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Examines two hypotheses: first, that employees’ perceptions of their firm’s quality efforts are related to employee affective reactions (satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions), with those perceiving greater organizational quality efforts exhibiting more positive affective reactions; and, second, that perceptions of autonomy would account for the relationship between perceptions of organizational quality efforts and employees’ affective reactions. Questionnaires were completed by 228 employees of a large bank. Reports that regression analysis revealed that all of the affective reaction variables were significantly related to perceptions of quality efforts. Further analysis revealed that, while perceptions of autonomy were important with regard to affective reactions, employee perceptions of organizational quality efforts were also directly and significantly related to employees’ affective reactions. The impact of perceptions of quality efforts was found to be most significant for organizational commitment. Discusses the implications of these results.

This study investigates two moderators of the effects of manufacturers' recovery efforts following a product defect on customers' perceptions of product quality: the severity of the product defect and whether the recovery efforts were covered under warranty or not.

A total of 478 USA customers who purchased a new car from a cooperating manufacturer participated in a survey. Customers reported the most important product defect (if any) the customers had experienced with the customers' vehicle during the past year. Three linear regressions (OLS) were used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Defect severity moderates the effects of recovery efforts on quality perceptions. The well-known recovery effect occurs only for product defects of minor severity. Experiencing a severe product defect damages the customers' perceptions of product quality even if the product defect is completely fixed. Double deviations (failed recovery of a product defect) do not damage quality perceptions for defects of minor severity. Finally, warranty coverage of repairs can attenuate the adverse effects of a failed recovery of severe defects on customers' quality perceptions. Additionally, only non-complainers who have experienced a severe product defect correspond to the prevailing conceptualization of an at-risk customer group.

Despite the pervasiveness of product defects, research on the effects of experiencing product defects on customers' product quality perceptions is scarce. Furthermore, the authors' findings reconcile inconsistent results and provide a more nuanced understanding of the well-known recovery and double-deviation effects. Finally, the role of warranty coverage in the recovery process as a buffer for customers' perceptions of product quality is novel.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether there are any significant gaps in perceptions of quality of care between patients and healthcare providers in Ghana’s hospitals.

A cross-sectional survey of patients seeking outpatient consultations in 17 general hospitals in Ghana was conducted. A total of 818 patients and 152 hospital managers were interviewed. A 22-item quality of care scale was used in data collection. Data were analysed with the aid SPSS version 20. Summary statistics and t-test were used to analyse the data.

There was a significant difference in the overall perception of quality of care between patients and healthcare providers (Patients: M=89.11, SD=11.457; Providers: M=94.60, SD=10.922; t (845) −4.956, p < 001, two-tailed). Also, 18 items out of the 22-item quality of care scale showed significant difference between patients and providers. However, levels of quality of care is generally rated fairly favourably by both category of respondents.

Further study is required to explore the reasons for the perceived quality gaps between patients and healthcare providers.

Management of hospitals need to evaluate patients’ perceptions of quality of care to inform measures aimed at improving quality of care, since what they may consider as good quality service may be rated less favourably by patients.

Comparing perceptions of quality between patients and healthcare providers is important in order adopt measures to address any differences in perceptions of quality between the two stakeholders. To the best of the author’s knowledge no study has been conducted in Ghana to that effect.

The paper aims to study market dynamics in the backdrop of information symmetry and quality perception. The position of high quality products (HQPs) in the market is a focus of this analysis. Also, an attempt is made to unfold the prevailing parametric relationships in the market of developed and developing nations.

Related literature is reviewed and investigation is attempted into market dynamics. System dynamics is used for preliminary modelling and analysis. Simulation runs are carried out to assess the impact of company reputation and advertising on market parameters.

Behaviours of market parameters are unraveled. From using correlation analysis and analytic hierarchy approach, the policy measures to improve the HQP position in the market are revealed.

The study of some aspects of market dynamics is attempted. Further, study and modelling are required to completely understand the market behaviour.

The model has a practical relevance to implement quality perception enhancement by deciding on the policy mix.

This is a start for systems analysis of the market, which may offer a long‐term foundation to market dynamics.

Prevailing information asymmetry in business processes alters the market dynamics. Quality uncertainty ensues from this phenomenon. Philosophy of information economics is implemented to correlate total quality management (TQM) practices in industry with quality perceived by customers. Quality perception, a newly coined term, is discussed at length, along with causal factors. This paper aims to provide a system dynamics framework for quality perception and to investigate the role of the changing level of market‐side enablers on quality perception.

System dynamics is used for modeling and analysis. To realize the impact of information asymmetry on quality perception, simulation runs are carried out for an Indian case.

