Original Scientific Article
Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations
of Spa Service Quality
Aswin Sangpikul
Dhurakij Pundit University, Thailand
aswin.sal@dpu.ac.th
Most studies examining customers’ expectations of spa service quality are conducted
through quantitative approaches, which have certain limitations for deeper under-
standing of what customers actually expect and perceive from the delivered services,
particularly the unpleasant experiences. This research, therefore, has an objective to
analyze customers’ expectations and perceptions of spa service quality from online
reviews in regard to spas in Bangkok by focusing on dissatisfied customers. Using
an integratedmethod, the literature has been synthesized to form a framework with
eight service dimensions to examine customers’ expectations of spa service quality.
Content analysis and descriptive statistics are employed to analyse the data. Accord-
ing to the findings, customers make complaints when the quality of service is lower
than their expectations. Spas in Bangkok seem to have problems with service deliv-
ery in all service dimensions, particularly reliability, empathy and courtesy dimen-
sions. In addition, the study has integrated eight service dimensions into three im-
portant constructs: service process, physical elements, and service outcomes. Over-
all, this study has advanced and contributed to the existing literature by employing
eight service dimensions to more deeply understand dissatisfied customers’ expec-
tations of spa service quality, and also conceptualizes them into three meaningful
constructs. Importantly, the people element and technology-based services can help
to generate service innovation for the spa industry.
Keywords: spa, service quality, online complaints, negative reviews, Bangkok,
TripAdvisor
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.265-279
Introduction
Typically, customers compare perceptions with expec-
tations when evaluating a company’s service (Parasur-
aman et al., 1985). Understanding customers’ expecta-
tions and perceptions is an important issue for a ser-
vice provider because it is prerequisite for providing
superior services (Parasuraman et al., 1991). In addi-
tion, examining this topic will help a service provider
to understand its service performance from customer
perspectives (Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2019). The
spa industry is one of the leisure sectors and service-
oriented businesses which mainly relies on the deliv-
ery of high service quality to provide customers with
personalized services (Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2022).
Spa customers generally judge the quality of delivered
services through their expectations and perceptions.
If the delivered service is higher than expectations,
customers are likely to feel satisfied; in contrast, if the
delivered service is below their expectations, this may
result in service dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al.,
1988). To further understand customers’ expectations
and perceptions in the spa industry, there are three
important issues established as the background of the
research problems.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022 | 265
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
First, there are several studies examining customers’
expectations and perceptions in the spa industry in
various settings such as hotel/resort spas (Albayrak et
al., 2017; Gonzalez & Fraiz Brea, 2005; Lo et al., 2015;
Tsai et al., 2012), health spas (Alen et al., 2006; Loke
et al., 2018; Snoj & Mumei, 2002; Bakirtzoglou et al.,
2018), and day spas (Chieochankitkan & Sukpatch,
2014; Sangpikul, 2019; Sulaiman et al., 2020). How-
ever, the review of literature indicates thatmost studies
are conducted through quantitative approaches based
on numeric findings. Quantitative studies generally
reveal the relationships of the variables being exam-
ined with numeric interpretation (e.g. Snoj & Mumei,
2002; Chieochankitkan & Sukpatch, 2014; Sulaiman et
al., 2020). Despite their advantages, the quantitative
approaches still have some limitations in further un-
derstanding another side of service quality raised by
dissatisfied customers regarding their unpleasant ex-
periences or unmet services (Memarzadeh & Chang,
2015; Sangpikul, 2021). Customers who face unpleas-
ant experiences are crucial for spa service providers
because they are telling something about the deliv-
ered services which do not meet their expectations,
causing customer dissatisfaction, service complaints,
and negative word-of-mouth (Memarzadeh & Chang,
2015; Sangpikul, 2022). However, there are a few stud-
ies for further understanding another perspective of
spa service quality from dissatisfied customers in the
spa industry.
Second, given the availability of online informa-
tion, understanding customers’ expectations of spa
service quality should not be limited to quantitative
studies. Research indicates that online information has
been widely regarded as another useful approach to
better understand different phenomena which cannot
be obtained by quantitative approaches (Memarzadeh
&Chang, 2015; Sangpikul, 2021). In this regard, under-
standing dissatisfied customers’ expectations of spa
service quality through online reviews is worthy of
further investigation because it may help to obtain im-
portant information from customers, leading to better
service improvement and innovation. Unfortunately,
there are limited attempts to implement the contextual
approach to understand dissatisfied customers in the
spa industry.
Third, past studies find that many negative reviews
are sometimes unclear or even unfair for a service
firm because of emotive or subjective characteristics
of the review content (Memarzadeh & Chang, 2015;
Sangpikul, 2021). The literature also indicates that a
number of customers make their service evaluations
based on personal emotions or feelings rather than
the facts of the services (Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul,
2022). In the spa setting, the non-factual judgments
may make it difficult for service providers to identify
the actual causes of customers’ dissatisfaction and for
subsequent service improvement. Therefore, examin-
ing the factual and non-factual opinions can assist spa
managers to appropriately identify the causes of ser-
vice problems and to enhance service improvements
(Sangpikul, 2021). However, most studies tend to ig-
nore or fail to further analyse customers’ online com-
plaints based on factual and non-factual judgments.
