Evolving Impacts of Attribute Performance on Customer Satisfaction across the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Case Study in Hospitality

Abstract

Previous literature has widely reported that the impact of service performance on customer satisfaction (CS) is asymmetrical. However, little is known about how the asymmetry of a service attribute changes at different usages. The tourism industry is highly vulnerable to pandemics. Numerous pieces of evidence show that customers' expectations of hospitality services have varied since the outbreak of COVID-19. It is reasonable to suppose that the asymmetry of a service attribute impacting CS evolves across pandemics. Based on scrutinizing 521,030 hotel reviews, this study investigates the differences in customer expectations and perceptions towards hospitality services before, within, and after the COVID-19 pandemic and uncovers the evolution of the impact mechanism of service performance on CS across time series. This study broadens existing asymmetry literature from a novel evolving perspective; the findings can help guide hoteliers in adjusting their service priorities according to the trend of pandemics.