IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/touman/v50y2015icp172-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using a randomised experiment to test the causal effect of service quality on visitor satisfaction and loyalty in a remote national park

Author

Listed:
  • Rodger, Kate
  • Taplin, Ross H.
  • Moore, Susan A.

Abstract

For parks and protected areas knowledge of visitor expectations and loyalty is limited. Understanding the relationships between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty continues to both intrigue and frustrate researchers and the managers of protected areas. Significantly, past research has focused on observational data where conclusions of causality rather than association are assumed. This study tested the causal relationships between service quality, visitor satisfaction and loyalty using a randomised experimental design. Two service quality attributes (ranger presence and provision of information) were manipulated to test whether they have an effect on visitor satisfaction and loyalty in a remote national park. Although experimentally manipulating these two service quality attributes did significantly change their perceived performance, they did not have a statistically significant effect on visitor satisfaction and loyalty. The disparity between the results from this randomised factorial experiment and the majority of previous research, with its reliance on observational studies and correlations determined through regression analyses, suggests the need for further collection of experimental data and further consideration of causal effects in protected area research.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodger, Kate & Taplin, Ross H. & Moore, Susan A., 2015. "Using a randomised experiment to test the causal effect of service quality on visitor satisfaction and loyalty in a remote national park," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 172-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:172-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2015.01.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517715000278
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.01.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ralf Buckley, 2009. "Parks and Tourism," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-2, June.
    2. Taplin, Ross H., 2013. "The influence of competition on visitor satisfaction and loyalty," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 238-246.
    3. Oliver, Richard L, 1993. "Cognitive, Affective, and Attribute BAses of the Satisfaction Response," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(3), pages 418-430, December.
    4. Coghlan, Alexandra, 2012. "Facilitating reef tourism management through an innovative importance-performance analysis method," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 767-775.
    5. Steckenreuter, A. & Wolf, I.D., 2013. "How to use persuasive communication to encourage visitors to pay park user fees," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 58-70.
    6. Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Grigoroudis, Evangelos, 2010. "Visitors' satisfaction, perceptions and gap analysis: The case of Dadia-Lefkimi-Souflion National Park," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 163-172, March.
    7. Taplin, Ross H., 2012. "Competitive importance-performance analysis of an Australian wildlife park," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 29-37.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Moore, Susan A. & Rodger, Kate & Taplin, Ross H., 2017. "Developing a better understanding of the complexities of visitor loyalty to Karijini National Park, Western Australia," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 20-28.
    2. Leask, Anna, 2016. "Visitor attraction management: A critical review of research 2009–2014," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 334-361.
    3. Chiu, Su-Chin & Liu, Chih-Hsing & Tu, Jin-Hua, 2016. "The influence of tourists' expectations on purchase intention: Linking marketing strategy for low-cost airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 226-234.
    4. Tung, Vincent Wing Sun & Chen, Po-Ju & Schuckert, Markus, 2017. "Managing customer citizenship behaviour: The moderating roles of employee responsiveness and organizational reassurance," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 23-35.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leask, Anna, 2016. "Visitor attraction management: A critical review of research 2009–2014," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 334-361.
    2. Guizzardi, Andrea & Stacchini, Annalisa, 2017. "Destinations strategic groups via Multivariate Competition-based IPA," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 40-50.
    3. Pan, Frank C., 2015. "Practical application of importance-performance analysis in determining critical job satisfaction factors of a tourist hotel," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 84-91.
    4. Michele Preziosi & Alessia Acampora & Maria Claudia Lucchetti & Roberto Merli, 2022. "Delighting Hotel Guests with Sustainability: Revamping Importance-Performance Analysis in the Light of the Three-Factor Theory of Customer Satisfaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Melville Saayman & Juan Carlos Martín & Concepción Román, 2016. "There is no fuzziness when it comes to measuring service quality in national parks," Tourism Economics, , vol. 22(6), pages 1207-1224, December.
    6. Boley, B. Bynum & McGehee, Nancy Gard & Tom Hammett, A.L., 2017. "Importance-performance analysis (IPA) of sustainable tourism initiatives: The resident perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 66-77.
    7. Sheng, Xiaojing & Simpson, Penny M. & Siguaw, Judy A., 2014. "U. S. winter migrants' park community attributes: An importance–performance analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 55-67.
    8. Wasib B Latif & Md. Aminul Islam & Idris Bin Mohd Noor, 2014. "A Conceptual Framework to Build Brand Loyalty in the Modern Marketing Environment," Journal of Asian Scientific Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(10), pages 547-557, October.
    9. Un-Kon Lee, 2021. "The Effect of Confirmation of Nation Brand Image in International Tourism Advertisement on Travel Intention of Foreign Tourists: The Case of Korean ITA for Chinese Tourists," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    10. Alessia Acampora & Michele Preziosi & Maria Claudia Lucchetti & Roberto Merli, 2022. "The Role of Hotel Environmental Communication and Guests’ Environmental Concern in Determining Guests’ Behavioral Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    11. Lee, Jung Ick & Ren, Tianbao & Park, Jungkun, 2021. "Investigating travelers’ multi-impulse buying behavior in airport duty-free shopping for Chinese traveler: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Ashleigh Shelby Rosette & Shirli Kopelman & JeAnna Lanza Abbott, 2014. "Good Grief! Anxiety Sours the Economic Benefits of First Offers," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 629-647, May.
    13. Thomas P. Novak & Donna L. Hoffman, 2019. "Relationship journeys in the internet of things: a new framework for understanding interactions between consumers and smart objects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 216-237, March.
    14. Jiacong Wu & Yu Wang & Ru Zhang & Jing Cai, 2018. "An Approach to Discovering Product/Service Improvement Priorities: Using Dynamic Importance-Performance Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, October.
    15. Md. Shahzalal & Azizul Hassan, 2019. "Communicating Sustainability: Using Community Media to Influence Rural People’s Intention to Adopt Sustainable Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-28, February.
    16. S. Rajeswari & Yarlagadda Srinivasulu & S. Thiyagarajan, 2017. "Relationship among Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: With Special Reference to Wireline Telecom Sector (DSL Service)," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(4), pages 1041-1058, August.
    17. Chebat Elise & Roth Yefim & Chebat Jean Charles, 2020. "How Culture Moderates the Effects of Justice in Service Recovery," Review of Marketing Science, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 21-41, September.
    18. G. Tomas M. Hult & Forrest V. Morgeson III & Udit Sharma & Claes Fornell, 2022. "Customer satisfaction and international business: A multidisciplinary review and avenues for research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1695-1733, October.
    19. Babin, Barry J. & Griffin, Mitch, 1998. "The nature of satisfaction: An updated examination and analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 127-136, February.
    20. Hwanyoung Kim & Sunran Jeon & Jongheon Kim, 2008. "ASP effects in the small-sized enterprise: the case of the Bizmeka service from Korea Telecom," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 2(4), pages 287-301, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:172-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/tourism-management .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.