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The influence of service innovation in customer satisfaction: case study of

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 ICABM2020 – Template for Submission Structure

THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE INNOVATION IN CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION: CASE STUDY OF HOTEL INDUSTRY
Ana Melissa Cabral1; João Paulo Coelho Marques 2

Abstract
Purpose: The main goal of innovation is to improve customer service and products and
also customer satisfaction. Taking into account the four types of innovation recognized
by OECD, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of these four types of
innovation on customer satisfaction, specifically in the hotel industry.

Methodology: The data collection was done through qualitative and quantitative
methods. Through the questionnaire, 205 valid responses were obtained. For the
quantitative data processing, the SPSS software was used through statistical inference
methods.

Findings: The results show the influence of the four dimensions of innovation on
customer satisfaction. These results confirm previous studies on the influence of
product/service, marketing and process innovation on customer satisfaction. However,
the results also show the positive relation between customer satisfaction and
organizational innovation as well as the relationship between organizational innovation
and the other types of innovation.

Originality/value: Focusing on understanding the relation between the rate of

innovation and its impact on customer satisfaction, the study expands the knowledge
about the importance of services innovation on a specific hotel in Madeira Island.

Practical implications: The confirmation that customer satisfaction is associated with

innovation, in its four dimensions, can contribute to better decision making, not only for
the hotel in the study, but also for the sector.

Research limitations: The results of this study were based only on one hotel unit. The
extension to other cases may strengthen the results.

Keywords: Innovation; Services; Hotel industry; Customer satisfaction.

1
*Corresponding author.
Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, ISCAC. E-mail: anamelissa.cabral@gmail.com
2
Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, ISCAC and GOVCOPP, DEGEIT, University of Aveiro. E-
mail: jmarques@iscac.pt

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1. Introduction

Innovation is strongly related to the success of companies (Calik, Calisir & Cetingu,
2017). Thus, its goal is to improve customer service and loyalty, increase productivity,
reduce costs and create opportunities in the face of each challenge. Innovation is often
seen as a solution and value creation in organizations. Therefore, organizations use
innovation as a competitive advantage, as innovation is the beginning of an idea that
reaches its excellence through continuous results and determines its long-term success
(Dantas & Moreira, 2011).
The positive results of the service innovations contribute to customer satisfaction (Yeh,
Chen & Chen, 2019; Weng, Ha, Wang & Tsai, 2012). In fact, it is necessary to improve
services and increase their quality through innovation, as customer needs are
increasingly diverse. Customers need to be impressed and convinced through the
services that the hotel units can offer (Hu, Horng & Sun, 2009).The hotel industry is
facing a situation of strong and rapid growth that contributed to the creation of jobs, local
development and has an enormous impact on the growth of the economy of each
country.
As hotel organizations are the most competitive type of companies in the world according
to Martin-Rios and Ciobanua (2018), it arouses curiosity to understand how innovation
influences the satisfaction of its customers in Saccharum hotel, in Madeira Island, where
much of the region's economy is supported by tourism.
Thus, this research paper intends to explore the concept of innovation in the hotel
industry, identifying the innovation types, characterizing customers and their level of
satisfaction, and also identifying what the customer’s value in the hotel's service.
The paper is structured in 3 main chapters. The literature review explores concepts and
leads to the research questions. Then the methodology chapter establishes the study
hypotheses, the respective conceptual model, the method of investigation and data
analysis. Lastly, the results of this investigation and the respective discussion are
presented, followed by the final conclusions.

2. Literature review

2.1. Innovation Concept

Innovation is one of the main factors for the companies’ success, being crucial to achieve
competitive advantage (Calik et al., 2017). The main goal of innovation is to improve
customer service and products and also customer satisfaction, increase productivity,
reduce costs and to create opportunities (Dantas & Moreira, 2011).
Due to the innovation’s importance to companies, Schumpeter (1934) refers that
innovation can be the introduction of a new good; a new type of good in the market; the
introduction of a new production system; the development of a new market; the
implementation of a new market structure; or new sources of materials or products
supply. It is important to refer that before anything becomes an innovation, there has to
be an invention, that is, an idea or model for a new or improved product, process or
system. This invention only becomes an innovation when it is explored economically, in
other words, it is necessary to have a commercial transaction of such invention in order
to generate wealth (Schumpeter, 1934).
The OECD (p.46, 2005) defines innovation as a “new or improved service or product,
process, method of marketing and/or organizational method”. According to the OECD
(2005) the product innovation is the introduction of a good or service that is new or
significantly improved in terms of its characteristics or its use. The process innovation is
related to the implementation of new or significant improvements in the production or
delivery methods. The marketing innovation means to implement new marketing
methods, covering significant changes in the product design or packing, in the
positioning, promotion or in the prices. At last, the OECD (2005) refers that organizational

