Search results

This study aims to develop and test a service‐based demographic framework for studying service quality perceptions. Specifically, the effect of level of service contact and key demographic variables of age, gender and income on service quality perceptions is examined.

A total of 224 customers of high‐ and low‐contact passenger transport services were surveyed using a self‐administered questionnaire.

The findings indicated that service quality perceptions differed according to the level of contact inherent to the service. Consumer age was also found to affect service quality perceptions; however, no differences in service quality perceptions on the basis of gender or income were found.

The results of the study enhance the understanding of service quality perceptions and provide useful insight for the management and delivery of service quality. Overall, the results suggest that managers in the train travel industry need to take the level of contact as well as the views of certain demographic segments into account if they want to maximize perceived service. Demographics provide managers with a means of determining which segments of the market are feasible in terms of achieving greater market penetration. The findings of this study show the importance of considering variables relating to individual characteristic or the service itself when investigating service quality.

Prior research has not examined empirically whether service quality dimensions vary on the basis of service type; thus, this paper contributes to knowledge in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of other customer perception (OCP) (Brocato et al., 2012) on focal customer’s service quality perception and revisit intention in high- and low-involvement services and the effect of customer’s need for uniqueness (NFU) as a boundary condition of the above relationships.

Following a theoretical methodology, hypotheses were developed to analyze the effect of OCP, service involvement and customer’s NFU. A 2 × 2 × 2 scenario-based experiment was designed. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses.

The analysis reveals that the presence of conforming (versus non-conforming) other customers improves service quality perception and revisit intention of focal customers in high-involvement services, but not in low-involvement services. However, the relationship between similarity perception and outcome variables does not hold good for high-NFU customers.

This study suggests that conforming and non-conforming other customers are critical in forming service quality perception of high-involvement services, and highlights the boundary condition of this relationship. If service managers take service involvement and individual differences into account, and strategize their service offering aligned to their target customers, influence of other customers can be managed more efficiently.

As this study is one of the first empirical studies to focus on the effect of OCP on service quality perception and examine its boundary condition, it contributes significantly to the body of knowledge. Future research directions are discussed and managerial implications are proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for linking the dimensions of quality and how customers create their perceptions of quality in the products and services that they purchase. This provides a holistic framework for a better understanding of the various dimensions of product and service quality and their impact on consumer perceptions.

A holistic framework for the understanding of the various dimensions of product and service quality and their impact on the creation of consumer perceptions is presented. In addition research questions for future investigations are proposed.

Consumer satisfaction is directly related to how well their expectations for a product or service are met. These expectations are developed from the customers perceptions about the product or service. If the firm wishes to develop new products and services that can create competitive advantage, they must understand how the various product characteristics, or service attributes, effect the creation of consumer perceptions.

This research contributes to the understanding of how consumers create their perceptions and how the various dimensions of product and service quality relate to these properties of perception.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the epistemological underpinning of SERVQUAL and its limitations; and second, to propose ways to enhance the utility of SERVQUAL as a library assessment tool.

The study first conceptualises quality judgment as a knowing process and locates the epistemological stance of SERVQUAL within the general framework of epistemology demarcation; it then examines related SERVQUAL assumptions and their implications for library assessment in general and for service quality assessment in particular based on two empirical investigations: a questionnaire survey and an interview survey. The questionnaire survey applies the SERVQUAL instrument to three Chinese university libraries, with a view to examining the SERVQUAL score in light of epistemological considerations; the interview survey interviews 50 faculty users in one of the three universities with a view to illuminating the naturalistic process through which users develop their judgement of the library's service quality and through which the SERVQUAL score is formed.

The study shows that the actual SERVQUAL score is distributed in a very scattered manner in all three libraries, and that it is formed through a very complex process rooted primarily in the user's personal experiences with the library, which are in turn shaped by factors from both the library world and the user's life‐world. Based on these findings, this research questions a number of SERVQUAL assumptions and proposes three concepts which may help to contextualise the SERVQUAL score and enhance its utility in actual library assessment: library planning based variance of user perception, perception‐dependent user expectation and library‐sophistication based user differentiation.

The research presented in the paper questions a number of SERVQUAL assumptions and proposes three concepts that may help to contextualise the SERVQUAL score and enhance its utility in actual library assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate user versus provider perceptions of management accounting system (MAS) services using the DeLone and McLean information system success model and the theoretical lens of social perception theory.

