Defining service quality may mainly be based on assumptions because of the intangible nature that services have. Moreover, there are many circumstances that might shape the definition of service quality differently. (Brown, 1999) Despite the intangibility that describes the services, the second very important element when giving theory based on service quality is that services are heterogeneous. Presenting them varies from producer to producer or from client to client. Finally, the last characteristics describing…
Silvestro, R., Fitzgerald, L., Johnston, R. and Voss, C. (1992), “Towards a classification of service…
Grönroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Winter, 36 – 44.…
Parasuraman, A., V. Zeithaml and Berry, L. (1985). A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Implications for…
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., and Berry, L.L. 1994. Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for further research. Journal of…
Perceived service quality can be defined as, according to the model, the difference between consumers’ expectation and perceptions which eventually depends on the size and the direction of the four gaps concerning the delivery of service quality on the company’s side (Fig. 1; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, Berry, 1985).…
The distinction between a product and a service is difficult to make, because the purchase of a product is accompanied by some facilitating service (e.g., installation) and the…
This chapter’s objectives are to: 1 Explain what services are and identify important trends in services. 2 Explain the need for special services marketing concepts and practices and why the need has developed and is accelerating. 3 Explore the profound impact of technology on service. 4 Outline the basic differences between goods and services and the resulting challenges and opportunities for service businesses. 5 Introduce the expanded marketing mix for services and the philosophy of customer focus, as powerful frameworks and themes that are fundamental to the rest of the text. 6 Introduce the servuction system model and the concept of the services triangle.…
2. The four key characteristics of services are intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability. Service Intangibility lacks tangible assets which can be seen, touched, smelt, heard, or tasted prior to purchase. Examples of such would be education or a sporting event. Service Inseparability involves the simultaneous production and consumption which characterizes most services. Inseparable services are produced, sold, and then consumed simultaneously, therefore making them inseparable. The provider and the buyer are linked, both having to be present in order for the service to be rendered. Service Variability is determined by the circumstances surrounding the service. The value of the service comes from the quality of the experience, who provided it, when they provided it, where they provided it, and how they provided it. Service Perishability is also one of the four key characteristics of services. Perishable services must be rendered on the spot and cannot be stored for later sale or use.…
Irrespective whether a service is provided by a person or by a machine, the production and consumption of the service cannot be separated from the source that provides it. Services involve the customer in the production process and they generally first get sold , the produced and then consumed. Thus inseparability is a general attribute of services and it has a major bearing on the service delivery.…
Cronin, J. J., and Taylor, S. A. (1992). Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension.Journal of Marketing, 56(3), 55–68.…
As discussed in Question 3, product quality has been in existence far longer than service quality. Tools such as SERVUAL and gap analysis are being pressed into use. Concepts like the interrelationships between the components of a service, service quality definitions and tracking are new. Some service-connected industries are showing major growth. Stock brokerages have become major companies and are heavily committed to using highly technical solutions to their problems. This growth in size of many service companies will be contingent on their ability to provide an effective level of service. As was said before, the customer or client is more involved and more likely to be a coproducer in a service relationship. Poor quality will rapidly become self-evident.…
Service quality is the difference between customer’s expectations for service performance prior to the service encounters and their perceptions of the services received” (Asubonteng, Mc Cleary and Swan, 1996:64).…
Based on this traditional definition of service quality, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) developed the "Gap Model" of perceived service quality.…
Introduction There appear to be five major debates taking place in the service quality area. One debate concerns the similarities and differences between the constructs of service quality and satisfaction (see e.g. Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Cronin and Taylor, 1992, 1994; Oliver, 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1988; Taylor, 1993; Zeithaml et al., 1993). There appears to be a consensus emerging that satisfaction refers to the outcome of individual service transactions and the overall service encounter, whereas service quality is the customer’s overall impression of the relative inferiority/superiority of the organization and its services (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994). A second debate is about the efficacy of the expectation-perception gap view of service quality, which is similar to the disconfirmation theory found in the consumer behaviour literature (see, for example, Berry et al., 1985; Grönroos, 1984, 1990; Haywood-Farmer and Nollet, 1991; Parasuraman et al., 1994). Some researchers now believe that there is strong empirical evidence that service quality should be measured using performance-based measures (see for example Babakus and Boller, 1992; Cronin and Taylor, 1994). A third debate is concerned with the development of models that help our understanding of how the perception gap arises and how managers can minimize or manage its effect (see, for example, Brogowicz et al., 1990; Grönroos, 1990; Gummesson and Grönroos, 1987; Parasuraman et al., 1985). A fourth debate concerns the definition and use of the zone of tolerance. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) suggested that “the zone of tolerance is a range of service performance that a customer considers satisfactory”. The importance of the zone of tolerance is that customers may accept variation within a range of performance and any increase in performance within this area will…