A Dissertation Paper Presented To School Of Graduate Studies Central Philippine University, Philippines In Collaboation With Thai Nguyen University Viet Nam.pdf

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<b>SERVICE QUALITY SATISFACTION AT MUONG THANH HOTELS IN HANOI CITY </b>

<b>A DISSERTATION PAPER Presented to </b>

<b>School of Graduate Studies </b>

<b>Central Philippine University, Philippines </b>

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<b>Acknowledgment </b>

The researcher acknowledges the following, in grateful recognition and sincerest appreciation, for their encouragement, guidance, and unselfish sharing of knowledge, time, effort and skills, and for the untiring motivation that leads to the successful completion of this study:

Dr. Rowena M. Libo-on, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Central Philippine University, Philippines, for her untiring effort and collaboration possible the successful completion of this humble work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree in Doctor of Management;

Dr. Lucio T. Encio, the chairman of the Evaluation Committee, for sharing his expertise, valuable comments, and kind understanding that motivated the researcher to finally complete this research work;

Dr. Tran Nhuan Kien, associate professor and research adviser, for his selfless guidance and assistance which helped to make this paper a scholarly work;

Dr. Do Dinh Long, vice director of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA), Thai Nguyen University for his encouragement and elaborate comments and suggestions;

Dr. Bui Thi Minh Hang, director of the Institute of International Education (IIE), Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, Thai Nguyen University, for her great support and kind understanding;

Professors from the School of Graduate Studies of Central Philippine University and Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, who composed the Oral Defense Committee, for their corrections, comments, suggestions, and recommendations for the improvement of this study;

The staff of the Institute of International Education, for their wholehearted support in providing the necessary research materials and useful information needed in this study;

His family members for their unconditional love and kind support and to whom this research work is lovingly dedicated;

His colleagues and friends, for their selfless support and encouragement, and to all who, in one way or another, have contributed to make this study a success.

The Researcher

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<b>Declaration of Authorship </b>

I hereby declare that this doctoral thesis was carried out by myself under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Lorna T. Grande. The data and figures presented in this doctoral thesis were for analysis, comments, and evaluations from various resources by my own work and had been duly acknowledged in the reference part.

In addition, other comments, reviews and data used by other authors, and organizations had been acknowledged, and explicitly cited.

I will take full responsibility for any fraud detected in my thesis (if any). Author

Nguyen Ba Duong

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<b>Table of Content </b>

<b>Chapter 1: Introduction ... 1 </b>

Background and Rationale of the Study ... 1

Objectives of the Study ... 4

Theoretical Framework ... 4

Conceptual Framework ... 6

The Definitions of Terms ... 6

Significance of the Study ... 8

Scope and limitations of the study... 9

<b>Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies ... 12 </b>

Data Gathering Procedure ... 41

Data Processing and Data Analysis ... 42

<b>Chapter 4: Result and Discussion ... 51 </b>

Demographic profile of the respondents... 51

Factors affecting the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 54

Respondents’ points of view on the factors affecting customers’ satisfaction of the hotel service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 54

Significant differences between the respondents’ points about the hotel-related items affecting customers’ satisfaction of the hotel service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city and their profile ... 66

Reliability Analysis of Scale ... 73

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Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) ... 79

EFA for Independent Variables ... 79

EFA for Dependent Variable ... 84

Multiple Regression Analysis ... 85

Satisfaction levels of the respondents of the hotel service at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 90

Respondents’ satisfaction of the hotel service at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 90

Significant differences between the respondents’ satisfaction levels of the hotel services provided at Muong Thanh Hotels and their profile ... 101

<b>Chapter 5: Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations ... 108 </b>

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<b>LIST OF TABLES </b>

Table 4.1: Profile of Respondents in terms of their Personal Characteristics ... 53 Table 4.2: The importance level of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of room service ... 56 Table 4.3: The importance levels of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of hotel staff ... 57 Table 4.4: The importance levels of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of recreational services ... 59 Table 4.5: The importance levels of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of price and payments ... 60 Table 4.6: The importance levels of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of Meal quality ... 62 Table 4.7: The importance levels of hotel-related items on customers’ satisfaction of

the hotel service quality in terms of supportive facilities ... 63 Table 4.8: Overall satisfaction of the respondents with the hotel service quality at

Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 64 Table 4.9: Summary of variables affecting customers’ satisfaction of the hotel service

quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 65 Table 4.10: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ genders and their points

about the impact of factors on the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services ... 67 Table 4.11: The significant difference between the respondents’ ages and their

opinions about the importance levels of factors on the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services ... 68 Table 4.12: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ nationalities and

their points about the importance levels of factors on the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services ... 69 Table 4.13: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ marital status and

their points about the importance levels of factors on the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services ... 70

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Table 4.14: The significant difference between the respondents’ purpose of visit and their points about the importance levels of factors on the customers’

satisfaction of the hotel services ... 71

Table 4.15: The significant difference between the respondents’ educational attainment and their points about the importance levels of factors on the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services ... 72

Table 4.16: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of Room service ... 73

Table 4.17: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of Hotel staff ... 74

Table 4.18: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of Recreational facilities ... 75

Table 4.19: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of Price ... 75

Table 4.20: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of meal quality ... 76

Table 4.21: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of Supportive facilities ... 77

Table 4.22: Reliability and Item-Total Statistics of GS ... 78

Table 4.23: Summary of Cronbach’s Alpha of Variables ... 78

Table 4.24: KMO and Bartlett’s test ... 79

Table 4.25: Total Variance Explained ... 79

Table 4.26: Rotated Component Matrix ... 80

Table 4.27: Component Score Coefficient Matrix ... 81

Table 4.28: KMO and Bartlett’s test ... 84

Table 4.29: Total Variance Explained ... 85

Table 4.30: Model Summary ... 86

Table 4.31: ANOVA ... 86

Table 4.32: Coefficients ... 87

Table 4.33: Testing result of the hypothesis pair ... 88

Table 4.34: Satisfaction levels of the respondents of the hotel service with regard to Room service at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 92

Table 4.35: Satisfaction levels of the respondents of the hotel service with regard to Hotel staff at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 93

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Table 4.36: Satisfaction levels of the respondents with the hotel service with regard to Recreation facilities at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 95 Table 4.37: Satisfaction levels of the respondents with the hotel service with regard to

Price at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 96 Table 4.38: Satisfaction levels of the respondents with the hotel service with regard to

Meal Quality at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 98 Table 4.39: Satisfaction levels of the respondents with the hotel service with regard to

Supportive facilities at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 99 Table 4.40: Summary of hotel-related items dissatisfied by the customers at Muong

Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city ... 100 Table 4.41: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ genders and their

satisfaction level of the hotel services experienced at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 102 Table 4. 42: F_value of the significant difference between the respondents’ ages and

their satisfaction levels with the hotel service provided at Muong Thanh Hotels... 103 Table 4.43: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ nationalities and

their satisfaction levels of the hotel services experienced at Muong Thanh Hotels... 104 Table 4.44: T-test for Equality of Means between the respondents’ marital statuses and their

satisfaction levels of the hotel services experienced at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 105 Table 4.45: F_value of the significant difference between the respondents’ purposes of

visits and their satisfaction levels with the hotel service provided at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 106 Table 4.46: F_value of the significant difference between the respondents’ education

attainment and their satisfaction levels of the hotel service provided at Muong Thanh Hotels ... 107

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<b>LIST OF FIGURES </b>

Figure 1.1: Analytical framework ... 5

Figure 1.2: Schematic diagram showing the hypothesized interplay of variables ... 6

Figure 3.1: Research process ... 39

Figure 4.1: Histogram of the standardized residuals ... 88

Figure 4.2: Normal P-P Plot of regression standardized residual ... 89

Figure 4.3: Scatterplot graph ... 89

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<b>Abstract </b>

Known as one of the biggest hotels chain in Indochina, Muong Thanh Group owns three four-star hotels in Hanoi city. They are Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Center, Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi, and Muong Thanh Grand Xa La. The three four-star hotels have provided hotel services for almost ten years. In the good old days, Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city enjoyed good business performances. However, Muong Thanh Hotels have faced difficulties in attracting customers in big cities such as Hanoi capital recently. There are some problems negatively affecting the business of these hotels. This research was conducted to determine the hotel service quality as perceived by the customers at three four-star Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. There were three hundred and sixty (360) customers serving as the respondents of the study; 120 respondents were chosen to fill the structured questionnaires at each hotel in Hanoi city during the third quarter of 2021. Twenty-nine (29) out of thirty-six (36) variables concerning with the hotel service are believed to have impacts and strong impacts on customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services at Muong Thanh Hotels. Among the six selected factors, factor “PR – (Price and payment)” has the strongest impact on the satisfaction of the customers; factor “HS – (Hotel staff)” ranks the second strongest while factor “RF – (Recreation services)” has the lowest influence. The international clients were more dissatisfied with hotel service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels than Vietnamese ones. On the whole, there are significant differences between the respondents’ satisfaction levels with the hotel service and their profile at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

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<b>Chapter 1 Introduction Background and Rationale of the Study </b>

Hu (2008) stated that a hotel cannot survive and grow well the world today unless it can satisfy the customers with good quality services. The service quality means the service which corresponds to customers’ expectation and a hotel wins by satisfying these needs of the customers. When customers are provided with new and better services, it is important to meet their expectations at various types in the competitive markets.

Ross Beard (2013) found that a rise in customers’ retention by just 5 percent can lead to an increase of profits by 25 percent to 95 percent. Customers’ retention plays a key role to grow a successful firm. If your business is like the other businesses today, you know it’s hard! We must encounter it, no business is considered perfect, and no firm accepts to lose their customers. Luckily, measuring the customer retention rates and maintaining customer retention strategies can help to retain the regular customers.

Many businesses are trying to improve the quality for better competitive advantages (Hope & Wild, 1994). Service firms works to satisfy the customers’ increasing demand and try to add value and provide customers with fine services to get the competitive advantages (Edvardsson, 1997) and many firms hold service departments that collect useful information about the customers and his interactions with the products and quality (Petkova, Sander & Brombacher, 2000).

Along with the newly introduced developments, the requirements and expectations of customers are changing very fast. Service quality is a broad term which is used in both customer care evaluations and in technological ones. With regards to both applications, the quality of services has to be done with measuring the incidences of problems within a process that results in the creation of issues for an end customer. The goal of service quality evaluation is minimizing the incidence of transmission problems and the errors rate that may happen.

Muong Thanh Hotel group has built its position in the hearts and minds of guests nationwide and abroad. Known as one of the biggest hotels chain in Indochina, Muong Thanh group owns some 60 hotels with the capacity of providing more than 10,000 rooms,

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creating job chances and working environments for about 10,000 employees. This group contributes thousands of billion VND to the national budget each year.

Lots of fine achievements have been gained and developed during 25 years, thanks to the great efforts and enthusiasm to continuously enhance and strengthen the business, bringing stable advantages for Vietnam and for the local people.

Most of the hotels are ranked with four-star and five-star hotels. Muong Thanh Group locates its hotels in cities and towns nationwide. In small cities, Muong Thanh Hotels are always the best choices for customers.

Muong Thanh Group owns three four-star hotels in Hanoi city. They are Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Center, Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi, and Muong Thanh Grand Xa La.

These hotels are located in the downtown and busy areas in Hanoi city. The three four-star hotels have provided hotel services for almost ten years. Besides the basic services – room services – Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city also provide other services such as weddings, conferences, parties of all types, coffee shops, travel agents, air tickets…

In the good old days, Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city enjoyed good business performances. Thanks to the economic growth and international cooperation, lots of

international businessmen came to Hanoi city so Muong Thanh Hotels were among the most favorite choices for hotel services in the capital.

However, things do not stand still for long. Muong Thanh Hotels have faced

difficulties in attracting customers in big cities such as Hanoi capital recently. There are some problems negatively affecting the business of these hotels:

- There have been more luxury newly-built hotels in the urban and suburban areas. This makes the competition more serious. The existing hotels have to share the customers with the new ones which are equipped with more modern amenities.

- There are more and more luxury hotels in neighboring cities, so international experts and businessmen do not need to come back to Hanoi to enjoy highly standardized hotel services. There are new choices for staying at other hotels located in surrounding provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh and Hai Duong.

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- The traffic is getting busier which makes the travels inconvenient, costly and time-consuming in Hanoi city.

These above mentioned issues result in worse and worse business performances of Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. The room occupancy has dropped sharply from more than 70% to below 50%. During covid pandemic (2020) the room occupancy dropped around 30%.

Source: Muong Thanh Group

The revenues from events such as conferences, weddings, meetings have also decreased considerably. There have been complaints about the hotel services especially from foreign customers. These customers seem to show their dissatisfaction of some of the hotel service such as the room facilities, the hotel employees, lack of modern recreation amenities, meal quality ...etc. Some of the regular clients do not return to these hotels. They may switch to other ones for better service quality.

The poorer business performance of Muong Thanh Hotels can be due to the low satisfaction of the customers with the hotel service quality. Therefore, in order to improve the business performance, these hotels need to improve the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services. These are the reasons why the researcher, a stockholder of Muong Thanh Group,

<i><b>has the desire to conduct this study entitled “Service quality satisfaction at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city</b></i>” with the purposes to identify the unique factors that affect the

customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. The study also measures the customer satisfaction of the services provided at these three four-star hotels. Based on the findings of the study, the study proposes recommendations and solutions to improve the hotel services for better competition in the time to come.

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<b>Objectives of the Study </b>

The study aimed to assess the service quality satisfaction at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi City. Based on the results of the study, the author proposed recommendations to enhance the hotel service quality at these hotels.

Specifically, this study sought answers to the following objectives: 1. To determine the profile of the respondents of the study.

2. To determine the factors affecting customers’ satisfaction of the service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

3. To identify the factors which play important roles on the customers’ satisfaction with the hotel service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels.

4. To determine the relationship between factors influencing customer satisfaction and profile of respondents.

5. To determine the difference between factors affecting customer satisfaction and

The theoretical framework of the study was proposed based on the modification of some previous theories and studied by various authors and researchers.

SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988) is the most notable contribution to the measure of service quality in the 1980s. In his model, there are many variables

grouped in five factors which influence service quality: tangibles; sympathy; assurance; reliability; and responsiveness.

This evaluation is not simple because service quality is a multidimensional concept having 5 components: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness (RATER) defined as follows:

Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately;

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Assurance: the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence;

Tangibles: the appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials;

Empathy: provision of caring, individualized attention to customers;

Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service; This model can be used for all types of services. However, the factors seem quite general and broad for many respondents to understand them well enough.

SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman et al., 1988) is one of the most widely used instruments to measure service quality in various service fields including hotel business (Hossain, 2012; Boonitt & Rompho, 2012; Al Khattab & Aldehayyat, 2011). This study adopted SERVQUAL scale with some customizations to measure perceived service quality as well as examine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in Vietnamese hotels. The analytical framework is proposed as following:

<b> </b>

In this study, the researcher combines the existing factors and variables related to hotel services. There are some new factors which are added to fill the gaps which were not in former studies.

<b>Hotel service quality </b>

Room services

Hotel staff

Prices and payment Meal quality

Supportive facilities

<b>Figure 1.1: Analytical framework </b>

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Different culture has its own features. It is why this study focuses on building its own factors to determine the indicators or factors which affect the service quality and can be used as the hotel selection criteria. The study then used these factors to build another survey to measure the satisfaction of the customers with the services they have experienced.

<b>Conceptual Framework </b>

So as to aid the understanding of the study, the conceptual framework is designed as the following: The first frame consists of the antecedent variables which indicate the profile of the respondents in terms of gender, age, nationality, marital status, purpose of visit and educational attainment. These variables are used to group the respondents with regard to selected demographic profile.

The second frame includes the independent variables which are considered the dimensions of hotel-related factors affecting the satisfaction of the customers with the services at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. These factors consist of room services, hotel staff, recreational services, prices and payments, meal quality, and supportive facilities.

The third frame which is the dependent variable shows the customers’ satisfaction of hotel services at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

The fourth frame show the hotel market-driven plan.

<b>Antecedent Variables Independent Variables Dependent Variables OUTPUT </b>

Figure 1.2: Schematic diagram showing the hypothesized interplay of variables

<b>The Definitions of Terms </b>

In this study, there are some terms which are defined conceptually and operationally so that readers can understand better.

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<i><b> Age. A</b>ge describes how old a person is at a particular point in time which is a </i>

measure of the time elapsed from date of live birth to a specific point in time, usually the date

<i>of collection of the data (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). In this study, age refers</i> to the respondents’ ages classified as 18-33 years old, 34-49 years old, and 50 years old and above.

<b>Gender refers to the distinction between males and females based on the biological </b>

<i><b>differences in sexual characteristics (Statistics NZ, 2010). In this study, gender was </b></i>

categorized as male and female respondents.

<b>Educational attainment is a term used in reference to the highest level of education </b>

an individual has received (Taff Writer, 2020). In this study, educational attainment was

classified as college level and below, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate degree.

<i><b>Hotel staff refers to the employees working for Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. It </b></i>

consists of the items relating to their communication skills, enthusiasm, hospitality, dresses, foreign language skills and professionalism. In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<i><b>Meal quality refers to foods and drinks served at Muong Thanh Hotels. This factor </b></i>

included the variety of dishes, drinks, the design of the restaurants and the people working at these restaurants. In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<i><b>Muong Thanh Hotels refer to three four-star hotels which belong to Muong Thanh </b></i>

Hotel group located in Hanoi city. The three hotels belong to Muong Thanh Group which own many luxury hotels and resorts nationwide.

<b>Marital status is the legally defined marital state. There are several types of marital </b>

status: single, married, widowed, divorced, separated and, in certain cases, registered

partnership (Helen Weingarten, 2008). In this study, marital status was classified as single

<i><b>and married. </b></i>

<i><b>Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the </b></i>

person as a subject, a national, of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state against other states (Boll, Alfred

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Michael (2007)). In this study, this variable Nationality was classified as Vietnamese or a foreigner.

<i><b>Purpose of visit refers to the reason why the customers stay at the hotel. The </b></i>

respondents can stay at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city during their business, holiday or other purposes. In this study, purpose of visit was classified as business, tourism, and other purposes.

<i><b>Prices and payments are the amounts of money charged by the hotel for the </b></i>

services provided and discounts given by Muong Thanh Hotels. In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<i><b>Service quality satisfaction </b></i>refers to the customers’ satisfaction of the hotel services at Muong Thanh Hotels. In this study, customers’ satisfaction was tested if it is affected by the selected hotel-related factors; it was also assessed to determine the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the hotel services they experienced at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

<i><b>Recreational services refer to the relaxing and entertainment amenities the hotels. </b></i>

These can be the swimming pools, sauna, tennis court… In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<i><b>Room service refers to the room accommodation at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi </b></i>

city. It includes the decoration of the room, the bedding amenities, the views of the room, the internal facilities, the comfort of the bathroom and the cleaning work. In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<i><b>Supportive facilities refer to the equipment and amenities provided at Muong Thanh </b></i>

Hotels. In this study, this factor consists of 6 variables presented in Table 3.2 in chapter 3.

<b>Significance of the Study </b>

This study was carried out to identify the importance levels of the factors on customer satisfaction with the service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. The study also assessed the customer satisfaction of the services provided at these hotels. Based on the output of the study, the research aims to propose solutions to improve the service quality to make the customers more satisfied with the hotel services. Specifically, the significance of the study can be seen as the following:

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To Muong Thanh Hotels, this study may help to retain regular customers, attract more clients and make the business performance better.

To the managers of these hotels, this study may provide actual, accurate and specific information so that they can make better policies and decisions.

To the researcher who is a shareholder of Muong Thanh Hotels, this study may provide him with useful information so that he could manage the hotels and enjoy better business performance.

To the hotel staff, the study may help to improve their job performance, retain their jobs and also enhance the incomes paid by Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

To Hanoi city, this study may make it a better destination for international and domestic travelers.

To customers, this study may help to improve the hotel service quality so that they would experience better services when staying at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

To future researchers, this study may serve as a source of reference documentation

<b>to conduct other or further studies of hotel services. </b>

<b>Scope and limitations of the study </b>

The researcher chose to conduct this study aiming to gain two purposes: one (1) identify the factors affecting the customer satisfaction with the service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city and two (2) measure the customer satisfaction based on the identified hotel service quality factors at the three selected hotels which belong to Muong Thanh Hotel groups.

In order to make the study more specific and practical, the scope and limitations of the study are as the following:

The study was carried out at three four-star Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. They are Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Center, Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi, and Muong Thanh Grand Xa La.

The study was carried out during the third quarter of 2021.

