Revisiting Employee - Guest Interactions in Hotels: An Analysis of Critical Incidents

Yilmaz, Özgür Devrim (2018): Revisiting Employee - Guest Interactions in Hotels: An Analysis of Critical Incidents. Published in: Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing , Vol. 4, No. 2 (15 November 2018): pp. 17-23.

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out the positive and/or negative effects that hotel employees may have upon hotel guests’ experiences during their stay. Using the critical incident technique (CIT), data were obtained from 105 guests (a total of 174 incidents) staying in two different 5-star hotels that have similar characteristics in terms of type, price, ownership and concept in Bodrum, Turkey. The incidents were primarily categorized as positive and negative and afterward the incidents from two categories were compared to each other in terms of three main process of hotel accommodation as check-in, accommodation and check-out. Despite the fact that most hotels currently place emphasis on employee-guest interactions –under the concept of service quality or customer satisfaction-, the findings revealed that there were still a number of negative incidents that caused customer dissatisfaction and managerial implications were needed in hotels to minimize negative incidents and maximize the positive ones.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Critical incidents; Hotel; Employee-guest interaction; Employee behavior; Customer satisfaction
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity; L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services; L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L83 - Sports ; Gambling ; Restaurants ; Recreation ; Tourism; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration

References

Baker, J. (1987). The role of the environment in the marketing service: The consumer perspective. In J. A. Czepiel, C. A. Congram, & J. Shanahan (eds.) (1987). The services challenge: Integrating for competitive advantage. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 79–84.

Bateson, J.E.G. (1985). Perceived control and the service encounter. In Czepiel, J.A. Solomon, M. & Surprenant, C.F. (eds.) (1985). The Service Encounter. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 67-82.

Bitner, M. J. (1990). Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surrounding and employee responses. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 71–84.

Bitner, M.J., Booms, B.H. & Mohr, L.A. (1994). Critical service encounters: The employee’s viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, 58, 95-106.

Bitner,M.J., Booms, B.H.,& Tetreault, M.S. (1990). The service encounter: Diagnosing favourable and unfavourable incidents. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 71-84.

Bowen, D.E. & Schneider, B. (1985). Boundary-spanning-role employees and the service encounter: some guidelines for management and research. In Czepiel, J.A. Solomon, M. & Surprenant, C.F. (eds.) (1985). The Service Encounter. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 127-147.

Brown, S.W. & Swartz, T.A. (1989). Gap analysis of professional service quality. Journal of Marketing, 53 (April), 92-98.

Carlzon, J. (1987). Moments of Truth. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

Chen, I.J. & Popovich, K. (2003). Understanding customer relationship management (CRM): People, process and technology. Business Process Management Journal, 9(5), 672-688.

Chandon, J.L., Leo, P.Y., & Philippe, J. (1997). Service encounter dimensions – a dyadic perspective: measuring the dimensions of service encounters as perceived by customers and personnel. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8(1), 65-86.

Chatzigeorgiou, C. & Simeli, I. (2017). Perception of service quality in agrotourism accommodations: Impact on guest loyalty and re-visit intentions. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 3(1), 33–41. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.401375

Christou, E. (2002). Revisiting competencies for hospitality management: Contemporary views of the stakeholders. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 14(1), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/10963758.2002.10696721

Christou, E. (2003). Guest loyalty likelihood in relation to hotels’ corporate image and reputation. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 10(3/4), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.1300/J150v10n03_05

Crosby, L.A. & Stephens, N.J. (1987). Effects of relationship marketing on satisfaction, retention and prices in the life insurance industry. Journal of Marketing Research, 24 (November), 404-411.

De Ruyter, K. & Wetzels, M.G.M. (2000). The impact of perceived listening behaviour in voice-to-voice service encounters. Journal of Service Research, 2(3), 276-284.

Eaton, J. & Christou, E. (2000). Management competencies for graduate trainees. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(4), 1058-1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(99)00129-2

Edvardsson, B. & Roos, I. (2001). Critical incident techniques: Towards a framework for analysing the criticality of critical incidents. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12 (3), 251-268.

