Customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer value: years 2000-2015

Author(s):

Haemoon Oh , (College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, South Carolina, USA)

Single Sentence Summary:

A review of the hospitality and tourism research of the years 2000–2015 on customer satisfaction (CS),
service quality (SQ) and customer value (CV) shows that research on CS sustained both interest and
productivity, but dwindled for SQ and CV.

Abstract: Purpose

This paper aims to review hospitality and tourism research on customer satisfaction (CS), service quality
(SQ) and customer value (CV) published in several established hospitality and tourism journals over the
past 15-16 years. A parallel review of research on the same topics published in several leading marketing
journals is also conducted to show comparisons in research trends across the two different, but closely
related, fields of study. By doing so, this paper aims to summarize lessons learned from previous
research and provide suggestions for future research on the topics in the hospitality and tourism
discipline.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviewed 242 articles appearing in six selected hospitality and tourism journals and 71 articles
in four business journals that were published on CS, SQ and CV over the period of 2000-2015. A
comprehensive coding scheme was developed to sort each study by more than 50 criteria.

Findings

While research on these topics has grown constantly during the period in the hospitality and tourism
field, it has declined in the general business discipline over the same period. Hospitality and tourism
research relied heavily on cross-sectional data through a survey approach, whereas business studies
used experimental designs more frequently. Research on CS has sustained both interest and
productivity, but research on SQ and CV has dwindled over time. Another notable finding is that most
studies are not grounded in strong theories, although CS studies tended to be more theory-embedded.

Practical implications

This study provides many useful insights into the research practice and trends of related research and
suggestions for future research, especially for hospitality and tourism researchers.Originaliy/value

This study provides an unprecedented, comprehensive review of theories, methods, discussion points,
implications, limitations and conclusions of studies on CS, SQ and CV published in selected hospitality
and tourism journals over the past 15 years.

Citation:
Haemoon Oh, Kawon Kim, (2017) "Customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer value: years
2000-2015", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 29 Issue: 1, pp.2-29,
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2015-0594