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Measuring the Service Quality of Serviced Apartments in Bangkok Using International Tourists’ Perceptions
Suree Khemthong
Assistant Professor (Ph.D.) School of Management Science, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand
Arthit Waitayaphat Resident Manager
Centre Point Hotel and Residence, Wireless Road, Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract The paper aims to investigate the factors that measure different service quality levels between Asian and Western tourists during their stays in the serviced apartments in Bangkok by using data collected from a sample of 148 international tourists. Descriptive statistics, t-test and a multiple regression were employed to analyse the data. The results indicate that there are four factors of service marketing mix factors affecting the service quality including 1) product, 2) price, 3) place, and 4) people. Issues relating to the people play a major role in influencing the development of serviced apartment service quality. Assurance and empathy towards the service quality were the major facilitating factors for customers’ satisfaction to revisit to the serviced apartments. Keywords: Service Quality, Serviced Apartments, International Tourists, Bangkok
1. Introduction From 2009 to 2011, the Bangkok serviced apartment market is facing a difficult with over supply, it is expected that the serviced apartment units will have risen by 40% in 2010 (Colliers International Thailand research, 2010). More than 1,300 units are scheduled to be completed in 2010 and about 2,000 units in 2011. Moreover, the Colliers International Thailand research reported that there has been a steady decline in occupancy from 90% in 2005 to 65% in 2010. This can be attributed to the influx of new supply while political uncertainties and global recession have dampened demand from both tourists and expats. In addition, about 4,000 (4- and 5-star hotel) rooms will be added into the hospitality market during 2010-2011, and this will have an impact on the stay part of the serviced apartments. Specifically, the new Thai Hotel Act (May, 2005) has forced the serviced apartments to apply for the new hotel license. In accordance with the new Thai Hotel Act, the serviced apartments that do not apply for a hotel license will be unable to offer short-term rental period less than one month. This will affect serviced apartments with mainly short-stay clients much more than those operators with mainly long-stay clients (Khemthong, 2008). With the rapid increase in the number of supply and indirect competitors, especially new hotels, the serviced apartment marketers will be quick to adjust to rapidly changing market conditions, and attempt to seek the proactive market strategies to gain competitive advantages and enhance customer appeal. In a highly competitive world, the serviced apartment needs to focus sharply on the service quality from the perspective of the customer. However, a review of the published literatures shows that most service quality studies conducted in the hotel industry. Therefore, there would appear to be an urgent need for research that takes account of customer perceptions on the service quality in the serviced apartment industry. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the perceived of service quality and satisfaction levels from the customers’ perspective, in terms of Asian and Western tourists during their stays in the serviced apartments in Bangkok. 2. Literature Review
In this section recent literature regarding the potential of the serviced apartment market sector is outlined. Previous research on the service marketing mix influencing the service quality and customers’ satisfaction is reviewed. Finally, a conceptual model and research hypotheses are proposed. 2.1 The Serviced Apartment Concept
Many people still try to put hotels and serviced apartments in the same box, but in fact the two forms of accommodation cater for very different requirements. According to Joseph (2005), serviced apartments, by definition, are able to offer considerably more space than a standard hotel room. Most travellers appreciate the comfort and convenience of having separate living and bedroom areas as it approximates the home environment more than a hotel bed-room. Moreover, the main point of difference in physical product is the inclusion of full kitchen and laundry facilities provided in most serviced apartments. Specifically, particularly in the case of two
bed-room/two bathroom apartments, it is likely to prove a cheaper option for two colleagues sharing than two separate hotel rooms without overly compromising personal space and privacy. Layton (2006) mentioned that a serviced apartment offers services include weekly maid service, airport pick up and staff available 24 hours a day. The service apartment provides a flat screen TV, Sky package, DVD, discounted international phone calls, free wireless broadband and welcome pack. In contrast, the hotel provides services include 24 hour room service, daily housekeeping, evening turn down, cable and satellite TV, pay to view movies and games to hire, and pay to use in-room wired high speed Internet. There are two restaurants, the formal Pearls restaurant and bar and the less formal lounge. From these prior studies, several attributes were identified as important in the differences between the serviced apartment and hotel. These consist of length of stay, facilities, room amenities, space and cost. Table 1 illustrates the different attributes of the serviced apartment and hotel. Table 1: Comparison of attributes in the Serviced Apartment and Hotel
