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Service Encounters and Service Bias: A Preliminary Investigation

Florida State University kharris{at}cob.fsu.edu

David Bojanic, Ph.D.

University of Massachusetts bohanic{at}hrta.umass.edu

Debra F. Cannon, Ph.D.

Georgia State University hrtdfc{at}langate.gsu.edu

The hospitality industry tends to be cyclical as well as seasonal. Therefore, hotels, restaurants, and other travel firms must be prepared to compete during periods of low demand. One of the potential areas for obtaining a competitive advantage is to offer better service than the competition. This study examines the reasons given by hotel and restaurant customers for their "excellent service" experiences and their perceptions regarding service bias. This study found that most of the reasons were tangible and the majority of the respondents believe that hospitality service is biased toward certain customers.

Key Words: service bias • customer service • service encounters

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