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SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring

Consumer Perceptions of SERVICE Quality

By: A. ParasuramanValarie A. ZeithamlLeonard L. Berry

Presented by (Patrick Walters)CSUF Spring 2008

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Objective

(1) Describe the develpoment of a multiple-item scale for measuring service quality (called SERVQUAL,)

(2) Discuss the scale’s properties and potential applications.

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Previous Work Gronroos (1982); Lehtinen and Lehtinen(1982);

Lewis and Booms (1983); Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985); Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff(1978) Service Quality stems from a comparison of what customers feel

a company should offer (i.e., their expectations) with the company’s actual service performance.

Garvin (1983); Dodds and Monroe (1984); Holbrook and Corfman (1985); Jacoby and Olson (1985); Zeithaml (1987) Emphasized the difference between objective and percieved

quality.

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Previous Work Holbrook and Corfman (1985)

Consumers do not use the term quality in the same way as researchers and merketers, who define it conceptually. The conceptual meaning distinguishes between mechanistic and humanistic quality: “mechanistic (quality) involves an objective aspect or feature of a thing or event; humanistic (quality) involves an objective aspect or feature of a thing or event; humanistic (quality) involves the subjective response of people to objects and is therefore a highly relativistic phenomenon that differs between judges

• Garvin (1983)

Five approaches to defining quality, including two (2) (product-based and manufacturing-based) that refer to objective quality and one (user- based) that parallels perceived quality.

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Previous Work Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985)

Criteria used by customers in assessing service quality fit ten (10) dimensions:

TangiblesReliabilityResponsivenessCommunicationCredibilitySecurityCompetenceCourtesyUnderstanding / knowing the CustomerAccess

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MethodologyData Collection First Stage1. 200 Adult Respondents (25 years of age or older) recruited by a

marketing research firm in a shopping mall in a large metropolitan area in the southwest.

2. Sample respondents were equally divided between males and females

3. Respondents were spread across five different service categories; appliance repair and maintenance, retail banking, long-distance telephone, securities brokerage, and credit cards.

4. To qualify for the study respondents had to have used the service in question during the past three months.

5. Screened and qualified respondents self administered a two part questionnaire consisting of a 97-statement expectations part followed by a 97-statement perceptions part.

6. The 97 item instrument eventually refined by analyzing pooled data. Coefficient alpha was computed separately for the 10 dimensions.

Methodology Scale Purification: First Stage Cont’d

Final pool of reduced down to 34 items representing seven distinct dimensions. Five of the original 10 dimensions: Tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, understanding/knowing customers, and access remained distinct. The remaining five dimensions: communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy – collapsed into tow distinct dimensions.

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MethodologyData Collection Second Stage

34- item scale and it’s psychometric properties data were collected pertaining to the service quality of four nationally known firms: A Bank, A credit-card company, a firm offering appliance repair and maintenance services, and a long-distance telephone company.

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MethodologyScale Purification Second Stage

Content of the final items making up each of SERVQUAL’s five dimensions (three original and tow combined dimensions) suggested the following labels and concise definitions for the dimensions:

MethodologyTangibles: Physical facilities, equipment, and

appearance of personnelReliability: Ability to perform the promised

service dependably and accuratelyResponsiveness: Willingness to help

customers and provide prompt serviceAssurance*: Knowledge and courtesy of

employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence

Empathy*: Caring, individualized attention the firm provides it’s customers

*The last two dimensions (assurance and empathy) contain items representing seven original dimensions- Communication, Credibility, Security, Competence, Courtesy, Understanding/Knowing Customers, and Access

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Results

SERVQUALHelps service & retailing organizations in assessing consumer expectations about and perceptions of service quality.Helps pinpoint areas requiring managerial attention and action to improve service quality.

SOURCES CITED

TEXT TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry " SERVQUAL: a multiple

item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality" Journal of Retailing, Vol 64, No. 1 1988

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