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innovation is the implemention of new organizational methods on the practices of the

business organization, of the workplace or on external relations.
It is important that companies use innovation as a competitive advantage to achieve
better results and define the longterm success (Dantas & Moreira, 2011). Therefore, the
advantage of innovation is to generate value proposition to customers, but also to reflect
benefits to those who develop it. Benefits that translate into higher revenues (Hippel,
2005).

2.2. Innovation in the service sector

Services are very particular due to their specific characteristics. Those characteristics
are intangibility, simultaneity, no deterioration and heterogeneity. Therefore, due to their
immateriality, they are produced and consumed simultaneously, and the biggest part of
their production implies a direct relationship between the producer and the customer on
that specific moment because the service cannot be saved or stored. Lastly, services
quality is defined by their performance, and it depends on diferent producers, customers
or moments (Lendrevie, Lévy, Dionísio & Rodrigues, 2015).
The service innovation is seen as a sustainable development strategy for many
companies, in order to create value by improving products, services or innovative
methods (Yeh et al., 2019). Service innovation is also defined as an addition of new
services or a change in the delivery process (Menor & Roth, 2007).
Some authors refer to the concept of “new services” to describe the inovation through
successful development of new services or products, including innovative and improved
activities (Weng et al., 2012). Therefore, the creation of new services can be considered
as a process that includes diversified activities with the mission of creating a new service
or enhance one, so, it is possible to obtain new services success when focused on the
consumer needs and in the delivery process of that specific service (Edgett, 1994).
The process of service innovation holds the knowledge between the market needs and
the tecniques of developing a new idea, concept or invention. It is important to keep the
focus on the expectations and needs of the consumer while designing a service. This
continuous process of design and development of a prototype is essential until it
becomes an innovation. Testing and clarifying the prototype is necessary to obtain
feedback and control of the process, to launch a new service (Voss, 1992).
It is mentioned by Johnson, Menor, Roth and Chase (2000) that organizational practices
affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the development of new services. These
practices have a positive impact on the development of new products and services,
influencing their success (Thwaites, 1992).
The service innovation makes companies transform changes into opportunities, being
crucial to create value through new and improved offers, processes or business models
of services to their stakeholders (Yeh et al., 2019; Ostrom, Bitner, Brown & Rabionovich,
2010).

2.3. Innovation in the hotel industry

The excellence of services is an important key to the hotel industry success. Due to the
competitive scenario in this industry it is crucial to differenciate from competitors. It is
vital that they attract new customers, conceiving new and unique experiences (Hu et al.
2009).
The hotel firms, as service companies, also have specific characteristics, specifically in
the innovation paths. Their production and consumption happen simultaneously, the
consumer and the producer have to be in the same space; the elements can be tangible
and intagible; the impossibility of transportation and storage, making it difficul to manage
these aspects because the tangible and intangible elements are interconnected; and the
variability that is related with the fact that the service offered cannot be repeated in the
same way due to the different conditions and settings (Souto, 2015).
Ottenbacher and Gnoth (2005) refer nine factors that promote the success of service
innovation for hotel managers. They are: market selection, strategic management of

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human resources, employees training, market opening, empowerment, evaluation based

on behavior, marketing synergies, employees’ commitment and intangible qualities.
Organizational innovation is seen as a challenge to this industry due to the
transformation of the structures in order to manage the organization based on customer-
oriented processes (OECD, 2005). Vuković, Gagić, Terzić, Petrović and Radovanović
(2018) refer that innovation in hotel industry results from the organization’s ability to
continually transform knowledge and ideas into new products, services, processes and
systems, in order to provide benefits to stakeholders. Thus, organizational knowledge
leads to the improvement of the main competences of the organization resulting from the
involvement of the members of the organization with the exchange of knowledge and
experiences. The organizational knowledge is a fact that precedes innovation and affects
its performance (Fraj, Matute & Melero, 2015).
The innovation process in the hotel industry requires a high commitment by the
employees to focus on the customers, applying new knowledge according to their needs
(Souto, 2015; Orfila-Sintes & Mattson, 2009).
Most innovations are developed due to financial performance, increasing revenue and
profit (Griffin & Page, 1993). Beyond that, customer satisfaction and employees’
feedback are important innovative measures to the success of the hotel industry
(Ottenbacher & Gnoth, 2005).

