The study aims to contribute to the research on service quality, analyzing almost 30 years of research on the Gaps Model proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in the 1980s. A literature review has been conducted from 1985 to 2013 with the purpose of underlining the model evolution and its criticisms. Major international academic databases have been consulted. On this basis the paper summarizes some theoretical-conceptual and methodological-operational critical aspects identified by scholars who analyzed and applied the model and the scale. Despite that, the Gaps Model and the SERVQUAL scale are still the most used instruments to study service quality in marketing literature. The analysis allows to identify interesting points for future research on the topic of service quality. The conceptual framework presented in the paper does not include any empirical research that could be eventually implemented to validate the findings.

This article proposes a complex approach to the phenomenon known in the literature as the consumption of user-generated multimedia content (UGMC) in the context of the effects generated by the pandemic on the consumption of tourist services. Thus, it analyzes the ways in which the creation and consumption of multimedia content affect the flow experience and the ways in which consumption experiences related to tourist services are transferred to other consumers. The pandemic crisis has fundamentally affected the ways in which consumers interact online with different types of multimedia content. In particular, consumers of travel services have developed behaviors that promote the transfer of trust in safe tourist destinations based on connecting to various forms of multimedia content (pictures, videos, blog posts, etc.) created and distributed online by other consumers who share their own positive consumer experiences. Based on a sample of 673 respondents, we validate a theoretical model that confirms the influence of the different dimensions of the consumption experience of tourist destinations (sensory, emotional, cognitive, conative, and relational). The influence is exerted at the level of the flow experience and exploratory behavior—the experience lived as a combination of elements, of which the emotional dimension is among the strongest, due to the anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: This paper aims to provide a review of hotel performance within the hospitality and tourism research domain. The authors use network analysis to examine two research questions. The first relates to ascertaining general trends within the hotel performance literature, and the second focuses on identifying the salient streams and sub-topics.Design/methodology/approach: Articles were selected according to three criteria: keywords, journals and year of publication. The analysis embraces 20 years (1996-2015). These choices assure a wide coverage of the literature. Using these three criteria, the sample includes 1,155 papers. For the analysis, the authors created a network of papers designated as nodes, and the citations among the papers as links. A network approach recognizes the internal structure of the network by identifying groups of nodes (papers) that are more densely connected between themselves than to other nodes within the network (modules, clusters or communities).Findings: The authors found 761 papers that were “connected” studies within the network. By contrast, 34 per cent of the sample (394 papers) consists of “unconnected” studies. Excluding outliers, the net sample was 734 articles. The authors identify 14 clusters, which they break down into several sub-topics. The authors conclude by providing some conclusions regarding trends and future research directions. With regards to salient topics, cross-citation and network analysis provide a detailed picture of where the literature comes from and where it currently stands. Conclusions are articulated at the theoretical and empirical levels.Originality/value: Compared with previous hotel performance reviews, the approach followed by this study enables the discovery of an analytical research map, which is able to identify both clusters and sub-topics populating each segment. Researchers are able to position their work and identify issues that are in growth and decline.