Editorial Team Editor in Chief Francisco Riquel-Ligero, University of Huelva, Spain José Miguel Rodríguez-Antón, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Sandra Sanchez-Cañizares, University of Cordoba, Spain Josep Francesc Valls-Giménez, ESADE, Spain Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez, University of Huelva, Spain Associate Editor T.C. Huan, National Chiayi University, Taiwan Books Review Editor Brendan Paddison, York St. John University, United Kingdom Secretariat Elena García de Soto, University of Huelva, Spain Cinta Borrero-Domínguez, University of Huelva, Spain Style reviewer and text editor Anestis Fotiadis, I-SHOU University, Taiwan, Province of China Editorial Board José Manuel Alcaraz, Murdoch University, Australia Mario Castellanos-Verdugo, University of Seville, Spain José Antonio Fraiz-Brea, University of Vigo, Spain José Manuel Hernández-Mogollón, University of Extremadura, Spain Shaul Krakover, Ben Gurion University, Israel Jean Pierre Levy-Mangin, University of Quebec, Canada Tomás López-Guzmán, University of Córdoba, Spain Yasuo Ohe, Chiba University, Japón Mirko Perano, University of Salerno, Italy María de los Ángeles Plaza-Mejía, University of Huelva, Spain Nuria Porras-Bueno, University of Huelva, Spain João Albino Silva, Algarve University, Portugal Advisory Board (Spanish Members) César Camisón-Zornoza, Uniersity of Valencia, Spain Enrique Claver-Cortés, University of Alicante, Spain María Teresa Fernández-Alles, University of Cádiz, Spain José Luis Galán-González, University of Seville, Spain Félix Grande-Torraleja, University of Jaén, España Antonio Leal-Millán, University of Seville, Spain Inmaculada Martín-Rojo, University of Málaga, Spain Antonio Manuel Martínez-López, University of Huelva, Spain Francisco José Martínez-López, University of Huelva, Rector, Spain Pablo A. Muñoz-Gallego, University of Salamanca, Spain Advisory Board (Other European Members) Paulo Aguas, University of Algarve, Portugal Gustavo Barresi, University of Messina, Italy Carlos Costa, Aveiro University, Portugal Salvatore Esposito de Falco, University of Rome “La Sapienza", Italy Sheila Flanagan, Dublín Institute of Technology, Ireland Tania Gorcheva, Tsenov Academy of Economics, Bulgaria Tadeja Jere-Lazanski, University of Primorska, Slovenia Metin Kozak, Mugla University, Turkey Álvaro Matias, Lusiada University, Portugal Alfonso Morvillo, National Research Council, Italy Alexandru Nedelea, Stafan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania Claudio Nigro, University of Foggia, Italy Angelo Presenza, University "G. D'Annunzio" of ChietiPescara, Italy Kanes Rajah, Royal Agricultural University, United Kingdom Advisory Board (Members from the rest of the world) John Allee, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Nestor Pedro Braidot, National University of La Plata, Argentina Roberto Elias Canese, Columbia University, Rector, Paraguay Luca Casali, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Nimit Chowdhary, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, India Steven Chung-chi Wu, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwán Dianne Dredge, Southern Cross University, Australia Daniel Fesenmaier, Temple University, United States Babu George, Alaska Pacific University, United States Dogan Gursoy, Washington State University, United States Jafar Jafari, University of Wisconsin-Stout, United States Sanggun Lee, Pai Chai University, Korea Republic of Albert Yeh Shangpao, I-SHOU University, Taiwán Pauline Sheldon, University of Hawaii, United States Germán A. Sierra-Anaya, University of Cartagena de Indias, Rector, Colombia Xiaohua Yang, University of San Francisco, United States J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah A MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY ASPECTS CONVEYED IN HOTEL ADVERTISING Jebril A. Alhelalat Al-Hussein Bin Talal University (Jordan) jebrilalhelalat@gmail.com Ma’moun A. Habiballah Al-Hussein Bin Talal University (Jordan) mamounh@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Advertisements play a significant role in communicating product information, guarantees and service excellence. This study aims to investigate the role played by hotel advertisements in building customers’ expectation of service quality. After a mixed qualitative and quantitative research on 14 hotel marketing officers and 228 potential customers in Jordan, collected questionnaires were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis refining study model’s dimensions; the model was inherent to study’s results which adopts that advertisements should convey a message of quality through its attractiveness (celebrity endorsement, entertainment, tangibles and appeal), credibility (reliability, promise of quality, slogan, and reasonable price) and information (imagery, risk reduction and message effectiveness). Results of the factor analysis confirmed that all dimensions’ items were loaded significantly proving their validity. Having established models’ constructs’ validity, a multiple regression was applied to assess the models’ explanation of quality conveyed by hotel advertisements; results confirmed significantly the model’s predictability with R2=54.7%. After confirming the model’s validity and its predictability of customers’ perceived quality, recommendations were suggested to hotel managers and marketers; these 99 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah to help them utilize the model’s constructs in achieving optimal communication for their service quality. KEYWORDS Hotel advertising; Service quality; Credibility; Attractiveness; Information. ECONLIT KEYS L83, Z32, M37. 