A survey method for identifying key drivers of guest delight

Purpose – Key drivers of guest delight are attributes that have a surprise value and a direct relationship with customers' repeat visit intent and thus a business' overall success. It is an important strategic task to determine what those critical attributes are. The aim of this paper is to provide a method for identifying those key drivers that contribute to guest delight. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted two survey questions from Pritchard and Havitz to obtain liked and disliked service attributes, and two additional questions to identify the delighted and highly satisfied guests as measured by their overall satisfaction and intent repeat visit. Drawing from a sample of guests to a food and wine festival, this research purports a simple but inherently useful tool to identify key drivers of guest satisfaction and delight through four survey questions. Findings – The four questions could be an economic and useful way to discover the key drivers of guest delight. The questions and their further analysis method evoke personally meaningful responses from guests, at both the micro and macro levels, that have practical implications for managers. Research limitations/implications – This paper used a survey of festival visitors to test the method. Further testing on other types of travel and service surveys need to be conducted. Originality/value – This research clearly adds new knowledge to the present body of hospitality and tourism literature by providing a simple and economic way to measure key drivers of visitor satisfaction; it also offers managerial implications for practitioners to improve their service quality.