CAUSAL ANTECEDENTS OF BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AMONG WELLNESS SPA BUSINESSES IN BANGKOK: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SERVICE INNOVATION CAPABILITY

Abstract

This study aimed to: 1) Examine the relationships among service entrepreneurship, government support, research and development, service innovation capability, and the business performance of wellness spa businesses in Bangkok; 2) Investigate the mediating role of service innovation capability; and 3) Explain the quantitative findings through qualitative inquiry. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 400 customers of wellness spa businesses in Bangkok and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 30 entrepreneurs, managers, and industry experts. The results indicated that the proposed model demonstrated a good fit with the empirical data (χ²/df = 1.278, CFI = .992, TLI = .989, RMSEA = .026, RMR = .037) and explained 59.60% of the variance in business performance. Service entrepreneurship, government support, and research and development exerted positive effects on both business performance and service innovation capability. In addition, service innovation capability had a significant positive effect on business performance. However, the Bias-Corrected Bootstrapping procedure based on 5,000 resamples did not provide sufficient empirical evidence to support the mediating role of service innovation capability. The qualitative findings further revealed that strengthening service entrepreneurship, promoting research and development, enhancing service innovation, and integrating Thai identity into service design collectively contribute to improving business performance and the competitive capability of wellness spa businesses.