Exploring the association
between customers’ perception
of service quality and sale
performance level of employees
in service sector
*MİRAY’s RESEARCH PROPOSAL*
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
• The purpose of the study is to
understand the underlying factors in
connection to the customers’ perception
of service quality and sale performance
level of employees in health sector.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 2
• Understanding the level of service quality
(SERVQUAL)
• Measurement of sale performance level
• Measurement of customer satisfaction
• Assessment of the relationship between
level of SERVQUAL and customers’
satisfaction level
Importance of the Study
• As a result of highly competitive medium which
surrounds today’s organizations, the importance of
service quality has become a route in regard to reaching
service excellence.The concepts of service quality, and
that of customer satisfaction are of importance both in
marketing theory as well as operational management.
• Service quality has been understood as a form of
attitude, and it implies an overall value judgment about
the qualifications of both products and services provided
by organizations (Parasuraman et.al. 1985, 1988;
Zeithaml, 1988; Cronin & Taylor, 1992)
RESEARCH Questions
•
•
•
Which service quality dimensions are
related with the quality of sales
performance level of employees?
How do customers perceive the
employees’ behaviors in purchasing
process?
Is there a difference between customers’
perceptions according to gender?
Theoretical background
• In today’s oversupplied world , where customers
have very high demand, the service sector
organizations are trying to become more
customer-focused (Gonzales, Quesada, Picado
and Eckalman, 2004). A customer-centered
company has an external point of view, making
plans and decisions based on the anticipated
impact on the customer, and consequently, sale
performance levels of employees play an
important role in service sector.
Theoretical background 2
• Service quality could be defined as the
difference between customer expectations
of service and perceived service.
• If expectations are greater than
performance, then perceived quality is less
than satisfactory and hence customer
dissatisfaction occurs. (Parasuraman et
al., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell,1990).
Theoretical background 3
• A number of studies have indicated a significant
relationship between service quality and
• Performance (Newman, 2001).As G Johnson,
Tsiros and Lancioni(1995) and many others
state
• General systems theory is a research paradigm
which seeks for the generalization of behavioral
principles across a wide range of organizations
regardless of economic sectors.
Theoretical background 4
• In terms of the general systems theory there are
two main approaches which are the interaction
of subunits within a system and the interaction of
the system with its environment.
• This (contingency) theory explains the process
of production starting from the provision of inputs
from the environment, the transformation of raw
materials into finished goods, and the
distribution of products as the output of
company.
Theoretical background 5
• In the relevant literature there are numerous
theoretical approaches to explain customer
satisfaction, the most frequently preferred model
based on the expectancy disconfirmation theory,
which was developed by Richard Oliver (Kara,
Lonial, Tarım and Zaim, 2005).
• In accordance with this theory, disconfirmation is
about the assessment of the difference between
the consumer’s comparison of the service
performance, and the consumer’s expectation.
Theoretical background 6
• In Parasuraman’s words, SERVICE
QUALITY is about “limited amount of
switching and information gathering
undertaken by consumers and the
relatively high level of customer retention
reflecting loyalty in behavior if not in
service quality as perceived by the
customer is the degree and direction of
discrepancy between customer service
perceptions and expectations” (1985).
Key Concepts SQ1
•
Dimensions of perceived service quality ( ServQual instrument)
• These five dimensions constitute the skeleton of
ServQual, probably the best-know, universal scale
designed to measure the perceived service quality.
These five dimensions are the result of a factor analysis
applied to ten dimensions initially identified.
• Tangibles : Appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
personnel, and communication materials.
• Reliability : Ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately.
Key Concepts SQ2
• Responsiveness : Willingness or readiness of
employees to provide service.
• Assurance : Knowledge and courtesy of
employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence (competence, courtesy, credibility
and security of the service )
• Empathy : Caring, individualized attention the
firm provides its customers.( Having the
customer’s best interest at heart).