1. INTRODUCTION According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), advertising is “the placement of announcements and persuasive messages in time or space purchased in any of the mass media by business firms, nonprofits organizations, government agencies and individuals who seek to inform and/ or persuade members of a particular target market or audience about their products, services, organizations or ideas”. The core idea of this definition is the objectives of advertising as informing and persuading target customers about products and services. A major consideration here is the role of advertising in conveying messages such as reasonable prices, superior service, high quality, or packages of offerings (Wells and Spinks, 1999). Taking the issue of advertising objectives wider, Lin (2011) summarized that the main objective of an advertisement is to communicate products and brands to customers. In another view, marketing communication in general aims at improving customer relationships, increasing service tangibility and improving customers’ perception of service quality (Israeli, Adler, Mehrez and Sundali, 2000; Moriarty, Jones, Rowley and Kupiec-Teahan, 2008). Therefore, the importance of advertising in shaping customers’ perception is a topic of abundant research. The most important effects of advertising on customers are related to advertising as a source of information and as a medium to build customers’ perception of service quality (Mandan, 2013). The link and the development of concepts about service quality cues in advertising were based on the work of the service quality gurus, Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996), who called for an empirical evidence of the association between service quality and advertising. 100 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah Hence, the current research aims at developing a model for service quality cues in hotel advertising. While most of research that combined service quality and advertising focused mainly on SERVQUAL as a service quality model, the current research aim intends to go wider by asking potential hotel customers and hotel executives to participate in forming the proposed model of service quality aspects in hotel advertisements. In general, there is a scarcity of research on hotel advertising ability to convey service quality cues; this is expected to increase the present study’s opportunity in contributing valuably to the body of knowledge about hotel advertising. To achieve this aim, the study was carried out using the two main streams of scientific research; secondary research through a thorough literature review, followed by a robust research design which includes an explanation to the methods used, results and discussion, important conclusions and academic and practical implications. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Academics and practitioners agree that service advertising should deliver a service quality message which indicates the expectation of service; this message may include information about price, guarantees of quality and evidence of excellence (Clow and James, 1996). Advertising is vital to the organization's image and to the promotion of service quality (Wells and Spinks, 1999). Tsui (2012) concluded that advertising effectively influences consumers' perception of quality and enhances their willingness to pay. Lu, Yang and Akter (2015) stressed on the role of the amount of information which customers receive through an advertisement about service quality. Thus, advertising to a substantial extent must focus on informing customers first. The role of informing customers, through advertising, in reducing risk perception is salient in the literature; the more knowledgeable the customer, the less risk perceived (Smith and Bush, 2002; Boshoff, 2002). The amount and quality of information within the advertisement is related, according to Clow and James (1996), to risk reduction, reliability, responsiveness and individual caring; all of which are service quality cues conveyed through advertisement. Erdem, Keane and Sun (2008) highlighted the 101 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah importance of information that signals quality within an advertisement which contributes to customer risk reduction during product or brand choice. It is obvious, then, that more and easier access to information is the power of risk reduction; this is believed to be the job of marketing communication. As a result, it was concluded that providing general information about the service, price and service guarantees are among the most important factors contributing to customers’ risk reduction (Boshoff, 2002); other factors include credibility, interactivity, entertainment, and informativeness in the context of risk reduction and service assurance and quality (Wang, Zhang, Choi and D’Eredita, 2002). Accordingly, showing service attributes that deliver a consistent message of quality, such as reliability message, can help in shaping customers’ perceptions and in reducing the risk associated with selecting a service from various choices (Wang, Kim, Jhu and Gao, 2016). Theoretically, if service quality cues in an advertisement indicate the service will be performed at a high level, the risk associated with patronizing should be reduced. That is, if customers feel that service firm will be reliable, responsive to their particular requests, reassuring and empathic in caring for them as individuals, their risk of patronizing should be reduced (Clow and James, 1996). Prior to this, Day (1992) is considered one of the first scholars who called for delivering service quality through advertisements. She presented a model on the clues of service quality in advertisement based on the popular SERVQUAL model as following: i. Reliability: showing the procedures and equipments proving the ability to deliver the promised service. ii. Responsiveness: referring to the employees being ready, willing and eager to deliver a quick service. iii. Assurance: providing reference to the competence of employees, to courteous service, to professional certifications and affiliations and to the length of time the firm has been in business. iv. Empathy: providing reference to caring and personalized service as well as a reference to special service for a specific segment. 