The Study of Service Quality and Tourist Satisfaction

of Rural Area; Mural Street Art Muar.

Nur Syafiqah Zaidan & Anati Farzana Mohamad Zaili

University Kuala Lumpur Business School, Level 8, Bangunan Yayasan Selangor No. 74, Jalan
Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Faculty Business and Administration, University Kuala Lumpur Business School, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract
In order to promote the service quality of rural tourism and to achieve success in
the tourism sector, it is necessary to understand the factors that motivate tourists
to visit rural areas. The aim of this study is to measure the factors affecting the
satisfaction of rural tourists in relation to the different aspects of the destination
and to increase the likelihood of re-examination and recommendation. This study
also seeks to examine differences in satisfaction based on the preference of the
information source. Overall satisfaction was influenced by the physical
infrastructure, the quality of service and the level of satisfaction with the tour
programs. Keywords: Mural Street Art, Service Quality, Tourist Satisfaction, Core
Tourism Experience, Rural Tourism, Recommendation, Revisitation.

INTRODUCTION
Background of Study

Rural tourism refers to all activities that involve in rural area. It has become one
of the important factors that impact to the economy as it brings a lot of benefits to
the country. It does not only contribute towards more economic activities but also
generates more employment, revenues and play a significant role in development.
According to Ghaderi and Henderson (as cited in Lo et al., 2013) researchers have
also described rural tourism as consisting of some popular features such as areas
with low population densities and therefore only a small proportion of land is used,
which gives tourists a sense of space. Rural tourism in Malaysia is also seen as

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having many rural communities, with distinct and varied properties in each rural
region. Mural Street Art tourism destinations are recognized by visitors who seek
unique journeying experiences such as peaceful relaxation, inspiration and
recreation. It can provide a valuable experience to tourist to learn and experience
the culture.

Problem Statement
In history, mural art is used to speak as the needs of understanding the
communities, nations and cultures. In order for tourists to learn about the
cultures, painters paint the mural art directly on the wall. Generally, not everyone
is interested in understanding the culture so, by having this mural street art it
somehow creates better understanding besides appreciating the art. The problem
of this mural street art is that people only come there once. Hence, in order to
make tourist come there often it is better to upgrade and sustain the service
quality of the place to achieve tourist satisfaction. Therefore, it will create a great
opportunity and benefits for the locals as they can make income from the street.

Mural Street Art in Muar is a great example for this study. First, it is a hidden
artistically beautiful mural art along the street. This place is not yet popular as it
is still a new attraction there. Nevertheless, the public awareness of the place has
been greatly improved. The place is very suitable for tourist to come as it is
strategically located downtown.

Research Question
Question 1: How to analyse the variables of core tourism experience for tourist
satisfaction?

Question 2: How to develop core tourism experience to reach tourist expectation?

Question 3: How to identify the factors of customer satisfaction in rural tourism of

Muar Mural Street Art.

Research Objectives
• Analysing the variables of core tourism experience for tourist satisfaction.

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 • Developing core tourism experience to reach tourist expectation.
• Identifying the factors of customer satisfaction in rural tourism of Muar
Mural Street Art.

Significant of the Study

The findings of the study will be expected to get a solution from the community
that help in service quality. For an example, Muar Tourism. It is an active non-
profit organization that operates to handle all related tourism activities in Muar.
Also, it is to contribute the increment of tourism there. When there are more
variables it opens job opportunity to the locals. Other than that, by creating
variety of events such as cultural festival it will meet tourist expectations as they
will learn about the culture. Nowadays, there are many bloggers and youtubers.
Therefore, with the power of word of mouth they will influence other people to
come there.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Rajaratnama et al. (2014) this study explored the impact of the
quality of service and the moderating effect of previous encounters on tourist
satisfaction in rural tourism destinations in developing Malaysia. In the
background of the developing world, the study has contributed to expanding
awareness of rural tourism. The results from the study provide some important
implications for both practitioners and further studies. Firstly, it gives rural
tourism service providers and decision-makers an insight into the aspirations and
needs of rural tourists.