The researcher made use of a survey research, which is a quantitative method to collect information from a pool of respondents using structured questionnaire sets.

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The population size of the study cannot be determined, so the researcher made use of the formula “n=50 + 8*m” by Tabachnick và Fidell (1996).

<b>n = 50 + 8*m </b>

<i><b>Where: n is the sample size </b></i>

<b> m is the number of independent variables </b>

The researcher used six factors consisting of 36 variables. Thus, the sample size of the study should be around 330. In order to make the sample size more valid, there were 360 customers being chosen randomly to serve as the respondents of the study. There are three four-star Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city, these hotels are similar in terms of the number of rooms, so 360 questionnaires were distributed evenly among the three hotels - 120 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents who stayed at each hotel for at least three days.

These respondents were chosen randomly from those who had stayed at the Muong Thanh Hotels when they checked out the hotels. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires.

In order to collect the primary data and information, the study used two sets of survey questionnaires: (1) questionnaires to identify factors affecting the customers’ satisfaction of the service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city and (2) questionnaires for measuring customer satisfaction of these services provided at the three four-star Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. The randomly selected respondents were requested to fill these two sets of questionnaires which were prepared in both English and Vietnamese.

The study used both descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the profile of Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

Inferential analysis was used to analyze using quantitative method. The researcher conducted the statistical treatments as follow:

- Frequency and percentage distributions were used to determine the profile of the respondents.

- Mean values were calculated to identified the variables which should be included in given factors when the researcher determined the factors which have influences customers’

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satisfaction of the service quality at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city. Means were also used to determine the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the services provided at these hotels.

- Cronbach’s alpha tests were used to determine the variables which have consistency and belong to a specific factor.

- T-tests and F-tests were used to determine if there were significant differences between the respondents’ satisfactions with the hotel service quality and their profile at Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city.

- Regression test was utilized to test if there is the relationship between the dependent factor and the independent factors.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were not many clients staying at Muong Thanh Hotels nationwide, so the study focused on the three four-star hotels which belongs to Muong Thanh Group in Hanoi city only.

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<b>Chapter 2 </b>

<b>Review of Related Literature and Studies </b>

In this chapter, concepts and theories that have significant impact on the study are presented. Some related literatures and studies show what have been written about the

<b>subject by other authors. </b>

<b>Related Literature </b>

<b>Basic profile of Muong Thanh Hotels in Hanoi city </b>

In this section, a brief overview of the three hotels including Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel; Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Hotel; and Muong Thanh Grand XALA Hotel are

<b>briefly introduced. </b>

<i><b>Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel </b></i>

Located on an ancient street - Tho Nhuom - the center of administration and tourism of Hanoi - the heart of the capital, Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel is a perfect place for tourists to discover the ancient beauty of this thousands-year old city. From the Hotel, tourists can walk to enjoy the fresh air of Hoan Kiem Lake, peaceful Hanoi opera house and enjoy a busy life of the ancient street. The central position and favorable access of Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel will surely satisfy even the most difficult tourists.

Since its operation in 2015, Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel's establishment has been inspired by an ideal of Hanoi enlightened by golden sunshine in the autumn and peaceful street corners. Owning boutique-style furniture, a cozy space and perfect services, Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel will become the second home of each tourist during their stay in Hanoi.

The culture of Muong Thanh Hanoi Centre Hotel is a harmonic combination of the traditional Northwestern culture reflected through foods, drinks and traditional costume of Thai ethnic group worn by the staff and the graceful traditional costume of Hanoi, the “Áo Dài”. This combination guarantees tourists surprising and amazing experience.

<i><b>Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Hotel </b></i>

Located on the southern gateway to Hanoi center, Mường Thanh Grand Hanoi Hotel with 152 four-star rooms and modern-equipped meeting rooms always brings clients a unique experience during their stay in warmth and comfort.

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Since the opening ceremony in 2016, Muong Thanh Grand Hanoi Hotel has offered high-standard accommodations with unsurpassed hospitality and an ideal location away from in the heart of Bac Linh Dam. The hotel provides a perfect base for you to start exploring the charming city, yet with the luxury of a more peaceful setting than the ever-bustling Hanoi. The highlighted attraction not to miss while you’re visiting Hanoi is the picturesque Hoan Kiem Lake, while a 10-minute trip will take you to the National Convention Center. Comfortable guestrooms and a convenient location prove to be perfect for tourists and business travelers alike at Muong Thanh Hanoi Hotel.

Mường Thanh Grand Hanoi Hotel is a magnificent combination between the cultural culinary traditions of ancient villages in the mountains of Vietnam, and modern facilities to enhance customer experience.

<i><b> Muong Thanh Grand XALA Hotel </b></i>

Conveniently located in Xa La new urban areas, Mường Thanh Grand Xa La Hotel is an ideal place to enjoy quiet and fresh air right in the heart of Ha Dong district, Hanoi. Guest will feel the balance of Comfort and convenience when staying here.

It takes only 40 minutes from the airport by car and about 20 minutes to reach the center of Hanoi capital. No less exceptional is the hotel's easy access to the city's myriad attractions and landmarks, such as Vietnam National Convention Center, Tran Duy Hung Street. The facilities and services provided by Mường Thanh Grand Xa La Hotel ensure a pleasant stay for guests. The hotel offers access to a vast array of services, including 24-hour room service, Wi-Fi in public areas, car park, room service, airport transfer.

Guests can choose from 149 rooms, all of which exude an atmosphere of total peace and harmony. The hotel offers many unique recreational opportunities such as hot tub, fitness center, sauna, outdoor pool, massage. When you are looking for comfortable and convenient accommodations in Hanoi, make Mường Thanh Grand Xa La Hotel your home away from home.

<b>Hotel industry and operations </b>

Hotel service performance is positively allied with the improvement of service quality. There is said to be a significant relationship existing between the improvement in service

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quality and the hotel performance (Narangajavana and Hu, 2008). High level development instruments are usually used to enhance the satisfaction of variety of users about service and quality (Hope & Wild, 1994). The major problem goes with hotel managers is attracting, retaining and fascinating customers (Shi & Su, 2007). It is said that customers’ revisit

intentions and emotions are supported by customer satisfaction (Han, Back & Barrett, 2009). Customers’ satisfaction plays an important role of factor in the perception on the value of hotel and behavioural intention (Ryu, Han & Kim, 2008). Both of the public and private sectors revised the service quality and to complete the customers’ demand, customer-focused way was highly practiced (Pyon & Lee & Park, 2009).

According to Kazt (2007), there are three main types of level of hotel services:

excellent service, acceptable service, and poor service. Every service has its impact on hotel services. Customer expectation means what the customers want to receive while their perception presents what they really experience during their stay at the hotels. When their expectation is higher than the perception (E>P), it means customers get more than they wish and hope to get. It is said to be a good service and has positive influence on hotel industry. If customers are satisfied with the services, they will be delighted and be a member of re-booking client. More loyalty will bring a good reputation for the hotel and retain more number of customers. This will bring increasing revenues and profits and finally take more market shares. This could help a hotel to build up competitive advantages over the competitors. When their expectation is equal to the perception (E=P), it is known as an acceptable

customer. The hotel could satisfy customer and maintain its customers, revenues, profits and market shares in short term. If there is not fair promotion or development, the better services the hotel's competitors provide would take more market shares in the future. When their expectation is lower than perceptions (E<P), a poor customer service happens. The majority of dissatisfied customers will not come back and the hotels lose both customers and their loyalty. A hotel with its bad reputation will lead to deceasing revenue and profit. In the end, the hotel will be in bankruptcy with less and less market shares in the long-run.