102 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah v. Tangibles: pointing visual evidence of physical facilities such as equipments, employee appearance, and promised service. Moraga-Gonzalez (2000) suggested that informative advertisement conveys direct information about quality compared to uninformative advertisements. Within this context, there is an assumption that high quality firms advertise while low quality firms keep silent depending on the amount and quality of information provided in the firm’s advertisement (Emons and Fluet, 2012; Song, Jang and Cai, 2015). For example, comparative advertising (advertisements that compare products of competitors) can signal higher quality than non-comparative advertisements as more information and more evidences of quality are demonstrated (Emons and Fluet, 2012). Hill, Bodegett, Baer and Wakefield (2004) considered informativeness of advertisement as a vocal point in presenting quality perception and uniqueness of service; they concluded that visualization of quality aspects of the service affects the perception of quality and the likelihood to use the service by customers. According to Mortimer (2001), the main objectives of advertising are to make service tangible, to increase brand image and to achieve differentiation. Thus, the visualization of tangibles influences service quality perception by offering indirect clues about the nature and quality of service (Mortimer, 2001; Danciu, 2007). Evidences of quality in service advertisement include showing physical facilities, equipments and personnel (Day, 1992). Decaudin and Lacoste (2010) reviewed the main clues of making service more tangible within an advertisement; these include personnel, physical evidence, guarantees, testimonials and appropriate logo and slogan. While Clow, James, Kranenburg and berry (2006) agreed on the importance of physical evidence of quality in service advertisements, they stressed on influencing customers’ perceptions by focusing on the service quality cues within the advertisement. In addition, to improve the chances of achieving the communication objectives, a form of appeal can be used to attract customers and stimulate their desire; either emotionally or rationally (Lin, 2011). Both emotional and rational appeals are believed to create significant effects on advertisement effectiveness and on customers’ attitude (Lin, 2011). Nevertheless, various scholars linked service quality attributes to rational 103 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah appeal rather than emotional appeal (including Papadopoulos and Reid, 2013; Shukor, Suliman, Chin and Zakuan, 2016). Furthermore, Chan, Ng and Luk (2013) argued that celebrity endorsement enhances the perceived quality of a brand and the enjoyment of the target audience; it is expected to improve brand credibility and to increase audience’s attention to the advertisement. They also added that because of positive celebrity presentation in an advertisement, customers perceive the quality of service to be high. Celebrity endorser should be attractive, credible and consistent with the service category and desired brand image; celebrity attractiveness is considered part of the advertisement’s attractiveness and audience attention and enjoyment (Lee, Chen, Yu and Tsui, 2012; Chan et al., 2013). Accordingly, the effectiveness of advertisement can be greater when indicators of credibility are shown including source credibility (Clow et al., 2006). In the hospitality industry, advertising is believed to enhance financial performance, to acquire customers, to foster sales growth, to increase the intangible value of the firm and to improve brand image and identity (Nykiel, 1999; Chen and Lin, 2015; Ben Aissa and Goaied, 2016). It can be pointed out that hotel advertising effectiveness generally depends on specifying the purpose of advertising, defining the target focus, selecting the appropriate media, considering customer expectations and proper timing and placement (Nykiel, 1999). In relation to service quality cues within hotel advertisements, Day (1992) found that the most widely used aspects of service quality messages conveyed through advertisements in most service industries, including hotels, are tangibles and assurance. Moreover, Siu and Fung (1998) believed that informative hotel advertisement should contain a set of components including messages about quality; some of which is imagery of the hotel's staff and interior and exterior design. According to Hadad, Friedman and Israeli (2005), hotel advertising effectiveness is clearly linked to communication attributes and availability of information to customers. In general, the hotel advertising message that shows quality attributes plays a great role in communication effectiveness (Israeli et al., 2000; Hadad et al., 2005). Chang and Tran (2008) and Almeida, Silva, Mendes and do Valle (2012) valued the effect of using 104 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah visuals in hotel advertising (panoramic viewings, interactive animations, and pictures) on customers' awareness of hospitality services and their purchase behaviour. Kurbatskaya, Dobrotvorskaya and Ustin (2015) argued that hotel advertisement should include a message with a lot of tangibles, a promise of benefit and the distinction from competitors; they also believed that it should be