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The aim of this paper is to compare perceptions of bank service quality among Tunisian and Canadian customers, and to determine which dimensions of service quality make the greatest contribution to overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Data were collected using self‐administered questionnaires from two convenience samples of bank customers (250 in Canada and 222 in Tunisia). Service quality was measured using the five SERVQUAL dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, ANOVA and linear regression.

Respondents in both countries reported high levels of perceived service quality in banks. However, Canadians reported higher perceived service quality than Tunisians for all five SERVQUAL dimensions, and for 21 of the 22 individual items. In the Canadian sample, empathy and reliability were found to be the most important predictors of satisfaction and loyalty, while in the Tunisian sample, reliability and responsiveness were the most important predictors of satisfaction and loyalty.

Canadian bank managers should recognize the importance of “empathy” in service delivery by implementing appropriate customer‐oriented strategies. Tunisian bank managers should focus on performing promised services dependably and accurately.

Despite the large number of studies on individual countries, few studies compare bank service quality among different countries. The present study compares perceptions of bank service quality between consumers in two countries – Canada and Tunisia – that have different economic and cultural environments.

The purpose of this paper is to examine numerically the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) free convection and thermal radiation heat transfer of single walled carbon nanotubes-water nanofluid within T-inverted shaped corrugated cavity comprising porous media including uniform heat source/sink for solar energy power plants applications.

The two-dimensional numerical simulation is performed by drawing on Comsol Multiphysics program, based on the finite element process.

The important results obtained show that increasing numbers of Rayleigh and Darcy and the parameter of radiation enhance the flow of convection heat. Furthermore, by increasing the corrugation height, the convection flow increases, but it decreases with the multiplication of the corrugation height. The use of a flat cavity provides better output than a corrugated cavity.

The role of surface corrugation parameters on the efficiency of free convection and heat transfer of thermal radiation within the porous media containing the T-inverted corrugated cavity including uniform heat source/sink under the impact of Lorentz forces has never been explored. A contrast is also established between a flat cavity and a corrugated one.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality of the banking services in a rather neglected context, i.e. quality of banking services that target the student population. The goals were: to highlight the importance of student population as in the long run profitable market for personal banking services, to determine whether there are significant differences between student perceptions of and expectations from the quality of banking services as well as which dimensions students find to be the most significant and which the least significant in assessing the quality of banking services.

A summary of the theoretical framework is followed by the results of a research using the SERVQUAL instrument.

Despite a steady increase in the number of students over the past few years, bank managers have not yet realized their full potential. The results point to a gap in the quality of the banking services on all five dimensions of the SERVQUAL model. It is necessary to improve the banking service on all dimensions, and particularly with regard to “reliability,” “assurance” and “responsiveness,” in which the gap was observed to be the largest.

The research used a convenient sample. Therefore, it is impossible to generalize research findings based on the data processed, but only point to their being indicative.

Banks should by no means neglect the student population that possesses information knowledge, essential for the use of modern banking services. Bank managers should pay more attention to the needs of this growing segment of potential highly profitable customers.

The necessity to provide a more flexible response to the needs and requirements of students as a target market segment is discussed, along with potential importance of this segment for banks’ future business operations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of quality certifications on apparent labour productivity in a sample of hotels in Spain.

In line with Mairesse and Kremp (1993), the theoretical model was based on a Cobb–Douglas production function readapted to the goals of the study.

The descriptive results show that labour productivity increases only when certifications and quality standards specific to the hospitality industry are implemented and the tourist destination is committed to quality. The econometric analysis shows that the hotel category, belonging to a chain, and outsourcing services have a positive impact on labour productivity. In contrast, the location of the establishment in areas other than the coast or the capital city of a province has a negative effect on labour productivity. Of the quality models and certifications studied, only the Spanish Q-Mark certificate significantly improves hotel productivity (an average increase of 23.27 per cent).

These results provide support for the Spanish Tourism Quality System implemented by the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, which has not only attempted to increase the quality of tourism hotels by increasing their competitiveness and performance but also by providing them with a quality certificate that can be used as a marketing strategy in international markets.

The main contribution of this study is to show how the adoption of quality standards and certifications increases or decreases labour productivity in hotels. Given that most of the previous literature has only taken into account quantities, this study adds to the literature by incorporating the concept of quality into productivity issues.

