Boosting corporate customer loyalty - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4209 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Hotels boost corporate customer loyalty  through the service quality of the front office personnel INTRODUCTION This research, through a review of literature published on the subject, considers how hotel organisations might boost the repeat patronage of their corporate customers. Changes in the economy and the overall culture of corporate business travel, such as the increase in use of technology instead of trips, have significantly impacted the hotel industry in recent years. These changes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“have altered the possibilities for service delivery and have heightened the importance of promoting a quality ethicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 133). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Boosting corporate customer loyalty" essay for you Create order This is a particularly important consideration in UK hotel organisations, as they have been found to be more complacent and produce lower customer satisfaction than their global competitors (Meyer et al 1999: 374). As Meyer et al (1999) notes, in regards to satisfying the business traveller, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“US hotels showed a better understanding than German or UK hotels of their customers wants and needs that in turn leads to more effective services, higher levels of service quality and customer satisfaction (375). The UK is responding, addressing the use of part-time staff and high turnover through initiatives such as Investors in People, which increases training provision to leisure and tourism workers, amongst others (Maxwell et al 2001: 738). A difficulty in the hotel industry, however, is the importance of providing both quality product and service, as both are integral to the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s experience (Haynes and Fryer 2000: 240). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Customer servi ce is the only area over which the hotelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s product can be clearly differentiated from its major competitorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ productsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Haynes and Fryer 2000: 240). Therefore, to increase market share and remain competitive in the corporate lodging sector, hotels must focus on service quality. Service quality, defined more fully later in the review of literature, is the ability of a hotel to meet or exceed the expectations of its clientele regarding service provision. Loyalty is the result of high service quality, the repeat patronage of customers to a hotel. It is the front office personnel that often have the most impact on the corporate customer. Jones and Haven-Tang (2005) conclude à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ultimately, responsibility for high quality service provision rests with front-line staffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (7). Similarly, McColl-Kennedy and White (1997) report that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the behaviours of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"front lineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ service providers are crucial to the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s evaluation of the service (249). Haynes and Fryer (2000) report that customer exchanges and relationships with staff have a strong impact on hotel branding, and contribute directly to repeat patronage (241). This research seeks to consider what factors impact customer loyalty amongst business hotel travellers. It therefore provides a review of available literature on the service quality of front office personnel, and the impact of this quality on customer loyalty amongst the corporate traveller. As such, considerations of service quality and customer loyalty as a whole are undertaken, followed by specific consideration of the corporate traveller and three specific research questions addressing how hotels can boost customer loyalty in this customer group. RESEARCH QUESTIONS This examination of literature, therefore, seeks to address three specific questions related to how hotels might boost performance through the serv ice quality of their front office personnel: How strongly does training impact service quality, specifically in regards to the quality attributes that most increase corporate loyalty? What is the impact of technology on service quality in relation to corporate customers? How does employee empowerment effect service quality to corporate customers? These three questions were selected because the researcher hypothesises that these three components are key to the establishment of service quality, and the loyalty that results from high customer satisfaction, in the corporate hotel customer. It is anticipated the results of this research will establish the importance of these three components. LITERATURE REVIEW The first area to be considered in this review of literature is a more complete definition of service quality, as many exist. Chung (1998) provides the following definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Quality is the degree to which a product or service conforms to a set of predetermined standards related to the characteristics that determine its value in the marketplace and its performance of the function for which it was designedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (190). Candido (2005) asserts that service quality must focus specifically on strategy and its use in meeting and exceeding customer needs (3). This is reinforced by Buttle and Bok (199 6), who contend that the theory of reasoned action reveals service quality to be directly related to hotel customer expectations (10). McColl-Kennedy and White (1997) elaborate that customer satisfaction in terms of hotel service is typically an emotional response towards what was experienced in comparison to what was expected. If the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perception is that service met or exceeded expectations, he or she experiences satisfaction, if expectations are not at least met, he or she is dissatisfied (250). Other theorists support this expectation-based view of service quality. For example, Johns and Tyas (1997) assert à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Service quality is generally visualised as the sum of customer perceptions of the service experienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (474). Similarly, Gould-Williams (1999) states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“service quality is generally conceptualised as the gap between consumers expectations about a service and their subsequent perception of service perfor manceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (101). For practical purposes, literature in the topic breaks down service quality into specific categories for consideration. Citing Crane and Lynch (1988), Gould-Williams (1999) lists the areas of responsiveness, competence, courtesy, and interpersonal skills as impacting on service quality (99). Johns and Tyas (1997) breaks service quality into five attributes: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (477). Matzler et al (2004) takes a broader view, using three categories. Basic factors, or dissatisfiers, are the minimum and entirely expected expectations of the customer. If these are not met, regardless of other service provisions, the customer will be dissatisfied (Matzler et al 2004: 1183). Performance factors are possible expectations, and may lead to increased or decreased satisfaction if provided or not provided, respectively. These factors are desired by the customer but not recognised as foundati onal to the service provision. Excitement factors increase customer satisfaction if provided by are not expected, and therefore do not decrease satisfaction if not provided (Matzler et al 2004: 1183). The most common categorization, however, is based on the research of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, 1986). They originally identified ten factors, later reduced to five, that could be used in the definition and measurement of service quality: understanding, service standards, service performance, communications, and service quality (Tsang 2000: 317). Their service quality model is based on a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"gapsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ theory, where the size and direction of each gap impacts the overall quality perception of the guest. For example, service performance measures the difference between the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expectations of service quality and the service actually provided (Tsang 2000: 317). Their model provides equal weighting across the five categorise, an assumption challenged by Gould-Williams (1999), who reports that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“even though products and services consist of many attributes, consumers tend to base their overall perception of quality on just a few attributes or in some cases just oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (98). Defining customer demographics and desires can define their expectations of service Inbakaran and Jdackson (2005) concur, concluding that it is often the customer group that determines which factors are most impacting on service quality (59). They conclude that grouping customers by demographics and desires can accurately predict their expectations of service (Inbakaran and Jdackson 2005: 59). In the corporate arena, as in the hotel industry as whole, Harrington and Akehurst (2000) find that quality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“has replaced price as the determining factor in consumer choiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (134). Literature further supports that this focus on quality must lead to a continued consideration of the issue, with quality improvement being an ongoing aim of the hotel organisation (Chung 1998: 189). Customer loyalty is the result of high service quality and other factors that meet or exceed customer expectations. When a business traveller books again and again at the same hotel, he or she displays loyalty to that organisation. Importantly for business travel, this loyalty typically transfers to the overall hotel brand, so that experience of high service quality at one branch location improves the repeat patronage across all brand locations (Buswell and Williams 2003: 47). Conversely, experience that does not satisfy basic factors and possibly even performance factors at one location may decrease loyalty across the brand (Buswell and Williams 2003: 47). Cano (2001) finds all the factors required for the building of a hotelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s customer loyalty to be dependent on service quality: service that meets or exceeds expectations, delivered dependably and accurately helpful and prompt staff who are knowledgeable and courteous, conveying trust and confidence the provision of caring, individualised attention and the maintenance of links with the customer during acts of service delivery Inbakaran and Jdackson (2005) assert à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“It is an established fact that in the hospitality industry repeat patronage is directly related to the service quality and focused customer serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (53). However, they also note that customer service experience and the loyalty resulting from positive experiences is based to some extent on the segment of the hotel customer to whom the hotel is appealing (Inbakaran and Jdackson 2005: 57). That is, the service quality factors important to business travellers, such as immediate delivery of messages and concierge services, may not be as impacting on the perception of service quality in other customer groups. It can be difficult, however, to measure or assess service quality. First, as service quality is an experience between two or more people there are an uncountable number of factors that may play a role (Erto and Vanacore 2002: 165). