A study of the relationship between service atmosphere and customer loyalty with specific reference to structural equation modelling

Figures & data

Table 1. Atmospheric factors in guests’ perceptions.

Distinctiveness	Hospitability	Relaxation	Refinement
Special	Welcoming	Pastoral	Classical
Fascinating	Hospitable	Resort	Traditional
Different	Professional	Holiday	Historical
Unusual	Genial	Family-like	Upper class
One of a kind	Communicating	Serene	Rich
Memorable	Effective	Quiet	Luxurious
Rarefied	Civilised	Easy
Peculiar	True	Suburban
Seductive	Feel-good	Simple
Characteristic	Flexible
Attractive	Serious
Dream	Well-being
Charming

Source: Heide and Grønhaug (2009).

Table 2. Atmospheric variables.

External variables	General interior variables	Layout and design variables	Point-of-purchase and decoration variables	Human variables
Exterior signs	Flooring and carpeting	Space design and allocation	Point-of-purchase displays	Employee characteristics
Entrances	Colour schemes	Placement of merchandise	Signs and cards	Employee uniforms
Exterior display windows	Lighting	Grouping of merchandise	Wall decorations	Crowding
Height of building	Music	Work station placement	Degrees and certificates	Customer characteristics
Size of building	P.A. usage	Placement of equipment	Pictures	Privacy
Colour of building	Scents	Placement of cash registers	Artwork
Surrounding stores	Tobacco smoke	Waiting areas	Product displays
Lawns and gardens	Width of aisles	Waiting rooms	Usage instructions
Address and location	Wall composition	Department locations	Price displays
Architectural style	Paint and wall paper	Traffic flow	Teletext
Surrounding area	Ceiling composition	Racks and cases
Parking availability	Merchandise	Waiting queues
Congestion and traffic	Temperature	Furniture
Exterior walls	Cleanliness	Dead areas

Source: Turley and Milliman (2000).

Table 3. Demographic profile of respondents.

Factor	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Male	232	47.8
	Female	253	52.2
Age	Under 24	102	21.03
	25–34	167	34.43
	35–44	94	19.38
	45–54	84	17.33
	55+	38	7.83
Education Level	Primary school	84	10.52
	Secondary school	117	36.49
	Faculty	173	35.67
	Master’s Degree	51	17.32
Duration of stay	1–3 days	63	13
	4–6 days	117	24.1
	7–9 days	132	27.2
	10–13 days	78	16.1
	14–16 days	80	16.5
	17+	15	3.1

Source: Author’s analysis.

Table 4. Explanatory factor analysis results.

Factors		Loadings	t-Value	R^2	CR	Eigenvalues	AVE	% of variance	α
IF	INTERNAL FACTORS				0.75	2.184	0.94	18.155	0.704
IF1	Great importance was given to colour compatibility in common areas.	0.826	14.07	0.50
IF2	Nice music was played in the hotel.	0.887	17.14	0.83
IF3	Pleasant scent surrounds the rooms and common areas.	0.661	9.86	0.22
EF	EXTERNAL FACTORS				0.25	1.118	0.98	10.701	0.243
EF1	Landscape arrangements of hotel are pleasant.	0.760	3.35	0.21
EF2	Signposting is adequate at the hotel.	0.717	3.15	0.09
E	EMPLOYEES				0.72	2.024	0.97	17.424	0.709
E1	Hotel staff have all information and knowledge required.	0.767	13.43	0.47
E2	Waiting time during registration procedures is short.	0.829	15.01	0.62
E3	Hotel staff give importance to cleanliness and hygiene.	0.779	11.34	0.32
CL	CUSTOMER LOYALTY				0.60	1.415	0.98	15.001	0.588
CL1	I will recommend this hotel to people around me.	0.736		0.46
CL2	I prefer staying at this hotel even if the prices are increased a bit.	0.731	5.94	0.21
CL3	This hotel is my priority preference.	0.745	6.07	0.33

Source: Author’s analysis.

Figure 1. SEM on customer loyalty. Source: Author’s analysis.

Figure 2. Measurement model. Source: Author’s analysis.

Figure 3. Structural model. Source: Author’s analysis.

Table 5. Fit indices.

Criteria	Good Fit	Acceptable	Model
RMSEA	0 < RMSEA < 0.05	0.05 ≤ RMSEA ≤ 0.10	0.04
NFI	0.95 ≤ NFI ≤1	0.90 ≤ NFI ≤ 0.95	0.93
NNFI	0.97 ≤ NNFI ≤1	0.95 ≤ NNFI ≤ 0.97	0.95
CFI	0.97 ≤ CFI ≤1	0.95 ≤ CFI ≤ 0.97	0.96
GFI	0.95 ≤ GFI ≤1	0.90 ≤ GFI ≤ 0.95	0.97
AGFI	0.90 ≤ AGFI ≤1	0.85 ≤ AGFI ≤ 0.90	0.96

Source: Schermelleh-Engel and Moosbrugger (2003).

Heide, M., & Grønhaug, K. (2009). Key factors in guests’ perception of hotel atmosphere. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 50, 29–43. doi:10.1177/1938965508328420.

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Turley, L. W., & Milliman, R. E. (2000). Atmospheric effects on shopping behavior: A review of the experimental evidence. Journal of Business Research, 49, 193–211. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00010-7.

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Schermelleh-Engel, K., & Moosbrugger, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research, 8, 23–74.

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