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Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui:
A qualitative study
By:
(Students Name)
(Student’s ID)
Submitted to:
(Supervisor’s Name)
(Course Title)
Declaration
This is declared that this is original work which the author of this paper has produced on
the subject. Further, this paper is produced for the fulfillment of the degree requirement
of the Bachelor in International Business. Hence, it is not produced for any other
Customers’ satisfaction has been the main focus of business industry as it is believed
that higher level of customer satisfaction may result in higher levels of repurchase. In
order to analyze the customers’ satisfaction and the factors contributing customer’s
loyalty to the resort or hotel, this study has taken up Nora Beach Resort and Spa,
Samui Island as case study. The resort is located in Koh-Samui Island, which has
approximately 87% of tourists’ turnover. The study examines the level of customer
satisfaction in the light of Seven Ps of Marketing Mix. In order to study certain level for
each service product, a self administered questionnaire was placed in the hotel lobby to
record the comments of the customers. The study concludes that employees’ loyalty
and training is pivotal for the sustainability of the type of the service of Resorts with
customers.
Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui 5
Acknowledgement
I heartedly acknowledge and thank my supervisor (Name) for his valuable guidance and
console. I also appreciate the co-operation of administration and staff of Nora Beach
This piece of work wouldn’t have conclusive and informative without valuable
customers’ feedback. Therefore, I am very thankful for their interest and fulfilling the
questionnaire provided.
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT III
Chapter I: Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Purpose of Study 2
1.3 Objectives of Study 3
1.4 Study Structure 3
Chapter II: Literature Review 4
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Service 4
2.2.1 Service Theories 5
2.2.2 Elements of Service 6
2.2.3 Impact of service on Customer Satisfaction 6
2.2.4 Quality in Customer Service 7
2.3 Customer satisfaction 7
2.3.1 Customer Satisfaction Theories 7
2.3.2 Functionalities of Customer Satisfaction 8
2.3.3 Customer vs. Employee Satisfaction Modeling 9
2.3.4 Marketing of Services 9
2.4 Hotel Categories 11
2.4.1 Types of hotel 11
2.5 Nora Beach Resort and Spa 11
2.5.1 Information of the hotel 11
2.5.2 Type of customers 12
2.6 Conclusion 12
Chapter III: Methodology 14
3.1 Introduction 14
3.2 Research framework 15
3.3 Sampling 15
3.4 The data collection tool 15
3.5 Data collection 15
3.6 Data analysis 16
3.7 Conclusion 17
References 19
Appendices 21
Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui 7
Chapter I: Introduction
1.1 Background
Koh Samaui, the 3rd largest island, which offers its customers a break from the
hassles of the real world. The resort enjoys a spectacular hillside setting, overlooking
a seclude bay just north of the world famous Chaweng Beach. It is located a few
minutes from the airport and a short drive from the city centre (Nora Beach and Spa,
2007).
The Koh Samui has many attractions for the tourists. It is famous for the Full Moon
party on Koh Phangan. There are also a lot of visiting places on the island like the
Big Buddah, Namuang Waterfall, Hin Ta – Hin Ya, Sawadee Shrine, Hin Lad
Waterfall, Scuba Diving, Dinning and restaurant and Samui nightlife etc. These
enhance the business opportunity for the local hotels and resorts offering services
like spa. Nora Beach is one of the most famous resorts of the Samui Island.
Customer’s satisfaction is the main concern for every resort and hotel in order to
keep the customers loyal to the resort and make them permanent visitors. It is
believed that higher level of customer satisfaction may result in higher levels of
judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides
buyer’s comparison of the rewards and costs of the purchase in relation to the
can be assessed as the sum of the satisfactions with the various attributes of the
product or service. In the competitive market place, the organizations are striving for
approach and consumer behaviour. The consumer behaviour has been considered
the ultimate success scale within the industry. The hotel industry is also among
those sectors, which has been trying to attract customers for long term visits. For this
purpose what the hotel industry needs is the effective marketing mix focused with
Since 2003 the “holiday makers” often visit Thailand’s famous islands with turn over
makers” for its splendid beaches, whilst the famous Nora Beach Resort and Spa is
the first preference of the visitors to stay and enjoy spa facilities offered by it. The
Nora Beach and Resort is one of the most favorite resorts seizing customers’
The purpose of the study is to analyse the level of customers’ satisfaction at Nora
Beach Resort, Koh Samui, Thailand. The study will try to suggest the strategy for
their loyalty for the particular resort or hotel. This will be done by analysing
marketing mix.
