Service Quality as a Component of the Hospitality Experience: Proposal of a Conceptual Model and Framework for Research

Abstract

Most hospitality research has treated the concept of service quality as an entity unto itself. That is, it has been studied in isolation or as a precursor variable for satisfaction. In the era of the experience economy, however, service quality must be integrated into a holistic model built on the notion of a guest's experience. Thus, this article proposes an integrated, three-phase model structured to incorporate service quality as a major component of the experience construct. While speculation about what constitutes a hospitality experience abound, the complex relationship among value, service quality, satisfaction, and experience is in its infancy. Before this relationship can be fully examined, dimensions of these four critical components need to be incorporated into a unified, holistic model that includes the four primary constructs of service quality, value, satisfaction, and experience. This article focuses on this initial challenge.

KEYWORDS:

• service quality
• experience
• experience economy
• conceptual model
• holistic model