easily distributed orally. Additionally, the aspect of advertising appeal is significant in the hospitality advertising literature. Burman, Albinsson, Hyatt and Robles (2017) found in an empirical research that hotel customers consider rational appeal when choosing a hotel based on price, while both rational and emotional appeals make no difference in the up-scale and high-priced hotels. Furthermore, hotel customers emphasize the need for celebrity/expert endorsement, employee endorsement and/or customer endorsement for higher advertising credibility (Hsieh and Chang, 2005). Accordingly, it can be concluded that the majority of studies investigating conveyance of quality via advertisement (cf. Day, 1992; Clow et al., 1996; Clow et al., 2006; Mursaleen, Ijaz and Kashif, 2014) had relied on the SERVQUAL model in explaining the quality indicators within advertisements. Nonetheless, SERVQUAL was a subject of several criticisms (for example: Battle, 1996). The current study is trying to present a different approach to analysing service quality messages within hotel advertisements. The necessity of this research is summarized based on the need for a new approach to consider the special characteristics of service (especially hotel service) and to raise an issue regarding the implications of different quality models within the hotel industry. Consequently, the above literature review can be summarized as there are a set of aspects that affect the perception of quality; they can be considered signals of quality within service advertisements in general and hotel advertising in particular. These aspects include atmosphere, promise of quality, risk reduction, benefits, tangibles, price, informativeness, celebrity endorsement, celebrity attractiveness, visuals, brand credibility, advertiser reliability, quality consistency, effectiveness of message, advertising appeal and overall attractiveness and entertainment. 105 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah 3. METHODS The investigation of service quality cues in hotel advertising within this study is based on marketing executives’ views and customers' perception. To do so, the study adopted a mixed method research; this is to achieve development by using the results from one method to help developing or informing the other method (Bryman, 2006). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 marketing officials working in the Jordanian hotel industry; during which, interviewees were inquired similar questions to ensure systemization and differentiation of their opinions. The interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed directly after interviewing; thereafter, they were dissected using content analysis to extrapolate aspects considered by customers in judging hotel service quality conveyed through advertisements. Content analysis’ outputs were utilised in constructing a self-administrated questionnaire as a main research tool for this study. The accomplished questionnaire is composed of three main parts: customers' perceived criteria of evaluating hotel service quality from advertisements (measured by 16 statements), hotel advertisement's quality (includes 4 statements) and demographics of participants (gender and age). To guarantee its validity, the developed questionnaire was pilot tested on 15 hotel customers. Besides, questionnaire was also presented to a panel of five marketing academics working in Jordanian universities. Fortunately, there were no radical changes needed. In questionnaires' distribution, a number of tourism agencies' employees in different Jordanian cities played the role of fieldworkers. Before the surveying process, they went through comprehensive explanation of research aims; also, they were trained to good practices of surveying and ethics of research. Fieldworkers targeted conveniently customers attended their agencies during the last quarter of 2016. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to customers attending different tourism agencies in Jordan. At the end of data collection, 228 usable questionnaires were received with a response rate of 78.3%. After then, collected data went through 106 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah two stages of analysis. In the first stage, data were refined using exploratory factor analysis. Such refinement aimed to yield independent variables of the current study. At the same stage, the reliability of all questionnaire dimensions was examined using Cronbach’s alpha test. At the end of this stage of analysis, three hypotheses were developed forming the model of the current study. The hypotheses were examined in the second stage of the analysis using multiple regression analysis. 4. ANLYSIS AND RESULTS 4.1) CONTENT ANALYSIS Hotel marketing executives were asked three main questions and were given the time to expand in their answers; these questions are: 1) What are the main aspects of service quality your hotel focuses on when designing an advertisement? 