Previous research into online reviews in the hospitality industry has focused mainly on big companies; thus, it is not yet known whether its findings apply also to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the most abundant in the sector. Focusing on online reviews in the hospitality sector, this study aims to analyse whether firm size moderates the relationship between online review valence and customer responses.

This study uses a 2 (positive vs negative online review) × 2 (SME vs big company) experimental research design conducted in two hospitality settings, hotels and restaurants.

The impact of online reviews on customer responses is less intense for smaller hospitality companies.

This study incorporates firm size as a moderator of the relationship between online review valence and customer responses in two hospitality settings, restaurants and hotels.

以往针对酒店业的在线评论研究主要集中在大型企业上, 因此这些研究结果是否也适用于中小企业尚不清楚, 而中小企业在该行业中最为普遍。本研究重点研究了酒店业中的在线评论, 分析了企业规模是否在在线评论极性与客户反应之间的关系中起到调节作用。

本研究采用2（正面与负面在线评论）×2（中小企业与大型企业）的实验研究设计, 并在两个实验环境下（酒店和餐饮）进行研究。

对规模较小的酒店企业来说, 在线评论对客户反应的影响并不强烈。

本研究将企业规模作为餐厅和酒店行业中在线评论极性和客户反应关系的调节变量。

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the decision to adopt environmental practices in small service companies given that most of the studies on environmental practices focus on the industrial sector and on larger companies.

This work is based on 448 personal surveys involving the managers of small travel agencies, using structural equation modeling to study the links between the dimensions studied.

The results of this paper suggest that being proactive on environmental issues can bring small service companies a great number of benefits that improve their competitiveness and firm performance.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of the adoption of environmental practices on a single service industry. It therefore provides useful empirical evidence for managerial practice in the industry concerned.

This study aims to examine the impact of the outsourcing of hotel departments on service quality measured through online customer reviews.

Three models were developed, considering three important online tourism reputation websites, to establish the relationship between the outsourcing of hotel activities and service quality.

The results show that in the three databases, hotel outsourcing has a negative influence on online reputation. A higher level of outsourcing reduces service quality, the percentage of recommendations and the value perceived by customers who carry out online reviews of these hotels. In addition, different models were established for each type of department.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents the first empirical study to analyse the relationship between the impact of process outsourcing and customers’ online reviews. It is also the first empirical research to consider the relationship between outsourcing and ratings by hotel end-customers as a performance measure.

通过分析在线顾客评论, 本研究旨在探索外包酒店部门活动对顾客服务质量的认知影响。

为探知外包酒店活动和服务质量之间的关系, 本研究借用了三个重要的旅游在线评论网站建立了三个模型。

研究结果表明再三项数据库中, 酒店外包对酒店的在线名声有负面影响。高程度的外包降低顾客对服务质量的评价, 推介率, 以及顾客对酒店的感知价值。此外, 本研究为酒店各项部门都建立了对应的不同模型。

本论文作为对酒店外包活动对顾客在线评论影响的首次实证研究。本研究也是首次探讨外包和顾客评分作为一项绩效指标的研究。

In line with rapidly developing digitalized marketing technologies, extended service quality has been actively investigated in the exhibition industry. The importance of distinct perceived value linked to service quality has also been emphasized for increasing customer satisfaction. Further, customer loyalty facilitators, such as trust, commitment, and inertia, have been actively discussed in building long-term relationships between firms and their customers. Because establishing an iterative customer loyalty journey is the key to a marketing strategy, the purpose of this study was to clarify how the trinity of extended service quality, distinct perceived value, and customer loyalty facilitators works in that journey.

Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the model fit, composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the constructs. PLS-SEM was also used to assess direct and indirect (i.e. mediating) effects.

First, the conceptual framework necessary for establishing an iterative customer loyalty journey has been empirically identified. Second, service technology is a key construct of extended service quality as exhibitions transform into digitalized communication platforms. Third, both distinct perceived value and satisfaction act as significant mediators between extended service quality and customer loyalty facilitators.

An effective framework for the iterative customer loyalty journey is theoretically designed and empirically confirmed by drawing a complex but comprehensive map of the trinity (i.e. extended service quality, distinct perceived value, and customer loyalty facilitators).