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Measuring service quality is a very complex task because of the p eculiarities embodied in the service product itself a service is hardly reproduced consistently and exactly, because of the variability of service from time to time and from one customer to anotherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Erto and Vanacore 2002: 165). Citing numerous sources, Gould-Williams (1999) similarly conclude there are a myriad of variables that can be considered, and ways in which service quality has attempted to be measured (100). However, a number of tools and methods have been used to assess service quality. The most common is the use of a style of customer questionnaire known as a SERVQUAL (Johns and Tyas 1997: 475). This is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“one of the most widely accepted mcasures of service qualityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  in the leisure industry today (Gould-Williams 1999: 102). Based on the work of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry previously mentioned, this questionnaire is created using specific attributes of service quality designated by the hotel organisation. These typically rang e from fifteen to twenty-five areas, but can include thirty-five or more quality attributes (Tsang 2000: 319). Customers are asked to scale the quality they expected from each specific service attribute listed, then similarly scale the quality they actually experienced in the service performance of that attribute (Johns and Tyas 1997: 475). Such measures are important because the perceived factors important in customer service have been found to be different for staff and customers. For example, in one study staff ranked politeness as the most important factor, but this was seventh on the list for customers. Personal attention was most important to the customers, but ranked eleventh by staff (McColl-Kennedy and White 1997: 255). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Clearly, customers and employees have very different expectations from the customer service encounterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (McColl-Kennedy and White 1997: 255). Critical incident analysis is another form of evaluating service quality. This metho d does not examine the day-to-day interaction of staff and customers as much as focuses on the few specific encounters found to be most impacting on the overall perception of service quality (Johns and Tyas 1997: 477). Blum (1997) finds that the information such assessments provide to management can be excellent in revealing areas of high and low quality service (351). Although Bare and Turkel (2003) contend that inspection such as is provided by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“mystery shoppersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  or anonymous inspectors is important to quality service provision (32), Chung (1998) finds that inspection does not improve quality (191). Chung argues that quality must be built into the service system, that to measure it by inspection reduces quality factors to those specific to an individual or situation and therefore is of little use in the long-term (Chung 1998: 191). A good system does much to elimintate potential problems before they impact service quality (Chung 1998: 191). One w ay of creating such a system, and in turn measuring the quality of service provision, is benchmarking. Benchmarking is described as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the search for industry best practices that will lead to superior performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Cano et al 2001: 974). In the tourism industry, this is theorised to be undertaken using a six-step model: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“decide what to benchmark, understand internal processes, decide on best in class, collect data, analyse results, and implement actionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Cano et al 2001: 975). This is not an exclusive methodology, however. Some researchers have combined benchmarking with SERVQUAL assessment, developing the questionnaire based on benchmarking findings and using it o fulfil the data collection step of the benchmarking process. Specific to corporate loyalty, business travellers do so more regularly and repeatedly visit the same locations than other customer groups (Buswell and Williams 2003: 47). Accommodations are also likely made for an entire organisation by one individual or group, increasing the importance of word-of-mouth and the satisfactory experiences of each traveller. As such, the experience of service quality the corporate customer has at one hotel has more impact on the overall hotel organisation than the impact of the typical tourist customer (Buswell and Williams 2003: 47). Corporate loyalty tends to be collective, the combined experiences of all the travellers in the organisation. Customer loyalty is vitally important in this customer sector, as it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“gives improved opportunities for identifying customers and provides a means of closing the service gap by improving communication between service provider and consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Cano et al 2001: 976). The number of similar hotels catering to the corporate customer similarly makes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ standards less relevant, such as whether the bathroom is clean or the lights function. Instead, à ¢Ã¢â€ š ¬Ã‹Å"softà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ standards, such as are embodied in service quality, that make the business traveller feel like a special guest, are more likely to contribute to repeat patronage (Erto and Vanacore 2002: 167). Gould-Williams (1999) finds that corporate customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ behavioural intentions are not only influenced by global assessments of perceived service quality and value but are also affected by specific employee performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and that the latter more likely to lead to increased loyalty (101). In the business sector particularly, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the correlation between service quality and employee performance remains highà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Gould-Williams 1999: 108). Of the employee groups, restaurant and front office staff were found to have the most direct impact on guest loyalty (Gould-Williams 1999: 111). One factor which this research anticipates to strongly impact service quality and loyalty is front office training. L ashley (2005) finds that skill gaps in front office personnel correlates highly to lower service quality and customer satisfaction, which is has been shown would reduce loyalty (189). Maxwell et al (2001) go as far as to assert, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Quality customer service is clearly an imperative of Scottish tourism; staff training is the route to achieving and maintaining this qualityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (743). Bare and Turkel (2003) found that hotel companies who increased training in times of workforce cuts and other economic hardship were more likely to remain profitable than those that did not, and a year later showed 80% higher profits than the latter group (32). In one study, a training programme implemented as part of greater HRM scheme improved customer satisfaction 13% in first quarter after implementation, and rose for two additional quarters, after which it remained high (Haynes and Fryer 2000: 246). Harrington and Akehurst (2000) found that cross-training and increased training improved service provision (151). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“By equipping workers with the necessary skills and capabilities, they are in a better position to develop strong cross-functional links and provide high quality service in response to customer demands for greater flexibilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 151). Unfortunately, literature reports training to be underemphasised by many hotel organisations. McColl-Kennedy and White (1997) report from focus groups with a number of hotels that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“relatively little emphasis is given to staff training in terms of customer serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“in all but two hotels, training consisted of the initial induction program, a monthly meeting of departmental staff, and a meeting with their respective supervisor once every three months to review their performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (McColl-Kennedy and White 1997: 258). Also, in difficult times training is often one of the first areas to be scaled back in the typical hotel, and this is a mistake. Bare and Turkel (2003) argue that softness in occupancy and average daily rate should lead to an increase in training (Bare and Turkel 2003: 32). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In these difficult times, the hotel companies that spend the most on better employee selection, training, and mystery shopping services will win the prizeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Bare and Turkel 2003: 32). However, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“organizations that recognize the importance of service encounters and in particular the interactions between front line service providers and their customers spend considerable effort, time and other resources in training their employees in service encountersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (McColl-Kennedy and White 1997: 249). The Ritz-Carlton, for example, provides at least one hundred hours of training for each employee per year. (McColl-Kennedy and White 1997: 249). Bare and Turkel (2003) assert à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ better training helps find better employees and keeps the go od onesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (32). Garavan (1997) finds that social skills training in particular has a positive impact on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the quality of customer service within a hotel environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (75). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“These findings suggest that social-skills training of front-line employees may lead to improved quality of service, in the short term at least. demonstrate the linkage between the power of behaviour change and service effectiveness (Garavan 1997: 75). In addition, he concludes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“training and development can be used to reinforce certain behaviours and attitudes which contribute to effective service while stressing the need for improvement in behaviours which do not facilitate the attainment of desired service quality goalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Garavan 1997: 75). Technology was surprisingly found to have little impact on customer experience of quality, satisfaction, or loyalty, according to literature. Technology has been found to decrease the need for business travel, as the internet, conference calling and the like now replace many business meetings (Buswell and Williams 2003: 95). This further tightens an already highly competitive hotel industry. Use of technology has also increased competition in that business travellers can now book online, increasing the opportunities for local individual hotels to compete with larger, branded organisations (Buswell and Williams 2003: 95). Branded hotel chains could use computer databases of previous customers to improve personalisation of service to business customers, whilst an independent hotel could not. However, few hotels seem to be capitalising on this area of competitive advantage (Buswell and Williams 2003: 95). Business travellers, however, seem more interested in how service is provided, rather than whether or not technology is employed. Jones and Tang (2005) find that although the physical portion of the product impacted by technology is important, the human elem ent of service still carries the day in respect to corporate loyalty (7). Blum (1997) reviewed 109 articles in hotel and restaurant industry publications over a six-year period, and found that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“despite massive investment by hotel operators in information technology, evidence of improved employee productivity is scantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (352). They do find, however, that many hotels are implementing technology to improve guest experience, such as speeding up check in and out, providing online booking, and similar (Blum 1997: 352). More current literature does not indicate, however, that technology has a strong impact on overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. In contrast, the literature reviewed strongly supports the impact of employee empowerment on improved service and resulting loyalty. Garavan (1997) fond that situational factors strongly influence the success of interpersonal interactions (73). As such, the empowered employee can respond to specific situations i n