AbstractToday’s competitive environment in recreation and amusement parks industry adds extra barriers to achieve non-switching behaviour of visitors. The existence of high level of customer satisfaction, customer perceived value and customer relationship management enhance the relationship of customer with the park which strongly boost up the overall performance of the Amusement Park. The focus of this research is to examine the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and customer switching behaviour. The study was undertaken to measure the impact of satisfaction on dependent variables thereby to determine the factors that discourage the customer switching behaviour in service sector in general and recreation and amusement parks industry in particular. Currently, limited research exists on relationship of these variables, especially on amusement parks but a very few on parks in Bangalore. The research design is based on quantitative research thus the data was collected using convenience sampling technique through the questionnaire designed by incorporating various items from the literature review. Five Point Likert’s Scale was employed to collect the primary data and SPSS was used to analyse and compute the results.
Convenience sampling method was used in order to gather data. 1. IntroductionCustomer satisfaction has turned into a business word for associations that look for qualification and perfection from others. Customer satisfaction has been increasingly expanding in consideration from the specialists and experts as a perceived field of academic investigation and is a major device utilized by money-related establishments for upgrading customer loyalty and eventually authoritative execution and benefit. The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has so far pulled in abundant exchanges, considerations and talks in principle and routine with regards to showcasing: Most of this dialogue perceived a huge connection between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and customer switching behaviour. Customer satisfaction is significant to comprehend the loyalty and customer switching behaviour and to keep the client in place with the recreation centre (Avinash B N & Vidyavathi K, 2017).
The reason for this examination is to build up an all-encompassing exploration structure for researching the dynamic connection between three measurements of business achievement – customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer switching behaviour.2. Research ProblemIn the marketing area, customer satisfaction, loyalty and switching behaviour are the main issues which companies focus on to be successful. Thus customer satisfaction is a fundamental idea to be estimated for organizations and is basic since it gives basic administrative data, as well as it empowers correspondence with clients.
Legitimate customer satisfaction examine is probably going to create data on benefit properties that are viewed as critical by clients, the relative significance of the characteristics in client basic leadership and how well an association is as of now meeting its client needs. It will be smart for amusement parks to see customer satisfaction will prompt steadfastness and abstains from exchanging. 3.
Significance of the Study Due to its growing market size, and the limited number of players in the focused market, there is an alarming level of rivalry among different players in the amusement parks of Bangalore. This contention has appeared as an extreme rivalry, with amusement parks mercilessly embraced parcel of advancement exercises. Parks endeavour to make customer loyalty by offering continuous rebates on their rides and furthermore by offering shifted rides and alluring plays, however yet this upper hand was immediately dissolved by all parks offering such projects. To introduce it’s substantially less demanding for visitors to look around at the best cost.
In a little size market like Bangalore, this investigation will yield better comprehension of components that prompts customer satisfaction, loyalty and reason for switching. 4. Objectives of the Study The objectives of this research are to investigate the effect of visitor satisfaction on visitor loyalty and visitor switching behaviour of the visitors of the amusement parks in Bangalore.
This study can be very beneficial for amusement parks in Bangalore, since it will provide an in-depth overview on customer satisfaction as well as the loyalty and switching behaviour and how customers think about the satisfaction as a criteria to evaluate the park and decide the future revisit dimension in the recreation industry. 5. Literature ReviewAlthough many research outcomes pointed out that there was a positive and direct connection amongst satisfaction and loyalty, a few analysts propose that the connection amongst satisfaction and loyalty is neither linear not simple (Jones and Sasser, 1995). Accordingly consumer satisfaction isn’t an especially solid marker of customer’s switching behaviour (Stauss and Neuhaus, 1997). Customers who are happy with the service will likewise switch organizations on the off chance that they see that there is a superior option somewhere else. Between 65 % and 85 % of customers who defect say they were satisfied or delighted with their previous organization (Reichheld, 1993). Then again, where there is no other decision, customers will keep obtaining from a similar organization despite the fact that they are disappointed with the service (Tam, 2004).
