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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A key question is whether the instruments developed for consumer services can accurately gauge the service quality perceptions of organisational customers. Reports psychometric testing of the SERVQUAL as a measure of service quality in ocean freight services. Based on a survey of a cross‐sectional sample of 114 business organisations in Singapore, which regularly utilise ocean freight services for their export needs, this study found that the psychometric properties of the SERVQUAL scale are at variance with those found in consumer services settings. Further, the SERVQUAL perceptions scores were found to be a better predictor than the SERVQUAL gap scores. In sum, the service quality measures developed for consumer services can only be applied with caution in business‐to‐business marketing. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to assess the SERVQUAL instrument reliability and validity and apply the SERVQUAL instrument in China's mobile communication setting.

A mail survey was conducted at a major mobile communications company in mainland China. Instrument reliability and validity were examined. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted.

The adapted SERVQUAL instrument is a valid and valuable tool to measure service quality. Service convenience is an important additional dimension of service quality in China's mobile communications setting. The dimension of “empathy” may need revision.

Future research involves assessment of the service convenience dimension and examination of the relative importance of SERVQUAL dimensions in other settings.

SERVQUAL is a valid instrument to measure service quality in China's mobile communications setting. Providing convenience to customers also is critical for service quality improvement. Improvements to some SERVQUAL dimensions may be more beneficial than improvements to others.

This is a pioneer study of the SERVQUAL scale in China's mobile communications setting. This study provides useful insights and guidance for managers to measure and improve service quality.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an adaptation of the SERVQUAL survey method for measuring the quality of higher educational services in a Russian university context. We use a new analysis and a graphical technique for presentation of results.

The methodology of this research follows the classic SERVQUAL method in terms of data acquisition but provides a new approach for data analysis and presentation of findings. The technique is intended to improve upon the original method by including an importance-quality analysis grid and extending it with an innovative graphical tool for presenting results to decision-makers that is based on area-based ratios rather than difference scores.

The report includes survey results of two waves of research conducted in 2009 and 2014. Each wave consisted of 1,000 respondents from 20 branches of study and 11 higher education institutions, respectively.

It is argued that the SERVQUAL method can be improved significantly with the proposed technique. However, the validity and reliability of the importance, expectation and perception summary scores need to be further investigated. Also, alternative methods for quality assessment (SERVPERF/HEdPERF) should be tested and compared with the modified SERVQUAL method in Russian and other international education contexts.

Educational service quality assessments allow the management to acquire an image of the overall quality of an institution, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, thereby improving its strategic positioning to make improvements. It is hoped that the proposed improvement to the SERVQUAL technique will increase adoption of the method among academic institutions.

The improved SERVQUAL methodology demonstrated in this research replaces the widely criticised “difference scores” with an easily applied graphical display. The methodology also incorporates an importance-quality analysis providing a new perspective on the SERVQUAL data. The current findings provide valuable insights into the perceived quality of the Republic of Tatarstan’s higher education system in Russia, as given by its student customers.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative and integrated approach based on service quality measurement (SERVQUAL), quality function deployment (QFD) and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) for service quality improvement.

The SERVQUAL scale is used for service quality measurement, QFD is used for service design and FMEA is used to prevent possible failures during service delivery.

A case study in a public hospital in Turkey is performed to show how the proposed approach works in practice. The results of the study show that the proposed approach can be used effectively to assess service quality in practice.

Service quality has become an important issue for service enterprises facing a fiercely competitive environment to provide sustainability. This is the first study that applies an integrated methodology based on SERVQUAL scale, QFD and FMEA to service quality improvement.

The main objective of the study was to utilize SERVQUAL for identifying gaps in the chain of services provided by the information technology (IT) resources. SERVQUAL was applied to IT services in higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates.

Because of the many concerns and reservations raised with regard to using perception scores or gap scores, the appropriateness of the SERVQUAL measure to verify the anticipated structure of the instrument was also examined. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the structure of the perception scores (performance‐based model) and the gap scores (performance minus expectation‐based model) were examined.

The evaluation of model‐fit provided mixed results, but, in general, the results favored the perception scores. However, some statistical fit‐tests suggested that both models lacked the features necessary for a good fit. On the other hand, based on their feedback, respondents felt that SERVQUAL is a useful indicator for IT center service quality in institutions of higher education. SERVQUAL identified gaps in service quality for the three institutions. Empirical results of SERVQUAL scores for the IT centers in the three institutions are also presented.

The paper reassesses the structure and validity of the SERVQUAL model given its wide use and criticism, and applies the model to an important set of related, yet distinct service organizations such as information technology centers.

There have been numerous studies on measures of service quality, such as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF, in a variety of contexts, but the validity of these instruments in Asian markets is under‐researched. The present study was focused in South Korea and data on expectations, perceptions and importance measures were collected from 153 bank customers. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the measurement scales lacked validity with the South Korean sample, and principal component analyses revealed that SERVQUAL and SERVPERF were not uni‐dimensional. An amended SERVQUAL type scale showed three factors similar to the original SERVQUAL analysis, and an amended SERVPERF type scale showed two factors, with most of the original items converged on different conceptual dimensions.