Drivers of customer satisfaction in the hotel and hospitality sectors in Sydney

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of service quality and personality factors on customer satisfaction and reuse intentions in the hotel industry. It aims to develop and empirically test a theoretical model that measures the effects of the various dimensions of service quality and personality on customer satisfaction. To this end, a quantitative survey approach was employed to collect primary data from the respondents (hotel guests/customers) by administering a structured questionnaire through an online survey. More precisely, this research evaluates how service quality and personality factors influence customer satisfaction and reuse intentions in the hotel industry in Sydney. The target population included individuals older than 18 years old and stayed in Sydney hotels. Six dimensions of service quality (i.e., tangibility, location, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy) and the Big Five personality factors (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) were identified as having the potential to influence customer satisfaction and reuse intentions. This study further investigates the association between customer satisfaction and reuse intentions in the hotel sector in Sydney using a structural equation model (SEM) approach. Moreover, this study also examines the difference between international and domestic visitors in terms of the effects of service quality and personality factors on their satisfaction, and extends the analysis conducted by previous studies. The study's findings confirm that the five constructs of service quality and three constructs of personality factors influence customer satisfaction. Finally, the results reveal that customer satisfaction is a significant predictor of reuse intention. The implications of the study are explained, and some suggestions for further research are provided to generalize these relationships to other sectors/contexts.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English