Quantitative survey data were collected and analyzed using ordinal regression. Qualitative interview data concerning user‐provider perceptions of MAS service information quality, importance, use, and satisfaction were utilized to corroborate and explain the data analysis.

The results suggest that there are significant perceptual differences about MAS service quality by users versus providers. For this organization, the paper identifies what these differences are, why they exist, and how organizations may identify and narrow identified gaps.

The paper is based on a case study that may not be generalizable to broader populations. It uses a cross‐sectional, correlational, self‐report survey, therefore is unable to make causal or directional inferences. Future research should assess MAS services in different organizations, industries, and cultures.

The paper is among the first to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of perceived differences in accounting service quality, approaches to uncovering sources of differences, and steps that organizations may take to improve service quality.

This paper is the first to apply the DeLone and McLean information system success model in the context of MAS service quality. The paper examines perceptions of MAS providers and users to evaluate services and investigates perceptual differences across functions and at different organizational levels.

This article initially aims to explore the factors of every quality construct of the 5Qs model of service quality and, second, identify the significant factors affecting the total quality of e-healthcare services and its association with consumer satisfaction using a multidimensional hierarchical 5Qs model of e-healthcare service quality.

Questionnaire-oriented research was performed at three public hospitals of Punjab and Chandigarh. In total, 53 variables were covered in all quality constructs for data collection from the designated public hospitals. The respondents who agreed to have knowledge regarding e-Healthcare services and were availing these services were included in the study. The analysis comprised structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 21.

The outcomes suggest that the 5Qs model is more comprehensive and can be used to evaluate service quality perceptions using e-Healthcare services. The research identified 11 sub-dimensions for the five quality constructs of the 5Qs model, representing total quality, which is primary to consumer satisfaction. “Overall objectivity” and “technical objectivity” defined the quality of object. The quality of process of e-Healthcare services was characterized by “functionality,” “timeliness” and “responsiveness.” Quality of infrastructure was defined by “technical infrastructure,” “physical infrastructure,” “manpower skills” and “organizational infrastructure.” “Manner of interaction” and “timely interaction” defined the quality of interaction. The atmosphere was represented by only one factor. The results also suggest that quality of infrastructure, quality of interaction and quality of atmosphere play the most significant role in total quality leading to consumer satisfaction.

Theoretical implications: The multidimensional hierarchical model will help the researchers study the e-Healthcare service quality in a more organized manner, and the outcomes of this study can be linked with that of future studies for more generalized application in other public hospitals. The sub-dimensions of each quality construct of the 5Qs model can be applied in private hospitals, and the hierarchical model can be tested in different industries to measure service quality perceptions of the consumer

The outcomes of the study can be applied in various public sector hospitals to redesign the e-Healthcare services based on consumers' perception for better consumer satisfaction and quality services. This paper identifies the role of each quality construct in e-Healthcare services for improvement in the total quality, which in turn will lead to higher satisfaction for the consumers.

In this study, the original 5Qs model has been used for the first time in a new instrument to understand better and design quality e-Healthcare services. The paper explores the sub-factors of each quality construct and its significance in measuring the total quality.

The objective of this paper is to understand the perception of patients towards health care services in Lucknow based on the 20‐item scale

The 20‐item scale was administered to 500 users of health care centres comprising a tertiary health centre, a state medical university and two missionary hospitals in Lucknow, India.

The scale was found to be reliable to a great extent with an overall Cronbach alpha value of 0.74. “Health personnel and practices” and “health care delivery” were found to be statistically significant in impacting the perception. Respondents were relatively less positive on items related to “access to services” and “adequacy of doctors for women”. The tertiary health centre was rated poorer than the medical university and missionary hospitals.

This tool may be applied for qualitative assessment of the services of health care programmes as well as health care centres of India.

The paper draws the attention of health policy makers in considering the requirements and opinions of patients to effect substantial change and significant improvement in the quality of the health care services for better and increased utilization of the services.

The paper fulfils the need of measuring perceived quality of health care services and points out that the improvement in health care services requires immediate and urgent attention from policy makers.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the determinants of satisfaction with municipal services by local inhabitants in Lithuania. Specifically, the paper seeks to disclose the relations between the importance that citizens attribute to the objectives of a municipality, satisfaction with services, the perception of quality of life and socio-demographic characteristics of local inhabitants.

