Service Trust and Customer Loyalty in China’s Hotel Services: The Causal Role of Commitment

Abstract

The hotel industry experienced substantial economic losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is only recently that there has been a return to normal. In order to recover those losses, hotel managers are taking competitive actions focused on customer trust as a factor of utmost importance to guarantee customer commitment so that uncertainty and risk can be reduced. In particular, it is necessary to confirm the importance of relationship quality management for target customers in order to secure long-term profits for upscale hotels. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to confirm the antecedents of service trust, the effect of service trust on loyalty through commitment factors, and the moderating effect of length of relationship. For this purpose, a total of 303 questionnaires were collected from Chinese consumers who have experienced upscale hotel service, and empirical analysis was conducted on the data using structural equation model analysis. The results of this study confirmed the importance of trust in front-line employees to build service trust, the different influences of factors of commitment and loyalty, and the moderating effect of length of relationship. Furthermore, efficient customer relationship management can be achieved by classifying the customer’s commitment type.