Since, as Kotler states, there is a distinction between a “satisfied customer” and a “delighted customer” from any item or service. Most likely, the second kind of customers will indicate more loyalty to the organization and re-buy from that point and also tell their constructive encounters and prescribe it to the next individuals around them. 5.
1 Customer Satisfaction As indicated by Caruana, A (2004), satisfaction has been considered as a standout amongst the most critical hypothetical and handy issues for most advertisers and customer specialists amid the most recent four decades. As indicated by Kotler and Keller (2012), satisfaction is “a man’s sentiments of delight or disillusionment coming about because of looking at apparent items’ execution (or result) about his or her desires”. In accordance with Kotler and Keller (2012) characterizes satisfaction as the customer’s emotions in light of assessments of his/her involvement with an item. Perreault and McCarthy (2002) see consumer satisfaction as the degree to which an organization satisfies the requirements, wants and desires of customers.
In the event that the customer’s desires are met, at that point he is satisfied; if the desires are outperformed, at that point he is charmed; however in the event that they are not met, the customer is disappointed (Piccoli and O’Connor, 2003). Consumer satisfaction alludes to how much customers see that they got items and services that are worth more than the value they paid (Jamal, A, 2004).Consumer satisfaction empowers the business to quantify from conduct of customer after they contact with association, for example, diminishing of customer grumble, repurchasing (Tracey, M. A 1996), positive verbal, and increment the volume of buys. As indicated by Kotler and Keller (2012), consumer satisfaction can be estimated by a few strategies. Considering Recreation and entertainment meccas industry and creator’s discourse on consumer satisfaction, this examination will apply the most broadly utilized consumer satisfaction measures on the study: general satisfaction with the gave services, living up to customer’s desires with the gave services (Caruana, 2002; Lam et al., 2004).5.
2 Customer LoyaltyDespite the fact that there is no all around concurred definition, customer loyalty can be characterized as a customer’s engagement with an organization and ability to keep working with a firm forever (Zineldin, 2006). As indicated by Oliver (1999), loyalty is “a profoundly held sense of duty regarding rebuy or re-belittle a favoured item or service later on in spite of situational contrasts and showcasing endeavours having the capacity to cause exchanging conduct”. For the most part in writing loyalty is seen as various develops comprising of three measurements: behavioural, attitudinal and cognitive loyalty. Behavioural loyalty is translated as the kind of customer practices, for example, rehash or persistent buying from a similar provider or the demonstration of suggestion (Yi, 1990). Behavioural was the first and for the most part utilized measurement of loyalty by analysts. Despite the fact that the momentum meaning of dependability incorporates something beyond a behavioural measurement, a few specialists still concentrate just on behavioural measurement of loyalty (Gremler and Brown, 1996). Attitudinal loyalty is portrayed by Fournier and Yao (1994) as various sentiments that make a general connection to an item, service, or association. Behavioural loyalty contends that dependability creates because of a cognizant push to assess contending brands, has prompted the expanded consideration regarding attitudinal loyalty by creators and turned into a crucial loyalty measurement (Gremler and Brown, 1996).
Cognitive loyalty is clarified as the “main decision” of a customer among options or as the principal brand, store or provider that surfaces to customers mind when they settle on a buy choice. As per these three loyalty measurements characterize a dependable customer as the normal customer of one specialist co-op or provider, who has positive emotions toward the association and does not think about utilizing an elective supplier. 5.
3 Customer Switching BehaviourWorldwide rivalry and utilization have conveyed customer centricity to the fore, and any business association clumsy to feel, catch and adjust to the nerves of contemporary patterns will undoubtedly wind up in a hapless position. As put by Hansemark and Albinsson (2004), consumer satisfaction has been accepted to affect the piece of the overall industry and customer maintenance and in this manner, has been dealt with as the essential target of organizations. Zineldin (2000) pointed that expectedly satisfied customers have been esteemed as less value touchy and inclined to exchanging and will probably buy additional and remain loyal. Different examinations researched the straight and also the nonlinear connection between consumer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Agustin and Singh, 2005) and switching conduct.
