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INTRODUCTION
Service sector has become the dominant element in industrialized and developing
economies. Literature on services marketing reveals that the service sector encompasses a
varied and complex range of organizations. Service industry is now a dominant sector and
has been instrumental in changing the way marketers and customers think.
Gronroos (1982) discussed three distinct characteristics that differentiate services
sector from manufacturing sector:
1. Services are intangible
2. It is an activity
3. Production and consumption are simultaneous.
The difference between goods and services from the consumers’ point of view is that
the consumer is the part of the process and is instrumental in the materializing the service
exchange. This acts as a psychological contract where needs are gratified in exchange for not
only money but time and effort as well (Scheinder and Bowen, 1999). Consumer feels more
involved because of the intangible nature of the activity, he is unable to evaluate such
exchange appropriately but some level of quality is ultimately perceived. Consumers’
concern about quality has increased because of his inability to correctly assess the quality of
services and marketers’ concern has increased because when a service is rendered, quality of
services is only perceived to be rendered. In the words of Groth and Dye (1999), “ a service is
contemplated, expected and received whereas quality is contemplated, expected and
perceived.” Perception of quality may be radically different from actual quality rendered.
Customers define quality of service on the basis of their own criterion due to which the
perceived service quality may be sometimes higher than actual or may be otherwise (Groth
and Dye, 1999).Hence the term quality as in services has no definitive measure, what
meaning it takes depends upon what the consumer expected. Researchers have identified
service quality as a major determinant of performance in external market and have found
positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. According to
Ghobadian and Jones (1994) companies with higher perceived quality of services typically
have higher returns and market share. Such conclusions invited researchers on exploring
further and identifying determinants of service quality and methods of measuring customer
perception of service quality.
UNDERSTANDING SERVICE QUALITY
Service quality is an elusive, indistinct and abstract concept (Sachdev and Verma,
2004). Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry, (1988)described service quality as a global
judgement or attitude relating to the superiority of the service and it continues to increase in
importance as service industry grows and outnumbers manufacturing organizations
(Storbacha, Strandvile and Gronroos, 1994). Ghobadian et al (1993) discussed quality by
classifying it into five generic categories relevant to service organizations.
1. Transcendent: Quality is defined as innate excellence that is identified in a relationship
between individual’s salience and perceived quality.
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2. Product Led: Quality is equal to the units of goodness served as a part of package of goods
and services, more be the number of such units, higher will be the perceived quality.
3. Supply Led: Quality here refers to the ‘conformance to requirements’. The focus of quality
is internal rather than external. It is assessed in terms of organization’s ability to supply what
is required (Crosby, Taguchi).
4. Customer Led: This approach describes quality as organization’s ability to assess
customer’s requirement and satisfy such requirements (Deming, Juran).This definition is
more appropriate where high contact between customer and service provider is required.
5. Value Led: Quality in this context is the customer’s evaluation of quality, price and
availability taken together. The customer will perceive value on the basis of what equation h
derives form the combination.
Gummeson (1991) described quality as the ‘love factor’ between service provider and
the service receiver. Quality is not to be purely assumed as a rational, logical and impersonal
output of a production system, for services, it is a matter of heart that involves interaction,
empathy, compassion, emotions, involvement etc.
MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY
Quality is a multidimensional phenomenon. Meeting the customers’ quality
perception is possible only if relevant determinants are identified. Gronroos identified three
dimensions of service quality, the technical quality of outcome, the functional quality of
service encounter and the corporate image. Lehtinen and Lehtinen(1991) also proposed three
dimensions of service quality as physical quality, corporate quality and interactive quality
where as Rust and Oliver (1994) proposed a tri-component model where a customers overall
perception is based on his evaluation of customer-employee interaction, the service
environment and the outcome.
According to Garvin(1984) , Service quality can be assessed through eight dimensions.
1. Performance: These are the core or the primary characteristics that the service is
bound to provide.
2. Features: All those characteristics that add value to the services.
3. Reliability: It refers to the ability to provide the same levels of service over a
extended time period.
