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An innovative method for improving hotel service using implicit requirement generation and quality function deployment

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  • Zhao, Meng
  • Zhang, Yimai
  • Zhang, Chenxi
  • Wang, Yaqi

Abstract

This study addresses the challenge of implicitly expressed traveler requirements in user-generated content (UGC). It proposes an innovative method to assist service managers in improving the quality of the overall service experience. Specifically, this paper employs the dependency syntactic analysis combined with co-occurrence information to extract and complete sentiment quadruples, addressing incomplete review expressions where travelers omit the subject or predicate. Additionally, considering the internal correlation of different traveler requirements, the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) model is utilized to assess priorities for hotel service improvements. Taking 12 Jinjiang Inn Hotels in Beijing as a case study, this paper identifies 13 traveler requirements based on 9810 valid reviews. Moreover, the evaluation of 10 hotel service improvements reveals that “special catering†as a key area for prioritization and enhancement to add value. In summary, this paper proposes a method that uncovers travelers’ implicit requirements from their implicit expressions and effectively fills a critical gap in existing research on service improvement prioritization by incorporating the internal correlation of requirements.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Meng & Zhang, Yimai & Zhang, Chenxi & Wang, Yaqi, 2025. "An innovative method for improving hotel service using implicit requirement generation and quality function deployment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:84:y:2025:i:c:s096969892500030x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104251
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    References listed on IDEAS

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