Development and Validation of a Casino Service Quality Scale: A Holistic Approach

Based on research by Dr. Gregory Bradley and Dr. Wei Wang

There is little question that the casino industry in the United States has established a significant presence over the last 30 years. There is evidence that casino developments contribute substantially to both local and regional economies. Despite this increasing presence, however, there has been a paucity of casinorelated research. It is speculated this is because access to casino customers while gambling has been extraordinarily limited over the years. In the recent past, however, as casino resort companies became publicly-traded, there has been an expansion of this type of gaming research to strengthen marketing strategies relative to increases in competition. Still, from a broader point of view, casino-related customer research is in its early stages.

In terms of operational strategies, it has long been established that gaining a better understanding of the primary drivers of key casino customer attitudes and the relationship with subsequent behaviors could both enhance the customer experience and improve business-related outcomes. Through previous research, it was found that there is a connection between customer satisfaction and profitability, and that there is an indirect relationship between perceived service quality, value, satisfaction, loyalty, and financial outcomes. Nonetheless, previous casino service quality research both omitted a key dimension for a fullservice casino and conflated measurement dimensions.

Therefore, to fill this research gap, Dr. Greg Bradley and Dr. Wei Wang recently developed a casino service quality scale through a nine-step multistage research process that included rigorous pre-scale development protocol and surveys that were distributed to over 1,000 casino guests. Casino guests were asked about the service quality received at the casino they were visiting at the time, as well as their satisfaction levels and other associated perceptions and behaviors related to loyalty during this visit. The primary purpose of their research was to develop a more holistic casino service quality scale to allow casino operators to systematically measure service quality and compare this outcome against others in their competitive set. Overall, four aspects of casino service quality were identified and validated to include the overarching constructs of gaming service, restaurant service, hotel service, and cleanliness. Each of these broader measurement areas had multiple items. Drs. Bradley and Wang further examined the relationships among casino service quality and the loyalty framework. From this analysis, it was found that casino service quality is a multidimensional concept that must be managed carefully to develop and maintain loyal customers. Specifically, the newly developed scale indicated a strong relationship among customer satisfaction and both behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. Notably, the scale was found to be both reliable and robust due to the multistage development, data collection, and analysis processes.

Based on their research findings, it was recommended that casino managers use multiple factors, rather than a single aspect, to assess service outcomes at their resort properties. Particularly, this study established that both gaming and non-gaming services are essential to the success of overarching perceptions of customer service in the casino environment. Frequently, casino resort managers spend an exorbitant amount of effort and other resources on areas that fail to meaningfully impact customer loyalty. By having identified the functional structural relationships of loyalty in this industry, these Southern Miss professors demonstrated that a more advanced effort can be instituted to improve these key impression points which will likely lead to improved loyalty, retention, and profitability. Subsequently, these two professors have jointly investigated the moderating influence of casino loyalty club membership on these same outcomes and are awaiting publication of these findings.

To read the full article, see:

Bradley, G.T. & Wang, W. (2022) Development and validation of a casino service quality scale: A holistic approach. Tourism Management, 88, 104419.