The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry
Current tourism landscape and dynamism of the business environment have increased market competitiveness in the high-contact service industry. Hotel operators must now pay greater heed to customer retention by exploring ways to improve customer engagement and experience. Toward this end, this study...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sage
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/ http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/1/Cheng%20Boon%20Liat%202021%20The%20role%20of%20cultural%20differences%20in%20customer%20retention.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848802142328979456 |
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| author | Fam, K. S. Cheng, Boon Liat * Cham, Tat Huei Tan, C. Y. |
| author_facet | Fam, K. S. Cheng, Boon Liat * Cham, Tat Huei Tan, C. Y. |
| author_sort | Fam, K. S. |
| building | SU Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Current tourism landscape and dynamism of the business environment have increased market competitiveness in the high-contact service industry. Hotel operators must now pay greater heed to customer retention by exploring ways to improve customer engagement and experience. Toward this end, this study aimed to examine the interplays between relationship marketing, perceived service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, as well as the moderating effect of cultural difference between Asian and Western tourists. Using a questionnaire, data were
collected from 400 international tourists and analyzed with the structural equation modeling technique. While the direct relationships pertaining the variables of interest were found to be significant, Asian tourists appeared to hold stricter standards in employee–customer interactions and satisfaction-based loyalty than Western tourists. Discussion and implications are provided to promote the development of fruitful hotel–customer relationships in this industry with a heightened customer orientation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:18:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | sunway-1827 |
| institution | Sunway University |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:18:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Sage |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | sunway-18272021-10-06T05:58:24Z http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/ The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry Fam, K. S. Cheng, Boon Liat * Cham, Tat Huei Tan, C. Y. HF Commerce G 154.9 Tourism Current tourism landscape and dynamism of the business environment have increased market competitiveness in the high-contact service industry. Hotel operators must now pay greater heed to customer retention by exploring ways to improve customer engagement and experience. Toward this end, this study aimed to examine the interplays between relationship marketing, perceived service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, as well as the moderating effect of cultural difference between Asian and Western tourists. Using a questionnaire, data were collected from 400 international tourists and analyzed with the structural equation modeling technique. While the direct relationships pertaining the variables of interest were found to be significant, Asian tourists appeared to hold stricter standards in employee–customer interactions and satisfaction-based loyalty than Western tourists. Discussion and implications are provided to promote the development of fruitful hotel–customer relationships in this industry with a heightened customer orientation. Sage 2021-05 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_nc_4 http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/1/Cheng%20Boon%20Liat%202021%20The%20role%20of%20cultural%20differences%20in%20customer%20retention.pdf Fam, K. S. and Cheng, Boon Liat * and Cham, Tat Huei and Tan, C. Y. (2021) The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. ISSN 1096-3480 https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.sunway.edu.my/loi/JHT |
| spellingShingle | HF Commerce G 154.9 Tourism Fam, K. S. Cheng, Boon Liat * Cham, Tat Huei Tan, C. Y. The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title | The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title_full | The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title_fullStr | The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title_short | The role of cultural differences in customer retention: Evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| title_sort | role of cultural differences in customer retention: evidence from the high-contact service industry |
| topic | HF Commerce G 154.9 Tourism |
| url | http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/ http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/ http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1827/1/Cheng%20Boon%20Liat%202021%20The%20role%20of%20cultural%20differences%20in%20customer%20retention.pdf |