• Source: Grönroos, ‘Service Management &
Marketing: A Customer Relationship Management
Approach’ (2000)
Key Concepts:
Sales Performance
• Sales performance is defined as evaluation of the
behavior of the salesperson (i.e. the tasks consuming
effort while working), since behavior contributes to the
achievement of the organization’s objectives (Churchill et
al.,1993)
• The significance of the performance evaluation issue is
underlined both by the need for information for effective
control and the need for management to have some basis
to facilitate decision making to improve salesperson
performance and enhance sales organization
effectiveness (Cravens,1995; Cravens et al,1993).
Key Concepts:
Customer Satisfaction
• Customer satisfaction is viewed as a post-choice
evaluative judgment of a specific purchase occasion
(Hunt,1977; Oliver,1977,1980,1993).
• Customer satisfaction has long been recognized in
marketing thought and practice as a central concept as
well as an important goal of business activities
(Anderson et al.,1994a,b; Yi,1990).
• Customer satisfaction is a result of a customer’s
perception of the value received (Fornell et al,1996;
Athanassopoulos, 2000).
Methodology
• The present study is a quantitative
(numerical), and a cross-sectional one.
• The research design is explanatory, and
correlational in nature.
• Sampling: Though the sampling procedure
is not yet decided, most probably patients
of a university hospital (Izmir) will be
covered in this study.
Methodology 2
Proposed Research Model
Tangibility
Reliability
Assurance
SERV
QUAL
Responsiveness
Sales
Performance
Empathy
Evaluations by
Managers
Self-Reporting
Customer
Satisfaction
Methodology 3
• Research hypotheses:
• H1) Conceptual dimensions of empathy
and reliability are going to explain most of
the variance in service quality.
• H2) Conceptual dimensions of assurance,
and reliability are going to explain most of
the variance in customer satisfaction.
Methodology 4
• Research hypotheses:
• H3) Service quality is positively related to
organizational performance.
• H4) Higher the level of sales performance will be
both higher the level of SERVQUAL and
customer satisfaction.
• H5) Customers’ perceptions of service quality is
going to differ by gender.
Methodology 5
Measurement instruments
• 1) SERVQUAL:Servqual method is a technique that can be used for
performing a gap analysis of an organizations service quality
performance against customer service quality needs(Berry,
Parasuraman and Zeithaml, 1995).
• In this study, service quality will be measured by customer
perceptions using servqual (Parasuraman et al.,1991), which
contains 22 items belonging to tangibles (four items), reliability five
items), responsiveness four items), assurance four items), and
empathy (five items). This instrument is a 7 point Likert type
questionnaire.
Methodology 6
Measurement instruments (2)
• 2)Self-Perf. Level: Prior research indicates that selfreport measures of performance are more appropriate
for boundary spanning personnel Harris &
Schaubroeck,1988) and do not suffer from an upward
bias (Churchill et al.,1985).
• A three-item scale capturing the respondents’ selfreported, long-term performances in the sales job is
used.
• Managers will be asked to rate their sales personnel
force by using a single question ranging from 1 to 5 to
determine level of sales performance.
Methodology 7
• There are two different conceptualization of
customer satisfaction as cumulative and
transaction-specific which implies a post-choice
evaluative judgment of a purchase occasion
(Wang & Hing-Po Lo, 2002).
• Customer satisfaction will be measured
by using a 7-POİNT Likert type questionnaire
consisted of three items developed by
Kara,Lonial, Tarım & Zaim (2005).
Limitations of The Study
• The main limitation of this study is related
with measurement methods. Although the
assessment of SERVQUAL might be
realized by learning both expectations and
perceptions of customers, there are
numerous different applications. This study
aims at understanding the perceptions of
customers only for ease of conducting the
study.
FIN
• SUBMITTED
by Miray Mollaoğlu
• ADVISOR:
• ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. Mehmet Y. YAHYAGİL
• ************************************************************
• *THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE*
• I’m ready for your questions and
suggestions…
November’07