The voice of tourists with disabilities: Insights from third party complaint websites
Abstract
This present study aims to focus on travelers with disabilities through the presentation of service failure and recovery employed by hospitality and tourism firms. The extensive literature review indicated the lack of, but need for, a better understanding of this unexplored segment. This study analyzed the service failures in the market of disabled travelers based on the three dimensions developed by Bitner, Booms and Tetreault (1990) and reviewed the types of recovery received by them, using general classifications such as types of disabilities, industry sectors, travel party, complaint channels, and response channel. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed utilizing a Critical Incident Technique, and 316 service failure incidents from online third party complaint and review websites were identified. Differences in industry sector, complaint setting, types of disabilities and types of recovery received were investigated through comparison of service failure themes within the three dimensions using correspondence analysis. The critical service failure incidents of disabled travelers were divided into service delivery failure, unfulfilled special needs and requests and unsolicited employee actions. Service failures made by a service delivery system constituted the highest complaint frequency, and those caused by unfulfilled special needs and requests had the lowest proportion of identified complaints. Significant differences were found among three dimensions, including industry sectors, complaint settings and types of recovery received by disabled travelers. This study is theoretically and managerially meaningful to the hospitality and tourism industry, since this study serves as an exploratory step to understand the quality of service provided for individuals with disabilities. Insights related to travel services and products for the disabled will enable industry practitioners to cater to the needs and desires of this market segment, thus linking industry practices with disabled travelers’ preferences and resulting in higher satisfaction and retention. Limitations, recommendations and implications for future research directions are also discussed.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Lehto, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Marketing|Mass communications|Recreation
Off-Campus Purdue Users:
To access this dissertation, please log in to our
proxy server.