Demographic Capital and the Conditional Validity of SERVPERF: Rethinking Tourist Satisfaction Models in an Emerging Market Destination

Reyner Pérez-Campdesuñer (), Alexander Sánchez-Rodríguez, Gelmar García-Vidal, Rodobaldo Martínez-Vivar, Marcos Eduardo Valdés-Alarcón and Margarita De Miguel-Guzmán
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Reyner Pérez-Campdesuñer: Faculty of Law, Administrative and Social Sciences, Universidad UTE, Ave. Mariscal Sucre s/n and Ave. Mariana de Jesús, Bloque A, Quito 170527, Ecuador
Alexander Sánchez-Rodríguez: Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Industries, Universidad UTE, Ave. Mariscal Sucre s/n and Ave. Mariana de Jesús, Bloque A, Quito 170527, Ecuador
Gelmar García-Vidal: Faculty of Law, Administrative and Social Sciences, Universidad UTE, Ave. Mariscal Sucre s/n and Ave. Mariana de Jesús, Bloque A, Quito 170527, Ecuador
Rodobaldo Martínez-Vivar: Faculty of Law, Administrative and Social Sciences, Universidad UTE, Ave. Mariscal Sucre s/n and Ave. Mariana de Jesús, Bloque A, Quito 170527, Ecuador
Marcos Eduardo Valdés-Alarcón: Faculty of Law, Administrative and Social Sciences, Universidad UTE, Ave. Mariscal Sucre s/n and Ave. Mariana de Jesús, Bloque A, Quito 170527, Ecuador
Margarita De Miguel-Guzmán: Faculty of Business Management, Instituto Superior Tecnológico Atlantic, Santo Domingo 230102, Ecuador
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Rodobaldo Martínez Vivar

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-35

Abstract: Tourist satisfaction models typically assume that service performance dimensions carry the same weight for all travelers. Drawing on Bourdieu, we reconceptualize age, gender, and region of origin as demographic capital, durable resources that mediate how visitors decode service cues. Using a SERVPERF-based survey of 407 international travelers departing Quito (Ecuador), we test measurement invariance across six sociodemographic strata with multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The four-factor SERVPERF core (Access, Lodging, Extra-hotel Services, Attractions) holds, yet partial metric invariance emerges: specific loadings flex with demographic capital. Gen-Z travelers penalize transport reliability and safety; female visitors reward cleanliness and empathy; and Latin American guests are the most critical of basic organization. These patterns expose a boundary condition for universalistic satisfaction models and elevate demographic capital from a descriptive tag to a structuring construct. Managerially, we translate the findings into segment-sensitive levers, visible security for youth and regional markets, gender-responsive facility upgrades, and dual eco-luxury versus digital-detox bundles for long-haul segments. By demonstrating when and how SERVPERF fractures across sociodemographic lines, this study intervenes in three theoretical conversations: (1) capital-based readings of consumption, (2) the search for boundary conditions in service-quality measurement, and (3) the shift from segmentation to capital-sensitive interpretation in emerging markets. The results position Ecuador as a critical case and provide a template for destinations facing similar performance–perception mismatches in the Global South.

Keywords: customer satisfaction; tourist satisfaction; tourist destinations; market segmentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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