2.4. The influence of service innovation in customer satisfaction

According to Wikhamn (2019) it is relevant to study the customer satisfaction in the hotel
industry context, justifying that customer satisfaction is a hotel positioning indicator in the
competition for customers, which represents the hotel’s reputation and image, enhancing
customer loyalty and attracting new ones. It is also important to refer that when the
customers receive what they expect they get satisfied (Kotler, Brown & Makens, 1998).
Dantas and Moreira (2011) noticed that customer satisfaction is an important path to
guarantee the success of new services.
In this way, studies by Weng et al. (2012) and Yeh et al. (2019) reveal that service
innovation has a positive influence on customer satisfaction. The innovation generates
customer satisfaction when new products or services are introduced in the market and
the company influences consumers' perception of its ability to satisfy their needs (Luo &
Battacharya, 2006). When customers are satisfied, they tend to buy more and their
positive feedback attracts new customers easily and at a low cost. Therefore, companies
can count on an acceleration of cash flows that will positively affect their value. It is
important to invest in innovation because it helps companies build satisfied customers
(Gruca & Rego, 2005; Grewal, Chandrashekaran & Citrin, 2010).
The results of Weng et al. (2012) study about the relationship between service
innovation, value to customer and customer satisfaction show that service innovation
has a positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Affirming that customer satisfaction
increases when they perceive more service innovation.
Service innovation is mostly a company strategy in order to create new products or
increase the value of services in response to customer’s demand. Thus, it is necessary
to face the challenges proposed by consumers and at this point the ability to innovate is
important to improve the interaction with customers in the service or technology
transmission system (Dannels & Kleinschmidt, 2001; Weng et al., 2012).
The study of Yeh et al. (2019), mentions the positive effect of service innovation in
customer satisfaction. Based on the study of Chuang and Hsu (2012) that focuses on
bed-and-breakfast tourists in Taiwan, and also the study of Tsai et al. (2020) that is
based on rent-a-car business, both studies observe that service innovation has a
significant effect on customer satisfaction and their loyalty.
Yeh et al. (2019) enhance the fact that service innovation not only reflects competitive
advantage, but also sets the longterm relationships with customers providing them with
high quality products and services (Kotler & Keller, 2009; Drejer, 2004).

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As a way of extending this study, it is important to highlight the influence of marketing

innovations. With the focus on developing new market needs in order to have greater
satisfaction, customers have to be persuaded about the new types of products and
services. In this sense, marketing innovation leads to strategy, knowing customers'
needs better in order to satisfy them, as well as showing a good image of the company,
(Zuñiga-Collazo & Castillo-Palacio, 2016). Lee, Tsao and Chang (2015) mention that
great marketing innovations can positively influence customer evaluations, transforming
them into satisfaction.
Nkemkiafu, Asah, Felix and Sylvie (2019) contributed to the extension of this study
referring that the implementation of process innovation allows companies to satisfy their
customers and attract new ones. They also mention that it is important for companies to
implement innovative strategies from the product design process to its distribution in
order to satisfy their customers, employees and achieve growth.
As customers are the main recipients of innovations and consequently those who will
evaluate them, only through them will we be able to get the answers we are looking for
(Dantas & Moreira, 2011), and based on previous studies the following research
questions are proposed:
Q1: What is the characterization of guests, in terms of age, gender and nationality?
Q2: What are the expected value attributes for the service provided at the hotel?
Q3: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the product/service
innovations introduced?
Q4: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the process innovations
introduced?
Q5: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the marketing innovations
introduced?
Q6: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the organizational
innovations introduced?

3. Data and Method

3.1. Formulation of hypotheses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyse the relationship between the
innovation types in customer satisfaction, analyzing the reality of the Saccharum hotel,
in Madeira Island.
Research questions Q1 and Q2, as mentioned in the previous chapter, relate to the
characteristics of the customers, namely their age, gender, nationality, reason to visit
and what they value most in the hotel service. As mentioned by Dantas and Moreira
(2011) customers are the main recipients of innovations and, consequently, those who
will evaluate them, hence the importance of their characterization.
Based on previous studies that affirm the influence of innovation on customer
satisfaction, we intend to verify this relationship in the hotel firm. In order to decode this
innovation in services, the four types of innovation defined by the OECD (2005) are
studied, realizing which one has more influence on customer satisfaction. Question Q3
refers to the influence of service innovations on customer satisfaction based on previous
studies. Additionally, Q4 to Q5 refer to the influence of innovations of marketing and
process on customer satisfaction and question Q6 refers to organizational innovation
influence on customer satisfaction.
The previous research questions lead to the following hypotheses:
Q3: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards product/service innovations
introduced?
H1 -The product/service innovations affect customer satisfaction.
Q4: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the process innovations
introduced?
H2- Process innovations affect customer satisfaction.