a way that most effectively meets or exceeds the needs of the customer. Employees who are cross-trained and empowered to make circumstantial decisions themselves have been found to be not only more productive, but more motivated as they have a greater sense of involvement with the hotel in which they work (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 151). Merrick (2000), for example, gives an example of a front office worker who loaned a guest an evening gown (the guest had forgotten hers). This type of decision-making ability and customer focus is only available where employees are empowered to act in situations not spelled out by organisation guidelines. The businesswoman in question reports her intention to continue to patronise this hotel. Buttle and Bok (1996) draw attention to the need of hotel organisations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to develop systems and processes which are guest-friendly, and which enable staff to identify, and exceed guestsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ routine expectations of hotel per formanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (10). They assert that hotels à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“should consider empowering customer-contact employees to do whatever is necessary to meet customer requirementsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“be pro-active in enhancing the interactive quality of the guest experience,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  concluding à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“it is the quality of the guest-employee interactive experience in the hotel that determines whether there will be repeat businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Buttle and Bok 1996: 10). Harrington and Akehurst (2000) find that often the departmentalisation of larger hotels, like those brands typically catering to the business traveller, leads to reduced empowerment of front office personnel and lower customer satisfaction (149). They conclude that formal structure that cannot be overridden to meet customer expectations impedes integration and service quality (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 149). Cross-training and increasing the decision-making allowances for front office staff, particularly in areas that are not covered by specific guidance, both improves productivity and quality (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 149). They conclude that employee resourcefulness has a high correlation with loyalty. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The effective delivery of service quality rests on the degree to which employees manage the interface with customers,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“their competencies and skills in effecting such a task are strongly related to both the quality and degree of training offered by the organisation, and also to the extent to which management distributes power and authority within the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Harrington and Akehurst 2000: 150). Overall, employee satisfaction is found to be both higher when workers are empowered, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“one of the most important drivers of quality, customer satisfaction and productivityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Matzler et al 2004: 1179). CONCLUSIONS Findings of this research reveal that training and empowerment are both documented in research to strongly impact service quality for corporate customers. As such, they are similarly important factors in the creation of customer loyalty in this traveller group. As corporate clients typically patronise larger organisations that market to their specific customer demographic, implementation of strategies that increase the training level and circumstantial decision-making functions of front office personnel are likely not only to boost loyalty at individual hotel locations but across the brand, and for multiple customers from the same firm or organisation. Technology was not found to have a substantial impact on the business traveller. Whilst literature acknowledges an effect of technological advancements on a number of functions within the average hotel, most of these are found to be of significantly less importance than the human impact on service quality in the literature reviewed. As such, hotel organisations would be advised to concentrate quality initiatives on improving training for front office staff and to implement systems in which these workers have some decision-making responsibility by which they can best respond to and exceed the needs and wants of their corporate customers. REFERENCES Bare, M. and Turkel, S. 2003. Superior Service Sells Guestrooms. Lodging and Hospitality, May 2003: 32. Blum, S. 1997. Current concerns: a thematic analysis of recent hospitality industry issues. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 9(7): 350à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"361. Buswell, J. and Williams, C. 2003. Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism. Oxfordshire: CABI. Buttle, F. and Bok, B. 1996. Hotel marketing strategy and the theory of reasoned action. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 8(3): 5à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"10. Candido, C. 2005. Service Quality Strategy Implementation: A Model and the Case of the Algarve Hotel Industry. Total Quality Management, 16(1 ): 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"14. Cano, M., Drummond, S., Miller, C. and Barclay, S. 2001. Learning from others: benchmarking in diverse tourism enterprises. Total Quality Management, 12(78): 974- 980. Chung, C. 1999. It is the process: A philosophical foundation for quality management. Total Quality Management, 10(2): 187-197. Dale, B.G., Wu, P., Zairi, M., Williams, A.R. and Van Der Wiele, T. 2001. Total quality management and theory: An exploratory study of contribution. Total Quality Management, 12(4): 439- 449. Erto, P. and Vanacore, A. 2002. A probabilistic approach to measure hotel service quality. Total Quality Management, 13(2): 165-174. Garavan, T.M. 1997. Interpersonal skills training for quality service interactions. Industrial and Commercial Training, 29(3): 70à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"77. Gould-Williams, J. 1999. The Impact of Employee Performance Cues on Guest Loyalty, Perceived Value and Service Quality. The Service Industries Journal, 19(3): 97-118. Harrington , D. and Akehurst, G. 2000. An Empirical Study of Service Quality Implementation. The Service Industries Journal, 20(2): 133-156. Haynes, P. and Fryer, G. 2000. Human resources, service quality and performance: a case study. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(4): 240-248. Inbakaran, R. and Jackson, M. 2005. Understanding resort visitors through segmentation. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 6(1): 53-71. Johns, N. and Tyas, P. 1997. Customer Perceptions of Service Operations:Gestalt, Incident or Mythology? The Service Industries Joumal, 17(3): 474-488. Jones, B. and Haven-Tang, C. 2005. Tourism SMEs, Service Quality And Destination Competitiveness. In B. Jones and C. Haven-Tang (eds). Tourism SMEs, Service Quality and Destination Competitiveness: International Perspectives. Oxfordshire: CABI. 1-24. Lashley, C. 2005. Insights into Skill Shortages and Skill Gaps in Tourism: a study in Greater Manchester. In B. Jones and C. Haven-Tang (eds). Tourism SMEs, Service Quality and Destination Competitiveness: International Perspectives. Oxfordshire: CABI. 183-196. Matzler, K. Fuchs, M. and Schubert, A.K. 2004. Employee Satisfaction: Does Kanos Model Apply? Total Quality Management, 15(9-10): 1179-1198. Maxwell, G.A., MacRae, M., Adam, M. and MacVicar, A. 2001. Great expectations: Investors in People in Scottish tourism. Total Quality Management, 12(6): 735- 744. McColl-Kennedy, J. and White, T. 1997. Service provider training programs at odds with customer requirements in five-star hotels. The Journal of Services Marketing, 11(4): 249-264. Merrick, N. 2000. Immaculate Reception. People Management, November 2000, 46-48. Meyer, A., Chase, R., Roth, A., Voss, C., Sperl, K.U., Menor, L. and Blackmon, K. 1999. Service competitiveness: An international benchmarking comparison of service practice and performance in Germany, UK and USA. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 10(4): 369-379. Tsang, N . 2000. Service quality in Chinas hotel industry: a perspective from tourists and hotel managers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(5): 316-326. Worsfold, P. 1999. HRM, performance, commitment and service quality in the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 11(7): 340-348.

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Consumerist Culture of Young Generations in Malaysia free essay sample

Malaysia is considered an upper-middle income county and will soon become a developed country in the near future. As of the development of economy, the consumption habits in the younger generation shows some very different characteristics from their parents’ generations. The objective of this study is to explore the transmissions of such consumerist cultures among the youths in Malaysia. In this study, our researchers investigate how cultural symbols are conserved through its core values by collecting the young people’s ideas, attitudes, and beliefs about the various cultures of material consumption portrayed or adopted, and how the young generations in Malaysia challenge the patterns of their own culture. Purposeful sampling strategy (Given, 2008) was used to select participants who have been exposed to the consumerist cultures in Malaysia, so as to analyze how their immediate environment affects and relates to them. A qualitative method of research was used, and interviews were conducted with the participants. Participants were identified customers in Bangsar Village, the high-end shopping mall in the very metropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur’s upper class estate regions, and the researchers had face to face interviews with these participants. 2. Current Situation in Malaysia As Malaysia’s markets which cater for consumer demands and habits are rapidly growing, and population and commercial growths are increasing drastically, the consumption habits have also been changing constantly in the purchasing power of the population, especially youth-oriented consumerism (Noor, 1996). Some reasons result in the evolution of consumption habits in Malaysian youths. One reason is the increasing level of wealth, where young people enjoy spending freedom and choice, either through the contemporary luxury of receiving allowances from their parents, or start working by an early age, either as a part-time or full-time employee. Another reason is, more and more young people are receiving higher levels of education, and as a result, they can earn higher salaries when they graduate, and also learn of the different consumption cultures from during their study. One of the most influential effects is the mass media, such as the internet and the television, which has played an important role in shaping the young generation’s consumption attitudes (Noor, 1996). Western consumerist cultures have deeply influenced the beliefs of the Malaysia youths, thus they have become more westernized and this influence is not just happening in Malaysia, but globally as well (Singhapakdi et al, 1999). However, comparing Malaysian to other western cultures such as in that in the United States, Singhapakdi et al (1999) suggests that there is a difference, either in terms of self-congruence, or that of cultural learning. It is believed other countries such as neighboring Singapore and Indonesia, have been adopting the similar western habits and cultures for quite some time. A consumerist’s general view of life can be described as consuming is a good thing, and the more consumption, the better (Dwyer, 2007). Therefore, there are no forms of ethnocentrism detected from the youths interviewed. The population of young Malaysian consumers under 25 years old reached about 43% in the whole of Malaysia in 2003 (Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2004). Therefore, this gigantic group of potential consumers is becoming the target of many marketing and promotional efforts (Koehn, 2007). Merchants and marketing professionals have used various methods and ways to influence and brainwash the younger generations into believing in their goods from the very early stages of life. The research is an effort to give a rudimentary insight on the consumerism activities among Malaysian young people. The Core Values of Consumerist Culture Consumerism is defined