Given the above issues, this study is important be-
cause there is limited research to implement a con-
textual method to examine the actual expectations
and perceptions of spa service quality of dissatisfied
customers in the spa industry. Also, there is still in-
adequate literature to understand the characteristics
of customers’ online complaints based on factual and
non-factual judgments in order to distinguish them
for appropriate service improvement. To fulfil the re-
search gaps, this study has the following objectives:
(1) to analyze customer expectations and perceptions
of spa service quality from negative reviews, (2) to
classify negative reviews into factual and non-factual
judgments, and (3) to identify the meaningful con-
structs for spa service quality. The findings of the study
are expected to assist spa managers to better under-
stand customers’ expectations and perceptions in the
spa industry (particularly the dissatisfied customers),
and also help them to better correct the service mis-
takes for future service improvement. In addition, this
study will advance the literature by analysing the neg-
ative reviews based on the synthesis of service quality
literature in the spa industry. This qualitative approach
is expected to supplement the quantitative studies to
yield a better understanding of dissatisfied customers’
expectations of spa service quality, and will also theo-
retically contribute to the spa literature.
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Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 1 Past Studies Examining Spa Service Quality in Different Contexts
Studies
employing
servqual
Alen et al. (); Bakirtzoglou et al. (); Lo et al. (); Loke et al.
(); Snoj and Mumel (); Sangpikul (, ); Sulaiman et al.
(); Vryoni et al. ()
Reliability, responsiveness,
empathy, assurance, tangibles
(servqual)
Studies
employing
modified
models
Albayrak et al. () Tangibility, competence & courtesy, credibility & safety
Choi et al. () Spa facility, spa programme, staff, uniqueness
Clemes et al. () Interpersonal quality, environ. quality, admin. quality, technical quality
Lagrosen and Lagrosen () Skills and knowledge, tangibles, process, outcome
Tsai et al. () Environment, service experience, aug. service quality, value, reliability
Literature Review
Spa Business and Service Quality
Spa originally referred to health through water, and
nowadays it generally refers to water-based services
that offer health-related services such as body mas-
sages, facial/skin treatments, and additional services
such as saunas and exercise courses (Hashemi et al.,
2015; Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2022). Today, there are
7major types of spas, namely, the resort and hotel spas,
club spas, day spas, mineral spring spas, medical spas,
cruise ship spas, and destination spas (International
Spa Association, 2012 as cited in Sangpikul, 2022).
In general, spa establishments provide customers
with a wide range of personal services in a calm, beau-
tiful and relaxing atmosphere (Day Spa Association,
2008). Spa experiences, through a wide range of ser-
vices (e.g. body massages, skin treatments, or other
health-related services) not only provide customers
with physical improvements, but also promote psy-
chological well-being like rest and relaxation or stress-
relief activities (Sundbo & Darmer, 2008). Spas are
related to wellness tourism because they may be a
part of tourists’ leisure activities which help to pro-
mote their physical and mental well-being (Dimon,
2013). For example, tourists may spend their free time
on spa services in order to enhance their well-being,
such as body massages, skin treatments, and physi-
cal fitness. Customers usually judge the quality of spa
services through the assessment of how well the deliv-
ered servicesmeet or correspond to their expectations.
In order to deliver the expected services, spa service
providers need to rely on service quality (Lo et al.,
2015; Sangpikul, 2019).
Service quality generally refers to an evaluation
of how well a delivered service meets customer ex-
pectations (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Understand-
ing service quality can assist spa managers in deliver-
ing superior services to meet customer expectations,
contributing to customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth
communication, and loyalty (Memarzadeh & Chang,
2015; Lo et al., 2015). One of the well-known instru-
ments to access service quality is servqual, iden-
tified by Parasuraman et al. (1988). It is a global in-
strument aimed to access consumer expectations and
perceptions of service performance based on 5 di-
mensions: (1) reliability, (2) empathy, (3) assurance,
(4) responsiveness, and (5) tangibles. During the past
decade, there have been several studies examining spa
service quality based on various models which will be
reviewed in the next section.
Studies about Spa Service Quality
In order to better understand customer expectations
on spa service quality, Table 1 summarizes past studies
from various settings. According to the literature re-
view, related studies can be classified into two groups
which are: (1) studies employing servqual and (2)
studies employing modified models.
For the studies employing servqual, Alen et al.
(2006), for example, examined customers’ gaps be-
tween expectations and perceptions of Spanish spa
establishments. They found that there were no sig-
nificant differences between customer expectations
and perceptions of the service quality delivered by
spa establishments. Out of 22 attributes, there were
6 attributes rated higher than customer expectations:
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Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 2 The Synthesis of Service Dimensions from Past Studies
Studies Re
lia
bi
lit
y
Re
sp
on
se
Em
pa
th
y
A
ss
ur
an
ce
Ta
ng
ib
le
s
C
ou
rt
es
y
C
om
.
O
ut
co
m
e
Bakirtzoglou et al. (); Lo et al. (); Loke et al. (); Snoj and Mumel
(); Sangpikul (, ); Sulaiman et al. (); Vryoni et al. ()
• • • • • – – –
Albayrak et al. () • – – • • • – –
Choi et al. () • • – – • • – –
Clemes et al. () • • – – • • • –
Lagrosen and Lagrosen () • – – – • – – •
Tsai et al. () • • • • • – • –
natural surroundings, reputation, decoration, well lo-
cated establishment, quiet place, and friendly employ-
ees. Likewise, Chieochankitkan and Sukpatch (2014)
examined spa service quality in Thailand, and found
that the level of actual service performance was higher
than customers expected. All gaps between customer
expectations and perceptions of spa service quality
in all dimensions (reliability, responsiveness, assur-
ance, empathy, and tangibles) were found to be pos-
itive, implying customer satisfaction. Bakirtzoglou et
al. (2018) used the servqual framework to examine
which service dimensionswere important to customer
satisfaction from hotel spa managers’ perspectives in
Greece. Through factor analysis, the study identified
the threemost important dimensions: responsiveness,
reliability, and tangibles.
