Reforming the SERVQUAL model for accommodation sharing services: A mixed-method approach

Shared accommodation has seen robust growth with the advancement of the platform economy. With the growing participation of non-professional service deliverers (i.e., property owners) in this field, service quality and customer satisfaction are currently facing challenges. Leveraging the SERVQUAL model, this research investigates the factors that determine customers' continuance intention (CI) to reuse this type of accommodation. A mixed-method approach is used, in which text analysis is first conducted to identify the dimensions constituting the reformed SERVQUAL model in the accommodation sharing context. Thereafter, a survey-based empirical analysis is carried out to examine the impact of the SERVQUAL dimensions. In the text analysis, 29,787 online reviews on accommodation sharing services from Ctrip.com were collected. After word segmenting and high-frequency word coding using the Jieba package of Python and NVivo 12 plus, eight dimensions of SERVQUAL for accommodation sharing services were extracted: necessities, complementarity, reliability, empathy, assurance, responsiveness, authenticity, and similarity. In the empirical study, the results based on 588 valid samples show that all dimensions identified in this research have either direct or indirect impacts on consumers’ CI. The research findings hold great theoretical and practical significance. • A mixed method is used to generate SERVQUAL for accommodation sharing services. • Text analysis is conducted to identify the dimensions of the reformed SERVQUAL. • Eight dimensions of SERVQUAL for accommodation sharing services were extracted. • All dimensions directly or indirectly affect consumer continuance intention (CI). • Perceived value plays mediating role between certain SERVQUAL dimensions and CI.