The theoretical assumptions were tested using the quantitative data of public opinion survey in Lithuania conducted in 2016. The representative sample (n=1,006) consisting respondents over the age of 18 years old was collected using the personal interview method in households from different municipalities. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was employed to specify the constructs of the model. The structural equation modeling allowed revealing the relations between the importance of municipal objectives, satisfaction with services and infrastructure, the perception of quality of life and socio-demographic characteristics of citizens.

The findings indicate that there is a weak positive relation among the importance of municipal objectives and satisfaction with municipal services and infrastructure in case of Lithuania. There is a medium positive relation between satisfaction with services and infrastructure and perception of quality of life. The authors find that citizens living in cities attribute higher importance to the objectives of a municipality. The expectations increase within the age. The authors also find that residents living in cities are less satisfied (comparing to citizens living in towns and rural areas) with municipal services. The results indicate that citizens working in the private sector are less satisfied (comparing to unemployed citizens) with municipal services. The authors also find that such variables as education, age and income has a positive influence on the perception of quality of life.

Further research may specify the connection between the importance of municipal objectives, satisfaction with services, quality of life and socio-demographic characteristics more precisely. Specifically, the construct of the importance of municipal objectives was explained best as one factor due to the selection of objectives constituting the construct in the questionnaire. More precise measurement of the construct may reveal the agenda pursued by citizens and its relation to the socio-demographic factors.

The research reveals that satisfaction with municipal services and infrastructure is an important predictor of perceived quality of life for Lithuanians citizens on the local level. It sends an important signal to policymakers indicating that citizens that are living in cities, working in private sector feel less satisfied compared to other groups of inhabitants in rural areas. It also provides evidence that different profiles of socio-demographic characteristics should also be considered more carefully while designing responsive service provision systems in municipalities.

The paper provides a theoretical and methodological perspective that relates importance of municipal objectives, satisfaction with municipal services, infrastructure and perceived quality of life of local inhabitants. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of socio-demographic characteristics of for municipal agenda and design of provision of public services.

Describes an investigation, in different types of services, of relationships between customers’ perception of service quality, and the importance which customers attach to elements of the service package. The scale for measuring service quality, SERVQUAL, which was discussed in Part 2 of this series, was used to assess both the quality and the importance of each of the dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The attributes of service operations (labour intensity, contact, interaction, customization, service recipient and nature of the service), which were defined in Part 1 of this series, were used to classify the sample. The influence of each of these attributes on quality perceptions was also assessed. The investigation was designed to answer two broad questions: the first about the differences in consumers’ quality perceptions between services, and the second dealing with the different relative importance which dimensions of services have in formulation of consumers’ perceptions of service quality. The survey analyses support a number of conclusions. Many corroborate the concepts and principles raised in earlier work and which were discussed earlier in this series. Some other tentative conclusions, which have not been expressly stated in other work, provide potential areas for further study and for possible verification.

Purpose: We examined whether the five-service quality dimensions described by SERVQUAL (SQ) and SERVPERF (SP) are consistent with perceived dimensions of management accounting (MA) service quality and we compared responses from users and providers.

Design/methodology/approach: We surveyed experienced providers and users of MA services to learn their perceptions and expectations of accounting service quality using SQ/SP adapted to an MA context. We used principal components analysis (PCA) to investigate service quality dimensions.

Findings: Participant responses identified three dimensions of MA service quality. There was a high degree of correspondence in dimensions of service quality between users and providers, but with notable differences in service priorities. A performance-only (SP) approach seems to provide a better measure of overall service quality than performance minus expectations (SQ).

Research limitations/implications: Participants self-selected to participate. Respondents were not matched by organization. The SQ/SP instrument may not capture important organization specific attributes. Our approach may serve as a guide for future studies of accounting service quality.

Practical implications: SP may be more useful to managers who wish to evaluate overall service quality. SQ may be more useful to identify specific gaps between user perceptions and expectations. SQ/SP assessments may help to improve the quality of MA service delivery and provider-user communications.

Originality/value: This is the first empirical study to our knowledge that reports on MA service quality dimensions using both the SQ and SP instruments. This study investigated perceptions and expectations of MA service users and providers. Our sample is a cross-section of experienced professionals.