Behaviors affecting the perception on service images and expectations in the service quality of spa and thai massage shops in the eyes of foreign clients in Pattaya City
Abstract:
The objective of this research is to study behaviors that affect the perception on service images and
expectations in the service quality of spa shops in the eyes of foreign clients in Pattaya City such as foreign clients who
can communicate in English and had ever used the service ofThai-styled spa and massage shops in Pattaya City, the
sample group of this study consists of287 people and the data will be analyzed by the statistical analysis program.
The results of study were found that
1.Foreign clients behavior of using spa and Thai massage services in Thai-styled spa and massage shops
in Pattaya City:most of them were provided of information by friends or suggested by acquaintances, the frequency of
service was 3-4 times a month, they chose to use the service from stand-alone shop, the services selected by them were
steam/sauna with the service charge at201 - 400 Baht/time, they used the service for relaxation and chose Thai massage
service, they suggested other people to use the service in the same shop they had ever used the service.
2.Foreign clients image perceptions based on each aspect in the overview of Thai-styled spa and massage
shops in Pattaya City: it was found that the marketing promotion aspectand process aspect obtained the highest level,
while the following aspects including service, price, place, personnel, and physical environment, obtained the high level.
3. The expectations in the service quality based on each aspect in the overview of Thai-styled spa and
massage shops in Pattaya City: it was found that the aspects on responding clients, acquaintance and understanding
clients, obtained the highest level, while the following aspects including service standard, service
concreteness,trustfulness, and giving confidence to customers, obtained the high level.
He result of hypothesis testing was found that the service usage behaviors were classified by the number of
staying days, information receiving media, frequency of service usage, locations chosen to use the service, service
course/program to be chosenfor service usage: the different service fee per time resulted in the different image
perception of Thai-styled spa and massage shops in all aspects; and the different number of staying days and different
service course/programs affected the expectations in the service quality in all aspects with statistical significance at the
level of .05.