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The global market for cloud gaming is growing rapidly. How gamers evaluate the service quality of this emerging form of cloud service has become a critical issue for both researchers and practitioners. Building on the literature on service quality and software as a service, this study develops and validates a gamer-centric measurement instrument for cloud gaming service quality.

A three-step measurement instrument development process, including item generation, scale development and instrument testing, was adopted to conceptualize and operationalize cloud gaming service quality.

Cloud gaming service quality consists of two second-order constructs of support service quality and technical service quality with seven first-order dimensions, namely rapport, responsiveness, reliability, compatibility, ubiquity, smoothness and comprehensiveness. The instrument exhibits desirable psychometric properties.

Practitioners can use this new measurement instrument to evaluate gamers' perceptions toward their service and to identify areas for improvement.

This study contributes to the service quality literature by utilizing qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop and validate a new measurement instrument of service quality in the context of cloud gaming and by identifying new dimensions (compatibility, ubiquity, smoothness and comprehensiveness) specific to it.

The paper provides a step-by-step guide in the guise of a roadmap for service improvement initiatives using importance performance map analysis (IPMA).

To empirically illustrate how IPMA can be applied to any service industry, three sectors are considered; sports and fitness (study A), hospitality (study B) and higher education (study C). Following the proper selection of measuring instruments and their evaluation using structural equation modeling-partial least squares (Smart-PLS), IPMA is applied to identify those attributes having strong total effects (high importance) over the targeted construct (satisfaction) but which also have low average latent variable scores (low performance).

For sports and fitness (study A), the physical aspects and programme quality require managerial attention. For the hospitability sector (study B), it is service commitment, interaction quality and internal sense of happiness. Whereas for higher education (study C), it is administrative quality as well as the element of transformative quality, namely the university’s role in adding to its students’ emotional stability, which needs the attention of the top management.

This study provides researchers and practitioners with a roadmap for applying PLS-SEM and IPMA for continuous service quality improvement. The roadmap extends upon Ringle and Sarstedt’s (2016) work. It highlights critical decisions that need to be considered in the pre-analytical stages of the IPMA application, i.e. at the research design phase in selecting the most appropriate service quality measurement model specifications. It not only contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence to advance theory development in the quality management field but also has implications for the practitioners in any service sector on where to focus their attention for an effective service improvement.

Modernization and the rise of living standards have introduced new variants of traditional foods, from their tastes to the way they are enjoyed. This study aims to explore and examine the impacts of both traditional and modern marketing stimuli on restaurant choice intention for experiencing culinary traditions, hence answering the question of how traditional and modern aspects live together to bring about the most desirable experience for customers of traditional cuisine.

Based on the stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) theory and mixed research methods, a model linking service quality dimensions, perceived value and restaurant choice intention is formulated and tested on quantitative data from 431 customers of Gen Y and Gen Z, given the case of Vietnamese Pho.

The findings show that food quality demonstrates the strongest impact on restaurant choice intention, followed by authenticity and nostalgia marketing. These relationships are partially mediated by perceived value. Hygiene risks and perceived value are also found to directly affect restaurant choice intention. Nevertheless, our findings are quite different between Gen Y and Gen Z customers.

This research provides crucial strategic implications for restaurant managers when it comes to serving traditional foods for different generations.

This study responds to the existing gap by examining and comparing the impacts of traditional and modern marketing stimuli on restaurant choice intention through the mediating role of perceived value. Our study also actively contributes to the ongoing multigenerational research stream by affirming the moderation role of generations (Gen Y and Gen Z) in those relationships.

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the role of e-service quality factors in predicting e-satisfaction. The study context was spirituality and well-being over-the-top services. The e-service quality factors consisted of perceived functional completeness, perceived performance, perceived quality of interface and interaction, perceived quality of content and information and perceived quality of customer support. The study goal was to ascertain over-the-top services customers’ behavioral intention toward upgrading to premium subscription and the spread of electronic word of mouth.

This study was based upon the integrated stimulus-organism-response framework where e-service quality represented the stimulus, e-satisfaction the organism, behavioral intention and electronic word of mouth as the response. The study used a moderated-mediation approach with e-satisfaction as the mediator and the price value of a premium subscription as the moderator. To empirically test the model, the authors collected data from 312 spirituality and well-being over-the-top services users in India. Partial least squares-structured equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data.

The findings of the study supported the association between e-service quality factors and e-satisfaction while using spirituality and well-being over-the-top service. The results furthermore indicated that satisfied spirituality and well-being over-the-top customers were willing to upgrade to the premium subscription and spread favorable electronic word of mouth. The moderated-mediation study results revealed that the price value of premium subscriptions moderated the relationship between e-service quality and e-satisfaction but did not moderate the relationship between e-satisfaction and behavioral intention, and e-satisfaction and electronic word of mouth.

This study offered a comprehensive stimulus-organism-response theoretical model by using the five e-service quality measurement factors as “stimuli” for motivating the internal state of spirituality and well-being over-the-top subscribers. This was toward sustained usage in over-the-top services subsequent to the end of the freemium period. Furthermore, in this study, both e-service quality theory and user satisfaction theory were integrated into the stimulus-organism-response model. This helped to better comprehend the impact of e-service quality factors in driving e-satisfaction among spirituality and well-being over-the-top service users.

This study revealed the significance of differentiating premium over-the-top subscriptions based on price value. To ensure a high level of e-satisfaction from a premium subscription, a greater emphasis on the e-service quality dimensions was required. This study provided insights to managers regarding the role of favorable electronic word of mouth in fostering effective customer acquisition.