Attributes Serviced Apartment Hotel Length of Stays Short and long term stays Mostly short term stays Facilities 1 or 2 restaurants 2 or more than 2 restaurants Room Amenities Full kitchen and laundry provided No kitchen and laundry Space More space Less Cost Cheaper Expensive (Source: Khemthong, 2008) As a result, the serviced apartment can be defined as a home away from home and designed to make any period of time away as comfortable and homely as possible (Khemthong, 2008). As such, most of serviced apartments will provide fully services and have been mainly associated with long stay guests and families. In this paper, the serviced apartments can be defined as furnished properties with bathrooms, living rooms, fully-fitted kitchens and bedrooms. Most have daily maid services and nearly all have a 24-hour concierge and provide in house maintenance. They are designed for the individual and their family who want high quality living in short, medium and long term stays, which choice of rooms ranging from studio apartments to large 2 or 4-bedroom deluxe penthouses. In addition, serviced apartments are ideal for people who enjoy catering for themselves and their own space (Khemthong, 2008). 2.2 Relationship between Service Marketing Mix and the Service Quality The marketing concept is the key to achieving organizational goals and determining the needs and wants of target markets, and developing products and services to fill these needs and wants by using marketing strategy tools, namely the marketing mix. The marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market (Kotler, 2010, p. 70). The marketing mix was originally developed by Professor Neil Borden of Harvard in what has come to be known as the four Ps as product, price, place, and promotion (Shoemaker and Shaw, 2008, p. 58). The four Ps were mainly developed for the marketing of goods. The general concepts of services, as opposed to goods, is that rather than the good being taken to the customer, the customer must come to the services. The marketing of hospitality services is different from the marketing of goods and therefore requires a different approach to the marketing mix. To
show the difference between goods and services, the term service marketing mix has been used in the hospitality marketing. In hospitality organizations, the elements of the service marketing mix includes the product/service mix, the pricing mix, the distribution (placement) mix, the promotion mix, the people mix, the process mix, and the presentation (physical evidence) mix. An explanation for each of these dimensions follows in Table 2. Table 2: Dimensions of Service Marketing Mix Product/service mix
refers to the combination of products and services, whether for free or for sale, that are aimed at the needs of the target market.
Pricing mix refers to the combination of prices that customers pay for products and services. Placement or distribution mix
represents all channels available between the firm and the target market that increase the probability of getting the customer to the product.
Promotion mix includes all communications between the firm and target market that increase the tangibility of the product or service. It also establishes or monitors consumers expectations, builds relationships, or persuades consumers to purchase.
People mix refers to the employees that work in the hospitality organization and how their attitudes, work ethic, and disposition affect the service delivery.
Process mix refers to the activities designed to deliver the desired services to the guest. Physical evidence or presentation mix
represents all of the elements used by the hospitality firm to increase the tangibility of the product/service mix in the perception of the target market.
Source: Shoemaker and Shaw (2008, p. 58-59) Based on analysis of the service marketing mix literature, all of the elements of the marketing mix directly affect the customers, and the service marketing is the responsibility of everyone within the organisation. Previous studies on service quality have indicated that there is a positive relationship between service marketing mix and service quality. For example, Bitner (1991) mentioned that marketing mix elements are entering the service encounter process by directly influencing three components: 1) expectation, 2) perceived performance, and 3) attributions, as shown in the model of service encounter evaluation (figure 1). This means that traditional ways of marketing products need to be refined to meet the needs of a service industry that is striving for increased brand loyalty and market share through the delivery of high-quality products and services.
Figure 1: Model of Service Encounter Evaluation Source: Bitner (1991, p. 28) The focus of model of service encounter evaluation proposed by Bitner (1991) is to conceptualise the role of marketing mix variables including product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence as an organizational tool in determining and managing customers’ satisfaction and perceived service quality. The model has illustrated that elements of the service marketing mix clearly influence service encounter satisfaction, and perceived service quality. The perceived service quality is viewed as equivalent to a general post-purchase attitude (Parasuraman et al., 1988).
