The effect of service performance and ski resort image on skiers' satisfaction

Abstract

Most ski resort managers make use of techniques to monitor customer satisfaction with their services. This aspect is a major concern for management. This paper defines ski resort services as those that offer the consumer the opportunity to take part in ski (e.g., quality of the snow, ski lifts velocity) and non-ski activities. This study examined how ski resort image, and ski and non-ski service attributes affect customer satisfaction. Skiers (N = 1448) responded to a questionnaire in order to measure the above variables. Using structural equation modelling, these relationships were examined. We hypothesized that ski resort image influence consumer satisfaction more than functional attributes. Several models were tested. The final model's goodness-of-fit summary revealed an adequate fit of the model to the data (Satorra-Bonnet Chi-square = 1377.65 [577 df], CFI = .95, GFI = .94, RMSEA = .03). The results indicate that ski resort image, and ski and non-ski attributes are predictive of consumer satisfaction. A well positioned ski resort image will increase consumer satisfaction more than a high assessment on ski attributes. These results correspond with the experiential model and contradict the rational consumer satisfaction model. Consequently quality management needs to focus both on image and functional attributes.

The Intention-to-Repurchase Paradox: A Case of the Health and Fitness Industry

“…In a sport context, the influence of brand image on satisfaction has been investigated in the ski industry by Ferrand and Vecchiatini (2002) who stressed that the corporate image of a ski resort has a direct positive effect on skiers' overall satisfaction. This direct effect was confirmed in a study by Beccarini and Ferrand (2006) of soccer club season ticket holders.…”

“…The concept of brand has attracted a great deal of interest from researchers who have focused on the associations that make up a brand (Gladden & Funk, 2002;Ross, James, & Vargas, 2006), the image these attributes create (Beccarini & Ferrand, 2006;Ferrand & Vecchiatini, 2002), and the value that this adds to the organization, known as brand equity (Gladden, Milne, & Sutton, 1998;Ross, 2006). Keller (1993) has argued that brand associations are informational nodes that contain the meaning of the brand for consumers and have been identified as being critical in building strong brands (Chen, 2001;Ross, 2006).…”

The role of emotions on consumers' satisfaction within the fitness context

“…Achieving consumer satisfaction is a pivotal issue for sport organizations providing fitness-related services (Alexandris, Zahariadis, Tsorbatzoudis, & Grouios, 2004;Bodet, 2006;Ferrand, Robinson, & Valette-Florence, 2010;Theodorakis, Alexandris, Rodriguez, & Sarmento, 2004), given that satisfied consumers tend to repeat the consumption experience, which have a subsequent positive impact on the economic profits of an organization (Cronin, Brady, & Hult, 2000;Ferrand, & Vecchiatini, 2002;Yoshida & James, 2010). Cronin and Taylor (1992) refer to satisfaction as the consumer experience emerging as a reaction of the service encounters.…”

Emotions' Impact On Tourists' Satisfaction with Ski Resorts: The Mediating Role of Perceived Value

“…As such, winter sports tourism is a strong contributor to growth and economic activity in many mountain regions worldwide (Tsiotsou, 2006;Tuppen, 2000) and has received important attention in the literature. More precisely, during the last two decades, researchers have investigated issues such as the importance of customers' characteristics (Matzler et al, 2007 and segmentation Konu et al, 2011), destinations' positioning (Faullant et al, 2008;Sainaghi, 2008) and competitiveness (Hudson et al, 2004), service quality (Barlas et al, 2010;Hudson and Shephard, 1998), as well as customers' preferences (Siomkos et al, 2006), satisfaction (Ferrand andVecchiatini, 2002, Matzler et al, 2008) and loyalty (Alexandris et al, 2006;Clark and Maher, 2007). However, very little is known about customers' emotions linked to an experience at a winter sports resort and their role in driving customers' post-consumption evaluation of their experience.…”