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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.

Purpose: We examined whether the five-service quality dimensions described by SERVQUAL (SQ) and SERVPERF (SP) are consistent with perceived dimensions of management accounting (MA) service quality and we compared responses from users and providers.

Design/methodology/approach: We surveyed experienced providers and users of MA services to learn their perceptions and expectations of accounting service quality using SQ/SP adapted to an MA context. We used principal components analysis (PCA) to investigate service quality dimensions.

Findings: Participant responses identified three dimensions of MA service quality. There was a high degree of correspondence in dimensions of service quality between users and providers, but with notable differences in service priorities. A performance-only (SP) approach seems to provide a better measure of overall service quality than performance minus expectations (SQ).

Research limitations/implications: Participants self-selected to participate. Respondents were not matched by organization. The SQ/SP instrument may not capture important organization specific attributes. Our approach may serve as a guide for future studies of accounting service quality.

Practical implications: SP may be more useful to managers who wish to evaluate overall service quality. SQ may be more useful to identify specific gaps between user perceptions and expectations. SQ/SP assessments may help to improve the quality of MA service delivery and provider-user communications.

Originality/value: This is the first empirical study to our knowledge that reports on MA service quality dimensions using both the SQ and SP instruments. This study investigated perceptions and expectations of MA service users and providers. Our sample is a cross-section of experienced professionals.

This chapter presents the results of two empirical studies aimed at assessing the nature of two hallmarks of marketing development: market orientation and the ability to deliver service quality. Both studies used Chinese managers as subjects. The first investigated the nature and scope of marketing orientation the managers perceive in their firms and found that Chinese managers recognize the importance of market orientation and its relation to firm success and performance. The findings demonstrate a well-developed sense of market orientation.

The second study assessed managers' perceptions of their ability to deliver service quality using the SERVQUAL model. Managers in the sample perceive that reliability is the most important dimension for customers, followed by responsiveness and assurance. Formal standards exist for these dimensions and managers are quite optimistic about the ability of their firms to meet these performance standards. The original antecedents presented in the SERVQUAL model do not precisely fit the Chinese market. The factor analysis showed a strong orientation toward operating systems and processes.

This chapter covers four main concepts: service quality, quality assurance for measurement, quality assurance for management, and service failure and recovery. The first section mainly discusses the fundamentals of service quality. The service quality gap model is also highlighted to identify the gaps between customer expectations and the actual perceptions of service at different stages of service delivery. In the second section, different measurement methods for quality assurance are demonstrated. Examples of qualitative and quantitative methods are included. In the third section, the important management objectives of quality assurance, improvement, and control are covered. By using a combination of the quality assurance methods from the second section, hospitality operators can accomplish internal accountability, external accountability, performance improvement, and innovation. In the fourth and final section, causes and consequences of service failures are covered together with the service recovery paradox to express the implications of poor quality.

Big data generated on social media offers rich sources of information for the study of service quality. Although a still incipient field in hospitality and tourism studies, the growth of user-generated content sources has driven the development of big data analytics to discover significant patterns on customer experiences and satisfaction. The chapter explores how this analysis of texts from TripAdvisor provides insights on the service quality in Barcelona’s hospitality sector. Drawing on the results from this case study, the chapter argues that user-generated content can become an important tool in guiding better service delivery.