Furthermore, the application of advertising campaigns demands that these two

classes of tourists understand. Third, policy makers in the field of rural tourism
need to allocate resources and establish effective policies for managing and
differentiating their rural tourism destinations. Only then can a long-term
relationship with the tourists be established.

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There are certain limitations in this study which constitute opportunities for
future studies. The analytical structure focussed on the variables most important
to achieving the research goals. This model can be expanded for further study to
include other related variables such as tourist loyalty.

The study is to maintain or sustain the tourism at rural area which is in Muar,
Johor. For the journal study investigated the influence of service quality and the
moderating effect of previous experience on tourist satisfaction in rural tourism
destinations in Malaysia, a developing country. The objective is same to identify if
the service quality or adding the facilities can attract or influence the tourist to
come to the rural area for the first time and will come again later. The service
quality is included the hospitality, safety and hygiene.

Tourist Satisfaction
Lo et al. (2011) states that customers' satisfaction is one of the important
determinants in the quality management of organizations. Hence, knowing the
needs of its consumers and the aspirations of local players is a major challenge for
the tourism industry in this competitive market. This is an important issue in view
of the fact that consumers are increasingly knowledgeable and capable of
understanding and comparing the services provided, and it is therefore vital for
industry players to recognize what their customers expect of them in order to stay
competitive on the market.

Cho et al. (2014) states that travel behaviour varies according to the motivation of
the traveller and that the happiness of the tourist affects his subsequent
behaviour, such as repeat visits or the desire to suggest a particular destination
to others. Tourist satisfaction is described as a result of comparing the experiences
of tourists in a visited destination and the expectations regarding the destination.

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A review of the satisfaction literature seems to indicate that satisfaction can be
seen as an appraisal of the manufacturer, service or experience. Customer
satisfaction in a tourism environment refers to the degree to which the destination
meets the value expectations of the customers. Tourists engage with several
different components of the destination (resort) product, which is a bundle of
diverse features that includes not only the historic sites and stunning scenery, but
also services and facilities that cater to tourists' daily needs.

Core Tourism Experience

Products offered by rural destination sites are naturally and culturally rich and
these products are distinctive to each particular rural destination site. It is
important that rural communities maintain and practice this valuable tradition,
because their presence is the "special selling idea" that draws tourists to the
destinations. (Lo, Mohamad, Songan & Yeo, 2012a). As stated in Lo et al. (2016)
as more people are visiting these tourism destination sites, it is important that
tourism industry at these locations provide the necessary products and services
that meet the needs and expectation of these visitors. Hence, the local destination
sites will then need to be opened to assess if their current destination status is in
line with the tourists' needs and expectations. With that in mind, it is imperative
that the creation of tourist sites has what to give, and that current goods and
services be strengthened and updated to meet those needs.

Based on the ideas of Osman et al. (2013) rural tourism comprises various
activities in different countries with different environment and culture. Rural
tourism helps visitors to interact with the nature and culture of the destinations.
This also plays an significant role in rural economic and social recovery. Tourist
impressions of a destination rely on sources of knowledge, such as ads, travel
consultants and web advertising. Tourists try to improve the quality of their
journey by reducing the degree of associated uncertainty by searching for
knowledge, as tourism is a pleasant experience. A lack of information over a
destination may influence tourists’ satisfaction, which will result from
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expectations, and information search behaviour plays a role in the selection of a
tourism product. Despite sources of information having a significant relationship
with tourist characteristics, actions or satisfaction, research has so far been
insufficient on the impact of tourist preferences or the extent of use of information
sources on tourist satisfaction. (Cho et al., 2014).

METHODOLOGY

Introduction
This study is about to measure the economic performance in rural area toward
tourism in Malaysia. For this study, the researcher used Statistical Package for
the Social Science (SPSS) for analysing the data. SPSS is used by various kinds of
researchers for complex statistical data analysis, created for the management and
statistical analysis of social science data. The researcher wished to analyse the
relationship between the independent variables which is safety, information, core
tourism satisfaction, infrastructure, hygiene toward customer satisfaction of the
rural tourism in Malaysia.