Enablers, such as advertising, word‐of‐mouth, rebate, warranty and guarantee, mitigate the effect of information asymmetry on quality perception, and commensurately translate TQM to market value.

The study of some aspects of information asymmetry and quality perception is attempted. Further study is required to understand repercussions of information asymmetry on the complete supply chain processes.

The model has a practical relevance to implement quality perception enhancement by deciding upon the policy mix.

With quality perception defined and modeled, the paper attempts market orientation to quality paradigm.

Disconfirmation models of service quality have attracted a lot of discussion about how consumers’ expectations are formed, but relatively little about the nature of their perceptions of service performance. This paper seeks to redress the absence of literature on the psychological underpinnings of perceptions in disconfirmation models of service quality. It argues that an individual’s perceptions may not be stable over time and that suppliers should be particularly interested in consumers’ perceptions at the time that the next repurchase decision is made. A model of the time elapsed effects of service quality perception is presented and research reported on a longitudinal survey of hotel customers’ perceptions.

The purpose of this paper is to assess differences in banking service quality (BSQ) perceptions across demographic subgroups of Islamic and conventional Jordanian banking consumers.

Data are collected using surveys. The survey contains items for three different measures of overall BSQ perceptions. The researchers mailed surveys to a random sample of 2,000 banking customers in Jordan. Responses to questionnaire items measuring respondents’ BSQ perceptions were analysed using one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s honest significant difference post hoc tests to assess subgroup differences in six demographic variables: gender, age, occupation, income, education, and religion.

BSQ perceptions are significantly different in four of the six demographic variables. Age and education do not impact on BSQ perceptions.

The findings indicate demographic effects on Jordanian banking consumers’ perceived BSQ. Study limitations include demographic subgroup underrepresentation and survey structure. Future research should obtain a more representative sample for better generalisability.

The findings suggest that Jordanian banks should structure their services to best accommodate their customers’ demographics. In addition, banks can use the findings to guide the development of demographic-driven marketing to target and attract customers efficiently.

This study is the first to investigate demographic differences in the perceived service quality of Jordan’s Islamic and conventional banking customers. The findings can contribute to future research on BSQ, and guide Jordan’s banking management towards more effective marketing and service provision.

The purpose is to evaluate the effect of positive and negative traditional word-of-mouth (PWOM and NWOM) on price-based quality perceptions of middle-range wine (price comprised between US$4 and US$12), considering the moderator role of type of relationship between source and receiver –in terms of the strength-of-tie – and the wine expertise of the source.

A between-subjects experimental design was employed to test the hypotheses. The dependent variable, perceived quality, was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent samples t-tests.

(1) WOM significantly affects price-based wine quality perceptions only when the source is perceived as expert, and independently on the type of relationship between source and receiver. (2) WOM has no “additive effect” on price-based quality perceptions for all but one condition (PWOM about high-priced wine from a close and expert source). (3) WOM results more useful than price to assess quality mainly in “contradictory” situations.

The main limitation is related to the fact that is an experiment, specifically the manipulation of strength-of-tie and source expertise. Although manipulation checks show good results for the procedure, future research should try to design better ways to manipulate these variables, or different procedures to capture similar data.

Managerial efforts aimed to the encouragement of PWOM will be more efficient in markets with a high proportion of experts. Also, the marketing strategy of stimulating PWOM would be more effective for wines in the low-price category.

This study contributes to understand the impact of WOM on wine quality perceptions by examining if WOM affects priors price-based quality perceptions. In particular, we determine if price-based quality perceptions are able to be modified by PWOM and NWOM, a “competing” approach that is novel within the wine literature in which price is usually the most used cue to elaborate quality perceptions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how climate strength and quality are related to employee commitment above and beyond individual climate perceptions.

Data were collected from 48 work units in organizations from different branches of industry. A total of 419 employees completed a questionnaire.

Climate quality was related to commitment above and beyond individual climate perceptions. However, this concerned the climate dimensions of cooperation and innovation, but not reward. Climate strength moderated the relationship between individual cooperation and innovation perceptions, and commitment.

This study emphasizes the importance of group‐level perceptions as related to employee commitment. Because of the cross‐sectional design, conclusions about the causal order of the variables cannot be drawn.

If organizations want to increase employees' commitment they should put the more skeptical employees in positive work environments, thus, in units of higher cooperation and innovation quality.

People are sensitive to the evaluative tone of their social environment.

The paper is the first to examine the combined relationships of individual climate perceptions, climate‐strength, and climate quality with employee commitment.

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.