Service quality and theme parks in the uae: relationship between service quality, delight and loyalty from an islamic perspective

Abstract

Service quality in theme parks may affect cost, profits, and customer satisfaction, delight, retention and loyalty. The marketing literature suggests that service quality is influenced by customers‘ cultural background. This suggests that service quality from an Islamic cultural perspective is a multi-dimensional construct, covering both general service quality (e.g. physical environment, access, employee interaction) and Islamic service quality (e.g. Islamic facilities, Halal food). There is limited research on service quality from an Islamic perspective, especially its relationship with customer delight and customer loyalty in theme parks, or the moderating effect of demographic characteristics (e.g. nationality, gender) on the relationship between customer delight and customer loyalty. This study therefore aimed to fill that gap. A conceptual model integrating service quality dimensions, delight and loyalty was used as a framework for analysis. The measurement of perceived service quality was developed from the literature. A survey was conducted among visitors to theme parks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to investigate the proposed hypotheses. In total, 506 questionnaires were suitable for the data analysis including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM) and multigroup analysis. The study found that ―physical environment quality‖, ―Islamic facilities quality‖, ―employee interaction quality‖, and ―access quality‖ all affected vi customer delight in theme parks in the United Arab Emirates. However, consumables quality had no relationship with customer delight. There was also a significant relationship between customer delight and customer loyalty. The relationship between customer delight and loyalty was fully moderated by the nationality of respondents, but not gender. This study adds to the current knowledge on perceived service quality in terms of the significant effect of Islamic dimensions. It shows that service quality is based on integrated dimensions that are responsive to culture and religion. It has also established a framework for the interrelationships among general and Islamic service quality dimensions, customer delight and customer loyalty, and tested it in the context of theme parks in the United Arab Emirates. It also demonstrates that nationality, but not gender, plays a role in the relationship between customer delight and customer loyalty. This study will help managers of theme parks to develop a market-oriented service strategy to improve service and customer delight, and therefore increase customer loyalty