In regard to the studies employing modified/ex-
tended models, Tsai et al. (2012), for example, iden-
tified the five service dimensions related to male con-
sumers’ perceived performance of Hong Kong Hotel
spas, namely: environment, service experience, aug-
mented service quality, value, and reliability. The en-
vironment dimension was found to be the important
factor that significantly influenced respondents’ satis-
factions with hotel spa services. A study by Lagrosen
and Lagrosen (2016) examined customer perceptions
of quality in hotel spas by identifying four specific di-
mensions: smoothness, pleasure, physical effects, and
mental effects. The study indicated that smoothness
and pleasure were the process dimensions by concern-
ing customer experience during the consumption of
the service while physical and mental effects were the
outcome dimension by concerning customer experi-
ence after the service.
Although there are several studies examining cus-
tomer expectations and/or perceptions of spa ser-
vice quality in various settings, they are conducted
through quantitative approaches with certain limita-
tions. The quantitative studies generally rely on the
relationships between the variables being examined
and the numeric findings. They still lack opportuni-
ties to further understand customers from different
perspectives, particularly the dissatisfied customers.
What makes customers feel dissatisfied with the ser-
vices may not be similar to the findings identified by
the quantitative studies. Importantly, dissatisfied cus-
tomers have freedom to share the information about
their unmet services, helping spa managers to obtain
wider feedback in regard to their service weaknesses
(Barlow & Moller, 2008; Sangpikul, 2022). As such,
examining the feedback from dissatisfied customers
may provide important implications for the spa in-
dustry. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of literature
to further investigate this important issue in the spa
industry.
Framework to Understand Customers’ Expectations
of Spa Service Quality
As there are two groups of studies examining cus-
tomers’ expectations and/or perceptions of spa ser-
268 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
vice quality, it is better to combine or synthesize them
to obtain a thorough understanding about spa ser-
vice quality in the setting of dissatisfied customers be-
cause they may share a wide range of service quality
issues from their actual experiences. Table 2 presents
the synthesis of related literature from various settings
to obtain relevant service dimensions for the current
study. The service dimensions being employed in each
study are separately analysed, and finally they are com-
bined to be the framework for this study. Through the
analysis of literature, only 8 suitable dimensions are
identified to examine customers’ expectations of spa
service quality, namely, reliability, responsiveness, em-
pathy, assurance, tangibles, courtesy, communication,
and outcome.
Methodology
This study aims to examine the negative reviews re-
garding spa service providers in Bangkok. Most re-
views are posted online from foreign customers (main-
ly international tourists) who had spa service experi-
ences in Bangkok. After the spa services, they might
wish to write something about their unpleasant ex-
periences through travel review websites, and this is
worthy of further investigation to better understand
service problems. There are 4 steps for the research
methodology adapted frompast studies (Memarzadeh
& Chang, 2015; Sangpikul, 2019): (1) identifying spa
service providers, (2) selecting a travel review web-
site, (3) setting the criteria for data collection, and (4)
conducting data analysis.
Firstly, spa service providers were identified. Bang-
kokwas selected as an area of investigation because it is
the most important tourist city in Thailand. A source
of information about spa service providers is avail-
able through the Ministry of Public Health which is in
charge of promoting wellness businesses in Thailand.
According to the Ministry of Public Health (2020),
there were 102 registered day spas in Bangkok.
Secondly, TripAdvisor was selected as a source
for data analysis because it is an important and use-
ful travel website providing a number of reviews re-
garding hospitality and tourism products (Au et al.,
2014; Memarzadeh & Chang, 2015). Related studies
employed TripAdvisor as their source of secondary
data to examine service quality in service industries
including spa business (Memarzadeh & Chang, 2015;
Sangpikul, 2019; Sparks & Browning, 2010).
Thirdly, the criteria to select the reviewswere adap-
ted from previous work (e.g. Au et al., 2014; Memar-
zadeh & Chang, 2015; Sangpikul, 2019; Zheng et al.,
2009) as follows:
1. Names of spas were found through TripAdvi-
sor.com.
2. Spas with 3 or more reviews were included in the
data analysis.
3. Online reviews in the English language were se-
lected, and they were collected from ‘poor to ter-
rible’ scales.
4. The reviews were carefully examined by focus-
ing on spa service quality; non-relevant contents
were excluded from the analysis.
5. Data were covered for a one-year period.
At the time of data collection in August 2021, there
were 102 registered day spas in Bangkok. However,
only 94 spas met the study’s criteria, and there were
312 negative reviews with 845 scripts relevant to spa
service quality.
Finally, content analysis was used to analyse the
data as it is appropriate for a systematic coding and cat-
egorizing method used for analysing textual informa-
tion to determine patterns of words, phrases and the
structures of communication (Mayring, 2000; Stem-
ler, 2001). In particular, this method can help the re-
searcher to analyse specific observations and to iden-
tify meaningful themes in relation to spa service qual-
ity (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Sangpikul, 2022).
Data were analysed based on the related litera-
ture. For example, data coding was undertaken by
hand to categorize the online reviews by focusing on
words, phrases, and sentences (Memarzadeh&Chang,
2015). Data were carefully examined to ensure va-
lidity and consistency in measurement (Lombard et
al., 2002). Data were analysed and coded by the re-
searcher through a pilot test with approximately 30
reviews. TripAdvisor was used as the source of data.