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Q5: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the marketing innovations
introduced?
H3- Marketing innovations affect customer satisfaction.
Q6: What is the satisfaction level of the customers towards the organizational
innovations introduced?
H4- Organizational innovations affect customer satisfaction.

3.2. Conceptual Research Model

Figure 1 – Conceptual Model

Product/Service H
1

Customer
Marketing Innovation Process H Satisfaction
2

H
3

Organizational H
4

Source: Authors.

To follow up this research, the model in Figure 1 was elaborated considering the review
of previous literature considering each type of innovation and customer satisfaction. The
goal is to understand how the four types of innovation defined by the OECD (2005)
influence customer satisfaction and whether it is possible to explain these relationships.

3.3. Research method

The problem with this research is related to customer service, with the intent to identify
the types of service innovations that affect the degree of satisfaction of hotel customers.
This is an exploratory study, with regard to qualitative research, focusing on
understanding the problems, analyzing behaviors, attitudes or values. Being a kind of
inductive and descriptive research, developing concepts and ideas and understanding
from the data provided (Sousa & Batista 2014). The research methodology will be mixed,
that is, qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative research is used to collect data through interviews. An interview guide was
developed to support the interview with the director of the Corporate Development and
Innovation Department of the company. During the interview it was proposed to develop
a study about the Saccharum hotel that was the most suitable for this theme, due to their
minimalist design, innovative concept, and being the most recent hotel in the group at
the time we started this study.
Quantitative research aims to identify and present observable data, indicators and trends
from a population sample through the study of quantifiable variables (Sousa & Batista
2014; Calik et al. 2017). The data collection technique used was the questionnaire survey

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in order to obtain information on the customers’ characteristics, what they value in the
hotel service, and most importantly their degree of satisfaction with the existing types of
innovation and the degree of satisfaction of their stay at the hotel. The questionnaire to
customers aims to understand whether the types of innovation defined by the OECD
(2005) influence the customers’ level of satisfaction. In the construction of the
questionnaire, special attention was given to considerations of Sousa and Baptista
(2011), regarding the adequacy of the language, concepts and structure. The
questionnaire survey, resorting to the Likert scale of 5 points (1 to 5, where 1 is (strongly
disagree) and 5 (strongly agree), is intended to obtain the following information: 1-
customer characterization, 2- the customer value regarding hotel service, 3- customer’s
degree of satisfaction towards different services innovations found at the hotel, 4-
customer’s degree of satisfaction towards different process innovations found at the
hotel, 5- customer’s degree of satisfaction towards different marketing innovations found
at the hotel, 6- customer’s degree of satisfaction towards different organizational
innovations found at the hotel, and 8- the overall degree of satisfaction with the hotel.
Field work was carried out between April and May 2019. During this period, all hotel
customers were asked at check-out to complete the questionnaire.

3.4. Data analysis

The customer characterization data were subject of descriptive analysis, and the data
on the degree of customer satisfaction with the four types of innovations were subjected
to inferential analysis. For this purpose, the data were treated using the SPSS (Statistical
Package for Social Science). For the analysis of the data correlation, the Pearson
correlation coefficient and significance level was used.
The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) or linear correlation, is the degree of correlation
between two quantitative variables, expressing the degree of correlation across values
between -1 and 1. When the correlation coefficient approaches 1 there is a positive linear
relationship, and when it approaches -1, there is a negative linear relationship. When the
coefficient is close to 0, there is no relationship between the variables, and the closer to
1 or -1, the stronger the ratio.
The significance level for this study is 95%, then p-value=0.05 is established. For the
inferential analysis, the levels of significance considered are:
p <0.05 - statistically significant difference;
p <0.01 ** - very significant statistical difference;
p <0.001 *** - highly significant statistical difference;
p ≥ 0.05 - non-significant statistical difference.

