An investigation of the relationships between quality of service performance, benefits sought, satisfaction and future intention to visit among visitors to a zoo

Abstract

Intention to revisit a leisure amenity or to recommend it to others is conceptualized as being dependent upon the quality of service delivered, the extent to which benefits sought were received and overall visitor satisfaction. The objective of this study was to empirically examine the relationships between these constructs. Using a sample of 371 visitors to the Fort Worth Zoo, the study explored the interrelationships between quality of service performance, visitor satisfaction, specific benefits sought and future behavioural intentions, and identified the service performance domains that contributed most to explaining overall service performance, visitor satisfaction and future behavioural intentions. Pearson correlations showed a relatively strong relationship ( r v = v 0.639) between overall service performance and visitor satisfaction, but since this correlation was far from perfect it also confirmed they were independent constructs. Both overall visitor satisfaction and overall service quality were also relatively highly correlated to future behavioural intentions. Stepwise regression analysis showed the wildlife and generic features performance domains were positively and significantly related to future behavioural intentions, overall service performance and visitor satisfaction.