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Despite the long-term interest of medical sociologists in persons’ expectations of care, there is little known about older persons’ expectations of home care. Because satisfaction with home care is important to older persons, the construct of home-care satisfaction (H-CS) is an important concern of practitioners and researchers. Influenced by theories of expectations and satisfaction, researchers have characterized expectations of home care as pre-existing variables in relation to which persons appraise satisfaction. Although theorists have emphasized the importance of obtaining data about expectations when measuring satisfaction, there are few data about expectations of home care. This narrative review points out the gaps between the current research and related theories. The frameworks and methods of studies designed to measure HC-S are reviewed with particular attention to expectations. The need to add to the knowledge base about expectations (and thereby to increase the validity of the HC-S construct) is emphasized. Definitions and categories of expectations from various disciplines are presented as untapped realms for exploring expectancies and expectations in descriptive studies. An interface between the principle of individual differences and the parameter of personal importance of home-care issues is highlighted as a framework for descriptive research.

With growing interest in the uses of hedonic technologies and gamification in system design, the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) has become increasingly salient in the information systems literature. However, little effort has been made to evaluate the research status and consolidate the current literature findings. To fill these research gaps, the authors conducted a literature review on CA. The authors then proposed an integrative framework that summarises the key elements of and variables related to CA and their relationships. The major findings of the study are discussed, and an agenda for future research is proposed.

Efforts aimed at evaluating quality in leisure, tourism and hospitality have concentrated predominantly on measuring perceived service quality using the SERVQUAL scale, either in its original form or with modifications. While these studies are of great theoretical and practical value, the focus on measuring consumer satisfaction may limit the potential scope of the quality-measurement process. This is particularly true in assessing the quality of complex services such as those found in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors, which may require the application of a range of measures that will collectively contribute to the identification of quality levels. This article critically evaluates the potentialities and limitations of the SERVQUAL scale in measuring quality in leisure, tourism and hospitality. It concludes that the SERVQUAL scale is a necessary but insufficient measure of quality within these sectors and specifies implications for future research.

This chapter uses the dataset of tourist satisfaction index of Hong Kong to investigate the impact of cultural difference on the gap between tourists’ expectations and their perceptions of actual service performance. When the tourists’ demographic profile and their experience are controlled, it is found that small cultural difference between Hong Kong and Mainland China has a positive impact on expectation–performance gap, whereas negative relationship is identified for large cultural difference between Hong Kong and Western countries. The practical implication for the former is that service providers should manage the gap in accordance with the aspects of the cultural difference between the destination and the source markets.