TNM-QUAL: A Service Quality Measure-item Scale for Assessing Tourist Night Market

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1 TNM-QUAL: A Service Quality Measure-item Scale for Assessing Tourist Night Market Yi-Fei Chuang, Shiuh-Nan Hwang, Jehn-Yih Wong, Chia-Huei Ho, Wen-Hui Chang Department of Business Administration Ming Chuan University 250, Zhong Shan N. Rd., Sec. 5, Taipei Taiwan, R.O.C. yfchuang@mail.mcu.edu.tw snhwang@mail.mcu.edu.tw jywong@mail.mcu.edu.tw chho@mail.mcu.edu.tw @mail.hwu.edu.tw Abstract: - Few studies developed the service quality measure-item scale of tourism-retail service with the nature of both retail and tourism. Through the refinement and verification of various samples in two phases, this study proposes a measure-item scale (TNM-QUAL) for assessing the service quality of tourist night market. The TNM-QUAL is a 22-item on six dimensions: courtesy, diversity, uniqueness, delicious food, affordable consumption, and comprehensiveness. TNM-QUAL is suitable for assessing the service quality of tourism-retail service. Key-Words: - Service quality, Tourist night market, Factor analysis, SERVQUAL, retail, tourism. 1 Introduction The street market is a popular tourist attraction that often becomes the symbol of a city [8], such as the Chinatown Night Market in Singapore, the Potts Street Night Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Shilin Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan. The Shilin Night Market in Taipei is a popular tourist destination, and is promoted by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau as the highlight of city sightseeing. Based on data from the Tourism Bureau, night markets in Taiwan are among the chief tourism destinations for foreign tourists. Additionally, tasting local foods or night market snacks has become the main recreational activity of Taiwanese [16]. Night markets are not only preferred by Taiwanese, but also attract foreign visitors. Studies have shown that service quality is one element on which to assess a destination image, which influences a tourist s willingness to revisit a night market [5, 10]. This is similar to how the service quality of general services influences perceived value and drives customer repurchase intention [13]. A service quality assessment of night markets by tourists or consumers also serves as an important basis for measuring the performance of night markets. However, few previous studies have discussed the service quality of tourist night markets. Therefore, this study sought to develop and validate a service quality scale for tourist night markets and recommended the directions of future research about service quality of tourism-retail service. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Tourist Night Market A tourist night markets is a night-time business venue in which various vendors provide general merchandise, including locally produced and imported goods, and services to tourists. It encompasses both consuming and recreational functions, and showcase people s daily lives and unique local cultures [1, 7, 18]. Prior research on tourists night market experiences indicated that tourists could experience local culture and customs in night markets [7]. Similarly, local residents also felt that night markets reflected Taiwan s history and daily lifestyle [10]. The unique culture of night markets have made them the most visited destination by both tourists and local residents [1]. Hsieh and Chang [7] suggested that the characteristics of tourist night markets include the diversity of products and services, reasonable product prices, and bargaining. At night markets, tourists are able to enjoy the local cuisine, participate in recreational activities, shop, visit local traditional buildings, and experience local lifestyles and cultures. Previous research on night markets largely focused on discussions related to travel motive, ISBN:

