Title: Service quality, image and loyalty towards Malaysian hotels

Authors: Tat-Huei Cham; Yalini Easvaralingam

Addresses: Faculty of Accountancy Management, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bandar Sungai Long, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Business, Communications and Law, INTI International University, 71800 Putra Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Abstract: The rapid growth of the hotel industry in the first decade of the 21st century forced hotel operators to critically acknowledge the importance of service improvement in order to gain competitive advantage. Therefore, identifying the factors that influence the quality of services of hotels is critical for the success of the hotels. Corporate image and customer loyalty should also be emphasised to ensure the sustainability of the hotels in this competitive industry. Hence, this study is conducted to discover the factors influencing perceived service quality of Malaysian hotels, as well as exploring the relationship between perceived service quality with customer loyalty and corporate image. Additionally, this study is one of the few studies on quality certification related to the demand perspective and also on the mediating role of image on the relationship between service quality and loyalty in the hotel industry.

Keywords: service quality; customer loyalty; corporate image; quality certification; ISO standards; cultural differences; Malaysia; hotels; hotel industry; perceived quality; culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2012.050951

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 2012 Vol.4 No.4, pp.267 - 281

Received: 01 Aug 2012
Accepted: 12 Sep 2012
Published online: 15 Nov 2014 *

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