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Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Mohit Datt, Ajay Gupta, Sushendra Kumar Misra and Mahesh Gupta

The scope of this study is to explore and summarize the pool of dimensions, models and measurement techniques of service quality used in healthcare services and to propose a…

Abstract

Purpose

The scope of this study is to explore and summarize the pool of dimensions, models and measurement techniques of service quality used in healthcare services and to propose a comprehensive conceptual model for practitioners and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This research employs a comprehensive review of available literature by using multiple keywords on different electronic repositories using the recommendations of the PRISMA approach for the selection of articles. A critical analysis of available studies helped in compiling a list of core service quality dimensions in healthcare services.

Findings

This paper presents a comprehensive account of different dimensions and their measurement items used by various researchers to assess service quality in healthcare systems. Most of the researchers have used SERVQUAL model either in its original or modified form while the others have proposed and used totally different dimensions to assess the service quality in healthcare. Many dimensions are just an existing dimension of SERVQUAL that has undergone a name change while others are completely new. The dimensions used by many researchers have items drawn from more than one dimension of SERVQUAL model. The availability of so many dimensions and models adds to the confusion that researchers and practicing managers experience when determining the appropriate model to be used in their work. To mitigate this confusion, there is a need to develop a comprehensive model; the current work is an attempt to meet this need. Through our analysis, we identify four major service quality dimensions: clinical quality, infrastructural quality, relationship and managerial quality and propose a model named CIRMQUAL.

Originality/value

After exploring all available models in the domain of healthcare, this research presents the best possible areas to enhance the quality of healthcare services. It also enhances the research insights for academicians and working professionals by developing and proposing a comprehensive model for measuring healthcare service quality. The proposed model covers almost all of the service quality dimensions used by other researchers and will make the choice of dimensions/model easy for the future researchers/practitioners interested in measuring and improving the quality of services offered by their healthcare units. Such a comprehensive model has not been developed by any researcher thus far.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 March 2005

Marcjanna M. Augustyn and Arthur Seakhoa-King

Efforts aimed at evaluating quality in leisure, tourism and hospitality have concentrated predominantly on measuring perceived service quality using the SERVQUAL scale, either in…

Abstract

Efforts aimed at evaluating quality in leisure, tourism and hospitality have concentrated predominantly on measuring perceived service quality using the SERVQUAL scale, either in its original form or with modifications. While these studies are of great theoretical and practical value, the focus on measuring consumer satisfaction may limit the potential scope of the quality-measurement process. This is particularly true in assessing the quality of complex services such as those found in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors, which may require the application of a range of measures that will collectively contribute to the identification of quality levels. This article critically evaluates the potentialities and limitations of the SERVQUAL scale in measuring quality in leisure, tourism and hospitality. It concludes that the SERVQUAL scale is a necessary but insufficient measure of quality within these sectors and specifies implications for future research.

Details

Advances in Hospitality and Leisure
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-310-5

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2001

Karin Newman

This paper presents a case study of a pioneering nationwide implementation of SERVQUAL by a major UK high street bank between 1993 and 1997 at an annual cost of one million…

10771

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of a pioneering nationwide implementation of SERVQUAL by a major UK high street bank between 1993 and 1997 at an annual cost of one million pounds. In addition to highlighting serious weaknesses in the value of SERVQUAL as a measure of service quality and as a diagnostic tool, this study raises some of the practical difficulties entailed in its implementation. Moreover, in this particular instance, it becomes apparent that difficulties are introduced by the separation of service quality management from the management of marketing and human resources. In addition, there was a discernible lack of top management commitment, as well as obstacles in the form of functional and informational silos, which served to constrain an integrated company response to SERVQUAL criteria.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2017

Zalfa Laili Hamzah, Siew Peng Lee and Sedigheh Moghavvemi

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL) from the perspective of the customers and its relationships with perceived overall SERVQUAL in…

2841

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL) from the perspective of the customers and its relationships with perceived overall SERVQUAL in retail banking and also investigate the relationships between perceived overall SERVQUAL and customer trust, customer satisfaction, and bank reputation.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire was constructed, and data were collected from 375 regular customers of local banks. The convenience sampling method was employed to collect data from existing customers of local banks operating in the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. Structural equation modelling was applied to analyse the data.

Findings

The results of the study indicate four key dimensions of SERVQUAL – tangibles, empathy, reliability and security, and internet banking – all of which are significantly and positively related to customers’ perceived overall SERVQUAL. Internet banking facilities are another significant determinant of the perceived overall SERVQUAL. The results are indicative of the strong and positive effect upon customer satisfaction, their trust in the bank, and, finally, a bank’s reputation.

