Page 257 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Visual Merchandising

Notes discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated
with service delivery to customers. The first six gaps (Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3, Gap 4, Gap 6 and Gap
7) are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to
the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality. The Gap on
which the SERVQUAL methodology has influence is Gap 5. In the following, the SERVQUAL
approach is demonstrated.

13.2 SERVQUAL Methodology

Clearly, from a Best Value perspective the measurement of service quality in the service sector
should take into account customer expectations of service as well as perceptions of service.
However, as Robinson (1999) concludes: “It is apparent that there is little consensus of opinion
and much disagreement about how to measure service quality”. One service quality measurement
model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman
et al. (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994) and Zeithaml et al., (1990). SERVQUAL as the most often
used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers’ expectations before
a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis
and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL instrument has been the predominant
method used to measure consumers’ perceptions of service quality. It has five generic dimensions
or factors and are stated as follows (Van Iwaarden et al., 2003):

1. Tangibles: Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel.
2. Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
3. Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.

4. Assurance: It includes competence, courtesy, credibility and security. It is the knowledge
and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence.
5. Empathy: It includes access, communication, understanding the customer. Caring and
individualised attention that the firm provides to its customers.
It is important to note that without adequate information on both the quality of services expected
and perceptions of services received then feedback from customer surveys can be highly
misleading from both a policy and an operational perspective. In the following, the application
of SERVQUAL approach is more specified with an example in a catering company.



Caselet Servqual

n an investigation conducted by Bryslan and Curry (2001) in a catering company, a
total of 140 questionnaires were distributed to all of the previous year’s customers and
I52 usable questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 37 per cent response rate. As can
be seen from the Table, all questionnaire responses were negative and an overall
departmental weighted SERVQUAL score of – 1.6 was recorded, indicating a significant
shortfall in meeting customer expectations across all service areas and dimensions. The
summary scores for each dimension are shown in the Table, with the weighted average
scores per dimension having been added to achieve the overall SERVQUAL score. This is
real cause for concern and provides a definite staring point for service improvements.
As can be seen from the results, the customer expects most from the Reliability dimension
of the catering service. The relatively low importance of Tangibles could be attributable

Contd...

252 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY