| Summary: | 碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 觀光休閒事業管理研究所 === 92 === Williams (1946) points out that consumers or customers react to the service provider’s personal “auxiliary characteristic” such as gender, age, appearance, race, and clothing. Thus, this study investigates the various service quality conditions and how gender/age/appearance stereotype affects the perceived service quality in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, the study clarifies the moderating effects regarding “server gender/age/appearance stereotype”, “gender/age/appearance in-group bias” and “customer’s gender/age/appearance” on perceived service quality. The study uses the experimental questionnaire method on various demographic statistics variables of volunteers as response subjects. A total of 640 questionnaires were sent out and 640 were retrieved. Subtracting the 12 invalid or incompletely answered forms, the valid questionnaires totaled 628 forms or a valid recovery rate of 98.1%. Research results are offered to the hospitality industry companies as a reference for human resource management and market strategy decision-making.
For the gender stereotype on the hospitality industry service quality, the research results are as follows: In the good service quality scenarios, the respondents’ perceived service quality with regards to female server on tangible construct is better than that of male. Moreover, the server gender stereotype and gender in-group bias towards male and female servers have almost no influence on their insights. Subsequently, the respondent’s own gender influences their perception on quality of the service for the servers. On the poor service quality scenarios, the respondents’ insight on the personnel of service quality has no statistical divergence. The server gender stereotype can influence the respondents’ perceived empathy construct of service quality for female and male servers. In addition, the gender in-group bias then can also influence the respondents’ perception on the female or male server’s assurance construct of the service quality. And the respondents‘ gender also influences service quality perception on the servers.
On another hand, results of the study the age stereotype on the hospitality industry service quality are as follows: In the good service quality scenarios, the respondents’ service quality rating on young service personnel on tangibility, assurance, and empathy is better compared to middle aged personnel. Also, the server age stereotype can influence the respondents’ perception on the young and middle aged server concerning the reliability and empathy construct. However, it is found that the age in-group bias doesn’t influence the respondents’ service quality perception on young and middle aged service personnel. The respondents’ age then can have influence on their service quality assessment toward the servers. On the poor service quality scenarios, the respondent’s service quality view about empathy of the younger is better than of the middle aged personnel. The server age stereotype can also influence the respondent’s perception on the young and middle-aged personnel on the tangible service quality. The age in-group bias thus can influence the respondent’ perception on young and middle aged service staff on the service quality of empathy. Similarly, the respondents’ age can influence their service quality perception on the young and middle-aged servers.
Regarding the appearance stereotype on the hospitality industry service quality, the research results are as follows: With the good service quality scenarios, the respondents’ service quality perception on server with outstanding appearance on tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy is better compared to the one with ordinary appearance. And the server appearance stereotype doesn’t influence the respondent’s perception of the service quality on server’s outstanding and ordinary appearance on construct of tangible, reliability, responsiveness, and assurance. Nevertheless, it is able to influence a perception difference on empathy construct. The appearance in-group bias thus can influence service quality assessment on the servers with a different appearance on tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, and assurance. And the respondent’s own appearance influence their perception on the outstanding and ordinary appearance servers. For poor service quality situations, there is also a statistical difference on how respondents see servers of the outstanding and ordinary appearance groups on tangibility and reliability construct. More so, the server appearance stereotype cannot influence respondents’ service quality view towards personnel’s outstanding and ordinary appearances. Then, the appearance in-group bias can influence the respondents’ perceived tangible service quality with respect to outstanding and ordinary appearances. Likewise, the respondents’ personal appearance influence their service quality views on the servers.
Summarizing the above experiment results, one can sum it up into three main conclusions: (1).The clients perceive differently towards different service quality scenarios. And for the different service quality cases, their stereotypes are also different. (2.)For the hospitality industry, the appearance stereotype has a bigger impact on the service quality perception compared to age and sex. (3.)The respondents’ own sex /age/appearance can influence their service quality assessment on the servers.
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