Thus, a conceptual framework of this study was developed by utilizing the service marketing
mix level in terms of product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence in determining the service quality of serviced apartments (figure 2). 2.3 Service Quality In the hospitality industry, definitions of service quality tend to focus on meeting customers’ needs and requirements and how well the service delivered meets their expectations (Lewis and Booms, 1983). In other words, service quality can be viewed as the outcome of a comparison between expectations of a service and what is perceived to be received (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Parasuraman et al., 1990). Gronroos (1984) classified the service quality into two categories, including technical and functional quality. Technical quality refers to tangible aspects of the service. It describles what is delivered to the customers or what core product features customers receive in the service encounter. Functional quality refers to the intangible aspects of the service. It describes how the service is delivered. Gunderson et al. (1996) argued that a customer’s experience is a product of both tangible and intangible aspects, whereas Crompton and Mackay (1989) saw service quality as being concerned with the attributes of the service itself, and how those attributes developed positive perceptions of the service. A number of researchers have applied the SERVQUAL model to measure service quality in the hospitality industry, with modified constructs to suit specific hospitality situations (Juwaheer, 2004; Akbaba, 2006; Briggs et al., 2007; Ekinci et al., 2008). In the original SERVQUAL instrument, Parasuraman et al. (1985) define service quality through ten dimensions which they sum up in five in
1988: 1) reliability, 2) assurance, 3) tangible, 4) empathy, and 5) responsiveness. An explanation for each of these dimensions follows in Table 3. Table 3: Dimensions of Service Quality Reliability refers to the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately,
Promises made to an organisation’s promotional efforts can contribute to participant expectations. Consistency of performance at the highest standard is crucial to reliability.
Assurance indicates courteous and knowledgeable employees who convey trust and confidence. Assurance contains elements of the organisation’s credibility, competence and security.
Tangibles represent the physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel and presence of users. Tangibles can create an atmosphere. The tangible aspect of a service is one of the few dimensions that a potential service patron can know and evaluate in advance of participation.
Empathy includes caring and individual attention to users. Empathy expresses an understanding of the participants’ needs.
Responsiveness is the willingness to help participants and provide prompt attention. Hotel patrons expect their requests to be handled quickly and organisation’s credibility, competence and security.
Source: Parasuraman et al. (1988) In this study, the proposed conceptual framework (figure 2) incorporates five dimensions: 1) reliability, 2) assurance, 3) tangible, 4) empathy, and 5) responsiveness. 2.4 Customer Satisfaction According to Czepiel et al. (1985), customer satisfaction is a multidimensional concept that is an important variable in consumer behavior. Although there is broad consensus that service quality and customer satisfaction are different constructs, both service quality and customer satisfaction are important in the evaluation of service quality in organizations striving for success in a competitive environment. Service quality is an overall evaluation of the destination, and satisfaction is concerned with the overall evaluation of the experience at the destination (Tian-Cole & Crompton, 2003). Measuring customer satisfaction is an integral part of the effort to improve a product or service quality, resulting in a company’s competitive advantages. It is widely accepted that the accommodation sector depends to great extent on return business and word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers (Cooper et al., 1996; Pearce, 1998; Weaver and Oppermann, 2000). This review suggests that, customer satisfaction potentially leads to purchase repetition and favourable word-of-mouth publicity, and become the focus of this study (see figure 2). 2.5 A Conceptual Model of Measuring the Service Quality of Serviced Apartments in Bangkok
using International Tourists’ Perceptions For this study, the proposed conceptual model was developed incorporating key variables derived from a review of the research literature on service marketing mix, service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Thus, the proposed conceptual model incorporates
three key groups of factors: service marketing mix, service quality and customer satisfaction, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Measuring the Service Quality of Serviced Apartments in Bangkok using International Tourists’ Perceptions
2.6 Research Hypotheses Based on the literature review above, it can be concluded that there is a relationship among service marketing mix, service quality and customer satisfaction. Therefore, the proposed conceptual model, as shown in figure 2, provides the foundation for investigation of the following hypotheses in this study.
H1: There is a difference between Asian and Western travellers’ in evaluation of service marketing mix elements, identification of service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction of these determinants.
H2: There is a positive relationship between service marketing mix and the service quality of serviced apartments.
H3: There is a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. 3. Methods The Instrument The quantitative survey, which was selected as the main method of data collection for this study, was conducted in February 2010. The data collection comprises of a four-part self administered questionnaire in English version. The first part captures the demographic profile of respondents. The second part measures customers’ perceptions of service marketing mix elements. The third part of the questionnaire assess customers’ perceptions of service quality of serviced apartments of their stays, while the fourth part ascertains the overall level of satisfaction with the level of service quality experienced in the serviced apartment.