4. Conformance: Ability to conform to certain predefined quality standards.
5. Durability: How much value addition is done by the service.
6. Serviceability: Ability to absorb and rectify the flaws that exist within the services.
7. Aesthetics: The overall appeal of the service in mindset of the consumers.
8. Perceived quality: The perception image and the feeling that customers have
regarding the services.
Parsuraman et al (1985) proposed ten dimensions on the basis of qualitative research
namely:
1. Tangibles: Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communications
materials.
2. Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
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3. Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
4. Competence: Possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service.
5. Courtesy: Politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of contact personnel.
6. Credibility: Trustworthiness, believability, honesty of the service provider.
7. Security: Freedom from danger, risk or doubt.
8. Access: Approachability and ease of contact.
9. Communication: Keeping customers informed in language they can understand and
listening to them.
10. Understanding the Customer: Making the effort to know customers and their needs
Some researchers opined that the relevance of dimensions should vary according the
sector in which those are applied. The dimensions that may undertake the correct
measurement in hospitality sector may not be equally valid in retail sector. Dhabolkar et al
(1996) proposed five dimensions to be found relevant to the retail context namely physical
aspects, reliability, interaction, problem solving and policy. Siu and Cheung (2001)
empirically tested dimensions of service quality in retail and found personal interaction,
policy, physical appearance, promises, problem solving and convenience to be the important
determinants. Severt, Rompf and Severt (2007) in their study on hospitality sector confirmed
three important determinants of customer perception of satisfactory service encounters,
procedural fairness, interactive fairness and distributive fairness. Jones (2004) developed a
scorecard for service excellence in bank services and suggested three factors relevant for
banking sectors: 1. technical factors-speed, accuracy, efficiency, availability, 2. Interpersonal
factors, 3. Environmental factors. Gilbert and Wong (2003) identified reliability, assurance,
facilities for employees, flight patterns, customization and responsiveness to be the
determinants of airline service quality.
Preposition 1: Right identification of service quality dimensions lead to valid assessment of
service quality.
INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY
Parasuraman et al (1988) identified the need to operationalise the SQ measurement.
The empirical testing of the ten dimensions they proposed on the basis of qualitative research
led to the development of a 22 item instrument known as SERVQUAL containing five
dimensions called the RATER model. The instrument determines the disconfirmation of an
experience based upon the differences between the perception and the expectations of service
quality. When perception exceeds expectations, the results represent satisfaction, and when
the perception is less, it represents dissatisfaction. The original instrument contains 22 items
across 5 dimensions. The subjects answer each question twice once based upon perceptions
and once on expectations, which then creates a P-E gap score. The overall service quality is
determined by the sum of all the gap scores.
SERVQUAL became a widely used tool for measuring service quality. Researchers
have been using SERVQUAL and modifying it to make it adaptable to the needs of services
under consideration. SERVQUAL invited criticism regarding the generalizabilty of the
dimensions and the overlapping meaning of the dimensions (Carman, 1990; Rao and Kelkar,
1997). Asubonteng et al (1996) recommended customized testing of dimensions relevant to
each sector. The further examination and assessment of SERVQUAL brought forward a view
that criticized expectations as irrelevant and misleading for the evaluation of service quality
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(Robeldo, 2001). Carman (1990) opined that two battery instrument measuring expectations
and perception separately is inappropriate in terms of reliability and questionnaire length. The
respondent will always have the tendency to rate expectation (what is desired) higher than
perception (what is perceived to be received) (Wall and Payne, 1973). Cronin and Taylor
(1992) proposed a new tool based on perception only paradigm known as SERVPERF. This
model considered 22items of servqual perception statements. Perception only construct was
supported by Boulding et al, (1999) and Quester et al.( 1995). Teas (1993) developed
Evaluation of Performance (EP) scale to measure service quality using assessment of
perception only. Othman and Owen (2001) studied service quality in Islamic banks and
developed a modified scale of SERVQUAL consisting 34 dimensions. The model Known as
CARTER model considered compliance with law as another dimension relevant to Islamic
banks. Knutson et al. (1993) refined the SQ model developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988)
and came up with a 26- item LODGSERV scale to measure customers’ expectation for SQ in
their hotel experiences. The model considered that customer expectations should be different,
depending on the three different price segments (economy, mid-priced and luxury) of hotels.