Research limitations/implications

This study has presented and tested empirical study of perceived overall SERVQUAL model in the banking industry, particularly in the Malaysian context. This research identified the dimensions of SERVQUAL (i.e. tangibles, empathy, reliability and security, and internet banking) that influence the overall perceived SERVQUAL, and how these overall perceptions will eventually influence customer trust, customer satisfaction, and bank reputation is valid and reliable in retail banking industry. This study, however, only focussed on the banking industry. Given the diversity of the service industry, these findings may have to be tested for the applicability to different service industries in future studies.

Practical implications

This research is useful to bank managers as it helps them improve SERVQUAL to protect and expand their respective market share in a highly competitive industry. Banks could utilise the results of this study to improve their service tangibility, empathy, reliability, and security, which will affect both customer trust and satisfaction, and enhance a bank’s reputation.

Social implications

The findings of specific dimensions of SERVQUAL will contribute to customer perception of banks’ image and reputation, and strengthen trust and satisfaction. Moreover, assisting customers towards the understanding of how they should received high quality of services with regard to quality should be perceived as emphatic, reliable, secured and tangibility of service.

Originality/value

The findings of this study highlight the specific dimensionalities of SERVQUAL in influencing the perceived overall SERVQUAL. This study will increase the understanding on the impact of perceived overall SERVQUAL on consumer trust, customer satisfaction, and a bank’s reputation. Specifically, it reports an empirical study of a model of perceived overall SERVQUAL that simultaneously considers the direct effects of perceived overall SERVQUAL on customer trust, customer satisfaction and bank reputation.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2021

Fayez Ahmad and Francisco Guzmán

Despite the growing consensus that consumers extensively use online reviews and that negative reviews can significantly damage brand equity, it remains uncertain whether negative…

2206

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the growing consensus that consumers extensively use online reviews and that negative reviews can significantly damage brand equity, it remains uncertain whether negative online reviews that focus on different aspects of a service have a similar or differential effect on brand equity. This study aims to fill this gap and explores the mediating role of emotional contagion and what kind of response helps better deter their negative effect.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is conducted through a one-panel study and three experimental studies. SAS enterprise miner is used for text mining analysis and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Process macro models are used to analyze the experimental data.

Findings

Negative reviews related to the tangibility, responsiveness and empathy dimensions have a more detrimental effect on brand equity than negative reviews related to the assurance and reliability dimensions. The results also provide evidence that emotional contagion is more prevalent when consumers read reviews that are specific to the empathy and responsiveness dimensions. Finally, accommodative responses from the service provider are more effective in deterring the effect of a negative online review on brand equity.

Research limitations/implications

The generalizability of this study is limited to the restaurant and hotel industry.

Practical implications

The findings will also help the brand manager in understanding the comparative effect of service quality-specific negative reviews on brand equity and also the type of responses that brand managers should give to negative reviews.

Originality/value

Despite online reviews receiving increased attention in academic research, Service quality (SERVQUAL) dimension-specific reviews have not been studied until now. This study contributes to the service quality-related literature by providing evidence that not all negative online reviews related to different Service quality (SERVQUAL) dimensions equally affect brand equity.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 55 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1996

Francis Buttle

Since its launch in 1985, SERVQUAL has become a widely adopted technology for measuring and managing service quality. Recently, a number of theoretical and operational concerns…

42869

Abstract

Since its launch in 1985, SERVQUAL has become a widely adopted technology for measuring and managing service quality. Recently, a number of theoretical and operational concerns have been raised concerning SERVQUAL. Reviews these concerns and proposes a research agenda.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 July 2008

Liangzhi Yu, Qiulan Hong, Song Gu and Yazun Wang

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…

4264

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 64 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2013

Amjad A. Abu‐El Samen, Mamoun N. Akroush and Bayan N. Abu‐Lail

The purpose of this paper is to reveal and compare the SERVQUAL dimensions from the customers' and the managers' perspectives, and to examine their effect on customer satisfaction…

6347

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal and compare the SERVQUAL dimensions from the customers' and the managers' perspectives, and to examine their effect on customer satisfaction and business performance, respectively, in Jordan's mobile service industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors delivered 1,000 questionnaires to customers, from which 756 were valid and useable for data analysis. For the managers' sample, 350 questionnaires were delivered to managers, from which 256 were valid for data analysis. Utilizing structural equation modeling, and after a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the authors tested the theoretical five dimensional SERVQUAL model and tested their effect on customers' satisfaction and business performance, respectively.