Many travelers think that services make the difference between nice hotels and memorable hotels. But the question is what makes truly great luxury hotel service.

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Tourism and hospitality industry is an old industry. It began in the 20th century modestly when people started visiting friends in other states. Currently, tourism and

hospitality is one of the most profitable industry. According to Weaver and Lauton (2008), in the year 2007, the tourism industry generated approximately 300 million employment opportunities and approximately 980 million overseas and local destinations worldwide. Tourism and hospitality is developing fast particularly in developing states. Muhamad and Henderson (2003) argued that developing countries ought to take advantage of this development as it provides and fuels strong economic growth for the country and attracts foreign direct investments. It also increases the cycle of globalization within the country.

Along with the development of the economy and the needs of people's lives are enhanced, the hotel business is also constantly developing in both width and depth, the amenities in the hotel are increasingly modern. More attentive staff, more understanding of customer psychology and more professional service.

The hotel is a temporary accommodation for tourists, providing necessary services for tourists who need to rest and eat, organize conferences, etc. Along with the development of economy and demand. The higher the requirements of human life are, the more modern the hotel amenities and the more attentive staff.

In addition to the two main needs of eating and sleeping, guests coming to the hotel also have needs for meetings, medical treatment, entertainment, beauty, etc. And to meet those needs, in the hotel business there are more entertainment services, sports, health care, beauty care, laundry services, phone services, payment services, transportation services, etc.

The hotel industry is a key sector within the tourism industry since it is fundamental to the provision of all other tourism services; being the most basic requirement of tourists after they reach their destination (Orfila-Sintesa et al., 2005). Consequently, this study chooses the hotel industry as a suitable setting for the service economy. As there is a diversity of services in the tourism sector (Tremblay, 1998; Lopes Favero, 2011), we concentrated on the hotel industry, which includes companies that are homogenous in production and competitive setting. Moreover, this sector is deemed to be especially

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important because it is indispensable for the development of further services in a tourism destination; and because it carries, as shown above, a high relative weight in the totality of tourist expenditure.

Making a decision on the selection of destination and hotel facility is one of the most important decisions when choosing a travel. Understanding the decision-making process is one of the basic prerequisites of successful strategic and operational planning of marketing activities in hotels (Rong et al., 2012, p. 739). Both in theory and in practice, efforts to identify key factors based on which customers make decisions on the choice of hotel facility are more and more present. Different hotels have different services in their offer. Likewise, attributes of same services vary. For example, the layout and size of rooms, equipment of the hotel’s wellness center, restaurant menu, garden appearance, etc. vary greatly, even if hotels are in the same category. Great number of authors analyzing behavior of hotel service users highlights the importance of understanding critical factors for the selection of hotel accommodation (Merlo & João de Souza, 2011, p. 8410).

Coming to the hotel, in addition to resting needs, visitors also need many other convenient services. The services commonly encountered in the hotel are opened to meet the different needs of customers. Let's find out what those popular services are!

High-class hotel services include:

<i><b>Restaurant </b></i>

Currently, most of the restaurants from 3 to 5 stars have their own restaurants for their hotels. Restaurants can serve from a few dozen people to several hundred people at the same time. In 4 to 5-star luxury hotels, this may include a restaurant complex, with a variety of luxurious restaurant designs in different styles. Coming to the restaurant service, visitors can order for themselves buffet, buffet or family-based dishes… with a variety of culinary flavors to choose from.

<i><b>Meeting and Office Services </b></i>

Accompanying the restaurant are usually meeting room services, halls to organize events such as birthdays, weddings, corporate events, seminars... The meeting and event rooms in the hotel range in size from a few dozen people to a few hundred people. In

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addition, here is also equipped with tables and chairs, sound, and light to ensure the event goes well.

<i><b>Bar </b></i>

The bar is also an upscale service commonly found in high-end restaurants. Depending on the size of the hotel, the location and design of the bar will vary. Most of the bars serve drinks, music, ... to meet the entertainment and relaxation needs of visitors.

<i><b>Spa Services </b></i>

Spa services are only available in some high-end hotels. To meet the beauty needs of women, Spa services have been opened up more in recent years. Includes: sauna, acne peeling, shampoo... The need for care and beauty of women does not decrease when traveling or working, so Spa services are increasingly being warmly responded by visitors.

<i><b>Fitness center </b></i>

Multi-purpose gyms or gyms are always a place of interest to visitors. When traveling for work or travel, many people still want to ensure the progress of their training. This is the reason gyms were born and are expanding.

<i><b>Golf Course and Tennis Court </b></i>

Golf and tennis court services are only available to high-class hotels. Because these are sports for the elite. You will encounter golf courses with large areas integrated in high-class hotels, resorts and villas.

<b>Characteristics of Hotel Service Quality </b>

<i><b>Firstly: hotel service quality is difficult to measure and evaluate </b></i>

It can be said that service quality in the hotel is difficult to measure and evaluate because the hotel's products are mainly services, which are intangible, so it is more difficult to evaluate these factors than for tangible elements. That means they depend on the perception of the user. On the other hand, the psychology and needs of customers always change over time, so the satisfaction for the same service at different times will be different. Measuring the quality of hotel services is so difficult that some hotel managers tend to rely on visible and measurable activities such as the number of hotel guests, or on on the behavior

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of service staff towards management to infer the service attitude of staff towards hotel guests and customer feedback.

<i><b>Secondly, the quality of hotel services is only accurately assessed through the </b></i>

<i><b>perception of customers who use the hotel's products directly. </b></i>

This feature shows that the quality of hotel service depends on the direct perception of the customers who use the product. Because this is a special product, the process of creating and consuming hotel services takes place almost at the same time in time and space. They are the indispensable main character in this process because they have an insider's perspective and the look of someone who spends money to buy hotel products. Their assessment of the hotel's service quality is considered the most accurate.

From this feature, hotel managers who want to most accurately evaluate the service quality of the hotel must always stand on the customer's point of view, not based on their own subjective judgments or feelings. consider.

<i><b>Third: The quality of the hotel's service depends on the service delivery </b></i>

<i><b>process of the hotel business </b></i>

The process of providing services at the hotel is always done based on two basic factors: technical facilities and employees directly involved in the service provision process. Therefore, when evaluating the service quality of a hotel - the quality of an intangible product, customers often tend to rely on technical quality and functional quality.