2) What do you think the aspects that customers mainly perceive as service quality clues within any hotel advertisement are? 3) Personally, what do you think service quality clues in an advertisement are? Each interview took between 10-17 minutes. Subsequently, and after carefully transcribing the interviews, various aspects of service quality cues within hotel advertisements were highlighted. The results show that the aspect of information was highly mentioned. The fact that information within the advertisement helps customers in reducing risk of service choice was salient too. Also, interviewees highly valued the effect of information on rational persuasion. In addition, the vast majority of interviewees emphasized the importance of giving customers a visual evidence of quality through showing tangible elements in the hotel; this may require more images, videos, interactive media and imagery of facilities in general. Other interviewees marked the importance of illustrating hotel facilities that distinguish their service quality from competitors. Furthermore, the interviewees 107 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah highlighted that perceived added value has a role in customers' evaluation of service quality; examples of perceived added value include packages, special offers and special products for specific target customers. The interviewees also linked all aspects of quality to reliability. Slogan was also highly emphasized as a tool representing a strong commitment to service quality. Additionally, gaining customers’ attention and putting a memorable remark are important for customers; while for other customers, showing experience and happiness, through testimonial and imagery, is of great importance according to interviewees. One more aspect that was highlighted is the consideration of rational appeal of advertisements; this issue was clarified by the interviewees as a sign of reliable service quality. Outcomes of the fourteen interviewees are summarized in table (1). It shows the most frequently mentioned aspects in each interview. No. A1 A2 Aspects Information about facilities, location, images, attractive music, feeling of honesty, value for money, Imagery of facilities, Animation of service (staff performing service). A3 Information, risk reduction, smiling staff. A4 Information, images, celebrity or public figure. Information, Images, Effectiveness of message, Extra services for specific group of customers. Images of hotel facilities, Attractive images and videos, different services from competitors. Evidence of credibility, History and origin of brand, Rational appeal. Information, Images, appropriate atmosphere, reliable celebrity, views of happy customers. A5 A6 A7 A8 Example of quote "we try to tell our customers about service quality through more and more information and images" "hotel customers need to see rooms, entrance, surrounding views, staff, and much more of visuals through images and videos; I think customers look positively at cheerful hotel facilities" "the more information you give customers through marketing communication contribute to making the selection process easier with more assurance and less risk" "endorsement of a public figure gives more credibility to the advertisement and guarantees customer attention" "targeting a specific group of audience is the core of current marketing practices ... advertisements should contain an effective message to a particular group" "listing the facilities and services, especially those that distinguish our services from competitors is a sign of a distinctive service quality" "in our industry, rational targeting is more effective than emotional; unless you have a family or special product" “personally, I am attracted to the advertisement that has less words and more images” 108 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah A9 A10 Slogan that indicates quality, Packages and extra services, Celebrity, Music, Imagery. Different payment methods, Brand information, Price range, Value for money, Product accessibility, reliability A11 Accessible service, Skilful staff, Perfect facilities. A12 Information, images, customer reviews and testimonials, reliability, slogan, clear promise of quality. Rational rather than emotional appeal, Value for money. A13 A14 Information, images, appropriate celebrity. "things to grab audience attention, such as public figure, music, and attractive views from inside and outside the hotel can give customers a good impression" "my wife, for instance, wants to feel it has a distinctive value, enough information and attractive content to think it is reliable … customers must believe in slogan to believe in service quality... a clear statement of high quality service is a remarkable point". "I believe in the importance of showing the skills and appearance of staff as well as proving you have a perfect service when presenting the service and facilities in the advertisement" "our slogan contains a message mainly related to the quality of our service ... customer reviews are highly emphasized within our promotion" "a large number of customers look at price vs. service ... the value for money should appear clearly through reasonable prices and offers" "eye catching advertisements are effective in attracting more customers ... beautiful presentation of images and attractive celebrity are preferred" Table 1: Summary of the interview results Source: own elaboration 4.2) EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS As explained in the previous section, elements of quality cues in advertisement were established based on the literature review and results of the interviews with hotel executives. These elements were converted into 16 measurable items. To facilitate this study investigation and analysis, it is necessary to refine these items into palpable constructs. Accordingly, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to group the aforementioned items into valid variables. The PCA was undertaken using Varimax approach of rotation. According to Pallant (2007), before accomplishing PCA, study’s ample size and its collected data suitability to factor analysis must be assessed. Following the guidelines of some statistical analysis authors, the current study’s sample found to be applicable to factor analysis. According to Pett et al. (2003), it is believed that the number of research participants must be compatible with the number of items included in the factor analysis. The present study’s number of subjects (n=228) is compatible with its items included in the factor analysis (16 items) falling between