Pan-Pacific Conference XXXIV. Designing New Business Models in Developing Economies

Link between Customer Service and Loyalty in Four-star Hotels in a Developing
Economy
Arias-Bolzmann, Leopoldo
CENTRUM Graduate Business School
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima-
Bravo-Falcon, Karina
CENTRUM Graduate Business School
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima-Peru
Mendoza-Cabrera, Patricia
CENTRUM Graduate Business School
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima-Peru
Leopoldo Arias-Bolzmann, CENTRUM Graduate Business School Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Perú, Lima
Urbanización Los Álamos de Monterrico 33, Jirón Daniel Alomía Robles 125, Santiago de Surco Lima 33,
+511 6267100.
ABSTRACT
Recently, Peru has been an attractive destination in
the tourism market. Therefore, the offer must be
prepared to be competitive and improve its market
share.
The companies must not only strive to build strong
brands through quality, but to attract customers who
demonstrate loyalty, which is more cost-effective
and creates a greater value. The main purpose is to
identify whether the service quality is a relevant
causality factor that builds loyalty. This study
considered four-star hotels located in Miraflores
(Lima, Peru) using SERVPERF methodology—
developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992)— to
identify the main service quality factors valued by
customers. The results showed that the service
quality provided by four-star hotels is highly valued
by customers; however, the hotels generated low
levels of loyalty.
1 INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, hotel customers are not satisfied with a
hotel that offers a range of services; they prefer a
hotel that offers personalized services. Therefore,
the hotels are required to formulate new and
innovative customer retention strategies, since it is
becoming increasingly difficult to ensure client
loyalty. According to Carlos Canales (2014),
President of the National Chamber of Tourism in
Peru, hotel services are increasingly becoming
prominent and more than a US$2 billion investment
is expected over the next three years. The four-star
and five-star hotels—targeted to the segment with
the highest purchasing power—are geographically
concentrated in more than 60% in Lima. This
market shows high levels of competitiveness in the
services sector which contributes to question
whether the actions taken by the hotel companies,
with regard to the provided services, are aimed to
increase and/or decrease their market share.
Several studies for the hotel service sector have
been found, that explain the quality of service and
its impact on the generation of loyalty. Gracia and
Grau (n.d.) conducted an empirical study in 116
hotels and tourist restaurants in Spain, concluding
that the positive perception of the service quality
influenced the attitudes of loyalty to the hotel and
the restaurant that provided the service. On the other
hand, Zamora et al. (2008), evaluated the loyalty
development process in hotel guests using the
methodology proposed by Vasquez-Párraga &
Alonso (2000), in three types of hotels in Chile.
They demonstrated that “commitment” is the most
important construct to explain loyalty.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Quality of service refers to «the judgment of the
consumer on the excellence and superiority of a
product» (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1988, p.
3). Its assessment goes beyond the specific
attributes of the product consumed, since the
consumer will always compare the perceived
experience between two or more similar goods or
services. The quality perceived in the market of
intangible products requires a different treatment
and concept than that of tangible goods. Grönroos
(1994),argued that the perceived quality of service
depends on the comparison of the expected service
with the perceived service. On the other hand, for
Rust & Oliver (1994), the satisfaction judgments are
the result of the difference perceived by the
consumer between his expectations and the
perception of the result. Service quality also
considers two models or schools for its
conceptualization: (1) the Nordic model, developed
by Grönroos (1984), in which two dimensions are
identified: (a) the technical quality, and (b) the
functional quality; and (2) the American model,
developed by Parasuraman et al. (1985), based the
concept of service quality on the disconformity
paradigm centered on the difference between the
expected service level and the customer perception
about the service level. Five dimensions are
considered in the service quality experience:
reliability, responsiveness, security, empathy, and
tangibles.
Santomá & Costa (2007), classified the research
studies of quality in the hotel sector into three
groups according to their nature: (a) studies that
conducted a theoretical analysis of the concept; (b)
studies of quality management; and (c) studies that
measured the quality of the service. The latter had
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