Factors influencing decisions to patronize spas among foreign business visitors and foreign tourists in the Samui district of Suratthani, Thailand | |
| Author | Waritsara Somkeatkun |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.SM-16-12 |
| Subject(s) | Customer services--Management Consumer behavior |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | This thesis examines factors influencing the behavior of foreign customers who use spa services on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand. Specifically, it considers the relationship between customer expectations and the fulfillment of those expectations within two foreign visitor target groups – foreign business visitors and foreign tourists -- as a way of gauging the performance of spas on Koh Samui. By using Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), a research tool for discerning performance attributes within an organization or population, results from both questionnaires and interviews support the contention that the spa industry on the island needs to improve in a number of crucial ways, and stakeholders tasked with developing the industry are well-advised to consider the expectations of both groups rather than treating the two as homogenous. The results of this study showed the needs of users of the two groups were different. Foreign tourists had no attribute categorized in the Possible Overkill quadrant, which implies that spa service selection factors were of low importance and users have found availability at a satisfactory level whereas foreign business visitors had three factors that fall in this quadrant. Foreign business visitors and foreign tourists had a lower mean of performance than importance in all the attributes. In this research, the researcher found gaps between the business visitors’ and the tourists’ expectations and the business visitors’ and tourists’ perceptions in the factors; these gaps before and after use of the spa service were different. The arising implications for spa owners are discussed alongside the need for future research and development in this rapidly growing and highly competitive field of international tourism. |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Doctor of Philosophy in Management (Publication code = SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Winai Wongsurawat |
| Examination Committee(s) | Badir, Yuosre;Vimolwan Yukongdi;Soparth Pongquan; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Suratthani Rajabhat University; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 |