The present study sub-classified the elements of EFL service quality at hotels into attractive quality, one-dimensional quality, must-be quality, sceptical quality and indifferent quality based on Kano''s theory, and calculated the customer satisfaction coefficient suggested by Timko (1993) to determine the permissible ranges of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Also, to investigate the customer satisfaction that could be potentially improved based on the current satisfaction with the quality elements sub-classified as per Kano''s theory, the potential customer satisfaction improvement(PCSI) index was estimated. In addition, the present study drew on the modified-IPA based on Kano''s theory to find out the explicit and implicit importance of service quality elements perceived by customers using the EFL service, to shed light on the items of EFL service quality at hotels that should be prioritized and thus to suggest some differentiated marketing strategies. In brief, the specific results of this study can be summarized as follows.
First, among the quality elements sub-classified based on Kano''s theory, the one-dimensional quality element involved 7 items, i.e. room ambience (e.g. lighting and furniture), room size, quality toiletries, fast check-in/-out, staff''s images (e.g. appearance and speech tone), staff''s foreign language skills, and free gyms, pools and saunas. The attractive quality element involved 13 items, i.e. room lighting, free in-room capsules of coffee, lounge size, provision of food during cocktail hours, massage chairs in lounges, concierge service, staff''s recollection of revisits, early check-in, late check-out service, free laundry/ironing service, shoe shine service, free meeting rooms (conference rooms), and welcome amenities (e.g. cards and fruits). Neither the must-be nor the reverse quality elements were found. The sceptical quality element involved 1 item, i.e. the shuttle service between hotels and popular tourist destinations.
Next, the customer satisfaction coefficient (CS-Coefficient) suggested by Timko (1993) was derived, i.e. better and worse indices. The analysis highlighted relatively higher better indices of the following items: room size in the room division, provision of food during cocktail hours in the lounge division, late check-out and early check-in service in the staff division, and the welcome amenities and free laundry/ironing service in the additional service division. As these items of quality elements could potentially increase the customer satisfaction, hotel operators should consider the relevant cost of investment before prioritizing the improvement of quality elements in each division. Also, concerning the results of worse indices, room ambience and room size in the room division, free office supplies in the lounge division, fast check-in/-out in the staff division, and free use of gyms, pools and saunas in the additional service division were less used. Given the implicit potential to significantly decrease the customer dissatisfaction if the quality elements of low worse indices met the needs, the dissatisfaction of EFL users would decrease if such elements were reinforced and improved. Based on this finding, the present study determined the expected range of high satisfaction and low dissatisfaction of customers with the EFL service quality at hotels.
Moreover, according to the analysis of potential customer satisfaction improvement(PCSI) index, the attributes of service quality, which showed the greatest increase in the customer satisfaction with EFL at hotels once the satisfaction with the service quality improved, were the free laundry/ironing service, followed by the room size, welcome amenities (e.g. cards and fruits), shoe shine service, bathroom size, provision of food during cocktail hours, and late check-out service in the order named. This findings suggest that hotel operators should constantly meet the needs for the attractive quality elements of low PCSI to satisfy customers.
Finally, the modified-IPA analysis based on the method suggested by Vavra(1997) highlighted the following results. The first quadrant signifying the important practice elements comprised the items which were perceived by customers as important and exerted significant effects on overall satisfaction, i.e. room ambience (e.g. lighting and furniture), quality toiletries, free in-room capsules of coffee, lounge size, provision of food during cocktail hours, early check-in, late check-out service, fast check-in/-out, staff''s foreign language skills, staff''s images (e.g. appearance and speech tone), free gyms, pools and saunas, and welcome amenities (e.g. cards and fruits). Satisfaction with the quality elements in the first quadrant had positive effects on overall satisfaction, whereas dissatisfaction with such elements led to negative effects on overall satisfaction. Therefore, hotel operators should pay careful attention to such items. The second quadrant signifying the attractive elements comprised five elements that were not perceived as important by customers but exerted significant effects on overall satisfaction, i.e. free use of office supplies, concierge service, staff''s recollection of revisits, shoe shine service, and free use of meeting rooms (conference rooms), all of which were perceived by respondents as attractive elements. The third quadrant signifying unimportant practice elements that exerted smaller effects on the overall satisfaction comprised 6 items, i.e. free newspapers, diversity of papers, magazines and books, DVD rents, smoking rooms installed in lounges, massage chairs in lounges, and shuttles between hotels and popular tourist destinations. Lastly, the fourth quadrant signified basic elements that were perceived by customers as quite important but exerted smaller effects on overall satisfaction, and involved 8 items, i.e. different room prices, diverse bedding choices, bathroom size, room size, room lighting, free laundry/ironing service and personalized elevator key cards. As customers took these elements for granted, those should be valued more than any other element as the prerequisites for customer satisfaction.