<i>Technical quality </i>

Is the total quality of hotel facilities such as: Modernity of equipment, aesthetic level in interior decoration and hotel design, level of hygiene inside and out. hotel, the level of safety in ensuring property and guest life…

<i>Functional quality </i>

These are factors related to people, especially those directly serving at the hotel. That is service attitude, behavior, communication ability, external appearance of employees, education level, foreign language proficiency, health status, age, gender... In which, how to respond The service attitude of the staff is the most important because it affects the

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evaluation of the hotel's product quality. How do you make it easy for customers to answer questions? when it comes to service quality.

Both of these components affect the image of a hotel and determine the perceived service quality of the hotel. Managers are always interested in and seek to improve the above two qualities on a regular basis based on the change in needs, preferences and requirements of the target customer group that the hotel aims to.

<i><b>Fourth: hotel service quality requires high consistency </b></i>

High consistency must be viewed from two angles:

One is the high unity and smoothness in the awareness and actions of all departments, all members of the hotel from top to bottom about the quality goals to be achieved by the business. Therefore, it is required that the policies of the hotel must be synchronized with each other.

The second is the comprehensive synchronization before and after as one and true to the promise that the hotel announced to customers. Service quality must be good at all times, everywhere and for each customer. Require each staff member to serve guests with a fair attitude that all customers are the same, not distinguishing between regular guests and important guests or guests with little bonus and guests with a lot of bonuses, in addition, the quality of hotel service is also good. can't just be good in the beginning when the new guests arrive, but afterwards it won't be as good as it was at the beginning.

However, the consistency of the hotel service quality is not equated with the fixed immutability. The quality of hotel service does not have to take place in a while, at a certain time for the purpose of dealing with authorities, service quality is not only focused on building once and then giving up, but Service quality in the hotel must be built step by step, perfected and adjusted in time to suit the changing conditions of the market.

Today service quality becomes one of the most important factors for business success of hotels and tourism companies as well as other industries’ sustain and success. Therefore, quality measurement becomes very important for business growth and

management, and finally positive performance achievement. Studies of relationships between service quality and companies’ profitability were started with the profit impact of

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marketing strategy (PIMS) (Buzell and Gale, 1987). After them, many more other authors have investigated the correlations among the quality provided and business performances and made conclusion that service quality has positive influences on both, offensive

marketing, i.e. acquiring new customers and defensive marketing, i.e. retention previously acquiring ones. It can be inferred that “through the offensive marketing strategies, companies increase revenues while through defensive activities decrease costs; both dimensions

positively impact profitability”.

Unluckily, there is not consensus about quality nature and meaning, and even less about possible ways for quality measurement. In service marketing literature, the concepts of service quality in most cases have discussed as the concepts of perceived service quality. Zeithaml et al. (1990) has been explained perceived service quality as the extent to which a firm successfully provided with the purpose of services. Eshgi et al. (2008) defined service quality as overall service assessments from the customers’ point of view or customer service audits (Takeuchi and Quelch, 1983).

Service quality in the hotel industry is considered to be the level of service delivery that a hotel business has chosen to satisfy the level of customer demand that they are aiming for. So the quality of hotel services from the consumer's perspective is the level of customer satisfaction with the hotel's services. From this we have the following equation:

Hotel service quality = Customer satisfaction However

Customer satisfaction = Feelings after consuming the product – Expectations Through the above equality, we see that: After consuming the product or service, their perception is lower than the initial expectation, leading to the customer feeling disappointed, then the service quality The hotel will be rated as very bad. But on the contrary, after consuming the product or service, the customer's perception exceeds their expectations, the service quality of the hotel is evaluated as very good.

Hotel service quality is not only about providing good service at the right time to satisfy the legitimate needs of customers, but the hotel should design a higher level of service delivery than what customers expect. It is called "one step ahead" to do this, it

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requires close coordination of all departments and above all, the service attitude of employees, whether equipment or facilities. No matter how perfect the food and drink facilities are, but the service attitude of the staff is not good to disturb the guests, it is

evaluated as the service quality is not good, poor quality. That is why hotel businesses today are always looking for ways to renew themselves by improving the quality of their services in order to retain guests and find new target customers.

<b>* Service quality </b>

According to Abdullah & Afshar, (2019) quality is a theory which can be described as an evasive and blurred theory. It is important to differentiate between goods and services, because they have different characteristics. The former is more tangible, an object; the latter is intangible, actual performance (Abdullah & Rahman, 2015). One of the most significant and unparalleled characteristics of services is that it is a process, but not a thing. Therefore, service companies don’t have any product, but they do have interactive processes. Services are invisible; therefore, it is difficult for the supplier to unfold and consumers to measure (Ali et al. 2021). As conveyance of services in the hospitality industry dependably includes human beings, it should concentrate on the management of people, and specifically on the collaborations between the client and personnel, which called service encounters. The fortune or failure of the hospitality business depends on the combined impact of service encounters in which customers are participating themselves (Abdullah, 2018). There are several important service quality definitions, proposed by various researchers. Service quality is a divergence amongst client's anticipation of the service supplier and their assessment of the services (Saleh et al. 2021).

Service quality is considered to be one factor for the achievement of any organization due to the close relationship which has with its customer satisfaction especially in the service industry (Gilbert &Veloutsou, 2006). In addition to the being a fine factor to get positive buying behaviours, it can be also seen as an important component to the success of the hotel industry and its future achievements. Service quality has been regarded to have direct influence on customers’ satisfaction, purchasing behaviour and a company’s benefits in the long-term (Wilkins, Meerilees & Herington, 2007). So as to make the quality of service better,

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it is important to communicate with the customers and analyze the service encountered (Prayuhda & Harsanto, 2014). According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), service quality is determined as the ability of a company to align with or outdo customers’ expectation. It is the gaps between the customer’s expectations of the service and the perceived services. Better quality of service will have a more positive influence on profitability by enhancing the

customer base of a business (Rauch A., & Hatak 2016).

In any economic organization, service quality always plays an essential role for its customers (Brombacher, 2000). Customers are the main persons to defines the quality provided by the firm (Berry & Parasuraman & Zeithaml, & Adsit & Hater& Vanetti & Veale, 1993). So as to provide high quality service to the customers, it is essential for any hotel manager to understand the demand and expectation of the customers (Shi & Su, 2007; Nilssom. Johnson & Gustafsson, 2001) and then provide such programs that can solve the problems encountered by the customers (Narangajavana and Hu, 2008) and provide improvement of the service quality (Chen, 2008). Expectation is said to base on the customers’ demands and perceived values but a company's brand name also plays a vital role (Edvardsson,1997).

Bernazzani (2009) Customer retention is known as the strategy to make your customers stay loyal to your brand or business. A successful customer retention strategy helps to turn one-time shoppers into loyal, repeat buyers that spend more money to purchase more frequently, and introduce their friends more often than other buyers. A customer retention strategy will help to foster the profitability while motivating increasing business that leads to a sustainable long-run business. There are five strategies which you can use to retain your customers and to make them come back in the time to come.

Customer retention is considered to be the future of business growth because it is not enough to attract the attentions with compelling content or to close new customers with great deals. So as to cope with increasingly competitive opponents, firms need to attract and retain their customers by making them more satisfied so that they will refer their friends and and relatives to become brand evangelists.