During the coding process, codes were set for the pat-
terns or themes of the messages (Sparks & Browning,
2010), and later they were categorized into appropri-
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Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 3 The Analysis of Customers’ Expectations and Perceptions from Negative Reviews
Dimensions Examples of negative reviews Expectations Perceptions
. Reliability
 ()
‘The massage skill is really very disappointed, very lousy skill which
unexpected’
‘So disappointed on the masseuse skill, compared to outside massage’
‘The works pedicure was meant to be a deluxe pedicure which in-
cludes: cleanse, trim, deep moisturize, color, exfoliate & massage
reflexology points. What we got was bits of some and no reflexology
massage’
‘Our treatment ended  minutes earlier. Didn’t feel like a relaxing
massage cause it was rushed throughout’
‘My masseuse spent most of the  hour  minutes (when it should’ve
been  hours, I checked the clock in the room)’
Skilful/exp-
erienced thera-
pists
Provisions of
standard ser-
vices
Delivery of
promised ser-
vices
Receiving the
services from
unskilled or
unprofessional
therapists
Receiving ser-
vices below the
standard
Receiving un-
promised ser-
vices
. Empathy
 ()
‘Of the three areas I asked the therapist to focus on, she did one and
forgot the other two’
‘I ordered a Royal Thai massage very strong but it was more a very
soft given by a sweet, very inexperienced masseuse’
‘Before the massage, you will be given a form to fill to state the areas
to be focused, unfortunately the massage staff does not really under-
stand and they do not focus where it should be’
Understanding
of customer
needs/requests
Offering per-
sonalized ser-
vices
Ignorance of
customer re-
quests
Ignorance of de-
livering person-
alized services
. Courtesy
 ()
‘At the desk, there is no traditional Thai welcome or smile, it feels
more like a business transaction’
‘Everyone was very inconsiderate and acted like they did not even
want the business’
‘Receptionist is not friendly, no smile’
Friendly/cour-
teous staff
Welcoming
reception
Meeting un-
friendly or
uncourteous
employees
. Respon-
siveness
 ()
‘Our booking was . p.m. We reach the spa at . p.m. and
brought to a room around .pm. The masseurs only come in at
.pm’
‘It was confusing for me since the spa itself seems very upscale and
would have trained their staff in providing proper customer service in
which one is trying to help the customer make the best decision. We
didn’t book anything and left in search of somewhere else’
Provision of
prompt services
Willingness to
help customers
Delayed services
Unhelpful em-
ployees
Continued on the next page
ate themes and dimensions. For example, a statement
such as ‘So disappointed on the masseuse skill, com-
pared to outside massage’ was classified into the re-
liability dimension, whereas a statement like ‘Of the
three areas I asked the therapist to focus on, she did
one and forgot the other two’ was categorized into the
empathy dimension. The coding scheme and review
categories were carefully re-checked and refined by the
researcher to ensure the categorization process (Au et
al., 2014; Sangpikul, 2022). Descriptive statistics were
employed to describe the data in terms of frequencies
and percentage.
Findings and Discussions
General Information of Spa Reviews
Based on 312 negative reviews about spas in Bangkok,
36 were posted by Asian tourists, 32 by European,
14by tourists fromother regions (e.g.NorthAmerica
and Australia), and 18 did not provide any informa-
tion.
Analysing Customers’ Expectations and Perceptions
from Negative Reviews
Table 3 analyses customers’ expectations and percep-
tions of spa service quality from negative reviews.
270 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 3 Continued from the previous page
Dimensions Examples of negative reviews Expectations Perceptions
. Service
outcomes
 ()
‘Other scrubs were too rough, left scars on my legs even after a week.
So the scrub didn’t make my skin smooth at all’
‘Most of the staffs did not know what they are doing. I don’t feel any
better after their massage’
‘I just feel painful during the massage’
Favourable
physical/mental
outcomes
Unfavourable
physical or
mental out-
comes
. Tangibles
 ()
‘My husband and I had to join  other females and males in the same
room with no form of partitions between us. So you can imagine how
tensed one will be. What a disturbing experience’
‘It was also peculiar that our masseuses would talk/laugh to each
other during the massage so it wasn’t as quiet/relaxing as I would
have liked it to be’
‘I had a severe problem with the air-con, it was so loud that no relax-
ing atmosphere was possible. The masseuse stopped three times and
tried to fix it but without success’
‘The room temperature was unacceptable, it was too warm’
Service privacy
Good mainte-
nance of facili-
ties
Pleasant/relaxing
atmosphere
Customer secu-
rity
Lack of cus-
tomer privacy
Noise distur-
bance
Poor maint. of
facilities
Less pleasant
atmosphere
Cust. belong-
ings security
. Assurance
 ()
‘The water in the foot bath was very dirty’
‘Not sure if it is sanitized properly. No hand gel for customers.
Masseuse has no proper masks. They wear cloth mask that doesn’t
protect customers’
‘I had face and head massages. When her fingers touched my face I
realized they were smelling of onions and garlic’
‘The aroma smell is artificial and cheap quality’
Cleanliness of
venue/facilities
Hygiene of staff
and equipment
Quality of prod-
ucts
Uncleanliness of
facilities
Less hygienic
practices
Low quality
product
. Communi-
cation
 ()
‘I had a very bad experience massage experience here. The herbal
compress was very hot which hurts me. I’ve told her I don’t like it and
stop it. But she said she don’t understand and keep doing’
‘I understand the language barrier, but instead of telling me what she
wants me to do, she would pull my leg or body not so gently when
she needs to position it’
‘The service was poor because the therapist was unable to speak En-
glish, so a bit communication breakdown’
Communicating
with customers
during service
delivery
Basic English
communication
Poor commu-
nication with
customers
Poor English
communication
Notes N = 845.
