Research On Relationships Among Perceived Service Quality, Satisfaction And Behavioral Intention Of Exhibition Visitors

In recent years, with the rapid development of the convention and exhibition industry, the social and economic benefit brought by exhibition industry is becoming more and more prominent. Statistic data show that the exhibition industry in China develops rapidly with the annual growth of20%-25%. Driving the development of catering, accommodation, transport industry, tourism, real estate and other related industries,the exhibition industry has become a great impetus to the Chinese economic development. Various professional and comprehensive exhibitions have promoted the information communication, technical exchanges, trade and cultural transmission between China and other countries, which has greatly enhanced the international status of China.Accompanied by the rapid development of exhibition industry is the fierce competition in the exhibition business. In the era of service economy, the concerns of consumers has transferred from products to services. In order to occupy a greater share of the market, more and more exhibition enterprises start paying attention to the service quality management, which will improve the competitiveness of enterprises and promote corporate sustainable development. The service quality of the exhibition industry has aroused extensive attention in tourism academics.Firstly, this paper reviewed related literatures on exhibition service, dimensions of the perceived service quality, consumer satisfaction, behavioral intention and their relationships. Then by reading literature on this topic, this study identified research opportunities.Secondly, this study established a conceptual framework on the relationship among the perceived service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention of visitors, and set up the hypothesises on the relationships of key variables:the perceived quality of visitors on service environment, service facilities, service reliability and service personnel have positive impacts on their satisfaction and behavioral intention; visitors’satisfaction has positive impact on behavioral intentions. Then this study made the empirical test research on the hypothesises by choosing the visitors of the2011China Tourism Industries Festival as questionnaires. By Pathe Analysis, it is found that the relationships among all the variables are positive and the null hypothesises are accepted.At last, this study made several suggestions to enhance the quality of the exhibition services, including:improving the service environment of pavilion; perfecting exhibition facilities; increasing the reliability of exhibition services; improving the professionalism of the service personnel; establishing the service quality controlling system and implementing the people-oriented corporate culture. Finally, the author analysed the limitations and shortcomings of the study and proposed the further research directions.