The concept brand switching behaviour denotes the negative attitude of the customer retention. According to Sprott et al., (2009), it is concluded through several studies that the brand name of a company or a product plays a vital part in consumer decisions behaviour. The experiences felt by the user can be pronounced in various ways but, consumption experience is the most influential (Brakus et al., 2009). Brand experimentation according to Ratchford (2001), forms an essential stimulus for the customers to switch. Dharmmesta (1999), in his study, posited that the marketing stimulation on the consumer would activate consumer cognitive stage, which is known for its highly vulnerable behaviour can lead the customer to switch. These logical conclusions define brand switching as a behavioural pattern of purchase exhibited by the customers, indicates the change in usage of one product to other which is at all times to competitors.
6. Research Hypothesis By the Research Problem and the literature reviewed the following hypothesis are formulated to study the impact of Visitor Satisfaction on Visitor Loyalty and Visitor Switching Behaviour.H1: Visitor Satisfaction has a positive impact on the Visitor Loyalty.H2: Visitor Satisfaction has a negative impact on the Visitor Switching Behaviour.
7. Research Methodology7.1 Population and SampleThis research is a small set of the more significant study to find the factors influencing the visitor switching behaviour of Bangalore amusement park visitors.
The population for this study consisted of all those visitors to the amusement parks in and around Bangalore. For this study, we have chosen convenience sampling to collect the primary data using the questionnaire. There were 150 questionnaires distributed to the visitors of five amusement parks exist in Bangalore, but only 104 fully completed questionnaires were collected with the return rate of approx. 69 percent. 7.2 Data Collection ToolQuestionnaire was used as the tool to collect the data which was prepared with two sections specifically: First section primarily focussed on recording the demographic variables and second section to record the dependent and independent variables like Visitor satisfaction having 5 items adopted from Avinash B N & Vidyavathi K (2017); and Visitor loyalty with 5 items and Visitor switching behaviour consisted of 9 items adopted from Avinash B N & Vidyavathi K ( 2017). 8. Analysis and interpretation The data was collected during the months of November 2017 and December 2017 from the visitors of five Bangalore amusement parks.
The data so collected was analysed using SPSS through quantitative and qualitative techniques. The correlation method is employed to measure the impact of Visitor satisfaction on Visitor Loyalty and Visitor switching behaviour.8.1 Demographic VariablesThe following table depicts the demographic variables of the respondents 8.2 Reliability Test Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted VSAT 7.1890 3.
281 .900 .987 VLOY 6.9929 3.116 .930 .966 VSB 7.0577 2.
990 .991 .921 The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test was carried out to measure the reliability of the constructs by assessing the degree of internal consistency among the items. The alpha coefficient for the whole questionnaire is 0.972, suggesting that the items have a relatively high level of internal consistency. The Cronbach’s coefficient was calculated for each variable and the results are shown in the following table.8.3 Correlation TestCorrelation test was carried out to study the relation of Visitor Satisfaction on Visitor Loyalty and Visitor Switching Behaviour the results are tabulated as shown below.
8.3.1 Visitor Satisfaction has a positive impact on the Visitor Loyalty VSAT VLOY VSAT Pearson Correlation 1 .853** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 104 104 VLOY Pearson Correlation .853** 1 Sig.
(2-tailed) .000 N 104 104 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
A Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between the Visitor Satisfaction and Visitor Loyalty. There was a positive correlation between the two variables, r = 0.853, n = 104, p = 0.000. Overall, there was a strong, positive correlation Visitor Satisfaction and Visitor Loyalty. Increases in Visitor Satisfaction were correlated with increases in Visitor Loyalty.8.
3.2 Visitor Satisfaction has a negative impact on the Visitor Switching Behaviour VSAT VSB VSAT Pearson Correlation 1 .935** Sig.
(2-tailed) .000 N 104 104 VSB Pearson Correlation .935** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .
000 N 104 104 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). A Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between the Visitor Satisfaction and Visitor Switching Behaviour.
There was a positive correlation between the two variables, r = 0.853, n = 104, p = 0.000. Overall, there was a strong, positive correlation. Hence accepted the Hypothesis Visitor Satisfaction has a negative impact on the Visitor Switching Behaviour.
Increases in Visitor Satisfaction were correlated with decreases in the intent of Visitor Switching Behaviour.8.4 Regression TestFurther the impact of Visitor Satisfaction on Visitor Loyalty and Visitor Switching Behaviour was tested and confirmed with the Simple Linear Regression analysis. The results of the test are shown in the following section. 8.4.
1 Visitor Satisfaction has a positive impact on the Visitor Loyalty A simple linear regression was carried out to see the visitor satisfaction impact on visitor loyalty. A significant regression equation was found (F(1,102)=272.871,p<.000), with an R2 of 0.
728 so 72.8% of the variation in Visitor Loyalty can be explained by the model containing only Visitor Satisfaction. It confirmed that there exists a positive impact of Visitor Satisfaction on the Visitor Loyalty and the same was confirmed with a correlation coefficient of 0.853. The values are tabulated as shown below. 8.
4.2 Visitor Satisfaction has a negative impact on the Visitor Switching Behaviour A simple linear regression was carried out to see the visitor satisfaction impact on visitor loyalty. A significant regression equation was found (F(1,102)=703.186,p<.000), with an R2 of 0.873 so 87.3% of the variation in Visitor Switching Behaviour can be explained by the model containing only Visitor Satisfaction. It confirmed that there exist a negative impact of Visitor Satisfaction on the Visitor Switching Behaviour and the same was confirmed with a correlation coefficient of 0.
935. The results of the test are tabulated as follows.9. Findings and ConclusionWith the above research results on the impact of visitor satisfaction over visitor loyalty and visitor switching behaviour there exists a significant linear relation between the variables. The hypothesis so constructed H1: Visitor Satisfaction has a positive impact on the Visitor Loyalty and H2: Visitor Satisfaction has a negative impact on the Visitor Switching Behaviour were accepted. According to this the visitor satisfaction induces loyalty in the visitors and at the same time decreases the switching behaviour. The visitors with high satisfaction tend to stick to the park they visited in the future visits too.
The loyalty to a theme park is developed by satisfying the customer expectations through the effective and efficient service delivery to meet the visitor expectations.The research results in this study contradicts the results obtained in the research of Jones and Sasser (1995) which says the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is neither linear nor simple but confirms the research results of Yang & Peterson (2004). The result of this research confirms the opinion expressed by Cheng et al. (2014), & Danish et al. (2015). These research results are similar to those obtained by Bayraktar et al. (2011), Tam (2012), Huang (2012) & Lo & Leong (2015) who opined that visitor satisfaction leads to a higher loyalty (Abaei & Ashtiani, 2015) and reduce switching behaviour intent, hence in order to increase the brand loyalty consumer satisfaction must be enhanced (Raajkumar & Chaaralas, 2012; Thaichon, Quach & Lobo, 2013 & Hansen, Beckman & Solgaard, 2015).
The result obtained in the study proves that “visitor satisfaction has a negative relation with the visitor switching behaviour” as proved by Abaei & Ashtiani (2015) and “customer satisfaction is an important antecedent of customer loyalty” (Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Zeithaml et al., 1996; Karatepe & Ekiz, 2004; & Nadiri et al., 2008).Hence the owners and managers of the theme parks shall focus on enhancing the visitor satisfaction through possible measures and to impart a long lasting image in the minds of the visitors to gain more competitive advantage over other players in the market. The results revealed in this study also proved that the visitor satisfaction is one of the ways to bind the visitors to the park for their continuous association and to retain them for a long time. Visitor satisfaction is the criteria not only to make the visitor loyal to the park with the repeated visit but also to make them stay connected and keeping their switching intent on check.