As the purpose of this study is to study and analyse the customers’ satisfaction with
the case study of Nora Beach Resort and Spa at Koh Samui. For this purpose, the
order to analyse the characteristics that attract and keep the customers loyal to a
particular resort or hotel. Further, the customers’ satisfaction will be measured and
analysed through self administered survey which were placed in the hotel lobby of
the Nora Beach Resort. Further, methodology of the study will be explained in the
methodology section as how the researcher collected and analysed the primary data.
Finally, the results of the study will be presented that would be followed by the
2.1 Introduction
While analysing the customers’ behaviour and satisfaction, one has to study 7 p’s of
marketing in order to assess which factors can attract and keep loyal the customers’
with a certain resort or hotel. In the following section, this study will review the
literature customers’ satisfaction in the context of the services offered by the Nora
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
5. People
6. Process
7. Physical Evidence
2.2 Service
The study of customers’ satisfaction in the field of general marketing has evolved
satisfy the needs and wants of customers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry,
1988). Since the success of a business has been linked to providing high levels of
(1982) defined service quality as “the outcome of an evaluation process where the
Service quality has been seen as the result of comparing a customer’s expectations
prior to receiving the service with the customer’s experiences with the service.
Wyckoff (1984) defined the concept of service quality from the company’s
perspective. Service quality is the degree of excellence for meeting the customer’s
Marketing, 2007). Services are different from products because of their built-in
only different from physical goods, but they also require a greater deal of expertise in
delivering them because the results of service offerings are mostly prompt and the
effectively a business promotes its service as there are higher chances of post-
purchase dissonance in service offerings, if they do not meet the requirements of the
product. In that situation the quality of delivering the service depends upon the ability
of the physical product. Apart from that each service experience can hardly be equal
the service delivery is prompt and accurate. It is very important that the hospitality
industry makes its expectations clear to its employees, as the service is delivered
through them and creates a culture of service within the hotels (Verret, 2000).
therefore these elements create marketing challenges and opportunities as well that
Since it is not good that satisfy the customer but the services provided. This may be
directly associated with quality of service. The quality constitutes Value, Time,
This direct association of service to customers has created a shift in the approach.
Now, the approach has been that satisfy existing customers by providing the best
service quality rather imploring capital over attracting the prospect customers
A number of studies have been conducted in-order to measure the quality standards
for the service industry. However, the service quality model as provided by Kay, Tore
and Gronous has been given a priority for the instant results. For the assessment of
customer satisfaction to the quality of service, the model bases the customer recent
The customer satisfaction is the right standard for the quality of service. A quality of
service determines the business relationship and obviously the customer retention,
as well. If the customer is dissatisfied with the service quality then it may end with
adverse behaviours, which are customer may move away or no longer needs the
service or may end with weaker relationship. Thus it is pivotal that in-order to retain
customer loyalty then quality focus service needs consistent measurement and
follow-up.
In the hospitality industry, customer satisfaction plays a crucial role because of its
direct impact and proven impact on revenue generation, capability for hospitality
business. Not only does customer satisfaction create a strong word -of -mouth
advertising for these hotels, but it also helps them to retain their existing customers
providing them with a significant opportunity to create long term relationships with
which meets the customer’s needs, expectations and wants (Customer Service and
the study of customer satisfaction (Dutka, 1994). Customer loyalties are created
expectations are simple and take the form of assumptions. Level II expectations are
higher than level I expectations and customers require satisfaction through service
require organizations to delight their customers and produce something which attract
customers towards its services and products. (Service Marketing, 2007). At this third
stage customer satisfaction turns a customer into a loyal customer and provides
opportunities for organizations to forge long- term relationships with their customers.
The functionality of customer satisfaction in the business world is that how effectively
the services/goods meet the customers’ expectations. Therefore we can see across
Satisfaction”. Thus the customer satisfaction has become the key element of
business strategy in today’s market place (Buchanan, Gilles, 1990). Although the
perception.
The common tool to opt the level of customer satisfaction is survey or collection of
primary data where customer is asked to evaluate the open ended and close ended
Customer Satisfaction.
A “cycle of success” was added to customer loyalty with employee loyalty as well
(Schlesigner and Heskett, 1991). The concept suggests that customers’ satisfaction
Figure 2.3.3
Source: Sloan Management Review PP17-28
When employees are well trained in executing the service and well provided with
corporate culture
Marketing Mixthen in turn it will certainly maximize the sales volume with profit
(Services)
maximization. Further, it will also develop the customer loyalty, which deems
make it a complete subject. Marketing mix is a critical part of the marketing process
composed of 4 P’s which include product, pricing, promotion and placement. These
four P’s combine together make a complete marketing process (Netmba, 2007).