Research Design
For this study, the researcher chooses the quantitative research, where it is used
to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations.
Quantitative research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating
numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used
to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviours, and other defined variables and
generalize results from a larger sample population. Quantitative data collection
methods are much more structured than qualitative data collection methods
where it includes various forms of surveys. In this study, the researcher focused
on surveys is in the form of questionnaire to gather the primary data. We also used
the secondary data to collect information using journals and articles.

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Conceptual Framework

Sampling
This research had 85 respondents who answered our google form but we only took
80 of them as to measure on our analysis. Those 85 respondents have used
probability sampling with simple random sampling to select the respondents in
order to make sure all the people are equally likely to be selected as a sample.
Data were collected in the survey questionnaire which consists of 32 questions
completed by local tourist. The factors are measured using the Nominal Scale.

Data Collection Procedure

Primary data is information collected through original or first-hand research. For
example, surveys and focus group discussions. The data was collected through an
online survey using self-administrated questionnaires. The respondent was the
people around the research area which is Muar Johor and surrounding area. The
questionnaire consisted of two sections; Demographic and tourist satisfaction at
rural area. The demographic data captured items related to the respondents' age,
gender, Place of Origin, and monthly income. Whereas, section 2 questions were
related to the variables using 5 Likert scales. Those 5 Likert scales are specifying
by the level of agreement or disagreement on asymmetric (1) = strongly disagree,

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(2) = disagree, (3) = neutral, (4) = agree, (5) = strongly agree. The questionnaire
are made in Malay language to give better understanding to the local respondent.
The data was gathered by using by using google form and SPSS software version.

On the other hand, secondary data is information which has been collected in the
past by someone else. For example, researching in the internet and articles. The
objective of any study defines whether primary or secondary data is to be collected.
Usually, the collection of primary data is costly and more time-consuming than
secondary data but it serves a specific need and control.

Data Analysis Method

These data were key in into Microsoft Excel and run by SPSS system to have
descriptive and inference analysis were run.

Ethics in Research
In this research, we ensured that we followed three ethics in collecting the data.
First, the respondent must voluntarily answer our questionnaire. The coercion
does not need in answering the questionnaire. They can just answer it anywhere
and anytime. Second, we used anonymity. The respondent responds to our
questionnaire could be anyone. We would not require personal data but only the
general data for research purposes only. The information gathered from the
questionnaire will be kept confidential and their data are secured and will avoid
any kind of selling of databases and other unethical purpose

FINDINGS

1. Descriptive Frequency Analysis

As shown in Table 1, the demographic analysis reveals that most of the participant
are female. There were 46 respondents come from female the other 34 is male
respondent. After that, the researchers measured the respondent's ages and the
result that shown the majority of the respondents are from the age group of 25 and
below and the rest are come from the group age of 26 and above. Next, the
researcher examined the origin of the respondent and showed that majority of the

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respondent come from the people within the research area. Other than that, come
from Johor Bharu, Yong Peng, Ampang and Negeri Sembilan.

Demographic Categories Frequency Percentage

Factors (%)
Gender Male 34 42.5
Female 46 57.5
Total 80

Age 20 years old and below 10 12.5

21-25 years old 49 61.25
26-30 years old 12 15.0
31 years old and above 9 11.25
Total 80

Salary RM0 < RM1000 37 46.25

RM1001 - RM3000 25 31.25
RM3001 - RM6000 10 12.5
Others 8 10.0
Total 80

Table 1: Summarized Demographic Profile of Respondents

2. Cronbach Alpha Reliability Test

Table 2 below show the result of Cronbach Alpha of tourist satisfaction toward
rural area at The Street Art of Muar, Johor. The most net worthy variable is
hygiene that show (α=0.922) which is also show interpretation of this variable is
reliable. Besides, it follows by second highest of Cronbach Alpha which is
Information (α=0.915) have a reliable interpretation. On the other hand,
Infrastructure variable is the third highest and reliable interpretation where the
Cronbach Alpha at (α=0.901). Next Cronbach Alpha marked as reliable is core
tourism experience with (α=0.893). Lastly, the least is safety also show a reliable
interpretation where Cronbach Alpha at (α=0.847).

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Overall total of this independent variable is (α=0.968) which means all the item
toward tourist satisfaction is reliable. Based on the result of reliability, it shows
hygiene can be conclude as the highest factor interpretation of reliability of tourist
satisfaction.