Service Marketing Mix x Product x Price x Place x Promotion x People x Process x Physical evidences
Service Quality x Reliability x Assurance x Tangibles x Empathy xResponsiveness
Customer Satisfaction x Purchase repetition x Word-of-mouth
The questions in the survey questionnaire were designed with a closed format. Dichotomous scales and categorical scales were used for the questions regarding respondents’ characteristics. For questions regarding service marketing mix, service quality, and customer satisfaction a Likert rating scale was used. Respondents were asked to rate the extent of their agreement or disagreement with the statements on a five-point Likert rating scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neither disagree nor agree, 4 = agree to 5 = strongly agree. In order to ensure that the instruments developed for this study were precise and accurate measurement, it was necessary to assess the goodness of measures. A pilot study was conducted in November 2009 with 20 respondents who were guests in serviced apartments in Bangkok. The results of the pilot test provided valuable information and the instrument was amended accordingly. The Sample Serviced apartments selected for this study were serviced apartments that were located in the central of Bangkok, were classified as a five star serviced apartment, were identified by the Executive Serviced Apartment Alliance Meeting (EXSAM) Group (2009), and agreed to participate with the study, there was a total of 17 serviced apartments. The sample of serviced apartments for this study was selected by their permission for a customer survey. After sending the 17 request letters to the serviced apartment managers, there were four serviced apartments had granted participation in the study. The target population were international tourists, who stayed in the specific four selected serviced apartments in Bangkok, at least 2 days during February, 2010. International tourists of this study refer to Asian travellers and Western travellers. Asian travellers are tourists who come from East Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and Central Asia, whereas others are referred to as Western travellers. The number of population was identified using customer occupancy database of each serviced apartment of each month during January to June, 2009. There was a total population of 920 international tourists in the four selected serviced apartments. For this study, the techniques of sample selection were modified from the work of Yamane (1967), which produced a total sample of international tourists for this study of 280 tourists. Thus, a total of 280 questionnaires were distributed to the serviced apartment customers with a personally addressed letter requesting customer participation. Then the researcher applied the method of convenience sampling to invite volunteer customers who stayed in the specific four serviced apartments to participate the questionnaire survey. The customers received the questionnaire when they went to the reception for checking-out. In total, 148 questionnaires were found to be usable in the study, providing a response rate of 52.8 percent. Cavana et al. (2001) mentioned that a 30 percent response rate for mail questionnaires is considered acceptable. Data Analysis
Data from the questionnaire survey were analysed by utilizing the Statistical Package for Social Science Version 15.0. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was selected as appropriate statistical tests for assessing the reliability of the survey questionnaire. The values for the Cronbach alpha coefficients ranged from 0.71 to 0.91, and were considered to be acceptable for this study (Sekaran, 2003). To obtain the primary information regarding the profile of the serviced apartment customers, descriptive statistics including frequency distributions and percentages were used to describe the data.
