Marketing of Luxury Cruise Liners: Segmentation, Satisfaction and Future Patronage of Cruise Travellers

The Services Marketing literature focuses on the measurement of service quality and its impact and consequences on businesses. How service quality affects behavioural outcomes such as repeat purchases and loyalty continues to be debated. This study examines how service quality and customer satisfaction operates in the cruise liner industry - an industry which is now facing overcapacity. Based on data collected from travellers of a luxury cruise liner, this study analysed relevant dimensions of service quality and their relationships on overall satisfaction level. Additionally, it investigated details of cruise travellers' behavioural intentions. The analysis revealed gaps in several service quality attributes. Overall customer satisfaction had a relatively strong relationship with all the three variables of behavioural intentions. The implications of the results of the three studies to the services marketing literature in general and to the cruise liner industry in particular are discussed.