Findings

It was found that SERVQUAL is a three‐dimensional construct as opposed to five, as proposed by the original hypothesised model. From customers' point of view, SERVQUAL consists of three dimensions that are reliability, tangibility and interaction quality (empathy, assurance, and responsiveness). From managers' points of view, SERVQUAL consists of three dimensions that are empathy, tangibility‐reliability, and responsiveness‐assurance.

Research limitations/implications

SERVQUAL is used to measure service quality from both customers' and managers' perspectives and it is found that SERVQUAL dimensions and items are different from the two samples' perspectives. A very fruitful area of future research is to investigate why and how SERVQUAL dimensions and items are different from customers' and managers' perspectives, as well as examining antecedents and consequences of service quality. Managers of mobile service operators have empirical evidence regarding SERVQUAL dimensions from customers' and managers' perspectives comparatively.

Originality/value

This is the first attempt to examine the SERVQUAL dimensions from customers' and managers' and employees' perspectives, comparatively, in Jordan and then examine their effects on customer satisfaction and business performance, respectively. The authors' results also provide significant managerial implications on how to manage the service quality dimensions and the vital role they play to ensure customer satisfaction and business performance alike.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2014

Stefan Cronholm and Nicklas Salomonson

IT service management (ITSM) is a discipline for management and maintenance of IT-systems and is claimed to play a critical role in supporting and satisfying business…

1596

Abstract

Purpose

IT service management (ITSM) is a discipline for management and maintenance of IT-systems and is claimed to play a critical role in supporting and satisfying business requirements. However, from a customer perspective, ITSM is considered as being costly and the outcome is not always satisfactory. Measurements used to monitor and evaluate ITSM-processes are mainly suggested from a service provider perspective. The purpose of this paper is to suggest measurements for ITSM based on a customer perspective that can be used for improving questionnaires.

Design/methodology/approach

The SERVQUAL scale has been used as a base for suggesting customer-oriented measurements for the ITSM-field. The gathered qualitative empirical data consisted of customer feedback, in questionnaires, to five IT service providers in Sweden. Based on these empirical data, the SERVQUAL scale has been modified according to ITSM-specific customer requirements. The service providers represent the sectors: car construction, forest management, IT consultants, public sector and logistics.

Findings

The paper demonstrates three types of findings: confirmation of original SERVQUAL determinants that could be reused in the ITSM-field, modification of attributes of the SERVQUAL determinants to better fit in the ITSM-field, and development of new categories and new attributes. Moreover, the analysis of SERVQUAL in relation to the empirical data revealed that the SERVQUAL's original conceptual structure needed to be improved. The authors have added a third hierarchical level that supports a conceptual understanding.

Originality/value

The knowledge contribution consists of a developed SERVQUAL, adjusted to fit the ITSM-field, and a suggested new conceptual structure of SERVQUAL consisting of three concepts: determinant, category and attribute.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2009

Mark S. Rosenbaum and IpKin Anthony Wong

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the return‐on‐marketing framework and its customer equity drivers (value, brand, and relationship) can be combined with service quality…

3867

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the return‐on‐marketing framework and its customer equity drivers (value, brand, and relationship) can be combined with service quality (SERVQUAL) measures to help managers develop strategies for high‐ and low‐ethnocentric Vietnamese customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The services literature is employed to propose a framework. The structure of the framework is evaluated from data obtained from self‐administered questionnaires, which are mailed to an automobile firm's customers. To explore the moderating affect of ethnocentrism, the model's proposed relationships and fit statistics are tested by employing multi‐group comparisons (high‐ and low‐ethnocentrism) through structural equation modeling.

Findings

Ethnocentrism encourages customers to express loyalty and to spread positive word of mouth about Company X, which is a local automobile manufacturer. High‐ethnocentric customers are also less reactive to Company X's value drivers, including product quality, price, and convenience, than low‐ethnocentric customers. However, high‐ethnocentric customers place greater importance on dealership SERVQUAL than low‐ethnocentric customers.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that Southeast Asian managers should consider consumer ethnocentrism a factor that influences marketing planning, as well as ways they can use the return‐on‐marketing and SERVQUAL frameworks for strategic planning. In addition, managers should understand that ethnocentric customers counterbalance their willingness to forgo product quality with augmented expectations of dealership SERVQUAL.

Originality/value

This paper combines the product‐focused return‐on‐marketing framework with the SERVQUAL‐focused SERVQUAL framework to show how these elements influence consumers' future behavioral intentions under the moderating influence of ethnocentrism.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000