For this study, the t-tests were used to determine where the differences lie to compare the
mean scores between two groups of customers including Asian and Western travellers in the view of
service marketing mix, identification of service quality dimensions, and level of customer satisfaction. Specifically, the t-tests were used to test hypotheses H1. A multiple regression analysis was used to identify the relative importance of the factors in predicting the overall customer satisfaction with the service quality provided by the serviced apartments. In addition, the multiple regression analysis was chosen to test hypotheses H2 and H3. 4. Findings
The study findings are presented in the following order: 1) profile of the serviced apartment customers, 2) comparison of service marketing mix elements, service quality, and overall customer satisfaction between Asian and Western travellers’ perceptions, 3) test of hypotheses H2 to H3. Profile of the Serviced Apartment Customers As can be seen from Table 4, more than half of respondents (53.1%) were of Asian origin, and nearly three-quarters (73.4%) were male. The highest proportion of the respondents (32.8%) fell into the 25-35 year group, followed by the 36-45 year group (23.4%). Most of the respondents were married (63.3%). More than half (55.5%) of the respondents stated that they were in the private company. The majority of respondents had graduated Bachelor’s Degree (60.9%). 56.2% were on business trip, and most of respondents reported that they stayed less than 1 month (74.2%). Table 4: Profiles of Respondents
N = 148 Respondent Characteristics
Categories Frequency Percent
Asian Western
79 69
53.1 46.9
Origin
Total 148 100.0Male Female
109 39
73.4 26.6
Gender
Total 148 100Less than 25 years 25-35 years 36-45 years 46-55 years More than 56 years
5 49 35 31 28
3.10 32.8 23.421.1 19.5
Age
Total 148 100.0Single Married Others
52 94
2
35.2 63.3
1.6
Marital Status
Total 148 100.0Government Official Private Company Employee State Enterprise Official Self-Employed Others
10 83
8 25 22
7.0 55.5
5.5 17.2 14.8
Occupation
Total 148 100.0Lower degree than Bachelor Bachelor’s Degree Higher degree than Bachelor
Table 4: Profiles of Respondents (Cont) Respondent
Characteristics Categories N = 148
Less than 1 month 1-5 months More than 5 months
110 16 22
74.2 10.9 14.8
Length of stay
Total 148 100.0Business Leisure
Both business and leisure
83 38 27
56.2 25.8 18.0
Purpose of stay
Total 148 100.0 Comparison between Asian and Western travellers’ perceptions Table 5 lists the mean scores on the perceptions scales of Asian and Western travellers for each of service marketing mix elements, service quality, and customer satisfaction attributes. The independent t-test was used to test the significant mean difference between Asian and Western travellers’ perceptions of service marketing mix elements, service quality, and customer satisfaction. From Table 5, the results show that both Asian and Western travellers had high positive overall satisfaction levels, and high scores in service quality and service marketing mix. A comparison of the overall mean perception scores of service marketing mix elements, service quality, and customer satisfaction indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between Asian and Western travellers. Therefore, we did not find support for H1.
Table 5: Comparison between Asian and Western travellers’ perceptions Customers’ perceptions Asian
Mean (SD) Western
Mean (SD) t-value Sig
Service Marketing Mix elements 1. Product 2. Price 3. Place 4. Promotion 5. People 6. Process 7. Physical evidence
Tests of hypotheses H2 Table 6 shows the results of regression analysis in which the seven marketing mix factors used as independent variables and overall service quality measure as dependent variable. Table 6: Results of regression analysis, overall service quality against the service marketing mix Hypothesis Relationship Beta t-value Sig
H2 Product Service quality Price Service quality Place Service quality Promotion Service quality People Service quality Process Service quality Physical evidence Service quality
0.26 0.14 0.14 0.12 0.38 0.05 0.12
3.98*
1.98*
2.04* 1.59 4.85*
0.65 1.62
0.00 0.05 0.04 0.09 0.00 0.51 0.10
(R2 = 0.652 , F = 34.99, Sig. = .000) Dependent variable: Overall Service Quality *Significant at p < 0.05 level
According to the results of regression analysis shown in Table 6, the service marketing mix factors explained 65% of the variance in the evaluation of overall service quality, which was significant as indicated by the F-value. The significance values of four factors including product, price, place, and people were less than the significant level of 0.05. The results indicated that the four service marketing mix factors positively affected the respondents’ overall evaluation of service quality. An examination of t-values for the four factors indicated that the most important factor in predicting guests’ overall service quality evaluation was people, followed by product, and support H2. It appears that a business serviced apartment should make more efforts to improve its service quality along these factors. Tests of hypotheses H3 Table 7 shows the results of regression analysis in which the five service quality factors used as independent variables and overall customer satisfaction measure as dependent variable. Table 7: Results of regression analysis, overall customer satisfaction against the service quality Hypothesis Relationship Beta t-value Sig
(R2 = 0.547, F = 31.71, Sig = 0.000 ) Dependent variable: Overall Customer Satisfaction *Significant at p < 0.05 level Table 7 shows the results of regression analysis in which the five service quality factors used as independent variables and overall customer satisfaction measure as dependent variable. According to the results of regression analysis shown in Table 7, the five service quality factors explained 54% of the variance in the evaluation of overall customer satisfaction, which was significant as indicated by the F-value. The significance values of two factors including assurance and empathy were less than the significant level of 0.05. The results indicated that the two service quality factors positively affected the respondents’ overall evaluation of customer satisfaction. An examination of t-values for the two factors indicated that the most important factor in predicting guests’ overall customer