The usefulness of the marketing mix was effective in the early marketing days when
physical products were the main offering of the companies. However, with the
combination lost its touch as more and more variations in this mix came in.
Marketing mix is critical to the success of the marketing process because if there is
any misbalance in the mix, then there can be serious issues which may cause the
failure of the whole marketing effort. Therefore all four parts are critical and need to
Product
Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui 17
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Place
Physical
For the hospitality industry, the marketing mix may work in different ways as the
services often do not find the media vehicles to advertise them effectively. This is
often due to the fact that services because of their perishability do not provide a
tangible look which can provide a sensual attraction to the customers. Secondly, the
placement or the delivery channels used in the hotel industry are limited as services
are consumed the same time they are being offered therefore there aren’t many
delivery channels available in this sector. Also the decision of selecting a channel
through which to market your service depends upon different dynamics of profit and
Beach Resort and Spa in order to create the most efficient system for the hotel.
A hotel in itself is an institution, which provides temporary fringe facilities. The hotel
services are ranked on the ability of services of restaurant, guest rooms, excellent
The price and quality determines the type of hotel. This is indicative the type of
star, which is indicative of their hospitality and facilities available in the premises.
place of Koh Samui, the 3rd largest island, which offers its customers a break from
the hassles of the real world. The resort enjoys a spectacular hillside setting,
located a few minutes from the airport and a short drive from the city centre (Nora
Beach Resort and Spa, 2007). The profound services of Nora Beach Resort and Spa
are as follow:
• Recreation
• Anodas Spa
• Rooms
• Taxi/Limousine Service.
• Swimming pools
• Gymnasium/Fitness Room.
The type of customers visit Nora Beach Resort and Spa are holiday makers,
however the professionals on travel also frequently visit the resort. According to a
study by Thailand Tourism Statistics that 87% of tourists are holiday makers at Koh
Samui Island; where the Nora Beach Resort is jewel of the attraction for the holiday
makers at Koh Samui Islands. These categories of visitors consist of male, female
and children with age diversity from 13 to 55 years on average. They prefer Nora
Beach for the reason that major attractions of Island are nearby the resort.
2.5 Conclusion
Since 2003 the “holiday makers” often visits Thailand famous islands with turn over
of 87.81% of the Thailand tourism industry (Tourism Statistics, 2003). Koh Samuai,
Thailand is often visited by “holiday makers” for the splendid beaches, whilst the
famous Nora Beach Resort and Spa are happened to be the tourists bustling
preference. Since then is that tourist’s favorite Beach Resort seizing enough the
Customer Satisfaction for the profound services? This will be analysed in the next
3.1 Introduction
The research will be intensively based on the collection of primary data and analysis
of both primary and secondary data. The major reliance of the research design is
collection of primary data via questionnaire and then preference will be given on Thai
tourism statistics for Beach resorts in Thailand. The research is designed with more
Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui 21
to customers will also be examined that whether these services are exactly being
offered according to the perception of the customers or they are variant to the
The type of questions in the questionnaire is consisted of two parts. The part one
tries to explore the customer satisfaction and perception regarding the service of
Nora Beach Resort; however the Part two actually examines the customer reach and
the personal characteristics. The part examines the quality of service as being
executed at Nora Beach those are Spa, Rooms, Restaurant, Food Menu, Travel
Desk and others. The second part examines the service experiences, preferences
and awareness regarding the Resort services. At the end, it tries to know the
demography, age and sex of the respondent as such those customers group may be
Resort.
The researcher has developed the questionnaire in order to collect quantitative and
qualitative data. It will undergo a reliability and validity pilot test. The language of the
questionnaire is English, since the majority of the guests are international. There will
be three parts to the questionnaire, which will consist of list questions, rating
questions and open questions. The variables of this test will be described using
SPSS in order for the researcher to analyze by quantitative data analysis. For the
qualitative data which supplements the quantitative data, it will be analyzed using
content analysis.
3.3 Sampling
The population will be customers who stay in Nora Beach Resort and Spa; a total of
n= 50 customers will complete the survey. The sampling technique needed for the
case study will be non- probability sampling which are purposive and convenience.
The data collection tool is the designed questionnaire, which is consisted of twenty
three questions. The collection will be through questions of open ended and close
ended type. These types of questions will try to analyze the customers’ assessment
and expectations regarding the facilities and services as provided at Nora Beach
The research will be based on positivism principles with deductive approach. Since
no evident research has been recorded yet therefore major reliance will be over the
The questionnaire developed will be placed in the guest rooms, as well as in the
lobby and will be collected by Ms.Napaphon Rattanarak a proctor who was trained
manager to conduct this study following highest ethical standards and principles.
