Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in Selected Hotels in Lagos State

  INTRODUCTION

The importance of the hospitality industry in economic development cannot be overemphasized in view of the contribution of the sector towards job creation, tourism development, foreign exchange earnings, and better living standards. One of the core functions of hotels is the provision of quality services to meet the customers’ requirements. In the current highly competitive world of business, service quality has become one of the most significant factors that determine customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In view of the increasing sophistication of customers, hotels are required to enhance their service delivery systems in order to remain competitive. Recent research shows that high levels of service quality contribute greatly towards customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Service quality involves the degree to which the services delivered surpass or meet customers' expectations. This includes several service quality dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility, among others, as described in the SERVQUAL model. Service quality in the hospitality industry involves timely delivery of services, professional services, cleanliness, effective communication, safety, comfort, and ability to address customers' needs. Good service provides good experiences for customers, while bad service leads to dissatisfaction, bad feedback, and loss of clientele. Modern research in hospitality recognizes the need for constant improvement of service quality.

Customer satisfaction is defined as the level of happiness that customers have after they compare what they expect from a particular service against the performance of the service offered to them. It is worth noting that customers who are satisfied will be motivated to visit the hotel again, promote the hotel to other people and even create loyalty towards the hotel. On the other hand, customers who are not satisfied will move to other competing hotels and even write negative reviews on websites such as social media.

Lagos State is the commercial center of Nigeria, receiving millions of people each year due to its tourism, conferences, education, business and entertainment centers. For this reason, Lagos State has various kinds of hotels, both budget and luxury hotels. The growing trend of hotels has increased competition among hotels and made the satisfaction of the customers the main concern of hotel managers. In order to lure and maintain customers, hotels operating in Lagos State have to offer an effective reservation system, courteous service, good accommodation facilities, clean environment, adequate security, good food service and fast reaction to customers' complaints.

Technological advancement has also brought about changes in service delivery in the hospitality industry. Various hotels are using technological methods such as digital booking systems, mobile application, automated check-in procedures, online customer services, and smart hospitality services in order to deliver efficient services and make customer experience better. Although technological advancements have made processes more efficient, customers still appreciate personal touch and good customer service. Research shows that the integration of traditional SERVQUAL dimensions with smart service quality makes customers more satisfied and makes hotels more competitive.

In terms of theoretical background, SERVQUAL model was designed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry. It encompasses five aspects of service quality assessment: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. This model is actively used in the field of hospitality as a tool for evaluation of customer perception regarding the performance of the service and their satisfaction. Another theoretical concept, Expectation-Confirmation Theory states that customer satisfaction appears when actual performance of the service is equal or higher than customer expectations. Thus, the above mentioned theories offer a valuable theoretical framework for the exploration of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction within hotel industry..

The other important factors that affect the level of service quality in hotels are employee competence and organizational culture. The employees who are well trained, have effective communication abilities and attitudes and behaviors aimed at the clients are able to offer high quality services. Otherwise, in case of poorly trained personnel, insufficient number of employees, demotivated employees, and poor management, the service quality is lowered. For example, research conducted in Nigeria indicates that tangible service quality and staff assurance are important factors affecting customer satisfaction.

The level of customer satisfaction is crucial to organizational success since satisfied customers are the sources of occupancy rates, positive reviews, customer loyalty, and profitability. With digitalization, online reviews and customer feedback play a key role in decision-making for choosing hotels for potential customers. As a result, more and more hotel managers pay attention to customer experience and adopt approaches to improving their quality to ensure positive images and competitive positions of their hotels. It has been found recently that personal services, cleanliness, reactivity, and professionalism are among the most reliable predictors of customer satisfaction..

Even with increased investment in hospitality infrastructures in Lagos State, some hotels have continued to encounter numerous problems that range from problems of inconsistency in service delivery, customer complaints, insufficient training of personnel, maintenance of infrastructure, and changes in customers' expectations. These problems have created a need for more research into how the various aspects of service quality impact customer satisfaction within the Nigerian hospitality industry. This knowledge is crucial in ensuring better service standards, customer loyalty, and improved competitiveness of hotels in Lagos State..

Many researchers have conducted various studies on service quality and customer satisfaction in different sectors but there is need for further research in the hospitality industry in Nigeria with regard to selected hotels in Lagos state considering the unique nature of the hospitality industry in Nigeria and increasing customer expectations in hotels. Thus this study aims at assessing the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction in selected hotels in Lagos state. This study will assess how dimensions of service quality such as tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy affect customer satisfaction in hotels. The results of this study will help add knowledge to the current body of literature in hospitality management while giving useful information to hotel managers, policy makers, tourism professionals and researchers on how to improve service quality and increase customer satisfaction.