Integrating service quality as a second-order factor in a customer satisfaction and loyalty model

Abstract: Purpose – The study conceptualizes service quality as a second-order factor and analyzes its influence on customer satisfaction, perceived value, image, consumption emotions and customer loyalty by testing a structural equation model. Design/methodology/approach – The model is tested using data collected from 672 guests staying in accommodation establishments located in South Africa. The study follows a hierarchical approach using confirmatory factor analysis to test the second-order factor model and structural equation modeling to test the overallmodel. Findings – The results indicate that the second-order factor model is acceptable both empirically as well as conceptually and performs better than other competing models of service quality. The findings provide support for all hypotheses and evidence of a structural model with a high explanatory power. Research limitations/implications – The second-order factor model is less useful when fine-grained analyses are needed, such as when a detailed assessment of the level of quality of service offered by a hospitality organization is required. Practical implications – The second-order factor model allows for an analysis of service quality at different levels of abstraction. Accommodation managers interested in customers’ evaluation of service on a cumulative basis can make use of the global measure to determine service quality evaluations. Practitioners can also use the findings to manage the different dimensions of service quality. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that service quality is best represented as a second-order factor, and in doing so, it provides an improved measurement of the construct. More so, by integrating the variable in a nomological network, the research develops a more parsimonious model than the existing ones

This fast car can move faster: a review of PLS-SEM application in higher education research

The relevance and prominence of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method has recently increased in higher education research, especially in explanatory and predictive studies. We therefore first aim to assess previous PLS-SEM applications by providing a systematic review; second, we aim to highlight and summarize important guidelines for conducting a rigorous PLS-SEM analysis of the current state of results reporting in higher education journals. Specifically, this study focuses on empirical PLS-SEM applications in 14 major higher education journals indexed in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science and in the Elsevier-Scopus databases between 1999 and 2018. We initially identified 49 relevant papers published in 10 higher education journals. Based on these papers' generally followed guidelines, we thereafter identified various issues related to data screening, model characteristics, measurement model evaluation, structural model evaluation, and the application of state-of-the-art PLS-SEM advanced methods requiring particular attention. Furthermore, we recommend recent guidelines to improve PLS-SEM applications and practices, besides providing specific suggestions regarding utilizing the method's strength in terms of relevant higher education research questions. Our findings remind researchers, reviewers, and journal editors to remain vigilant, should help them avoid inaccuracies in future publications, and ensure rigor

Validating the HESQUAL scale and testing an improved structural model

Purpose The purpose of this study is to validate the higher education service quality (HESQUAL) scale using a confirmatory approach and test an improved structural model that predicts student loyalty from image, perceived value, satisfaction and service quality. In addition to validating the HESQUAL scale using a confirmatory approach, two other main limitations in the extant literature are addressed. Design/methodology/approach The model is tested using data collected from 501 students enrolled in different higher education institutions in Mauritius. A two-stage approach to structural equation modeling is used whereby the measurement model is first tested using confirmatory factor analysis and followed by the assessment of the structural model. Findings Importantly, results indicate that student satisfaction is influenced by technical service quality, image and perceived value, but not by functional service quality. Both dimensions of service quality however are significant predictors of image and perceived value. The study uses a comprehensive measure of service quality and demonstrates that it is worthwhile to consider functional service quality as higher-order model and clearly distinguish between functional and technical quality, as both the technical and functional aspects play an important role in shaping students’ perceptions and behaviors. Originality/value First, in the existing literature, service quality has not been considered as a second-order factor model in structural models of student satisfaction and loyalty, thus lacking either precision or parsimony. Second, the transformative quality aspect of higher education has been largely neglected in previous research testing such predictive models. The model delineates service quality into the functional and transformative (technical) aspects and treats functional service quality as a second-order factor comprising nine sub-dimensions.peerReviewe

Impact of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic on FDI: Evidence from a Small Open Economy

This study sets out to empirically examine the effect of the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the foreign direct investment flows of a small open economy, Mauritius. A preliminary analysis of the monthly gross direct investment flows data clearly shows that in general, the series departed from their original trends after the outbreak of the pandemic. As such, we employ the newly developed Bayesian structural time series (BSTS) framework for causal analysis to determine the initial impact of the pandemic on the gross direct investment flows of the country. The results indicate that the outbreak of the pandemic negatively affected investments coming from South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, China and Reunion and those in the “Real Estate Activities” sector. Surprisingly, a considerable increase was observed for the “Manufacturing” sector. Our findings also reveal that in the long run, gross direct investment flows from some countries and in some sectors will surely be influenced by the pandemic although this was not obvious at the time of the investigation. However, this will be highly dependent upon the measures taken by the country and worldwide to contain the spread of the pandemic

Impact of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic on FDI: Evidence from a Small Open Economy

This study sets out to empirically examine the effect of the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the foreign direct investment flows of a small open economy, Mauritius. A preliminary analysis of the monthly gross direct investment flows data clearly shows that in general, the series departed from their original trends after the outbreak of the pandemic. As such, we employ the newly developed Bayesian structural time series (BSTS) framework for causal analysis to determine the initial impact of the pandemic on the gross direct investment flows of the country. The results indicate that the outbreak of the pandemic negatively affected investments coming from South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, China and Reunion and those in the “Real Estate Activities” sector. Surprisingly, a considerable increase was observed for the “Manufacturing” sector. Our findings also reveal that in the long run, gross direct investment flows from some countries and in some sectors will surely be influenced by the pandemic although this was not obvious at the time of the investigation. However, this will be highly dependent upon the measures taken by the country and worldwide to contain the spread of the pandemic

Citation practices in tourism research: Toward a gender conscientious engagement.

This study explores gender gaps and differences in citation practices of scholars in the top-cited articles in tourism research. The results suggest that male researchers dominate the authorship of those articles and are more likely to engage in self-citation than females. The study also finds a disparity in citation counts between male- and female-authored articles. Controlling for other factors, author gender is an important determinant of citation counts. The study advocates for a more gender conscious citation practices and provides potential gender-based interventions to reduce the citation gap. The research raises awareness about the dangers of the perfunctory use of citations and paves the way for further debates on the politics and embedded inequalities of citations in tourism research