Based on the findings, it is suggested that customers
had various expectations of spa service quality. Among
8 dimensions, reliability, empathy, and responsiveness
received more reviews than any other dimensions.
This suggests that customers had high expectations
of these attributes (e.g. skilful therapists, understand-
ing customer needs, and provision of prompt ser-
vices). But when the performance of these attributes
was below their expectations, this resulted in ser-
vice dissatisfaction and negative reviews. The findings
are similar to past studies indicating that customers
generally expect all service components from service
providers, including pre-services, during services, and
post-services (Chieochankitkan & Sukpatch, 2014;
Sangpikul, 2019). In particular, they had high expecta-
tions of certain dimensions like reliability and empa-
thy because they expected to receive professional and
personalized services from spa service providers (Lo
et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2019). This finding may help to
extend spa service literature as most past studies gen-
erally give the results of customers’ expectations based
on 5 dimensions of servqual. However, this study
has disclosed that customers may have a wide range
of service expectations including 8 different service
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022 | 271
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
dimensions. This finding may provide an implication
for spa managers to better understand various aspects
of customers’ expectations of spa service quality. With
the advantages of contextual analysis, the findings help
to better understand what customers actually expect
and perceive through their written messages when
compared to the quantitative studies. In addition to
the 5 original dimensions, spa managers now may
need to understand additional service dimensions,
namely, employee courtesy, communication, and ser-
vice outcomes. These findings suggest that customers
expect and perceive all dimensions during spa service
delivery.
In addition, this study has given another impor-
tant finding regarding service outcomes. The service
outcomes here refer to what customers feel after the
completion of spa services (e.g. skin beauty, muscle re-
lief or relaxation). Based on the findings, customers re-
viewed the service outcomes (either physical or men-
tal) which did not meet their expectations. This sug-
gests that, in addition to customer-employee interac-
tion, customers had expectations of the end results of
spa services. The finding helps to identify an existence
of service outcomes as expected by spa customers. The
finding regarding spa service outcomes has rarely been
discussed and examined in past studies (e.g. Gonzalez
& Fraiz Brea, 2005; Loke et al., 2018). This may be a
drawback of the quantitative studies which fail to ob-
tain another side of service information from dissatis-
fied customers when compared to a contextual analy-
sis. The current study has identified another new find-
ing regarding spa service outcomes through a contex-
tual method, thereby extending the spa service litera-
ture. This provides evidence and implications for spa
managers to fully understand that customers expect to
experience service outcomes from spa services either
physically and/or mentally. It is a responsibility of the
spa manager to train their employees to provide cus-
tomers with personalized services and expected ser-
vice outcomes.
Classifying Negative Reviews into Factual and
Non-Factual Judgments
Table 4 classifies the negative reviews into factual
and non-factual judgments based on a service qual-
ity framework. The study has found that all negative
reviews regarding spa service quality can be classi-
fied into two categories: factual and non-factual judg-
ments. According to the findings, approximately 58
of the negative reviews (n = 488) fall into non-factual
judgments (emotional judgments) while 42 are in
the objective category or factual judgments (n = 357).
A factual judgment is, for example, ‘Of the three areas
I asked the therapist to focus on, she did one and for-
got the other two,’ whereas, a non-factual judgment is
a statement like ‘The massage skill is really very dis-
appointed, very lousy skill which unexpected [sic].’
The findings are consistent with the literature, indi-
cating that most service evaluations generally rely on
customers’ subjective opinions (emotions) rather than
their objective judgments (Memarzadeh & Chang,
2015; Sangpikul, 2022).
This finding may help to extend the online com-
plaint literature as most past studies fail to examine
this special characteristic of e-complaints (electronic
complaints), and little is known about factual and non-
factual judgments in regard to spa service quality. In
particular, the quantitative studies cannot reveal such
findings due to the limitations of numeric interpreta-
tion. Based on the current finding, it helps to extend
the service literature in that online complaints may be
classified into factual and non-factual judgments. This
also gives an implication for spa managers. For exam-
ple, the factual judgments are likely to help spa man-
agers to identify the causes of customer dissatisfac-
tion more easily than the non-factual judgments due
to the facts of the services (not customers’ emotions).
Now spa managers can distinguish between the fac-
tual and non-factual judgments when exploring cus-
tomers’ negative reviews, which also helps them to pri-
oritize service corrections accordingly.
Identifying the Service Construct for Spa Service
Quality
As there are 8 different service dimensions being iden-
tified from Tables 3 and 4, it is better to combine them
to thoroughly understand the service constructs for
future implementations or conceptualization regard-
ing spa service quality. Based on Table 5, some dimen-
sions are similar to each other as they are related to ser-
272 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 4 Classifying Negative Reviews into Factual and Non-Factual Judgments
Dimensions Examples of factual judgments (n= ) Examples of non-factual judgments (n= )
. Reliability
n= 
 ()
‘My masseuse spent most of the  hour  min-
utes (when it should’ve been  hours, I checked the
clock in the room)’
 ()
‘The massage skill is really very disappointed, very
lousy skill which unexpected’
. Empathy
n= 
 ()
‘Of the three areas I asked the therapist to focus on,
she did one and forgot the other two’
 ()
‘I ordered a Royal Thai massage very strong but it
was more a very soft given by a sweet, very inexpe-
rienced masseuse’
. Courtesy
n= 
 ()
‘At the desk, there is no traditional Thai welcome or
smile, it feels more like a business transaction’
 ()
‘Everyone was very inconsiderate and acted like
they did not even want the business’
. Respon-
siveness
n= 
 ()
‘Our booking was . p.m. We reach the spa at
. p.m. and brought to a room around .pm.
