A social exchange perspective on boosting customer loyalty through culturally competent servers

Figures & data

Figure 1. Research framework.

Table 1. Demographic information.

Characteristics	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Gender
Male	150		43.4
Female	196		56.6
Age
18~24	94		27.2
25~34	103		29.8
35~44	52		15.0
45~55	60		17.3
≥56	37		10.7
Education
Primary	3		.9
High school	67		19.4
University / Diploma	184		53.2
Postgraduate or above	92		26.6
Birth country
Australia	166		48.0
Others	180		52.0
Total	346		100.0

Table 2. Birth Country/Region/Administrative Region.

Name	Frequency (n)
Australia	166
China	32
England	19
New Zealand	19
India	10
Malaysia	10
USA	8
Canada	7
Hong Kong	7
Japan	7
Republic of Korea	7
West Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland)	7
Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam)	7
Netherlands	6
Taiwan	6
Africa (South Africa, Turks and Caicos island, Uganda, Botswana, Kenya)	5
Singapore	5
South America (Brazil, Peru)	5
South Asia (Pakistan, Sri Lanka)	5
Macao	2
Papua New Guinea	2
Others (Turkey, Puerto Rico, Egypt, Saint Kitts and Nevis)	4
Total	346

Table 3. Results of the measurement model.

Construct and Item	SFL	t-values	CR	Cronbach’s alpha	AVE
Awareness			.93	.92	.81
Staff are aware of the different views on diversity.	.83	44.56
Staff make an effort to understand diversity differences.	.94	87.38
Staff seem to be aware of diversity differences.	.92	79.49
Knowledge			.93	.93	.82
Staff are knowledgeable of my cultural background.	.88	60.69
Staff understand my culture’s specific characteristics.	.93	84.55
Staff seem to be well-informed about my culture.	.91	74.82
Skills			.93	.93	.70
Staff are well-trained to properly treat someone with the same ethnic or cultural background as mine.	.83	43.70
Staff possess the skills that are needed to treat a customer from diverse cultural background.	.86	52.49
Staff value and respect my cultural differences.	.85	48.82
Staff demonstrate knowledge about client’s culture.	.83	45.65
Staff know how to communicate appropriately with me in a culturally appropriate way	.86	51.86
Staff try to communicate using a variety of verbal and nonverbal messages with me	.79	35.45
Gratitude			.95	.95	.83
I feel grateful to the hospitality staff on the Gold Coast.	.89	71.99
I feel thankful to the hospitality staff on the Gold Coast.	.95	132.21
I feel appreciative to the hospitality staff on the Gold Coast.	.95	135.87
I feel a desire to say “thank you” to the hospitality staff on the Gold Coast.	.85	54.03
Future Behavioural Intention			.94	.94	.84
I would consider to visit the Gold Coast again	.94	88.51
I will recommend the Gold Coast to others.	.92	76.99
There is a strong likelihood that I will re-visit the Gold Coast.	.89	64.33

Note: SFL = standardized factor loading, CR = composite reliability, AVE = average variance extracted.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics and correlation table.

Construct	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1. Awareness	4.82	1.14	.90
2. Knowledge	4.65	1.25	.65**	.91
3. Skills	4.79	1.10	.72**	.78**	.84
4. Gratitude	5.62	1.09	.55**	.51**	.62**	.91
5. Future Behavioural Intention	5.97	.96	.39**	.38**	.48**	.66**	.91

Boldfaced diagonal elements are the square root of AVE values. Off-diagonal elements are the correlations between constructs. **p < 0.01.

Table 5. Results for mean differences on the constructs between Australia and others.

Construct	Country	N	Mean	SD	Sig.
Awareness	Australia	166	4.77	1.12	.07
	Others	180	4.97	1.22
Knowledge	Australia	165	4.67	1.20	.19
	Others	180	4.69	1.38
Skill	Australia	165	4.81	1.09	.11
	Others	178	4.92	1.28
Gratitude	Australia	165	5.57	1.12	.32
	Others	179	5.72	1.07
Future Behavioural Intention	Australia	166	6.25	1.04	.69
	Others	179	6.06	1.08

Figure 2. Results of hypotheses testing.

Table 6. Structural model results.

Paths	Standardized estimates	SE	t-values
Direct effects
Awareness →Gratitude	.21**	.08	2.61
Knowledge → Gratitude	−.09	.10	−.92
Skills → Gratitude	.56***	.12	4.67
Gratitude → Future Behavioural Intention	.59***	.05	12.14
Indirect effects	Standardized estimates	BootSE	Bootstra 95% CI
Awareness →Gratitude→ Future Behavioural Intention	.13*	.05	[.02, .22]
Knowledge →Gratitude→ Future Behavioural Intention	−.05	.06	[−.14, .06]
Skills →Gratitude→ Future Behavioural Intention	.33***	.08	[.15, .45]

Note: SE = standard error; ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05; Control variables: age, gender, education, tourist status, Australian citizenship, birth country (all effects of control variables on Future Behavioural Intention were not significant).