Difference Between Service Quality And Customer Satisfaction

Service quality is one area which was studied extensively for the past four decades. In the field of service marketing, there are many definition for service quality. Parasuraman et al, (1988) defines service quality as a discrepancy between customers’ expectation and perception of a service or service experience and this is basically the perceived service quality. Based on this concept, Parasuraman et al. (1985), developed a model known as the SERVQUAL. The SERVQUAL model is based on 22-item scale and it measures service quality based on five dimensions which are reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, assurance and empathy. According to Parasuraman et. al (1985) these five dimension are generic and they are applicable across the industries. However, there are some critics to this model also such as Gronroos (1990) and Mangold and Babakus (1991) who opines that SERVQUAL solely focuses on the service delivery process while neglecting the outcome of the service. Interestingly, the inventors of SERVQUAL suggested the importance of both the functional and technical aspect of service quality in the model (Parasuraman et.al, 1985). However, they didn’t include the technical aspect but it in the instrument. The emphasis on the functional aspect is basically the American school which was

The three most important key components to provide good customer service are professionalism, communication and responsibility. A person with these three values can make him look more distant and better than other people who are engaged in the same field as he is.

The key to ensuring good quality service is meeting or exceeding what the customers expect from services. Judgements of high and low quality depend on how customers the actual service performance in the context of what they expected. Service quality, as perceived by the customers, can be defined as the extent of discrepancy but customers’ expectations or desires and their

Customers perceive service in terms of tone, but how satisfied they are with the overall experience, is what defines their satisfaction. Whether the client is satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance or the customer service in this case, in relation to the customer expectations. Yet, according to Zeithaml et al (2006) although service quality and client satisfaction are used interchangeably, there is indeed a distinction.

Providing exceptional quality offerings and services in every level through trained staff and quality products.

SERVQUAL is a model used to measure service quality management in relation to customer service quality needs. It analyzes the gap between the two. In measuring service quality, SERVQUAL has been proved to be the most popularly used instrument in the past one decade. Oftenly, it is used to measure service quality of a service providing organizations to compare the expectations of customers beforehand and their perception in regard to the services being offered (Shahin, 2010). The model can be employed to assess the quality of services provided by any service organization, it being universal. Services are economic activities, they provide benefits, and create value for clients. As such, there is a need for measurement of their quality at specific points due to the desire for change, or on behalf of the customers that receive the services (Shahin, 2010).

This is the inanimate space where employees and customers interact, or any other tangibles that communicate value to the customer.

To verify the validity of SERVQUAL model in the assessment of service quality, Zeithaml et al (2006, p. 106-107), said that “service quality is a precise assessment that demonstrates the customer’s perception of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility”. Furthermore, they said that “of all the stated dimensions, “reliability” is consistently shown to be the most significant in terms of service quality”.

The quality of service is the ability of the company to provide something that is beneficial to the customer and can deliver something that is in line with the customer's expectations so that it will create a feeling of pleasure and feel comfortable to the customer (Ali Hasan, 2004: 91; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry in Muhammad Adam (2014: 13), Tjiptono (2001: 165) in Ni Made Sugiarthi, et al (2012))

Quality is a driving force for improved competitiveness, customer satisfaction and profitability (Edvardsson, 1992). As for service quality, e.g. American Marketing Organization defines it in two ways: first, it is an area of study that defines and describes how services are delivered so thatthe service recipient is satisfied; second, high quality service is a delivery of service that meets and exceeds the expectations of the customers. Parasumaran et al. (1985) state that service quality is defined by the customer evaluation of service outcome and service process as well as a comparison of customer expectations with service performance. Hence, service quality can be thought as the fit between current service level and customer expectations. Park et al. (2004) define service quality as a consumer‟s overall impression of efficiency of an organization and its services. Thus, customer satisfaction is a judgment made based on a specific service encounter. Chen & Chang (2005) suggest that service quality is a process.

Later, Parasuraman et al. (1988) revised their earlier conceptual model and conceptualized perceived service quality as “a global judgment, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service” and also developed a 22-items instrument, recognized as SERVQUAL, which has become widely used as a generic instrument for measuring service quality. The instrument items represent five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance and empathy. The conceptual model of Parasuraman et al. (1988) can serve as a basis for understanding customer expectations and service performance. Lee et al. (2000) have made substantial contribution to the service quality literature. They used SERVQUAL model and identified determinants of perceived service quality. Furthermore, they tried to build a relationship of these service quality determinants with satisfaction in the service-oriented firm. They have found that perceived service quality is an antecedent of satisfaction. However, they did not pay attention to whether loyalty can be the final outcome of service quality and satisfaction.Further, researchers identified various service quality dimensions and these are used as independent variables in several service quality studies. For example; Flavian et al. (2004) identified factors like access to service, service offered, security, and reputation for measuring service quality. In this study, authors measured corporate image

Service quality is thought to be a critical measurement of competitiveness. Providing excellent service quality and high customer satisfaction is the vital issue and challenge facing the modern service industry. Service quality is an important subject in both the public and private sectors, in business and service industries (Zahari et al., 2008). It is the degree to which a service meets or exceeds customer needs and expectations that is important. During the past two decades, service quality has become a major area of consideration to practitioners, managers and researchers because of its strong influence on business performance, lower costs, and return on investment, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and gaining advanced profit (Ostrowski & O 'Brien, 1993).

Service quality is defined as the ability of how well a delivered service conforms to the client’s expectations. Service business operators often evaluate the service quality provided to their customers in order to not only improve their service but also identify problems quickly. In addition, to better assess client satisfaction (parasuraman et al.,1988) interpreted service quality as the gaps between

The quality of tangible service aspect define to the look of the physical environment and facilities, equipment, employees and the way of talking. In other words, the tangible aspect is about creating first impressions and provide services . Airlines should need to provide all our customers to get a unique positive and never forgetting primary good impression, this would make them more likely to return in the future. We respect freedom of association and unions are a very important part of our workforces. At least 70% of our employees are covered by 37 collective employment agreements.

Zeithaml (1987) defines perceived quality as “the consumer's judgment about an entity's overall excellence or superiority". Stevens and et al (1995) describe it as, "perceived service quality is a function of the interaction among three independent variables: normative expectations, predictive expectations, and actual service quality. The lower the expectations the consumers have about what should happen, the better their perceptions of the actual service. And the higher their expectations about what will happen, the better their perceptions of the actual service". Whereas, Oliver (1981) gives the definition of satisfaction as," it is the highlighted psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding contadict expectations is coupled with the consumer's prior feelings about the consumption experience" (p.27).