The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction in tourism: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide empirical guidance on those antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction (CS) that may be included in the tourism sector and based on a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach – Undertaken through a review of 495 papers that have been published in 41 journals since 1988 and up to 2016 (a 29-year period). A more detailed understanding and discussion is also provided, which has been based on the analysis of the 100 most-cited articles. Findings – The theoretical models and the empirical applications provided depend to some extent on the sector under analysis. Nevertheless, the most popular determinants and consequences are service quality and loyalty (recommendation and revisiting), respectively. CS antecedents have been studied more than CS consequences. Research limitations/implications – The analysis has been based solely on English language articles that appear in Scopus. As a result, the geographical areas and the tourist sectors are definitely biased by this selection, and the results cannot be easily transferred to other geographical areas or tourist sectors. Practical implications – The results obtained from the study have relevant empirical and practical implications for hospitality researchers and practitioners. Firstly, the selected papers may be used as a valid starting point to research CS with respect to antecedents and consequences. Hospitality managers can also benefit from a better understanding of this triplet in tourism. Originality/value – This study is the first attempt to provide a systematic literature review on the antecedents and consequences of CS in tourism. Thus, researchers in the field will be able to begin their work with a complete and comprehensive model that considers the main antecedents and consequences of CS in tourism.