as â€Å"believing that happiness is based on what you consume† (Plato Volunteer Class, 2007). The young people who are influenced by today’s consumerist cultures have an obviously different opinion from their parents’ generations’ consumption habits. Some of their parents have faced hardships in life, particularly during childhood and youth, compared to today’s life of young people where many are over-privileged and even spoilt for choices of luxurious goods (Noor, 1996). Parents tend to think more about sustainability, which according to Plato Volunteer Class’s interpretation, is described as â€Å"working to meet the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to eet their needs† (pp. 2). Sustainability is made up of three main factors: social, environment, and economics. Hence, these parents are considered to be quite thrifty; they tend to have the mentality of â€Å"saving money†. Socially, our research found that youths nowadays tend to look to their idols for shared interests and self-images . Environmentally, there is an influx of international cultures around Malaysia, where internationalism, which according to Klein (2002) and Jain (1989), affects today’s minds through globalization and localization strategies. Whereas economically, it is only normal that our current economy is rather well-off, where working adults can afford many of the branded goods and items published portrayed in stalls and advertised in the media. In families where the condition of life is better, parents would like to spend on more luxurious things such as furniture, electronic gadgets, comfortable and classy transportation, and investments in safer and healthier housing estates, citing an importance towards comfort and safety. Marketers who see this will utilize buyer’s sense of importance towards materials, and portray an item as a daily necessity (Klein, 2002). The more there is a need for an item, the better it is to publish it using methods of appeal, such as using actors and famous names to portray the item (Koehn, 2007). However, many analysts suggest this is only a method of advertisement, and many youths nowadays are affected by their idols to buy goods which they in fact do not need, or already have; hence, the younger generation today are likely to be seen as taking for granted the basic needs required, and focusing more on narrow lines of goods (Koehn, 2007). Surprisingly, one interviewee mentioned the need to identify needs instead of wants, and quoted a phrase that was exposed to him, â€Å"when you keep buying things that you do not need, one day you will have to sell off the things you need†. This is the perfect example of over-spending on unnecessary items, until one day when we least expect it, we are faced with financial difficulties, and we are in need of cash; the only way to get cash is to liquidate our possessions and properties that we own (Cairns, 2006). Self-control, Item Pricing and Consumerist Behaviour Young people think they should spend money on anything that they like if the stuff is comfortable to them, citing a type of Hedonist culture within the community. Going shopping and looking for things they liked is a break for them to relax when they are stressed. At least spend a little bit, after spending they will feel happy. One of the interviewed participants, James Liu, mentioned that he is enjoying his consumerist habits. His consumerist style isn’t too luxurious, but he is fond of buying his idols’ albums, posters and magazine. The reason for such consumerist habits is because he is very passionate in supporting idols. The idols are a part of his life, and he feels a connection with them whenever he hears the music, and sees them in the media. He enjoys his consumerist style, although it is quite different with the consumerist habits of his family members who are thrifty, as he finds that his consumerist style brings him happiness and entertainment. This shows that many young, and not to exclude, even older, consumers, enjoy the habit of spending on their interests if it brings them pleasure and productivity, without compromising their financial situation (Cairn, 2006). Hence, they think it is worthy for them to spend their money in that way as they enjoy what they are doing now. Markus is another Malaysian student and part-timer won’t spend too much on luxurious things but branded stuff. He has such consumerist habits because he believes that branded stuffs have high quality and they can be used for a longer time. Since his family members are quite thrifty but most of his friends are heavy consumerists, we found that his consumerist habits swing between being thrifty and luxurious. He tries not to spend so much money on some items but he does buy branded stuffs. However, we found that his parents play a bigger role on affecting his consumerist habits than his friends. Although he will buy branded stuff, he will try hard to control his spending and he tries to follow his parents to make a budget on buying branded stuff. Besides that, in the interview, he had mentioned several times that he won’t follow the trend as he thinks that trend will cause people to spend a lot. This shows that a significant number of youths nowadays enjoy spending money, not just for their needs, but for reasons of self-indulgence as well. One final participant brings into perspective the consumerist cultures around Jie Si, which is of luxury and comfort, but she has her own opinions. Although she sometimes agrees to her family members’ and friends’ willingness to spend on luxurious things, Jie Si’s has started to budget her expenses. She has such change because of her own experience. Her past experience of owning too many unnecessary items has caused her to be careful and good at identifying her needs. Items that are reasonable, and a habit of saving up for that particular item, are how she participates and carries out her styles as a consumer. Furthermore, she finds it has an indirect motivation for her to do something from buying and spending on an item. For example, she will feel like jogging often when she buys a pair of new running shoes. This serves to support Dwyer’s (2007) position on why people feel a sense of satisfaction and urge to spend on things, but only if that interest can be sustained for a long period of time. Many people spend heavily at one moment for things which they need, but only to see that that need