Extract from :TAKING
A USER-BASED DEFINITION OF QUALITY, EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT
BY QUALITY IN A SERVICE INDUSTRY. HOW CAN QUALITY BE MEASURED?
Quality in a Service Industry
Murdick, Render & Russell (1990) define quality of a
service as the degree to which the bundle of service attributes
as a whole satisfies the customer. These attributes can include
both tangibles and intangibles, and so service quality is
assessed by the customer’s perception. The user-based
definition of quality, therefore, involves a comparison between
customer expectations (their desires and wants - what they
feel should be offered) and reality (what is actually offered).
Moores (1989) points out, this definition is really a measure
of customer satisfaction, but as Lawton (1989) states, quality
in a service exists only so long as customers are satisfied.
Managers wanting to deliver high service quality must conform
to customer expectations on a consistent basis, otherwise
they could lose customers. If expectations do not match the
perceived level of service received, a gap is said to exist.
Parasuraman et al identified five gaps between perceptions
and expectation that determine service quality. Gaps need
to be reduced in order to create customer satisfaction and
therefore service quality.
If a gap is negative, it implies that there is customer
dissatisfaction and those involved are less likely to use
the service again. If someone receives a bad service they
are likely to notify family and friends. Moores (1989) says
that we tell at least four times as many people about a bad
experience than we do about a good one. Customer dissatisfaction
is usually caused by unfulfilled expectations. It is important
to manage the image of the service carefully and to set acceptable
standards, e.g. there is no point in using a picture of a
beach in a holiday brochure when the hotel is not situated
near one. Over promising should be avoided, since it is easy
to raise expectations but difficult to lower them if the service
provider cannot meet them. Managers need to identify customer
needs carefully and plan the level of service as close to
these as they can…
|