the acceptable limits of 160 (16x10) and 109 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah 240 (16x15) subjects. Also, the present research sample’s size (n=226) is a fair one according to the suggestions of Comrey and Lee (1992). After ensuring that study’s sample size enables the use of exploratory factor analysis, factorability of collected data must be checked. To do so, as suggested by Hair et al. (2006), some assumptions must be verified: - Correlation matrix: it was found that all the study’s scales correlate with correlation coefficients of ; - Kasier-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test: the results of this test (table 2) revealed clearly the suitability of this research data to the use of factor analysis. These results showed a KMO value equals 0.856 which is above 0.6 (the required value for factor analysis). Furthermore, the results (table 2) confirmed the statistical significance of Bartlett’s test of sphericity where . Test Value Kasier-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) 0.865 Bartlett’s test of Sphericity 120 Sig. 0.000 Table 2: Results of Kasier-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test Source: own elaboration Consequently, it is exposed from the results that there was no violation for any of the factor analysis assumptions. Hence, it can be concluded that collected data of this study can be used to carry out a factor analysis. After fulfilling all factor analysis's requirements, a PCA was undertaken. The PCA covered all items measuring aspects of hotel advertisement that may impact their expectations of hotel service quality. Results of PCA presented in the table of total variance (table 3) clarified that 16 items included were refined to form three independent variables with Eigen values (6.979, 2.015 & 1.447) exceed 1. Furthermore, the total variance table revealed that the three factors solution explains 65.18% of total variance in data; where the three factors explain 43.55%, 12.58% and 9.04% respectively. 110 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah Component Eigen Percentage of Cumulative Percentage of values variance variance 1 6.696 %43.55 %43.55 2 2.013 %12.58 %56.13 3 1.447 %9.04 %65.18 4 0.930 %5.81 %70.99 Table 3: Eigen values and total variance of extracted components Source: own elaboration To achieve more accurate extraction of study’s components, another technique of determining the number of factors to be retained was used; this is the parallel analysis of Horn (1965). In the parallel analysis, the eigenvalues of factors from PCA are compared to other randomly generated Eigen values for the same sample. These Eigen values are produced by a statistical program called Monte Carlo which was developed by Watkins (Pallant, 2007). Results of comparison for the parallel analysis (table 4) support the decision of retaining three components that have eigenvalues above the randomly chosen ones. Component Actual eigenvalue Criterion value from parallel analysis 1 6.969 1.558 2 2.013 1.4559 3 1.447 1.3827 4 0.930 1.3145 Table 4: Results of parallel analysis Source: own elaboration For more interpretation of the extracted three components, a Varimax approach was performed to rotate the 16 items included in the PCA. Loadings of rotated items for each component are presented in table (5). A look at all items included within the three components (table 5) shows that all of them achieved high loads ranging between 0.50 and 0.87; which indicate that all items highly correlate with their factors. Moreover, all 111 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah components' items have high commonalities that ranged between 0.52 and 0.82. Accordingly, none of the included items need to be cut off. No. Items Loads The price of the product shown in the advertisement is reasonably 0.848 Variable 1: Credibility 1 illustrated 2 The celebrity/public figure appears in the advertisement is persuasive 0.842 3 You evidently perceive the advertised brand's credibility 0.825 4 The reliability of the advertiser is demonstrated in the advertisement 0.712 5 The promise of quality (described in slogan) in the advertisement 0.545 appears consistent Variable 2: Attractiveness 1 Tangible elements of service are attractively demonstrated. 0.806 2 A sound music is used in the advertisement 0.775 3 An attractive celebrity appears in the advertisement 0.758 4 Appropriate multimedia is used in the advertisement 0.754 5 The advertiser is using advertising appeal (packaging products or 0.568 services, for example) in the advertisement 6 The advertisement is rationally appealing 0.526 Variable 3: Information 1 The information provided in the advertisement reduces the risk of choice 0.856 2 The advertiser is delivering an effective message in the advertisement 0.793 3 The information given in the advertisement is in a satisfactory level 0.786 4 imagery used in the advertisement enriches service information 0.706 Table 5: Dimensions rotated using Varimax Source: own elaboration Factor analysis results (table 5) depict the emergence of new components composed of a number of items within a certain structure including credibility, attractiveness and information. The emerged components were employed in the 112 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah creation of the current study's model constructs. However, all study's model constructs were interrelated using the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: H0: there is no significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of hotel advertisement's attractiveness. H1: there is a significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of hotel advertisement's attractiveness. Hypothesis 2: H0: there is no significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of hotel advertisement's credibility. H1: there is a significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of hotel advertisement's credibility. Hypothesis 3: H0: there is no significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of information provided via hotel advertisement. H1: there is a significant prediction of customer evaluation for hotel service quality by their perception of information provided via hotel advertisement. 