This was one of the first studies which concurrently integrated perceived value of the premium subscription and e-satisfaction with customers’ behavioral intention and electronic word of mouth through the theoretical lens of stimulus-organism-response.

Service quality in academics is imperatively crucial. Therefore, the purpose of the current research is to examine the effect of academic service quality factors in higher education institutions which mainly focuses on students' satisfaction and the extent of recommending the same institution to other students.

This research evaluated the effect of service quality on student satisfaction and word of mouth (WOM). Data were collected from 200 respondents from various business schools, and hypotheses were tested through a quantitative method using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS to validate the measurement model.

The findings of the current research revealed that all three components of service quality including information quality, teaching quality and service efficiency have a significant impact on student satisfaction. Results also indicated that student satisfaction is significantly linked with WOM which means satisfied students spread positive WOM and recommend the same institution to other students.

This research provides an extension towards the body of knowledge on the issue, which will be used in future detailed and critical examinations. The focus of the research was on SERVQUAL and how, when and why business schools may spot possible applications that can have an influence on their admissions by WOM.

This study aims to focus on assessing the psychometric properties necessary to validate the internal structure of the TOURQUAL scale.

A quantitative research study was conducted in collaboration with the Brazilian Network of Tourism Observatories, comprising 927 respondents surveyed between October 2021 and May 2022. The data analysis involved the application of descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis, in alignment with the principles outlined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing 2014 to validate the scale.

The findings of this study validate the TOURQUAL scale as a robust tool for assessing the perceived quality of tourist services, with results demonstrating one-dimensionality and replicability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to assess the psychometric properties for validating the internal structure of the TOURQUAL scale.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of satisfaction (SAT) in relation to mobile banking service quality (MB-SQ) and continuance intention (CI) among Nepali mobile banking users.

The paper adopted a quantitative approach and cross-sectional survey research design. Data were collected with structured questionnaires from 326 mobile banking users. A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neuro network (ANN) approach were applied to examine hypotheses.

Results confirm a significant positive influence of MB-SQ on SAT and CI of mobile banking adoption. Moreover, MB-SQ partially mediates the relationship between SAT and CI of mobile banking adoption.

Based on the findings of this research, theoretically, this paper attempted to investigate the mediating role of MB-SQ in the CI of mobile banking, and managerially, mobile banking service providers could have insights on designing mobile banking service marketing strategy.

This paper is among the earliest studies to investigate the role of MB-SQ as a higher-order reflective-reflective construct on CI. Moreover, the endogeneity issue has been tested, and ANN has been applied to investigate the predictive relevance of SAT and MB-SQ on CI of mobile banking users. Furthermore, the authors have delved into the ongoing discourse surrounding Generation Y and Generation Z, exploring their implications on CI within the realm of mobile service quality. It provides a critical juncture for understanding continuance intention in the mobile service quality context.

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of perceived healthcare service quality (human aspects, technical aspects and tangible aspects) on satisfaction and guest loyalty in the hotel industry in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

A total of 130 guests in the hotel were selected purposively in Iraq. Data from self-administered questionnaires were analyzed through the VB-SEM statistical technique using Smart-PLS software towards testing the hypotheses.

The findings indicated that perceived service quality influences satisfaction and guest loyalty of guests in the hotel. This study reveals that human aspects, technical aspects and tangible aspects directly positively affect satisfaction and guest loyalty in the hotel industry.

This study highlights that perceived service quality (human aspects, technical aspects and tangible aspects) are vital and practical strategic tools that could be positioned to accelerate guest loyalty in the hotel industry. Furthermore, satisfaction mediates the relationship between human aspects, technical aspects, tangible aspects and guest loyalty.

Prior research examining cultural effects on customer service expectations has primarily used more generic Western cultural theory on an aggregate scale or with only a single variable to draw conclusions on a customer’s underlying reasoning for buying a service. This study aims to focus on culturally distinct clusters within non-Western nations, specifically exploring within-cluster differences in service expectations within the Confucian Asia cluster.

This study developed a measurement model of Chinese cultural values and service expectations, consisting of a three and five-factor structure, respectively. Data from a sample of 351 diners were analysed using SmartPLS software. The data was compared with similar studies within the Confucian Asia cluster to understand the culture effect on service expectations and within-cluster variations.

The findings underscore the varying importance of cultural values in shaping customer service expectations, emphasizing their relative, rather than equal, significance. The study provides insights into potential within-group differences in customer service expectations within the same cultural cluster – without losing sight of the fundamental cultural heterogeneity of the Confucian culture.

Managers should leverage the distinct cultural values of their operating country to gain insights into diverse customer groups, predict their behaviours and meet their needs and expectations.

This study offers valuable insights to both service management scholars and practitioners by focusing on culturally distinct clusters of non-Western nations and exploring their effects on variation in service expectations within these clusters.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of gamified e-service quality (GE-SQ) on customer value co-creation, relationship quality and purchase intention in e-retailing.

A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 549 e-retailing customers who participated in a gamified online service process. A structural equation modeling approach was adopted to analyze the model.

The empirical evidence confirmed that GE-SQ encouraged customer value co-creation behavior and relationship quality. Customer value co-creation and relationship quality led to higher purchase intention. Also, value co-creation and relationship quality partially mediated the relationship between GE-SQ and purchase intention.

The findings increase our knowledge of GE-SQ and its behavioral consequences. Moreover, the study proposes and validates a theoretical framework based on GE-SQ, value co-creation and customer relationship quality. This study provides insight into using gamification as a practical tool in the e-retailing industry.