satisfaction evaluation was assurance, followed by empathy, and supported H3. It appears that a business serviced apartment should make more efforts to improve customer satisfaction along these two factors. 5. Discussion This study provides new evidence about service quality in the serviced apartment sector in Bangkok. The sector is undergoing fundamental structural change and further standardization of product offerings, while serviced apartment managers are faced with the new Thai Hotel Act (May, 2005), and the challenge of delivering service quality to an increasingly demanding customer base. This study suggests that many serviced apartments in Bangkok are handing these challenges well. The findings of this study indicate that there was no significant difference between Asian and Western travelers in the perceptions of service marketing mix elements, service quality dimensions, and level of customer satisfaction. It was also noticeable that among the service marketing mix elements in the serviced apartment sector, “people” is the most important factor in predicting guests’ service quality evaluation, followed by “product”, “price”, and “place”, in that order. This finding was different from the findings of other studies conducted in the hotel sector. Poon and Low (2005) report that there are significant differences between Asian and Western evaluation of hotel quality, with clear indication that satisfaction levels were higher among Western travellers than the Asian travellers. Asian travellers are more concerned with value for money services, while Western travelers perceive security and safety as major factors. However, our analysis suggests that the service marketing mix in terms of product, price, place and people in influencing the overall service quality in the serviced apartments. To improve marketing strategies, therefore, serviced apartment managers should detect the weak points of services and designing the product quality, setting the fair prices, increasing channel of distribution, and preparing the good services to meet customers’ expectations. Based on the findings of this study, “people or employees” factor was the greatest impact on the overall service quality, and “assurance” was the most influential factor in determining the overall satisfaction level for both Asian and Western travellers and will lead to revisit intention. This reflects the work of Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that management must, “hire the right people” and, “develop people to deliver service quality” in order to provide a customer-oriented service that is reliable and dependable, leading to a customer satisfaction. Hence, to improve the level of service quality, the general manager of serviced apartments has to devote extra efforts for human resources development. The manager should ascertain that all employees are involved in upgrading quality standards, and make them realize that a warm and cordial reception is imperative in their profession. The recruitment, selection, training, and development of employees are important investments for serviced apartment managers, and managers need to be innovative in seeking appropriate employees. In addition, to enhance the employees’ empowerment, including courtesy, helpfulness, language skills, appearance, and check-in/check-out efficiency, the following activities should be implemented: 1) professional training and education, 2) adequate knowledge about the serviced apartment product and service, 3) show interest in self development to provide better service. Moreover, to effectively upgrade employees’ service quality, incentives and reward program must be put in place. In this study, “assurance” was the most important factor in predicting customer satisfaction evaluation. Hence, the serviced apartment needs to comprehend assurance in customer terms and deliver the same. To satisfy the international travellers, employees should both understand customer needs well and solve any conflicts expeditiously. The following activities should be implemented to understand customers’ characteristics and preferences better: 1) be knowledgeable about the
customers’ preferences and 2) try to understand the change of customers’ needs. Activities of employees for conflict resolution include the following: 1) deal with customers’ inquiry and complaints courteously and expeditiously and 2) resolve customers’ inquiry and complaints even though these may not be in employees’ direct responsibilities. In designing this study, efforts were made to minimize its limitation, but some still need to be addressed. The scope of this study was limited by its population frame, which focused on serviced apartments in Bangkok. Future research, therefore, should expand on the present study by using samples of serviced apartments located in other areas or countries with varying environment. Furthermore, this study concentrated on the perspectives of customers. It is acknowledged that this approach does not take full account of the perspectives of other major players in service encounters including serviced apartment managers and employees. 6. Conclusion This study has contributed to the theoretical and methodological advancement of service quality and serviced apartment industry literature by analyzing the factors affecting the service quality in the serviced apartments in Bangkok. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for future research in the hospitality industry for the examination of the phenomenon in other country settings. It concludes that there are four factors of service marketing mix factors affecting the service quality including 1) product, 2) price, 3) place, and 4) people. Issues relating to the people play a major role in influencing the development of serviced apartment service quality. Assurance and empathy towards the service quality were the major facilitating factors for customers’ satisfaction to revisit to the serviced apartments. 7. Bibliography Akbaba, A. (2006). Measuring service quality in the hotel industry: A study in a business hotel in
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