The masseurs only come in at .pm’
 ()
‘It was confusing for me since the spa itself seems
very upscale and would have trained their staff in
providing proper customer service in which one is
trying to help the customer make the best decision’
. Outcomes
n= 
 ()
‘Other scrubs were too rough, left scars on my legs
even after a week. So the scrub didn’t make my skin
smooth at all’
 ()
‘Most of the staffs did not know what they are do-
ing. I don’t feel any better after their massage’
. Tangibles
n= 
 ()
‘There were no lockers, personal belongings were in
same room, be careful’
 ()
‘The room temperature was unacceptable, it was
too warm’
. Assurance
n= 
 ()
‘Room was dirty, I killed  cockroaches. Towels are
grey and overused’
 ()
‘The aroma smell is artificial and cheap quality’
. Communi-
cation
n= 
 ()
‘I had a very bad experience massage experience
here. The herbal compress was very hot which hurts
me. I’ve told her I don’t like it and stop it. But she
said she don’t understand and keep doing’
 ()
‘She’s unable to speak English, so a bit communica-
tion breakdown’
Notes N = 845.
vice process or employee-customer interaction (i.e. re-
liability, responsiveness, empathy) while the others are
not directly related to the service process, for example,
tangibles, physical assurance, and service outcomes.
According to Table 5, the first construct relating to
the service process includes reliability, responsiveness,
empathy, courtesy, and communication. The reason
to group these dimensions together is because they
mainly involve employee-customer interaction. The
literature supports this argument as most servqual
dimensions focus on the process of the services be-
cause they occur during service interaction between
employees and customers (Alen et al., 2006; Ekinci,
2002). The findings from Table 5 can also explain this
argument because customersmentioned these dimen-
sions when they interactedwith spa employees. In this
regard, they are appropriately grouped together under
the construct of service process.
In contrast, tangibles identified in the current find-
ings mainly involve the physical elements (e.g. atmo-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022 | 273
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
Table 5 The Analysis and Identification of Service Construct/Framework of Spa Service Quality
Examples of reviews Expectations Service dim. Construct
‘I feel the therapist is less experienced in the massage. She used her
hands very hard on my legs, very painful’
‘My masseuse spent most of the  hour  minutes (when it should’ve
been  hours, I checked the clock in the room)’
Skilful/experienced
therapists
Delivery of
promised services
Reliability Service
process
‘Our booking was . p.m. We reach the spa at . p.m. and brought
to a room around .pm. The masseurs only come in at .pm’
‘I felt that spa manager looked unwilling to help me with my change of
booking’
Provision of prompt
services
Helpful staff
Respon-
siveness
Service
process
‘Of the three areas I asked the therapist to focus on, she did one and
forgot the other two’
‘I ordered a Royal Thai massage very strong but it was more a very soft
given by a sweet, very inexperienced masseuse’
Understanding
customer needs
Delivery of person-
alised services
Empathy Service
process
‘At the desk, there is no traditional Thai welcome or smile, it feels more
like a business transaction’
‘Staff are not friendly at all, no one told us where to go after payment.
When you ask them, they were not helpful or friendly especially the
front desk’
Friendly/courteous
staff
Courtesy Service
process
‘I understand the language barrier, but instead of telling me what she
wants me to do, she would pull my leg or body not so gently when she
needs to position it’
‘The service was poor because the therapist was unable to speak English,
so a bit communication breakdown’
Communicating
with customers
Communi-
cation
Service
process
‘The room temperature was unacceptable, it was too warm’
‘There were no lockers, personal belongings were in same room, be
careful’
Pleasant/relaxing
atmosphere
Security of bel.
Tangibles Physical
elements
‘The water in the foot bath was very dirty’
‘Room was dirty, I killed  cockroaches. Towels are grey and overused’
Cleanliness of venue
and facilities
Physical
assurance
Physical
elements
‘Other scrubs were too rough, left scars on my legs even after a week. So
the scrub didn’t make my skin smooth at all’
‘The place was very loud so I couldn’t exactly relax’
Physical/mental
outcomes
Service
outcomes
Service
outcomes
sphere, availability of facilities) rather than the ser-
vice process. They are better grouped separately as
‘tangibles’ or ‘physical’ elements. Past studies in ho-
tel studies also separate tangibles as an individual di-
mension, not being combined in the service process
(Alexandris et al., 2006; Wu & Ko, 2013). In relation
to assurance, this dimension is a little complicated be-
cause its meaning is broad and has not been well de-
fined. ‘Assurance’ has been criticized in the literature
as it seems to be unclearly perceived by many cus-
tomers (Olorunniwo et al., 2003). Likewise, in a spa
setting, assurance could be interpreted differently by
customers and spa practitioners. Consequently, the
current study defines assurance in terms of physical
assurance which refers to the basic services helping
to create customers’ trust and confidence when us-
ing core products. Physical assurance items are, for
example, venue cleanliness, equipment hygiene, and
customer privacy and security. Physical assurance as
identified in this study is supported by past studies
(Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2019) as they measured spa
assurance in terms of venue cleanliness and customer
privacy and security.
