Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK

Given the increasing interest in Thai spa and massage among British and European people, this research assessed expectations and perceptions of service quality of Thai spa and massage operators and spa-goers in the UK by applying SERVQUAL model. SERVQUAL is an empirically derived method that can be...

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Main Author: Kusol, Chompunuch
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/21872/
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author Kusol, Chompunuch
author_facet Kusol, Chompunuch
author_sort Kusol, Chompunuch
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Given the increasing interest in Thai spa and massage among British and European people, this research assessed expectations and perceptions of service quality of Thai spa and massage operators and spa-goers in the UK by applying SERVQUAL model. SERVQUAL is an empirically derived method that can be used by service organisations such as spa operators to improve service quality. The process is to gain an understanding of the perceived service needs then compare against what organisation is excellent in service. The results of the gap analysis will then be used as a driver for service quality improvement. After a careful analysis of SERVQUAL, it has been found that the gap model of service quality is a powerful tool for Thai spa operators in the UK. In order to enhance the level of service quality, they require understanding the customer expectations and the key determinants of service quality which mean to spa-goers. The findings indicated, as a whole that the Thai spa operators in the UK do not understand customer expectations well, and the gaps between customer's expectations and perceptions are significant. In addition, there are also discrepancies in five key dimensions of service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility) between managements' points of view and customers' standpoints.
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spelling nottingham-218722018-02-15T22:21:25Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/21872/ Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK Kusol, Chompunuch Given the increasing interest in Thai spa and massage among British and European people, this research assessed expectations and perceptions of service quality of Thai spa and massage operators and spa-goers in the UK by applying SERVQUAL model. SERVQUAL is an empirically derived method that can be used by service organisations such as spa operators to improve service quality. The process is to gain an understanding of the perceived service needs then compare against what organisation is excellent in service. The results of the gap analysis will then be used as a driver for service quality improvement. After a careful analysis of SERVQUAL, it has been found that the gap model of service quality is a powerful tool for Thai spa operators in the UK. In order to enhance the level of service quality, they require understanding the customer expectations and the key determinants of service quality which mean to spa-goers. The findings indicated, as a whole that the Thai spa operators in the UK do not understand customer expectations well, and the gaps between customer's expectations and perceptions are significant. In addition, there are also discrepancies in five key dimensions of service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility) between managements' points of view and customers' standpoints. 2008 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/21872/1/08MBAChompunuch1.pdf Kusol, Chompunuch (2008) Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished) service quality spa spa-operators spa-goers customer expectations management perceptions
spellingShingle service quality
spa
spa-operators
spa-goers
customer expectations
management perceptions
Kusol, Chompunuch
Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title_full Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title_fullStr Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title_short Exploring the Quality Gap of Thai Spa Services in UK
title_sort exploring the quality gap of thai spa services in uk
topic service quality
spa
spa-operators
spa-goers
customer expectations
management perceptions
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/21872/