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enhanced model for measuring service quality
Title
An enhanced model for measuring service quality.
Creator
Jagannathan, Venkatakrishnan., Florida Atlantic University, Shaw, Eric H.
Abstract/Description
Three models have been proposed to measure service quality in the marketing literature. These models are: (1) Perception minus Expectations (P-E) Model, (2) Ideal Point (IP) Model, and (3) Performance-based (P-based) model. Underlying the models are two types of attributes: (a) vector point attributes (in the P-E and P-based models), and (b) ideal point attributes (in the IP model). With vector point attributes, increasing performance levels produce increased levels of favorable evaluation by...
Show moreThree models have been proposed to measure service quality in the marketing literature. These models are: (1) Perception minus Expectations (P-E) Model, (2) Ideal Point (IP) Model, and (3) Performance-based (P-based) model. Underlying the models are two types of attributes: (a) vector point attributes (in the P-E and P-based models), and (b) ideal point attributes (in the IP model). With vector point attributes, increasing performance levels produce increased levels of favorable evaluation by customers. With ideal point attributes, increased levels of performance produces favorable evaluation up to the ideal, but beyond the ideal further performance is unfavorably evaluated. This research extends the attribute typology by introducing a third type called the "threshold point attribute." Threshold point attributes are those where customers' evaluation are posited to be favorable when performance increases up to a threshold point. Beyond the threshold point increases in performance are not accompanied by incremental increases in favorable evaluation (as with vector attributes), nor do they turn negative (as with ideal point attributes). That is, the marginal change in evaluation (whether an increase or decrease) is zero after the threshold level. In addition to extending the attribute typology, this research also proposes an enhanced model which subsumes vector, ideal and threshold point attributes. Because of its inclusiveness, the enhanced model is hypothesized to better represent the construct of service quality than the P-E, IP, and P-based models. A survey was mailed to 4,975 customers of an internationally known service firm. Results of a piecewise regression analysis on the data show that threshold point attributes exist in services. The enhanced model, however, does not perform better than other models in criterion and construct validity tests. One significant implication for managers is that they can avoid expenditures on features that customers do not desire beyond a threshold level. The most important direction for future research is to develop and test a contingency theory of customers' attribute classifications.
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Date Issued
1996
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12486
Subject Headings
Customer services--Research, Marketing research, Consumer behavior--Research, Quality assurance
Format
Document (PDF)
The Influence of Consumers' Perspectives of Transaction Costs in Business-to-Consumer Markets, their Risk-bearing Propensity, and the Categories of Goods purchased on Consumers' Preference of Shopping Medium
Title
The Influence of Consumers' Perspectives of Transaction Costs in Business-to-Consumer Markets, their Risk-bearing Propensity, and the Categories of Goods purchased on Consumers' Preference of Shopping Medium.
Creator
Byramjee, Framarz, Korgaonkar, Pradeep, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description
Despite increased internet usage, transactions conducted by consumers via ecommerce still constitute a very small percentage of total U.S. retail sales. To better understand what influences consumers' choices to shop for products or services on the internet versus local retail stores, this study tests the influence of consumers' transaction costs, coupled with the risk-bearing propensity of individuals (risk-taking or risk-averse attitude) in a shopping context, and the category of goods...
Show moreDespite increased internet usage, transactions conducted by consumers via ecommerce still constitute a very small percentage of total U.S. retail sales. To better understand what influences consumers' choices to shop for products or services on the internet versus local retail stores, this study tests the influence of consumers' transaction costs, coupled with the risk-bearing propensity of individuals (risk-taking or risk-averse attitude) in a shopping context, and the category of goods involved in the purchase process (such as search or experience goods), which will ultimately influence consumers' preference of shopping medium (such as online or traditional). This research study introduces the construct of consumers' transaction costs as an important predictor of consumers' preference of shopping medium, develops two segregated categories of consumers' transaction costs, namely the individual costs and the social costs, and implements a system of measurement of these costs with regard to how much they matter to individual consumers with regard to their preference of shopping medium. Several pretests were initially conducted to operationalize the variables and their measurement scales, and to validate the manipulation checks employed for the study. The data for the main study was then collected via four versions of the designed and pre-tested survey instrument, employing a between-subjects design, and subject to the appropriate statistical analyses. The results convey that individuals with higher risk-bearing propensity would prefer the online shopping medium, while individuals with lower risk-bearing propensity would prefer the traditional shopping medium. Further, search goods would have a greater tendency to be bought online, while experience goods would have a greater tendency to be bought in-store. These findings bear support to past literature wherein similar results have been found, and serve to strengthen these conjectures. With regard to the effects of consumers' transaction costs, the individual costs and the social costs tend to only influence consumers' reference of shopping medium without providing a sense of the actual choice of medium. Further, the nonsignificant interaction effects of individuals' risk-bearing propensity and goods' categories with consumers' transaction costs imply that these variables do not moderate the impact of transaction costs on consumers' preference of shopping medium. The study then discusses the analytical and theoretical reasoning pertaining to these results, along with the managerial implications which this research bears, and the limitations of this study which could warrant potential future research.
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Date Issued
2007
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000301
Subject Headings
Consumer behavior--Research, Electronic commerce, Internet marketing, Marketing--Psychological aspects, Motivation research (Marketing)
Format
Document (PDF)