For service outcomes, this attribute is mainly con-
274 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
cerned with what customers feel after the completion
of spa services either physically and/or mentally. Peo-
ple go to spas for specific or personal purposes; they
certainly expect to receive the spa service outcomes
that they wish. The current findings support this argu-
ment well because customers wrote negative reviews
when their expectations of service outcomes were un-
met. This may significantly affect the business asmany
customers indicated that they would neither recom-
mend nor re-patronize the services. There is still lim-
ited literature to investigate this important attribute,
and to examine it in relation to spa service quality
(Lagrosen & Lagrosen, 2016). Therefore, service out-
comes are an important result obtained by the present
study, and should be regarded as a major construct for
spa service quality due to the empirical evidence.
Overall, this study has identified the new findings
(new knowledge) regarding the construct or frame-
work of spa service quality through the contextual
method. The construct of spa service quality consists
of 3 primary components which are: service process,
physical elements, and service outcomes. This find-
ing extends the existing literature. Past studies gener-
ally examine spa service quality based on the estab-
lished frameworks by containing 3–6 service dimen-
sions (based on Table 2). There is a lack of research
to identify and conceptualize the overall construct or
framework of spa service quality. This finding not only
contributes to the service literature but also gives im-
portant implications for spa managers and employees.
The new findings suggest that when customers judge
the quality of spa services, they are likely to evaluate
these 3 components through their expectations and
perceptions. The findings may help spa managers and
employees more deeply understand what customers
expect and perceive during spa services, and may help
them to do their best to respond to customers’ needs
and expectations.
Implications
Theoretical Implications
Firstly, the current study helps to better understand
customers’ expectations and perceptions of spa ser-
vice quality through dissatisfied customers, and goes
beyond the servqual model. Most studies employ
servqual to assess spa service quality in various set-
tings; however, servqual has been criticized for its
weakness in being fully applicable to a specific service
industry, including the spa industry. In particular, sev-
eral scholars (e.g. Akbaba, 2006; Ekinci, 2002) criticize
that servqual focuses on the process of service de-
livery, not the service outcomes. This may be because
servqual’s conceptualization was originally devel-
oped from finance and banking businesses, not the
leisure sector. The service industries being examined
byParasuraman et al. (1988) did not concentrate on the
service outcomes due to the different nature of service
characteristics.However, spa services are distinct from
other service industries as people go to spas for spe-
cific purposes, and certainly expect to receive physical
and/ormental outcomes. Given the findings of service
outcomes, the present study, therefore, overcomes the
weaknesses of servqual and goes beyond it by pro-
viding empirical evidence regarding customers’ expec-
tations of spa service outcomes. Following the existing
literature (Table 1), there is still a scarcity of research to
fully understand service outcomes in the spa industry.
With the advantages of contextual analysis, the current
study has identified the existence of service outcome,
and its construct, helping to extend the service litera-
ture in the spa industry.
Secondly, the current study has conceptualized spa
service quality by proposing 3 important constructs:
service process, physical elements and service out-
comes. Among the 3 constructs, it is shown that most
servqual dimensions are combined into the service
process construct while physical assurance and tangi-
bles are combined in the physical construct, followed
by the service outcome construct. This conceptual-
ization suggests that servqual is not adequately or
fully applicable for assessing and understanding cus-
tomers’ expectations of spa service quality, particularly
the service outcomes.
Thirdly, the 8 dimensions being examined in the
current study can make further contributions to the
quantitative studies. It is suggested that all dimen-
sions can be implemented in the quantitative studies
to better understand the relationships between service
quality perceptions and customer satisfactions and
loyalty. Many studies often employ 5 dimensions of
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022 | 275
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
servqual (reliability, responsiveness, empathy, as-
surance, and tangibles) to examine the impacts of ser-
vice quality on customer satisfaction and behaviour
intentions (e.g. Lo et al., 2015; Vryoni et al., 2017).
There is still limited knowledge regarding understand-
ing how other service dimensions identified from the
current study (i.e. courtesy, communication and ser-
vice outcomes) impact those dependent variables.
Fourthly, the construct of service outcomes can
help to advance the existing literature, particularly the
quantitative studies. This is because service outcomes
are a special variable as it may be added to or mod-
ified to be an independent or even dependent vari-
able. Past studies indicate the impacts of service out-
comes on customer satisfaction and loyalty in other
service industries such as banks and hospitals (Choi &
Kim, 2013; Hsieh & Hiang, 2004). Unfortunately, this
important variable, like the service outcomes, is still
under-researched in the spa sector. This may provide
an important clue for future spa studies.
Finally, the current study supports Parasuraman et
al.’s (1985) conceptualization in that customers judge a
firm’s service through their expectations and percep-
tions based on an expectancy-disconfirmation para-
digm. This is true in a wellness tourism sector such as
the spa industry, based on the current findings. Past
studies often criticize the gaps model of servqual
(performance-expectation gaps) by arguing that there
is little evidence that customers assess service qual-
ity based on performance-expectation gaps (Akbaba,
2006; Olorunniwo et al., 2003). However, the present
study has shared the contextual findings that most spa
customers had expectations when using spa services
in various dimensions. When the delivered services
did not meet customers’ expectations, they were likely
to be dissatisfied and wrote negative reviews. This
suggests that spa customers make service evaluations
based on their expectations and perceptions as postu-
lated by Parasuraman et al. (1985). The evidence from
this study confirms the expectancy-disconfirmation
paradigm in the wellness tourism.