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In general, service quality is an abstract and elusive concept and therefore difficult to define and measure (Crosby, 1979; Parasuraman et al., 1985). Although up to now, there are many different definitions of service quality, however, the definition of service quality

proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1998) has received consensus of many researchers. Accordingly, service quality is described as an attitude type, related to, but not customer satisfaction, the result of a comparison between customers' expectations about the service type and customer satisfaction. with the customer's perception of a particular service. This is the approach used by Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) to build and develop the SERVQUAL scale including 22 pairs of observed variables that measure customers' perceptions and expectations about service quality. service with five basic components which are: (1) Tangibles; (2) Reliability; (3) Responsiveness; (4) Assurance; and (5) Empathy. However, there are many researchers who have provided empirical evidence indicating that service quality should be best measured based on the performance-only approach. (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Cronin and Taylor, 1992, 1994). From there, Cronin and Taylor (1992, p.58) suggested that "service quality perceived by customers is best conceptualized as an attitude" and proposed the SERVPERF scale to measure. quality instead of the SERVQUAL scale.

A note here is that, although service quality and customer satisfaction are two

relatively close concepts and are often confusedly used by many researchers, between them still exist certain differences as pointed out by Parasuraman et al. (1998) and Rust and Oliver (1994), that is: (1) Service quality is a comprehensive and long-term assessment, while customer satisfaction is the evaluation of a particular service transaction; (2) Service quality lasts longer while customer satisfaction lasts less time; (3) Service quality is often said to have less antecedent concepts than customer satisfaction.

The theoretical review and previous studies on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction are also controversial. Some studies suggest that service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). Meanwhile,

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Some other studies suggest that customer satisfaction is an antecedent of service quality (Bitner, 1990; Bolton and Drew, 1991a, 1991b; Oliver, 1981). The opposite

relationship between these two concepts has also been discovered in a number of studies in the field of library service quality (Cook and Thompson, 2000; Hernon and Altman, 2010). However, one thing that can be concluded here is that although previous studies have shown contradictory results, the relationship between these two concepts is relatively close.

A hotel is said to be a business which provides accommodation services on a short-run basis. The provision of accommodation, in times past, including only a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a withstand has recently been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including clean bathrooms and good air conditioning or fine climate control.

Additional basic features which are found in hotel rooms are now telephones, an alarm clock, a television, a safe, a mini bar with snack foods, some fast foods, drinks, and amenities to make hot tea and coffee. Other features may include bathrobes and slippers, pillows, and jacuzzi bathtubs. In luxury hotels, customers are provided with additional amenities such as swimming pools, fitness centers, business centers, childcare services and even conference rooms.

Hotel rooms are always numbered to help guests to recognize their rooms. Many hotels provide meals and board arrangement. In some countries, hotels are required by laws to serve foods and drinks to all the guests at given stated hours. In Japan, there are capsule hotels providing a minimum room space and the guests have to share the supportive facilities.

Before coming to the concept of service quality, we should find out what service means. So far, in the world, there are many definitions of services, but it can be understood that this is a product of labor, not existing in physical form.

According to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 4 of the Price Law 2012, services are intangible goods, which in the process of production and consumption are inseparable, including services in the system of product industries. Vietnam in accordance with the law.

Service quality is an economic term that managers are interested in. According to ISO, the concept of service quality is the set of characteristics of an object, which give it the ability to satisfy stated or implied requirements.

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Understandably, this is a comparison, feeling, and evaluation of customers about the service expectations of an enterprise. That is, the quality of service is determined by the customer. As the social life is more and more developed, the needs of customers are also becoming more and more diverse. Therefore, service quality also has many levels to best meet different customers.

<b>Characteristics of service quality </b>

From the concept, we can state 4 service quality characteristics as follows:

Firstly, service quality can only be assessed accurately when based on customers after using the service.

Second, service quality depends on the material factors that make up the service. Third, service quality depends on the company's service-providing personnel.

Fourth, service quality requires high consistency with respect to time, place as well as the attitude of all employees in the process of contacting with customers.

<b>The role of service quality </b>

After studying the theory of service quality as well as the characteristics of service quality, it can be seen that this is an extremely important factor that determines the existence of an organization/enterprise in the market. For service industries, hotels or restaurants, service quality is considered as a "command card" to compete in the market as well as create trust in the hearts of customers.

Measuring service quality will benefit the company both qualitatively and quantitatively. If the business achieves a high level of service quality, it will increase customer loyalty. From there, increase market share, return on investment and ensure competitive advantage in the market.

The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is assessed to be close and intimate with each other. Service quality is concerned with the provision of services by the business to the customers. Customer satisfaction is the satisfaction assessed after using the service.

Factors affecting the quality of service will affect customer satisfaction. Therefore, service quality is considered to be the first and decisive factor to customer satisfaction.

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<b>* Customers satisfaction </b>

It can be seen that today a lot of researchers are discussing the topic of total satisfaction. Proposers of above mentioned tend to accentuate the significance of corresponding to specifications, satisfying requirements, providing consumers with the desirable quality of services (Anwar & Abd Zebari, 2015). The thing which is seriously count nowadays is a customer satisfaction. If a client is dissatisfied, he will not come back and will not purchase your service for the second time. All the things which the company does in order to increase service quality can be counted as a zero if the customer left the hotel without being satisfied. Nowadays like never before, fulfilling consumers’ requests remains the greatest challenge (Anwar & Surarchith, 2015).

In the hospitality industry, the consumer is not only the part of the actual consumption process, but moreover often has preset service and quality perspectives. Today’s hospitality industry customer is increasing time poor, more sophisticated and more demanding (Anwar, 2017). Before applying management strategies for service quality improvement, it is essential to comprehend where the clients are originating from and what satisfaction level they are expecting.

According to Anwar, (2016) “satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure or

disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome in relation to his or her expectation”. In the other words, if service quality matches consumer’s expectation, the customer will be satisfied. Nevertheless, in the hospitality industry to meet customer’s expectations is hard enough.

Kotler & Armstrong (2001) discussed the successful modern customer-oriented (Abdulla et al. 2018). It is seen from the chart, customers are at the top; second importance going to front-line staff, who greet, meet, serve and satisfy the consumer; third importance is in the middle management, whose responsibility to support front-line employees, thus they provide expected service quality and last is top management, who should support the middle management (Anwar & Balcioglu, 2016).

In many industries speed has become the most valued and the new competitive advantage. Speed is shortening the product life cycle from years to weeks. Speed is expected in real-time responsiveness, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Speed is

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what the hospitality industry consumer wants. Those who can fulfill are going to win, those who can’t, will be passed by. When a manager knows the real needs of a client that help to focus on a major point for the encounter (Hameed & Anwar, 2018).

Customer satisfaction has been a popular topic in marketing practice and academic research since Cardozo's (1965) initial study of customer effort, expectations and

satisfaction. Despite many attempts to measure and explain customer satisfaction, there still does not appear to be a consensus regarding its definition (Giese and Cote, 2000).