is a temporary one, and there are many other alternatives to approach and deal with that need (Dwyer, 2007). Peer influence applies a vicious effect towards consumerist behaviours as well. For example, an interviewee mentioned that he was actually being looked down and laughed at by his friends from school, for not buying the latest set of stationery and textbooks for school. This shows that peer pressure does have a slight effect on forcing someone to spend on things just because they do not want to be left out of the pack (Koehn, 2007). Most of those young people know how to control themselves because they are considered teenagers and not working adults fully supporting their own lives. They see their parents work so hard and give their money to spend for daily expenses which come from their own pockets, so young people try not to spend so much of their parents’ money but spend according to their own savings and salaries. They still try to find discounts and bargained goods if they feel the items desired are overpriced. Because of the large gap between theirs and their parents’ generations’ consumption ideas, some of them rarely get support from their parents on buying things. Young people do manage their budget. They just get pocket money from parents. They save money before getting the new item. They won’t buy it that they can’t afford it. They try their best to earn money to support their habits by taking part time jobs. They want to learn to spend their own money and control their budget. Sometimes they think they should follow their parents’ habits, by not spending so much so often. Since students are studying at same time, they have to pay a lot of money for their school fees. Some of them applied for government education loans, as it helps them settle their school fees problem. That ay they will get to spend on things they urge, without feeling worried or guilty about their financial situation with education. The younger generations think their ideal culture is one that does not follow trend but follow one’s own comfort and sense of worth, while hoping their parents will support and follow their consumerist habits. They also hope their parents spend money on anything that they like. But the reality is their parents spend money on basic needs rather than on the things that they desire. However, in today’s society, the older generations are learning to accept the social and economic changes spreading across the globe. Compared with previous times where people earn very little and there are very few brands available in the market, today’s society is filled with branded goods, and any products which do not have a catchy name or sound to it, will eventually be written off and condemned into the abyss (Sirsi et al, 1996; Alden et al, 1999). When young people spend quite a lot of money on branded stuffs, their parents used to protest against their willingness to buy these expensive stuffs. At same time they know that young generation’s consumerist culture is different from them. Young people try to change their habits. Analysis Consumption behaviour among Malaysian youths shows inconsistent and irregular patterns – they depend on brands and idols to help them identify and relate to an item or material. Some products depend highly on advertisement and marketing forms, while others are influenced and transmitted through peers and trends. There are some who emphasize on the need to feel comfort and satisfaction, where they like to buy branded stuff because they think most of the branded stuffs tend to be of higher quality and are more comfortable to wear. Moreover, branded goods tend to last longer. However, many also follow the consumer habits of their parents and surrounding friends: if they feel it is necessary, I will too. Expert guidance is always preferred to individual reviewing of materials and goods. Youths usually enjoy spending a lot of money on expensive food, branded stuff such as clothes, shoes, computers, phones, and fund other interests such as albums, posters and magazines of their singers or movie star idols. Youths adore their idols because they feel that when they are in a bad mood, the songs can bring them positive energy and feel relaxed and appy. Like their friends, young people buy original version and are against the pirated version, as they think this is the real support to their idols. The consumption habits of today’s youths are affected by the western culture because of the easy access to information from today’s forms of media (Sirsi et al, 1996), which emphasize a lot on the importance of brand. Sirsi et al (1996) also mentioned that intracultural variation (between experts and novices) have an important effect on consumerist habits and beliefs. Also, influences on their consumer habits come from family members and peers as well. Within the family, parents are the sole consumerists, and an example of their buying power and pattern will be transmitted toward their children. However, some youths disagree with their parent’s spending habits, and wishes for more flexibility; hence, they work to earn and spend on their own, that way their parents will have little or none to say about their behaviours and beliefs. Conclusion The results of the survey are helpful in identifying and stratifying the consumerist cultures of Malaysian youths, in addition to increasing our understanding of their consumerist ideas, attitudes and beliefs. The results indicate that the young generation of Malaysia prefer in pursuing pleasure by consuming. It is clear for all to acknowledge the differences seen between the consumption habits of the older and younger generations; the latter are often criticized by their elders for the voluptuous consumptions. Our report shows different sides of the youth’s consumption habits. Although they are very eager to own goods live trendy lifestyles, some of them understand their parents’ labor in raising a family. However, the urge to spend is much stronger, and they tend to foresee what their parents have gone through during their age, and how the satiation was then. Parents tend to be more cautious when they spend, bearing in mind the financial burden they have now, and before. Hence the children try their best to reach goals on a more independent scale, ideally without parents’ help, and sometimes even their knowledge, because they do not want their parents to worry or have a say.