4. Results and discussion

In the period in which the responses were collected, the hotel unit obtained a 60%
occupancy rate out of a total of 243 rooms.
The interview provided information about frequent customers of the hotel unit, who are
usually middle/upper class individuals, childless couples, single mothers, LGBT, etc. The
hotel collects customer feedback through satisfaction questionnaires, but also gives a lot
of importance to the opinion of customers through their quality card and internal audits,
as well as through comments and rankings provided by customers on Booking,
Tripadvisor, Facebook and Google. They identified as main services provided by the
hotel the food & beverage, the spa, the guest experience, workshops and their premium
experience. In terms of innovation, they see it as creating value and solving problems.
Through the questionnaire, 205 valid responses were obtained.
About the customers characterization, of the 205 responses, 103 were female and 102
were male, where the predominant age of respondents was between 46-65 years. On
the sample, 95% defined leisure as their reason for visiting. The majority of the
customers were from Portugal, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The average
satisfaction with the stay at the hotel was 4.44, where 1 would be completely dissatisfied

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and 5 completely satisfied. In total, 58.5% of the customers were completely satisfied
with the stay.
Regarding the frequency of what customers value most in the hotel service, it is important
to note that (1) is the most valued and (6) the least valued. Therefore, what customers
value most in the hotel's service are hygiene and comfort, the involvement and
availability of employees, followed by the quality of the food, free wi-fi and media. Lastly,
what they value less are the activities and events present at the hotel and its social
responsibility. Through the questionnaires it was possible to confirm the study by
Ottenbacher and Gnoth (2005) in which they state that attitude and behavior of hotel
employees is an important factor in the customer's perception of the service, as well as
its quality, so one of the factors that customers value most in the hotel service is the
employee’s involvement and availability.
In the data analysis through SPSS, it is possible to verify that the level of customer
satisfaction is higher in the product/service innovation (r=0.549) (see Table 1) having a
strong positive correlation, which means that the variables are related to each other. It is
important to note that the innovative concept, the differentiation by new and improved
services and the quality of this hotel have an important emphasis on customer
satisfaction. Thus, it confirms the studies by Weng et al. (2012), Yeh et al. (2019),
Chuang and Hsu (2012), and Tsai et al. (2010) about the influence of service innovation
on customer satisfaction. We could still verify that when the hotel meets the customers
needs it obtains greater success for new services, confirming the study by Edgett (1994).
The correlation coefficient between the level of customer satisfaction and organizational
innovation (r=0.536) (see Table 1) also has a strong positive correlation. This may justify
that the commitment involvement of hotel employees as well as their organizational
structure have impact on customer satisfaction. As Ottenbacher and Gnoth (2005) and
Zeithmal and Bitner (2000) refer, one of the factors that promotes the success of service
innovations for hotel managers is the employee commitment and it affects directly
customer satisfaction.
We can also observe in Table 1, the correlation coefficient between the level of customer
satisfaction and marketing innovation (r=0.476). As Lee et al. (2015) mentioned, great
marketing innovations can positively influence customer evaluations, transforming them
into satisfaction. Hence, we can confirm the possibility of marketing innovations on
customer satisfaction. Otherwise, we can also state that events and programs provided
by the hotel to customers, as well as used sensory marketing have impact on their
satisfaction.
There is also a relationship between the level of customer satisfaction and the innovation
of process (r=0.420), but it is not as strong as the others (see Table 1). Even so, it is
possible to confirm the study of Nkemkiafu et al. (2019) which notes that implementing
an innovative process allows companies to satisfy their customers and attract new ones.
The level of significance is p=0.000 between the level of customer satisfaction and the
four types of innovation which translates into a significant association between variables.
More specifically, H1 to H4 have the same p-value (p=0.000), meaning that these
hypotheses are supported.

Table 1 – Correlations and significance of variables

Product/
Process Marketing Organizational
Service
Innovation Innovation Innovation
Innovation
Level of Pearson
,549** ,420** ,479** ,536**
customer Correlation (r)
satisfaction Sig. (bilateral)
0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000
with the hotel (p)
stay N 205 205 205 205
Hypotheses H1: S H2: S H3: S H4: S
** The correlation is significant on 0.01 level (bilateral); S= Supported; NS= Not Supported
Source: Data collected from SPSS based on questionnaire responses.

