Customer Satisfaction with Alpine Ski Areas: The Moderating Effects of Personal, Situational, and Product Factors

been studying the processes by which delivering high-quality goods and services increases profitability through customer satisfaction and found that customer satisfaction is related to positive word of mouth, cross-selling or upgrading, repurchase intentions, and reduced price sensitivity (e.g., Baker and Crompton 2000; Reichheld and Sasser 1990; Rust, Zahorik, and Kleiningham 1995; Stahl, Matzler, and Hinterhuber 2003). Several crosssectional studies have found that in highly competitive environments, satisfaction is strongly related to profitability (Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994) and shareholder value (Anderson, Fornell, and Mazvancheryl 2004; Matzler et al. 2005b). Thus, the measurement and management of customer satisfaction is crucial. Tourism managers need to identify the drivers of customer satisfaction, measure satisfaction levels, and derive the right strategies to increase satisfaction (Fuchs 2004). Many ski resorts monitor customer satisfaction regularly using on-mountain surveys (Perdue 2002). In this article, it is argued that satisfaction attribute importance may vary systematically on the basis of moderating variables, including personal characteristics of the consumer, situation-specific characteristics, and product-related characteristics. Attribute importance measures that do not consider such differences may lead tourism managers to erroneously conclude that some attributes are not relevant at all or that others are of central importance to the customer.