4.3) RELIABILITY After refining customers’ perceived aspects of service quality conveyed through hotel advertisement into three dimensions, reliability of questionnaire’s scales was assessed. To test study’s scales reliability, Cronbach's alpha measure was employed. Results of Cronbach's alpha analysis are presented in table (6) below. They confirmed that all scales achieved good levels of reliability between 0.842 and 0.878. These reliability levels are considered good according to the guidelines of Cavana et al. (2000). 113 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah No Scale's name Cronbach's alpha value 1 Quality 0.842 2 Credibility 0.873 3 Attractiveness 0.878 4 Information 0.844 Table 6: Questionnaire's scales reliability Source: own elaboration 4.4) HYPOTHESES EXAMINATION In the present research, hotel service quality aspects conveyed through advertisements were investigated from expected customers' perspective. Customers' perception of advertisement's aspects was refined to create the independent variables of this research. These include advertisement's attractiveness, credibility and its ability to communicate information. Using all the aforementioned constructs, a model was built to explore their predictability of the perception of service quality. Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 were formulated to test the study's model ability in explaining the variance in perceived service quality conveyed by hotel advertisement. Furthermore, each hypothesis explores the contribution of each aspect in predicting the variance of perceived quality. To examine these hypotheses, a multiple standard regression analysis was performed. Results of the regression analysis are presented in table (7) below. Variable Standardized coefficient "Beta" 0.374 0.356 0.156 54.7% 0.000 Credibility Attractiveness Information R square Sig. Sig. 0.000 0.000 0.003 0.089 0.071 0.018 = Part Correlation Coefficient. Table 7: Multiple standard regression-coefficient values of study’s model Source: own elaboration 114 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah The statistical results shown in table (7) confirmed the current study’s model ability to significantly predict customers’ perception of service quality through hotel advertisements. The model explained 54.7% of customers’ service quality perception. Based on these results, the alternative hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 were confirmed while the null ones were rejected. Furthermore, the results revealed that all of this study’s model constructs contribute significantly in regression equation to explain the variance of customers’ service quality perception. Of these variables, hotel advertisement’s credibility and attractiveness , , achieved the largest contribution. They participate uniquely to the total regression explanation of variance in customers’ service quality perception with a par correlation of 8.9% and 7.1%, respectively. Within this context, the results are in harmony with previous research including Hill et al. (2004) who found that the visualization and informativeness of the advertisement have positive impact on the perception of quality of the advertised service; they stressed on the necessity of visual clues of service within advertisement. Furthermore, the materialization of service quality through tangibles and concrete slogan enable customers to infer quality of service (Decaudin and Lacoste, 2010). Accordingly, the effects of tangibles, slogan, information, and visual materials (such as images and videos) on the perception of service quality through advertisement are among the core findings of the current research. Moreover, celebrity endorsement was found to be significant in relation to the attractiveness, as a quality aspect, of the advertisement; Chan et al. (2013) found that celebrity endorsement positively affects the credibility and the attractiveness of the advertisement to the target audience, and both enhance the perception of quality of the brand and product. Similarly, Wang (2016) found links between attractiveness of celebrity and information among other attributes from one side and customer attitude towards the quality of the product and intention to purchase from the other side. Day (1992) found that service quality is enhanced by the reliability (as one of the SERVQUAL items) of the service that can be conveyed through advertisement; which is 115 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah consistent with the current findings. While Bang, Ryamond, Taylor and Moon (2005) revealed that reliability, tangibles, and rational appeal as indicators of service quality, can be conveyed through advertisement, with specific focus on reliability and credibility as the most important ones according to customers. In relation to the factor of risk reduction, Boshoff (2002) linked information and service guarantees to risk reduction with service advertising; risk reduction is among the service quality determinants in advertising according to Clow et al. (1996). In addition, Zhang (2015) clearly found an association between rational appeal and perceived service quality, as rational appeal is one of the quality demonstrations in the advertisement. Accordingly, the findings of the current study are consistent with previous findings that information, tangibles, attractiveness and appeal, credibility and reliability are among the aspects that customers perceive as service quality indicators within hotel advertisement. 