Customer satisfaction is typically defined as a post consumption evaluative judgement concerning a specific product or service (Gundersen, Heide and Olsson, 1996). It is the result of an evaluative process that contrasts prepurchase expectations with perceptions of performance during and after the consumption experience (Oliver, 1980). The most widely accepted conceptualization of the customer satisfaction concept is the expectancy

disconfirmation theory (Barsky, 1992; Oh and Parks, 1997; McQuitty, Finn and Wiley, 2000). The theory was developed by Oliver (1980), who proposed that satisfaction level is a result of the difference between expected and perceived performance. Satisfaction (positive

disconfirmation) occures when product or service is better than expected. On the other hand, a performance worse than expected results with dissatisfaction (negative disconfirmation). Studies show that customer satisfaction may have direct and indirect impact on business results. Anderson et al. (1994), Yeung et al. (2002), and Luo and Homburg (2007) concluded that customer satisfaction positively affects business profitability. The majority of studies have investigated the relationship with customer behaviour patterns (Chi and Qu, 2008; Faullant et al., 2008). According to these findings, customer satisfaction increases customer loyalty, influences repurchase intentions and leads to positive word-of-mouth. Given the vital role of customer satisfaction, it is not surprising that a variety of research has been devoted to investigating the determinants of satisfaction (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003).

Satisfaction can be determined by subjective (e. g. customer needs, emotions) and objective factors (e. g. product and service features). Applying to the hospitality industry, there have been numerous studies that examine attributes that travelers may find important regarding customer satisfaction. Atkinson (1988) found out that cleanliness, security, value for money

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and courtesy of staff determine customer satisfaction. Knutson (1988) revealed that room cleanliness and comfort, convenience of location, prompt service, safety and security, and friendliness of employees are important. Barsky and Labagh (1992) stated that employee attitude, location and rooms are likely to influence travelers’ satisfaction. A study conducted by Akan (1995) showed that the main determinants of hotel guest satisfaction are the behaviour of employees, cleanliness and timeliness. Choi and Chu (2001) concluded that staff quality, room qualities and value are the top three hotel factors that determine travelers’ satisfaction.

<b>The concept of customer satisfaction </b>

Satisfaction is the degree to which a person's sensory state begins by comparing the results obtained from a product/service with his or her expectations (Kotler, 2001). Based on perceived service quality, satisfaction can be divided into three levels: - Dissatisfied: when the perceived level of the customer is smaller than expected. - Satisfied: when the

customer's perceived level is equal to the expectation. - Very satisfied: when the customer's perceived level is greater than expected. Perceived service quality is the result of the gap between expected service and perceived service and satisfaction is also a comparison of these two values. When the gap between expected service and perceived service in terms of service quality is narrowed to zero, the customer is considered satisfied. Service quality is the cause (source) of customer satisfaction. There is still no consensus among researchers on the concepts, but most researchers believe that there is a relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Spereng). , 1996; cited by Bui Nguyen Hung and Vo Khanh Toan, 2005). Satisfaction is a function of expectations,

perceived together with the gap between perceived and expected (Oliver, 1980, cited King, 2000). Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that the price of a service can greatly affect the perception of service quality, satisfaction and value (followed by Bui Nguyen Hung and Vo Khanh Toan, 2005) and have been suggested by Bui. Nguyen Hung and Vo Khanh Toan added to the research model of customer satisfaction (in addition to the 5 elements of the SERVQUAL service quality scale) in the topic "Quality of water meter installation services in Ho Chi Minh City". Ho Chi Minh and some solutions”.

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According to Philip Kotler, customer satisfaction is the degree of a person's sensory state resulting from the comparison of the results obtained from consuming a product or service with desired expectations. Expectations are considered as human wishes or expectations, it is derived from personal needs, previous experiences and external

information such as advertising, information from friends, family, in which needs Individual is an element formed from the perception of people wanting to satisfy something such as the need for communication, eating, resting, etc.

According to Zeithaml & Bitner (2000), customer satisfaction is the customer's evaluation of a product or service that has

to their needs and expectations. Kotler (2000), defines Satisfaction as a feeling of satisfaction or disappointment of a person as a result of comparing the actual received product (or outcome) in relation to their expectations”.

Thus, it is conceivable that the feeling of pleasure or possible disappointment arises from the comparison between the actual benefits of the product and their expectations. Whether the customer is satisfied or not after purchase depends on them comparing the actual benefits of the product with their expectations before buying. The concept of product here is understood not only as an ordinary physical object but also includes a service.

This definition clearly shows that satisfaction is the comparison between actual perceived benefits and expectations. If actual benefits are not as expected, customers will be disappointed. If the actual benefits meet the set expectations, the customer will be satisfied. If the actual benefit is higher than the customer's expectation, it will create the phenomenon of higher satisfaction or satisfaction exceeding expectations.

<b>The importance of customer satisfaction </b>

Customer satisfaction surveys provide feedback about the company, its products, customer service, ratings, and customers' intention to return. This type of survey helps businesses perceive customer satisfaction with a product. Customers will also feel encouraged to contribute to the survey when they know businesses value their opinion. Survey of satisfaction of used by the customer for that purpose; foster cooperation while measuring customer satisfaction.

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The operating motto of businesses is to satisfy the needs of customers because customers are the source of revenue and profit of the business. When customers are satisfied with the goods and service quality of the business, the likelihood of re-buying the product will be very high. On the other hand, when the satisfaction is over, they will tend to recommend and talk well about the product to others and vice versa.

Customer satisfaction has become an important factor to create a competitive advantage for businesses. The current motto of businesses is to satisfy the needs of customers or in other words make customers satisfied with the quality of their services because customers are the source of revenue and profit of the business. . When customers are satisfied with the company's products or services, they are more likely to buy again. Furthermore, when they are satisfied, they tend to talk well about the company's services to other customers. Consumer satisfaction with a service is a feeling towards a service

business based on each contact or transaction with that company (Bitner & Hubbert, 1994).

<b>The relationship between satisfaction and service quality </b>

Service quality and satisfaction are two different concepts but closely related in service research (Parasuraman et al. 1988). Previous studies have shown that service quality is the cause of satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Spreng and Taylor, 1996). The reason is that service quality is related to service delivery, while satisfaction can only be assessed after the service has been used. Customer satisfaction as an outcome, service quality as a cause, satisfaction is predictive and expected; Service quality is an ideal standard. Customer satisfaction is a general concept, expressing their satisfaction when consuming a service. Meanwhile, service quality focuses only on specific components of the service (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000). Although there is a relationship between service quality and satisfaction, there are few studies focusing on testing the explanatory level of service quality components for satisfaction, especially for each service quality. specific service industries (Lassar et al., 2000). Cronin and Taylor tested this relationship and concluded that perceived service quality leads to customer satisfaction. Studies have concluded that service quality is an antecedent of satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Spereng, 1996) and a major factor affecting satisfaction (Ruyter, Bloemer, 1997).

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