Nora Beach Resort and Spa. The study will aim to ascertain the level of customer
The analysis will examine that what are the products at frontline to the customer
service? Is there customer loyalty with the service? What type of customers i.e. by
age, profession, purpose and others are interested in availing the service? Thus in a
• The Pricing
• Any Complain.
• Customers’ Perception.
For this, responses will be evaluated on Five Point scale as shown below:
scale numbers from 1-5 is actually fragmentation of five levels of satisfaction. The
collected data under each level will carefully be calculated in ratio as it is shown in
equation as below:
An end result will show the decree of satisfaction with particular form of service as
offered at Nora Beach Resort. Finally, the collected result under each service
category will be sum up and will be divided of hundred then mathematical result will
show the total ration of customer satisfaction with the services provided.
3.7 Conclusion
The study has relied over Likert Technique because in-order to assess the level of
customer satisfaction the best available method was to conduct survey. The
respondents were visitors to the resort who availed the hospitality of the
performance of the services as being provided at the resort. However, this provides
found that customers encourage of the new profound services at Resort, for
instance; the resort has newly introduced more spacious and well decorated rooms,
which were at the full satisfaction of the customers. It is significant to note here that
customers prefer the room services of the resort for the reason that the location is
nearer to island’s attractive spots. Contrary, it seems that employees are not as
much satisfied. It was found that employees have to outback from their homes,
which are far away from their duty stations. Thus resort must try to provide transport,
References
Customer Service and Satisfaction. (2007). Customer service and satisfaction. [On-
line]. Available from URL: http://66.102.9.104/search?
q=cache:jAe83fvPRXIJ:media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/18/04714595/047
1459518.pdf+Definition+of+customer+satisfaction&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3,
[accessed 6 September 2007].
Netmba. (2007). The marketing mix. Netmba [On-line]. Available from URL:
http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/, [accessed 6 September 2007].
Nora Beach Resort and Spa. (2007). Nora Beach Resort and Spa. [On-line].
Available from URL: http://www.norabeachresort.com/, [accessed 21
September 2007].
Savitt, R. (1986). Time, space and competition- formulations for the development of
Marketing Strategy. Managerial and Decision Economics 7, 11-18.
Service Marketing. (n.d.). Service Marketing. [On-line]. Available from URL:
http://www.udel.edu/alex/chapt24.html, [accessed 6 September 2007].
Schlesinger, L. and Heskett, J. (1991) "Breaking the cycle of failure in service",
Sloan Management Review, spring, 1991, pp. 17-28.
Statistics, Thailand Tourism [On-line], 2003. URL: <http://www.student.chula.ac.th/
%7E46455064/2003.htm>
Wyckoff, D. D. (1984). New Tools for Achieving Service Quality. Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 25(3), 78-91.
Appendices “A”
Questionnaire
PART 1 – Level of the customer satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort
Customer’s Satisfaction with service at Nora Beach Resort and Spa, Koh Samui 27
and Spa
Please state your level of satisfaction with our services and products:
1= Very satisfied 2= Satisfied 3= Neutral 4= Dissatisfied 5= Very dissatisfied
1. The quality of food and beverage
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
2. The menu variety
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
3. The promptness of service
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
4. The value for price paid
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
5. Decor and ambience of the hotel
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
6. Cleanliness
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
7. Condition of room
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
8. Housekeeping services
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
9. Resorts public areas
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
10. Spa and fitness facilities
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
11. Business centre
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
12. Check in process
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
13. Overall satisfaction with the quality of service
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
14. Overall satisfaction with the quality of accommodation
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
15. The image and message conveyed though communication (Brochures,
advertising, website etc.)
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o
PART 2: General
Please tickü three most important reasons why you selected Nora Beach Resort
and Spa
1. How did you find us?
o Advertisement ( Magazine, Newspaper)
o Tradeshows
o Travel Agency
2. Why did you choose to stay at the Nora Beach Resort?
o Room rate
o Location
o Special package
3. Have you previously used our services?
o Yes
o No
PART 3 – Demographics
1. Gender : Male o
Female o
2. Age: Under 20 o
20 -35 o
36-60 o
61 and older o
3. Occupation : Student o
Employed o
Self-employed o
Unemployed o
Pensioner o
Leisure o
Convention o
Other (Specify________________)