5. CONCLUSIONS The current study examined hotel advertisement ability to convey service quality perceived by customers, by adopting the mixed method research approach. The adoption of such robust research method allows for logical related concepts of how advertising conveys quality messages and the depicted factors affecting this ability. Interviews with hotel executives took place in the first phase to explore aspects of service quality embodied in hotel advertisements. In the second phase, the aspects developed from the interviews were examined quantitatively to produce a model of service quality cues in hotel advertising. Consequently, full-bodied findings were harvested, from which many fruitful conclusions can be induced: firstly, credibility, attractiveness and information of hotel advertisements can enhance advertisements' ability to convey service quality messages. They were found significantly predicting customers’ perception of service quality within hotel advertisements. Secondly, among 116 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah different advertisement’s service quality attributes, credibility and attractiveness play a larger role in providing service quality cues to customers than information do. The uniqueness of the above findings is summarised as a new model of service quality cues in hotel advertising, that is consistent with previous research, was reached, with a greater focus on the role of attractiveness (celebrity endorsement, entertainment, tangibles and appeal) and credibility (reliability, promise of quality, slogan, accessibility, and reasonable price) in predicting customers' perception of hotel service quality. 6. IMPLICATIONS Previously mentioned findings can be utilized in creating guidelines to intensify hotel advertisements’ effectiveness. It is suggested to optimally employ advertisement’s attributes developed in this study (credibility, attractiveness and information) to depict a racy perception of quality in customers’ mind. Such optimal employment can take many forms. Generally, when planning and designing hotel advertisements, marketers can rely on three main aspects of advertisement (attractiveness, credibility and information) to effectively convey quality clues to customers. To do so, a combination of their aforementioned attributes must be considered, including a specific focus on price and perceived value for money, brand credibility, a well-formed slogan, celebrity endorsement as well as employee and customer endorsement. Moreover, the visualization of service through showing physical attributes through a well-designed images and multimedia is significant; this may increase the chance for more attention to the advertisement by the target audience. On the other hand, the current study's findings highlighted the superiority of credibility over other hotel advertisements' aspects in conveying service quality to customers. Accordingly, more efforts should be spent to enhance hotel advertisement's credibility; examples of how to do so include offering consistent promise of quality, using a realistic slogan and emphasising on credibility of hotel brand and endorsers. 117 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah In addition, nowadays customers have various methods of attaining information about products and services, hence, the advertising role has become in a large manner to attract customers' attention in the first place. Therefore, a specific attention should be given to the attractiveness of advertisement's content. For this purpose, few creative ideas may be employed at this stage to provide richness to the advertisement in an attractive template; for example, focusing on pleasant music and visuals of services and facilities. Although credibility and attractiveness of advertisement’s content proved superior role than information in the service quality context, information is still a significant factor in reducing customers’ risk of choice and should not be neglected. Managers and marketers are recommended to give attention to other sources of information and promotional tools, such as internet websites, social media and operators and travel agents; they complement the advertising role in delivering information, attractiveness and credibility of the service. Finally, among other factors that work with the attractiveness, credibility and information of the advertisement on achieving advertising objective are employing the principles of effective communication; pretesting and post testing of the advertisement's effectiveness on a chosen audience and selecting the appropriate medium. Also, delivering a consistent message about service quality to the target audience may take into account the specific features of hotel services; such as the intangibility of service and the high focus on quality of interaction and quality of communication; thus, it is worthwhile considering the overall communication process. 7. LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH The current research succeeded to construct aspects affecting customers’ quality perception from hotel advertisement. However, these aspects were developed depending on opinions of Jordanian hotel customers who belong to one culture. Accordingly, it is believed that the validity of these aspects still needs to be confirmed in 118 Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, Vol. 7, No 2 (2017), pp.99-124 ISSN: 2174-548X J.A. Alhelalat; M.A. Habiballah a broader manner over other cultures. Furthermore, parallel enquiries can be applied to customers of various kinds of products. 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