Preposition 2: Industry-specific instrument of measuring service quality results in correct
assessment of service quality perceptions.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
Service quality has become an important parameter to identify the customer
satisfaction from the services. It has been observed that if a customer perceives service
quality of the organization as positive, the level of satisfaction will also be positive. This
construct is valid because the interactions the customers have with the organization during
the service encounter in terms of physical environment and interpersonal dealing determines
whether or not a consumer gets a delightful service experience and if he will avail the service
in future as well. Cronin and Taylor (1992) observed service quality as vital antecedent to the
customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is believed to affect post purchase behavior,
perception and future decisions. Anderson and Sullivan (1993) proposed strong linkages
between service quality and overall customer satisfaction. Identification of customers’
requirements and measurement of customer satisfaction are the two crucial marketing
activities. The service quality construct helps in better assessment of what the customers
require and whether or not they are satisfied with what is being provided. High service
quality induces repeat behavior thus positively influencing behavioral intentions, hence
enhancing performance (Bolton, 1998). Oloruniwo et al (2006) observed that satisfaction
fully mediates the impact of service quality on behavioural intentions.
Researchers have explored the possibility of relationship between service quality and
customer satisfaction in various sectors of service industry and revealed similar findings.
Bartlett and Han (2007) studied service quality in restaurant business and identified service
quality as an important determinant of customer satisfaction. Lee and Hwan (2005) studied
relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and profitability in banking
industry and proposed that service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction and
customer satisfaction is an antecedent of profitability. Another line of thinking prevails that
service quality is not only a precursor to customer satisfaction; it is actually the measure of
customer satisfaction. Customers’ perception of service quality may be taken an indicator of
customer satisfaction from that service. Ahmed et al. (2010) explored the idea of using
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service quality dimensions as a method to assess customer satisfaction. Angelova and Zekiri
(2011) used service quality construct in measuring customer satisfaction in mobile phone
services and found that customers did not perceive service quality as positive and hence they
are not satisfied. Chakarborty and Majumdar (2011) used SERVQUAL as a tool to assess
customer satisfaction in healthcare sector.
Preposition 3: Positive customer perceptions of service quality indicate customer satisfaction
Preposition 4: Positive customer perceptions of service quality results in customer
satisfaction
CONCLUSION
The concept of service quality has been widely explored but the literature indicates
towards the development of industry specific tools for measuring service quality.
SERVQUAL, though a very widely used tool, is insufficient in explaining the quality
constructs of all the units within the service industry. To understand the factors that
contribute towards building service quality industry and to assess the customer perception
regarding service quality, quality determinants particular to given industry need to be
identified, for example the determinants of service quality for banking industry might not be
same as the determinants of service quality in hospitality sector because in both the cases the
quality expectations of the customers would be different. If the service quality is measured
through well-defined dimensions of service quality related to the concerned industry, the
marketer would be able to rightly understand the customer perceptions and can adopt suitable
strategies to enhance the level of perceived service quality and ensure customer satisfaction.
On the basis of the prepositions derived from the literature following model can be
developed.
IMPLICATIONS
The present study is focused on understanding the theoretical framework of service
quality through the examination of literature on service quality. Prepositions made on the
basis of literature indicate towards development of industry-specific instruments for
measuring service quality. Empirical investigation of the proposed model needs to be
undertaken in various units of service industry like hospitality industry, healthcare, education,
entertainment, financial services etc. To know the effect of industry specific instrument data
should be collected both on the common instrument and the specific instrument and the result
of service quality perceptions should be compared. The study should be repeated on a
different time-frame to assess the difference of customer satisfaction mediated by adoption of
marketing strategies identified on the basis of understanding of customer perceptions.
Industry specific
Dimensions of SQ
Industry specific
Instrument of SQ
Service Quality
Perceptions
Customer
Satisfaction
Marketing
Strategies
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