Variables Alpha Item Alpha Result Remark

Result
1. sty_1 0.851
2.sty_2 0.821
Safety 0.847 3.sty_3 0.847 Reliable
4.sty_4 0.831
5.sty_5 0.842
1.info_1 0.888
Information 0.915 2.info_2 0.864 Reliable
3.info_3 0.879
4.info_4 0.909
1.cte_1 0.865
2.cte_2 0.891
Core Tourism 3.cte_3 0.869
Experience 0.893 4.cte_4 0.876 Reliable
5.cte_5 0.874
6.cte_6 0.866
1.Inf_1 0.892
2.Inf_2 0.895
3.Inf_3 0.883
Infrastructure 0.901 4. Inf_4 0.873 Reliable
5.Inf_5 0.879
6.Inf_6 0.888
7.Inf_7 0.888

1.Hyg_1 0.897
2. Hyg_2 0.916
Hygiene 0.922 3. Hyg_3 0.907 Reliable
4. Hyg_4 0.902

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 5. Hyg_5 0.906
6. Hyg_6 0.919
.
Table 2: Description of the Cronbach Alpha of Independent V ariable

Key: Reliability range interpretation on the independent variable

< 0.6 (Not Reliable)
> 0.6 (Reliable)

Cronbach Alpha Interpretation

Tourist Satisfaction (5 items) 0.936 Reliable

Table 3: Description of the Cronbach Alpha of Dependent Variable

Key: Reliability range interpretation on the independent variable

< 0.6 (Not Reliable)
> 0.6 (Reliable)

In addition, the level of tourist satisfaction was measured by using 5 questions

which by using Likert-scaled of five points ranging from strongly disagree to
strongly agree. The responses were describing by using Cronbach Alpha as
summarize in Table 3. The result shown in Table 4.3 reveal that the
interpretation of tourist satisfaction are reliable which the Cronbach Alpha at
(α=0.936). This is show that the dependent variables are useful.

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 3. Correlations
Correlations
TS DI PQ PV TE CR
TS Pearson
1 .850** .639** .737** .785** .796**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0 0 0
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
DI Pearson
.850** 1 .864** .292** .832** .324**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0.004 0 0.001
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
PQ Pearson
.639** .713** 1 .749** .775** .847**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0 0 0
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
PV Pearson
.737** .749** .692** 1 .847** .826**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0 0 0
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
TE Pearson
.785** .776** .657** .847** 1 .811**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0 0 0
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
CR Pearson
.796** .847** .962** .826** .811** 1
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.001 0.001 0 0 0
N 80 80 80 80 80 80
Table 4: the correlation between independent variables and dependent
variable

Hypothesis 1

H1: There is a significant relationship between safety and tourist satisfaction.

From the table above, there is a positive relationship between safety and tourist
satisfaction because of the positive value for the correlation coefficient. Therefore,
the hypothesis is accepted.

The safety variable has a 0.797 correlation with the tourist satisfaction variable.

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Hypothesis 2

H2: There is a significant relationship between information and tourist

satisfaction.

From the table above, there is a positive relationship between information and
tourist satisfaction because of the positive value for the correlation coefficient.
Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

The information variable has a 0.850 correlation with the tourist satisfaction
variable.

Hypothesis 3

H3: There is a significant relationship between core tourism experience and tourist
satisfaction.

From the table above, there is a positive relationship between core tourism
experience and tourist satisfaction because of the positive value for the correlation
coefficient. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

The core tourism satisfaction variable has a 0.639 correlation with the tourist
satisfaction variable.

Hypothesis 4

H4: There is a significant relationship between infrastructure and tourist

satisfaction.

From the table above, there is a positive relationship between infrastructure and
tourist satisfaction because of the positive value for the correlation coefficient.
Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

The infrastructure variable has a 0.737 correlation with the tourist satisfaction
variable.

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Hypothesis 5

H5: There is a significant relationship between hygiene and tourist satisfaction.

From the table above, there is a positive relationship between hygiene and tourist
satisfaction because of the positive value for the correlation coefficient. Therefore,
the hypothesis is accepted.

The hygiene variable has a 0.796 correlation with the tourist satisfaction variable.

