Hotel Service Encounter Interactive Quality Control Study

As we entered the 21~st century, China's hospitality industry is facing a competition which is more extensive and fiercer than ever before. In order to remain competitive, many scholars and experts as well as entrepreneurs have been searching for the right way to foster and upgrade hotel competitive advantages. Service quality has become one of the important research areas, and the importance of service encounter, the stage on which service quality and customer satisfaction are realized, is recognized by all researchers.On the basis of literature review of service encounter and hospitality service quality, this thesis begins with the design of a three dimension service encounter model and discusses the effect of service encounter on the quality of interaction by analyzing the relationship among service personnel, service environment, and other customers. This thesis compares service encounters found in three hotel departments: the front office, guest room, and dining room service, which are divided based on different degrees of personal encounter and service complexity with a focus on the effect of different encounter processes on interactive quality as well as the relationship among customer characteristics, factors of service encounter, and the quality of interaction.Research data and information are obtained through interview and customer questionnaire. SPSS11.5 is applied for validating the research model and hypotheses. Research findings indicate that hotel service quality is determined by service encounter, customer will have different perception for different service encounter processes, and in the service encounter process the attitude and skill of service personnel is most important. As the degree of service encounter rises, customers are more demanding with service personnel and tend to be influenced by other customers to a greater extent. Customers will attach more importance to service environment when service becomes complicated.Suggestions for improving the quality of interaction are put forward in the thesis such as design of service blueprint, control of critical encounter point, improvement of service ability, dynamic quality control system, and management of customer compatible behavior.