Moderating role of religion in the relationship between SERVQUAL dimensions and hotel guest satisfaction

Purpose Religion is one of the factors that are considered in developing marketing strategy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of religion (Islam and Christianity) in the relationship between SERVQUAL dimensions and satisfaction of hotel guest in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study was collected from 400 hotel customers in Nigeria (Zamfara and Anambra), and was analyzed using structural equation modeling technique (Amos). Also, composite reliability and average variance extracted were used to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. Findings The study found that religion has a significant moderating effect on the service quality dimensions and hotel guest satisfaction. In other words, there is significant difference on how Muslim and Christian hotel guests evaluate service quality dimensions and satisfaction. Moreover, the result shows that the empathy and assurance dimensions are the most important significant predictors of guest satisfaction. Moreover, religion has significant positive effect on guest satisfaction. Practical implications The study shows that religion significantly moderate the service quality dimensions. Therefore, the hotel management should focus on providing training programs that will enable the employees to offer superior personalized services to strengthen and nurture long-term guest relationships. Originality/value The inclusion of moderating effect of religion made this study very unique. Furthermore, the peculiarity and religious sentiments of the Nigeria business environment made this work outstanding.