4. Regression
The multiply Linear Regression results in Table 5 indicate that the percentage
variance of satisfaction is explained by 100% of the variance safety, information,
core tourism experience, infrastructure and hygiene. 62.9% of total variance in
tourist satisfaction is explained by the variation in safety, while the rest is
explained with another factor. Next, 71.4% of all out change in tourist satisfaction
agreed in information. For variable core tourism experience in total variance in
tourist satisfaction is 92.4% and for infrastructure is 67.8%. lastly for hygiene
there is 65.4% of total variance are agreed. The result from multiple regression
analysis showed that the regression coefficient of Core Tourism Experience is
relatively high compare to other independent variables. It indicated that Core
Tourism Experience and information is relatively more important than all other
independent variables in the multiple regression model.

Variable TS
STY 62.90%
INFO 71.40%
CTE 92.40% 100%
INF 67.80%
HYG 65.40%

Table 5: Multiply Regression

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Previous domestic work has looked at the level of happiness of different
consumers; those who have visited rural tourism sites while not only being
classified individually, but also family and group groups. In addition, the emphasis
was on service quality for physical facilities. This is also not only difficult to
consider the demands and needs of future rural visitors, but there is also a limit
to creating only physical elements to promote and improve rural tourism
destinations. Revisiting to a destination is a key factor in rural tourism and hence
the happiness of tourists is critical for core tourism experience.

This research seeks to explain the travel habits and desires of tourists by defining
travel options according to the styles of companionship. Considering the fact that
the purpose of traveling is to focus on leisure and cultural experiences, including
relaxation, new strategies that can help advertise the cultural resources and
activities of a tourist destination are necessary. An unwillingness to revisit may
be related to low satisfaction levels with a destination.

The importance of tourist satisfaction makes it necessary to measure those factors

that influence the satisfaction of tourists with different aspects of a destination,
and to increase the likelihood of revision and recommendation. From these
findings, the expectations of tourists to return and the expectations to recommend
are affected by the level of satisfaction of local services, showing that attempts
need to be made to increase the quality of facilities in order to vitalize rural
tourism. The provision of high-quality service and the satisfaction of customers
are widely recognized as important factors that lead to the success of the regional
tourism industries. Quality services and tourist satisfaction create long-term
relationships with visitors and, in addition, generate loyalty to destinations.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Increase Public Awareness and Culture Propaganda and Professional Explanation
Muar Mural Street Art should take on the role of cultural dissemination, through
the architecture of Muar Mural Street Art museum, showroom, around the history
and culture, art techniques, render the culture display with public welfare to help
the tourists get knowledge, this is an essential aspect of the production of Muar
Mural Street Art souvenirs. At the Muar Mural Street Art souvenir market there
are now many problems, such as quality failure. Increasing propaganda of Muar
Mural Street Art knowledge to ordinary tourists can enhance visitor
discrimination, attributing to standardizing the market.

Cultural art and show will also encourage tourists to understand more the
protection and inheritance importance of cultural of Muar Mural Street Art. The
tourists' buying souvenirs and bringing them to all over the world, can spread the
culture history of Muar Mural Street Art.

Pay Attention to Usefulness

The Muar Mural Street Art is the crystallization of history art knowledge with its
richness value, that can catch the attention of visitors. It displays the historical
value and activities of local communities and transform it into mural paintings.
The appreciation of the art should be depicted in souvenirs so that tourists can
make it as sentimental value things Therefore, when developing souvenirs, it is
necessary to pay attention on useful elements to create souvenirs that tourists
prefer.

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REFERENCES
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Rural Tourists’ Satisfaction, Revisitation and Information Preferences: A
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10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.288.

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Profile of Author 1

Hi, my name is Nur Syafiqah Binti Zaidan. I am twenty – three years old girl was born
and live in Muar, Johor. I am in semester 7, bachelor in business administration
(hons) management and entrepreneurship. This semester would be my last
semester before I start my internship on July 2020.

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Profile of Author 2

Hello, my name is Anati Farzana currently in final year student of Bachelor of

Business Administration (Hons) in Management Entrepreneurship at University
Kuala Lumpur Business School.

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