Farrell, A.M., Souchon, A.L. & Durden, G.R. (2001) Service encounter conceptualisation: employees' service behaviours and customers' service quality perceptions. Journal of Marketing Management, 17(5-6), 577-593.

Fisk, R. P., Brown, S. W., & Bitner, M. J. (1993). Tracking the evolution of the service marketing literature. Journal of Retailing, 69(1), 13–60.

Flanagan, J.C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51 (4), 327-358.

Freeman, R. & Glazer, K. (2012). Customer Service, In: Westcott, M. (eds.) (2012). Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC. https://opentextbc.ca/introtourism/front-matter/about-the-book/ Accessed the 5th of July 2018 at 14:25.

Furrer, O., Liu, B.S. & Sudharshan, D. (2000). The relationships between culture and service quality perceptions: basis for cross-cultural market segmentation and resource allocation. Journal of Service Research, 2 (4), 355-71.

Grandey, A.A., Fisk, G.M., Mattila, A.S., Jansen, K.J. & Sideman, L.A. (2005). Is service with a smile enough? Authenticity of positive displays during service encounters. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 96 (1), 38-55.

Juwaheer, T.D. (2004), Exploring international tourists’ perceptions of hotel operations by using a modified servqual approach: a case study of Mauritius. Managing Service Quality, 14 (5), 350-64.

Mattila, A.S. (1999). The role of culture and purchase motivation in service encounter evaluations. Journal of Services Marketing, 13 (4/5), 376-89.

Mensah, I. & Mensah, R. (2018). Effects of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction on Repurchase Intention in Restaurants on University of Cape Coast Campus. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 4(1), 27–36. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1247542

Nyquist, J. D., Bitner, M. J. & Booms, B. H. (1985). Identifying Communication Difficulties in The Service Encounter: A Critical Incident Approach, In: Czepiel, J. A., R, S. M. & Surprenant, C. F. (eds.) (1985). The Service Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer Interaction in Service Business. Massachusetts/Toronto: Lexington Books, 195-212.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., & Berry, L.L. (1988). Servqual: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12-40.

Prayag, G. & Ryan,C. (2012). Visitor interactions with hotel employees: the role of nationality. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 6 (2), 173 – 185.

Price, L.L., Arnould, E.J. & Tierney, P. (1995). Going to extremes: managing service encounters and assessing provider performance. Journal of Marketing, 59(April), 83-97.

Rafaeli, A. (1993). Dress and behavior of customer contact employees: a framework for analysis. In Swartz, T.A., Bowen, D.E. & Brown, S.W. (eds.) (1993). Advances in Services Marketing and Management. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 175-211.

Rangan, K., Chase, L.A. & Karim, S. (2012). Why every company needs a CSR strategy and how to build it. Woking Paper (12-088). Boston: Harvard Business School.

Ross, G.F. (1994). The Psychology of Tourism. Melbourne: Hospitality Press.

Samy, H. (2016). Exploring Factors that Influence Domestic Tourists' Satisfaction with Budget Hotel Services in Egypt. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 2(2), 17–22. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.376344

Shostack, G. L. (1985). Planning the service encounter. In Czepiel, J.A. Solomon, M. & Surprenant, C.F. (eds.) (1985). The Service Encounter. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 243-254.

Solomon, M.R., Surprenant, C., Czepiel, J.A. & Gutman, E.G. (1985). A role theory perspective dyadic interactions: The service encounter. Journal Marketing, 49 (Winter), 99-111.

Surprenant, C.F. & Solomon, M.R. (1987). Predictability and personalization in the service encounter. Journal of Marketing, 51 (April), 86-96.

Tsang, N.K. & Ap, J. (2007). Tourists’ perceptions of relational quality service attributes: a cross cultural study. Journal of Travel Research, 45(February), 355-363.

Winsted, K.F. (2000). Service behaviours that lead to satisfied customers. European Journal of Marketing, 34 (3/4), 399-417.

Wu, C. H. (2007) The impact of customer-to-customer interaction and customer homogeneity on customer satisfaction in tourism service—The service encounter prospective. Tourism Management, 28, 1518-1528.

Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L. & Parasuraman, A. (1988). Communication and control processes in the delivery of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 52 (April), 35-48.