M Reddam (1987). "Reassessing Wholesaler Marketing Strategies. The Role of Travel Research." Journal of Travel Research, Winter: 31-33.
31.
Kotler, Philip (1974). "Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool." Journal of Travel Research, Winter: 31-33.
32.
Levitt, Theodore (1981). "Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles ." Harvard Business Review, May/June: 94-102.
33.
Lewis, Robert (1981). "The Positioning Statement for Hotels." Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, May: 51-61.
34.
_ ( 1984). "Isolating Differences in Hotel Attributes." Cornell Hotel Restaurant Administration Quarterly, November: 99-104.
35.
Lewis, Robert, and Bernard Booms (1984). "The Marketing Aspects of Service Quality." In Proceedings of the A.M.A.: Emerging Perspectives on Services Marketing . Chicago: American Marketing Association , pp. 99-104.
36.
Lion, J., and F. Testu (1978). "L'analyse Factorielle." Encyclopédie du Marketing II, Étude de marché. Paris: Éditions techniques.
37.
Lovelock, Christopher (1981). "Why Marketing Management Needs to be Different for Services." In Marketing of Services, J. H. Donnelly and W. R. George, eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association, pp. 5-9.
38.
Nelson, Philip (1974). "Advertising and Information." Journal of Political Economy, April: 67-86.
39.
Nunnally, J.C. (1967). Psychometric Theory. New York : McGraw-Hill.
40.
Oliver, Richard (1977). "Effect of Expectation and Disconfirmation on Post-exposure Product Evaluations: An Alternative Interpretation." Journal of Applied Psychology, August: 480-86.
41.
_ ( 1981). "Measurement and Evaluation of Satisfaction Processes in Retail Settings." Journal of Retailing, Fall: 25-46.
42.
Olshavsky, Richard (1985). "Perceived Quality in Consumer Decision Making: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective." In Perceived Quality , J. Jacoby and J. Olson, eds. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
43.
Oxenfeldt, Alfred R. (1974). "Developing a Favorable Price-Quality Image." Journal of Retailing, Winter: 8-14.
44.
Parasuraman, A., Valerie Zeithaml, and Leonard Berry (1984). "A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research." Report 84-106, Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute.
45.
_ ( 1988). "SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Scale Item for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality." Journal of Retailing, 64 (Spring): 12-40.
46.
Peter, P. (1979). "Reliability: A Review of Psychometric Basics and Recent Marketing Practices." Journal of Marketing Research , February: 6-17.
47.
Rathmell, John (1974). Marketing in the Service Sector. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishers.
48.
Reilly, Michael (1990). "Free Elicitation of Descriptive Adjectives for Tourism Image Assessment." Journal of Travel Research, Spring: 21-25.
49.
Shetty, Y.K. (1988). "Product Quality and Comparative Strategy." Business Horizons, Spring: 34-38.
50.
Shoemaker, S. (1984). "Marketing to Older Travelers." Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, August: 84-91.
51.
Shostack, Lynn (1977). "Breaking Free from Product Marketing." Journal of Marketing, April: 73-80.
52.
Snepenger, David, Kelli Meged, Mary Snelling, and Kelly Worrall (1990). "Information Search Strategies By Destination-Naive Tourists." Journal of Travel Research, Summer: 13-16.
53.
Solomon, Michael, Carol Surprenant, John Czepiel, and Evelyn Gutman (1985). "A Role Theory Perspective on Dyadic Interactions: The Service Encounter." Journal of Marketing, Winter: 99-111.
54.
Thomas, Dan (1978). "Les entrepnses de service se gérent autrement ." Harvard L'Expansion, Winter: 9-17.
55.
Woodside, A.G. and I.A. Ronkainen (1980). "Vacation Travel Planning Segments." Annals of Tourism Research7: 385-94.
56.
Zeithaml, Valerie (1981). "How Consumer Evaluation Process Differ Between Goods and Services." In Marketing of Services, J. Donnelly and W. George , eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association, pp. 186-90.
57.
Zeithaml, Valerie, A. Parasuraman, and Berry Leonard (1985). "Problems and Strategies in Services Marketing ." Journal of Marketing, Spring: 33-46.
58.
Zimmer, Mary R., and Linda L. Golden (1988). "Impressions of Retail Stores: A Content Analysis of Consumer Images." Journal of Retailing , Fall: 265-93.