Managerial Implications
Firstly, service process: there are 5 dimensions involv-
ing the service process (i.e. courtesy, responsiveness,
reliability, empathy, communication). These dimen-
sions may help spa managers and employees to bet-
ter understand what elements customers expect for
the service process (people performance), and to train
their employees appropriately. For example, the cour-
tesy element: when customers arrive at the spa venue,
they expect to meet courteous and friendly employ-
ees, including receptionists and therapists. Spa em-
ployees should be well trained to provide customers
with a warm welcome and friendly atmosphere dur-
ing the whole process. In regard to responsiveness,
many customers talked about the delay of services
in their reviews; this suggests that customers are re-
ally concerned about the provision of prompt services
when they arrive, and also expect to receive such ser-
vices, beginning from receptionists to spa therapists.
For reliability, customers not only expect professional
services from skilful therapists, but also expect the
promised services to start and finish on time (e.g. 1-
hour service, not 50-minute service). Research shows
that reliability (skills of therapists) is one of the most
important factors contributing to customer satisfac-
tion (Lo et al., 2015; Sangpikul, 2021). Spa managers
should focus on this element by recruiting skilled and
experienced therapists to provide customers with pro-
fessional services (Chieochankitkan& Sukpatch, 2014;
Lo et al., 2015). A regular or intensive training pro-
gramme for less skilled or new therapists is also sug-
gested to enhance their skills (Sangpikul, 2019). As
for empathy, spa therapists should keep in mind that
different customers have different personal needs due
to their health-related problems or personal prefer-
ences. They should be trained to deliver the person-
alized services that meet customer expectations. Re-
garding communication, spa employees are expected
to communicate with locals and foreign customers re-
garding various issues, for example, explaining spa
programmes, answering customers’ questions, and
communicating with customers during the services or
even listening to customers’ personal requests. They
should be well trained to have good communication
with customers. For communication in English, em-
ployees with poor English communication may affect
service performance and customers’ expectations of
service delivery, causing customer dissatisfaction. It
276 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 2, August 2022
Aswin Sangpikul Understanding Dissatisfied Customers’ Expectations of Spa Service Quality
is important for spa managers to recruit spa employ-
ees with proper qualifications and a good knowledge
of English in order to communicate with foreign cus-
tomers and deliver the services as customers expect
(Sangpikul, 2019).
Secondly, physical elements: there are sub-categori-
es under this issue, for example, atmosphere, equip-
ment/facilities, and physical assurance. In addition
to the service process, customers also expect physi-
cal elements from spa establishments, particularly the
maintenance of equipment/facilities and physical as-
surance (e.g. cleanliness, customer privacy). As most
physical elements are not directly relevant to service
process, they are generally the responsibility of the
management team or even spa owners (buying high-
tech equipment). It is suggested that spamanagers and
supervisors should regularly attend to all tangible re-
lated issues to ensure that these attributes complement
well the consumption of core products.
Thirdly, service outcomes: customers go to spas
for specific purposes, and certainly expect to receive
either physical and/or mental outcomes, for example,
skin beauty, muscle relief, stress relief, and relaxation.
Based on the findings, there are several causes of cus-
tomer dissatisfaction that can be related to spa ser-
vice outcomes, for instance, inexperienced therapists,
ignorance of customer requests/needs, or employee
etiquette (noise disturbance). Spa managers should
realize these causes and attempt to obtain customer
feedback about their perceptions of spa service out-
comes to improve the services to meet customer ex-
pectations. Various approaches can be implemented to
obtain such information, for example, surveys, opin-
ion boxes, interviews or online reviews. Customers
receiving the favourable service outcomes they expect
are likely to re-patronize the business.
Fourthly, examining the factual and non-factual
judgments from online reviews can help spa man-
agers to better understand the nature of service feed-
back given by dissatisfied customers regarding their
unpleasant experiences or unmet service. Spa man-
agers can now distinguish the characteristics of emo-
tional judgments from factual feedback, and can prior-
itize actions for service recovery, particularly the ones
given by the fact-based evidence (Sangpikul, 2021).
Finally, to stay competitive and be a leading spa
establishment in the market, in-depth understand-
ing of certain service dimensions and technologymay
help to generate service innovation in the spa indus-
try. For example, physical elements such as high-tech
equipment may provide service innovation by giving
better/superior services. Further, training a profes-
sional therapist (reliability dimension) by using high-
tech equipment or facilities (physical elements) helps
to generate service innovation in the spa industry
(a combination of human and technology services),
thereby giving competitive advantages. In addition,
the high-tech equipment (physical elements)may help
to enhance customers’ physical outcomes such as skin
beauty treatments.
Limitations
This study explored only registered day spas in Bang-
kok, which included all types of day spas such as hotel
spas, luxurious spas, and ordinary spas. Customers’
expectations and perceptions of spa service quality
may be different based on spa categories, and may
affect customer reviews. Future research may inves-
tigate similar spa establishments as well as increase
the number of samples and locations of investigation
to provide more accurate information and to cross-
validate what this study has found. In addition, the
secondary data collected from online sources should
be conducted with caution because some information
may not be fully accurate or credible because anyone
can write the reviews or post incorrect or fake infor-
mation (Sparks & Browning, 2010; Zheng et al., 2009).
It is suggested to consider guidelines from past stud-
ies, and collect many reviews from different/various
sources (e.g. service providers, websites, destinations)
to help to enhance the credibility of the studies (Sang-
pikul, 2021; Sparks & Browning, 2010).
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