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The results of Table 2 were obtained while analyzing the general data and reveal a strong
positive correlation coefficient between organizational innovation and other types of
innovation, wich is an important finding in this study. As Johnson et al. (2000) said,
organizational influences affect efficiency and effectiveness on the development of new
services. In a way, organizational innovation supports all other types of innovation, as
mentioned by Fraj et al. (2015), organizational knowledge is a factor that precedes
innovation and affects the performance of the organization. The relationship of these
variables can translate into a great involvement by the employees and their
organizational structure, as well as the existence of good mechanisms, using technology
to develop new services. According to Thwaites (1992), some organizational practices
that promote success, include the support of team work, the emergence of winning
products, support in terms of rewards, risky behavior, autonomy in handling failures,
encouraging employees to submit new ideas, giving them free time to develop those
ideas, and making venture capital or make money available for projects.

Table 2 – Correlations and significance of variables - Organizational Innovation

Product/
Process Marketing
Service
Innovation Innovation
Innovation
Pearson
,542** ,633** ,623**
Correlation (r)
Organization
Sig. (bilateral)
al Innovation 0,000 0,000 0,000
(p)
N 205 205 205
Notes: ** The correlation is significant on 0.01 level (bilateral); S= Supported; NS= Not Supported
Source: Data collected from SPSS based on questionnaire responses.

Is it possible to conclude that the four types of innovation defined by the OECD (2005)
positively affect customers satisfaction, that is, the innovations present when staying at
the hotel were an important factor for their well-being and contentment. The results
obtained reinforce the studies by Weng et al. (2012) and Yeh et al. (2019), Chuang and
Hsu (2012) and Tsai et al. (2010) which refer that service innovation effectively has a
positive effect on customer satisfaction as well as the study by Lee et al. (2015) on the
influence of marketing innovation on customer satisfaction, and further confirmation of
the study by Nkemkiafu et al. (2019) on customer satisfaction through implementation of
innovative processes.

5. Conclusions

In the hotel industry, it is necessary that its capacity to innovate allows it to adapt to new
challenges, conditions and requirements of consumers, offering specialized and
differentiated services. In this way, it will be possible to obtain more satisfied customers,
which translates into a revenue return and loyalty.
The intention of this research was to understand how innovation in the hotel industry can
influence customer satisfaction. We tried to verify the level of customer satisfaction
regarding the hotel under study, identifying which type of innovation generates greater
satisfaction to the guests.
The hotel unit uses innovation as a way of solving problems and creating value for its
stakeholders, confirming not only the study by Yeh et al. (2012) but also the one from
Ostrom et al. (2010).
It has been found that 58.5% of the customers were completely satisfied with the stay at
the hotel. In this sense, Kotler et al. (1998) refers that when the customer receives what
he expects he is satisfied, so it can be said that the hotel meets most of the customer’s
expectations.

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This study allows to verify that the type of innovation that generates greater satisfaction
to customers is the service innovation. This happens because this hotel is visibly
innovative for its concept, as well as the unique services provided and their quality,
referred by hotel guests who responded to our questionnaire. The more customers
agreed with the mentioned innovations the more satisfied with the hotel unit they were.
In an attempt to establish a relationship between organizational innovation and other
types of innovation, resulting in positive correlation coefficient, it could mean that
organizational innovation influences the efficiency and effectiveness of developing new
services, as mentioned by Johnson et al. (2000).
This research paper confirms previous studies by Weng et al. (2012), Yeh et al. (2019),
Chuang and Hsu (2012), Tsai and Hsu (2012), Lee et al. (2015) and Nkemkiafu et al.
(2019) about the influence of service, marketing and process innovation on customer
satisfaction. Also, this research goes further by showing a positive relationship between
customer satisfaction and organizational innovation as well as the relationship between
organizational innovation and other types of innovation under study.
Thus, the customer satisfaction is positively related to the use of innovation, and the use
of the four types of innovation together is ideal for companies to achieve their goals more
efficiently.

5.1 Practical implications

The confirmation that customer satisfaction is associated with innovation, in its four
dimensions, can contribute to better decision making, not only for the hotel in the study,
but also for the sector.

5.2 Limitations
The results of this study were based only on one hotel unit and with a low number of
respondents. The extension to other cases may strengthen the results.

References
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Danneels, E., & Kleinschmidt, E. J. (2001). Product Innovativeness from the Firm’s
Perspective: Its Dimensions and Their Relation with Project Selection and Performance.
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Dantas, J. & Moreira, A. C. (2011). O processo de inovação. Lidel Editora
Drejer, I. (2004). Identifying innovation in surveys of services: A Schumpeterian
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