2 image, and experience. For instance, Hsieh and Chang [7] suggested that the main motives for visitors from Hong Kong and Macau to night markets in Taiwan were to explore new things and experience local culture and customs. In addition, their main activities at night markets were enjoying the local cuisine. Lee et al. [10] emphasized that the perceived image of night markets after being visited by tourists related to delicious local cuisine, the lively atmosphere, and low prices. On the other hand, the recreational motive for local visitors was self-identity, while the main reason for dining at night markets was the variety in food choices. Night markets encompass the nature of both retail service and tourism, and past studies rarely explored the measurement of service quality at night markets. Thus, developing and validating a night market service quality scale could contribute to the academic literature in this regard. 2.2 Service Quality Scale Service quality originates from the customer s evaluation for interaction and experience between customers and vendors [13]. Apart from the outcomes, service quality also encompasses the service delivery process [11]. As such, it is a measurement of the overall service provided. The SERVQUAL established by Parasuraman et al. [12] is commonly used scale to assess the service quality of general service industry. The SERVQUAL was completed following the steps for developing highquality research concepts proposed by Churchill [3], which comprised five dimensions, namely tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Later, some studies modified and validated SERVQUAL to develop a service quality scale for specific industries. For examples, the service quality of national park narrators [2], the service quality of telecommunications services [17], and the service quality of e-commerce [13]. The dimensions of SERVQUAL focus on the perceptual properties of the interactive process when service personnel provide services to a customer. However, some research suggested that it may not be fully applicable to evaluating service quality related to the provision of mixed commodities/facilities and services such as retail, food services, and upscale restaurants [4, 14, 15]. In addition to personal interaction properties, the service properties of these industries place more emphasis on facility and environmental attributes, such as the aesthetic consistency of facilities, atmosphere, lighting, service products, decorations, social factors, and design factors [14, 15]. As night markets exhibit both retail and tourism characteristics, SERVQUAL for general services would not be representative of a night market service quality scale. 3 Methodology The development of measurement scales included three main steps. The first step was the definition of the conceptual domain and generation of evaluation items. The second step was the collection of data and refinement of the scale. The last step was the assessment of reliability and validity [3, 13]. Based on the service quality literature [13], this study defined night market service quality as the overall evaluation of the interaction process between tourists and night market service providers. Furthermore, the domain covered tourist perception of both facilities and personnel. We conducted indepth interviews with vendors and tourists to understand their expression and perception of service attributes when a vendor transmits a service. The tourists interviewed were from various countries - Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, England, the United States, and some from Taiwan. This study employs content analysis to acquire ten night market service properties perceived by tourists as follows: (1) Reputation and uniqueness: Night markets possess sufficient reputation and uniqueness to attract tourists. (2) Delicious food: Night markets offer visitors perceived delicious or appropriate food. (3) Low prices: Night markets provide cheap goods or services, leading to perceived value for money. (4) Local cultures: Night markets exhibit local traditional culture or local culture. (5) Diversity and multiplicity: Night markets offer a variety of food and merchandise, providing sufficient comparisons and selection options. (6) Novelty: Night markets offer innovative, popular, and novel goods or services. (7) Courtesy: Night market customer service staff are courteous and friendly and are patient in waiting for customers to make purchase decisions. (8) Entertainment: Night markets offer consumers a pleasant atmosphere, creating perceived fun for tourists while shopping. (9) Accessibility: The accessibility of night markets refers to their ease of access. (10) Comprehensive facilities and planning: Night markets provide comprehensive physical facilities and exhibit good spatial planning. Next, this study commenced with the original 55 questions based on the ten night market property ISBN:

3 dimensions. This was followed by the measurement of service quality using the perceptual performance method, which has been adopted by most previous studies in the same subject area [9]. Following consultation with experts and a pilot study with undergraduates, this study retained 49 suitable questions to gather responses using a 5-point Likert scale. This study adopted a quota-sampling plan and on-site investigation, where questionnaire surveys were conducted in tourist night markets in the North (Shilin Night Market), Central (Feng Chia Night Market), South (Liuhe Night Market), and East (Luodong Night Market) of Taiwan. As the North is the most populous region, 350 copies of the questionnaire were distributed at Shilin Night Market, while 300 copies were distributed at each of the remaining 3 night markets. Excluding incomplete questionnaires, a total of 1153 questionnaires were usable. The basic profiles of respondents are shown in Table 1. The majority of visitors to the night markets were from other cities, these constituting 47% of all respondents, while foreign visitors contributed to approximately 8% of the total. In addition, 80% of all respondents were under 30 years old. This study categorized respondents into two groups. A refined scale was applied for the first group of 660 respondents, while evaluation reliability and validity were applied to the second group of 493 respondents. Samples of the two groups were randomly generated from the questionnaires collected. 4 Results 4.1 Scale Refinement This study applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to refine the scale. The principal component method was used to extract factors, while Varimax was used to perform orthogonal axial rotation. Factor number was determined by criterion where eigenvalues > 1. This study performed a series of iterations, each concerning deletion of items with low loading factors (loading factor < 0.5) on all factors or high cross-factor loadings (cross-loading on two or more factors > 0.5), succeeded by factor analysis of the staying items. We acquired 22 items on six factors after performing this iterative process (see appendix). The relevant statistical data is listed in Table 2. The cumulative variance for the six factors is 74.67%. Cronbach s alpha ranges from 0.71to 0.91, greater than the suggested value of 0.7 [6]. These factors and their definitions are as follows: Table 1. Profiles of the respondents frequency Gender Female 493 Male 660 Age in years <=20 21~30 31~40 >=41 Monthly individual income (US$) $667 $ $ $1334 Residence This city Other cities Other country Education level Under high school graduate College Master percent 42.8% 57.2% 41.8% 39.4% 11.4% 7.4% 66.5% 15% 8.7% 9.8% 44.6% 47.3% 7.7% 30.1% 63.0% 6.9% (1) Courtesy: Friendly and patient service staff (2) Diversity: Great variety of goods and services (3) Uniqueness: Offers unique goods and services (4) Delicious Food: Offers delicious food (5) Affordable consumption: Visitors perceive the price of goods or services as being low/cheap (6) Comprehensiveness: Comprehensive facilities are provided. 4.2 Reliability and Validity This study adopted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate the factor structure of the tourist night market service quality scale (TNM-QUAL). Table 2 shows the results of the confirmatory factor analysis. Apart from COM3, whose factor loading is 0.43 (still within the acceptable range), the remaining factor loadings are all greater than the recommended 0.5 (Hair et al., 2006), with values ranging from 0.62 to The average variance extracted (VE) is also greater than 0.5, within the range of 0.51 to 0.71, and has therefore provided sufficient convergent validity. VE is greater than the squared correlation estimate with constructs (0.074~0.404), which provides suitable discriminant validity. The construct reliability (CR) exceeds 0.7,with values ranging from 0.72 to 0.94, confirming sufficient internal consistency. The fit indices also meet the recommended value [6]. ISBN:

4 Therefore, the night market service quality scale (TNM-QUAL) proposed in this study fulfills reliability and validity requirements. 5 Conclusion The objective of this study was to develop and validate a tourist night market service quality scale. Through the refinement and verification of various samples in two phases, we developed a tourist night market service quality scale, namely TNM-QUAL, which comprises 6 dimensions and 22 items. The dimensions of TNM-QUAL include courtesy, diversity, uniqueness, delicious food, affordable consumption, and comprehensiveness. Courtesy and comprehensiveness belong to the dimension of the interaction of personnel and physical quality of retail [4]. Diversity, uniqueness, represent tourist destination properties that attract tourists [7]. Therefore, TNM-QUAL appropriately reflects the nature of both retail and tourism in tourist night markets. TNM-QUAL is suitable for assessing the service quality of tourism-retail service, such as tourist street market, hawker centres, flea market, etc. Identifying the service quality dimensions in tourism-retail service can offer the vendors directions for improving customer satisfaction as well as provide local government suggestion for promoting city tourism. Discussions on the influence of tourist night market service quality on tourist value and loyalty through path analysis, and determination of the relative importance of tourist night market service quality may also be worthy of further exploration in future studies. delicious food, and affordable consumption Table2 The results of EFA and CFA EFA CFA Loading Cronbach s Loading a t-value CR VE Alpha COU COU1 COU2 COU3 COU4 COU5 DIV DIV1 DIV2 DIV3 DIV4 UNI UNI1 UNI2 UNI3 UNI4 DEL DEL1 DEL2 DEL3 AFF AFF1 AFF2 AFF3 COM COM1 COM2 COM Goodness-of-fit statistics χ 2= ; df =189; CFI=.96; NFI=.93; RFI=.92; TLI=.95; RMSEA=.06 Note: a. These are standardized loading estimates by AMOS software package ISBN:

5 Acknowledgement This research was supported in finance by the National Science Foundation in Taiwan (NSC H MY3). Appendix: Measures of research constructs Respondents rated the performance of the night market services on each item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Courtesy (COU) COU1 The service staff was humorous. COU2 I felt at ease shopping here. COU3 The service staff was enthusiastic. COU4 The service staff was friendly. COU5 The service staff was patient. Diversity (DIV) DIV1 There are various foods to choose from. DIV2 There are many types of products. DIV3 There are plenty of choices for shopping. DIV4 There are a lot of choices to compare between. Uniqueness (UNI) UNI1 When it comes to the night markets, this night market is the first I recall. UNI2 This is the first night market to where I'll take a friend from afar. UNI3 There is something special about this night market which makes it outstanding. UNI4 Here I could find unique products easily. Delicious food (DEL) DEL1 The food in this night market is delicious. DEL2 I could find what I like here. DEL3 The food in this night market fits my taste. Affordable consumption (AFF) AFF1 The value of the products here are beyond their prices. AFF2 The products here are inexpensive. AFF3 I think the prices are reasonable. Comprehensiveness (COM) COM1 The toilet is clean and hygienic. COM2 There are enough parking spaces. COM3 There are enough trash cans. References: [1] Aziz, K. A. and Sapindal, A., (2012). Customer Buying Behavior at a Night Market, International Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, Vol. 3 No.10, pp [2] Chen, H.J., Hwang, S.N. and Lee, C. (2006). Visitors Characteristics of Guided Interpretation Tours, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 59 No , pp [3] Churchill, Jr. G. A. (1979). A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp [4] Dabholkar, P.A., Thorpe, D.I. and Rentz, J.O. (1996). A Measure of Service Quality for Retail Stores: Scale Development and Validation, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp [5] Echtner, C.M. and Ritchie, J.R. (1993). The Measurement of Destination Image: An Empirical Assessment, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp [6] Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., and Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis (6 th ed). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. [7] Hsieh, A.T., and Chang J. (2006). Shopping and Tourist Night Markets in Taiwan, Tourism Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp [8] Kikuchi, A. and Ryan, C. (2007). Street Markets as Tourist Attractions Victoria Market, Auckland, New Zealand, International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 9, pp [9] Ladhari, R. (2008). Alternative Measures of Service Quality: A Review, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 18 No.1, pp [10] Lee, S.H., Chang, S.C., Hou, J.S. and Lin, C.H. (2008). Night Market Experience and Image of Temporary Residents and Foreign Visitors, International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol.2 No. 3, pp [11] Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1985). A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp [12] Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A Multiple-item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66 No. 1, pp [13] Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Malhotra, A. (2005). E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp [14] Raajpoot, N.A. (2002). TANGSERV: A Multiple Item Scale for Measuring Tangible ISBN:

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