Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry introduced SERVQUAL in 1998 as a scale to measure service quality. Since then, researchers have proposed several variations. This study examines the development of the tool. Marketing researchers have first challenged the conceptualization of a perceptions-expectations gap and have concluded that the performance-based measures are adequate to capture consumers' perception of service quality. Some researchers have argued that the five dimensions of the SERVQUAL scale only focus on the process of service delivery and have extended the SERVQUAL scale into six dimensions by including the service outcome dimension. Others have proposed that service quality is a multilevel construct and should be measured accordingly. From a sample of 467 undergraduate students data on service quality toward up-scale restaurants were collected. Using the structural equation approach, two measurement models of service quality were compared, the extended SERVQUAL model and the restructured multilevel SERVQUAL model. Analysis suggested that the latter model fits the data better than the extended one.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AkaikeH. (1974) A new look at statistical model identification. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 19, 716–723.
2.
BakerJ. A.LambC. W.Jr. (1993) Measuring architectural design service quality. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 10, 89–106.
3.
BentlerP. M. (1990) Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107,238–246.
4.
BentlerP. M.BonnettD. G. (1980) Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.
5.
BradyM. K.CroninJ.Jr. (2001) Some new thoughts on conceptualizing perceived service quality: a hierarchical approach. Journal of Marketing, 65, 34–49.
6.
BrowneM. W.CudeckR. (1989) Single sample cross-validation indices for covariance structures. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 24, 445–455.
7.
BrowneM. W.CudeckR. (1993) Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In BollenK. A.LongJ. S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models.Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pp. 136–162.
8.
ByrneB. M.StewartS. M. (2006) The MACS approach to testing for multigroup invariance of a second-order structure: a walk through the process. Structural Equation Modeling, 13,287–321.
9.
CarmanJ. M. (1990) Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, 66, 33–55.
10.
CroninJ. J.Jr.TaylorS. A. (1992) Measuring service quality: a reexamination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56, 55–68.
11.
CroninJ. J.Jr.TaylorS. A. (1994) SERVPERF versus SERVQUAL: reconciling performance-based and perceptions-minus-expectations measurement of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 58, 125–131.
12.
DabholkarP.OverbyJ. W. (2005) An investigation of real estate agent service to home sellers: relevant factors and attributions. The Service Industries Journal, 26, 557–579.
13.
DabholkarP.OverbyJ. W. (2006) Linking process and outcome to service quality and customer satisfaction evaluations: an investigation of real estate agent service. International Journal of Service industry Management, 16, 10–27.
14.
DabholkarP.ThorpeD. I.RentzJ. O. (1996) A measure of service quality for retail stores. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24, 3–16.
15.
De RuyterK.WetzelsM. (1998) On the complex nature of patient evaluations of general practice service. Journal of Economic Psychology, 19, 565–590.
16.
FinnD. W.LambC. R. (1991) An evaluation of the SERVQUAL scales in a retail setting. Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 483–490.
17.
FogartyG.CattsR.ForunC. (2000) Identifying shortcomings in the measurement of service quality. Journal of Outcome Measurement, 4, 425–447.
18.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981) Evaluating structural equations models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39–50.
19.
GronroosC. (1982) Strategic management and marketing in the service sector.Helsingfors: Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration.
20.
GronroosC. (1984) A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18, 36–44.
21.
GronroosC. (1990) Service management and marketing: managing the moments in truth in service competition.Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
22.
JöreskogK. G.SörbomD. (1988) PRELIS: a program for multivariate data screening and data summarization. (2nd ed.) Mooresville, IN: Scientific Software.
23.
MangoldW. G.BabakusE. (1991) Service quality: the front-stage vs. the back-stage perspective. Journal of Service Marketing, 5, 59–70.
24.
MohrL. A.BitnerM. J. (1995) The role of employee effort in satisfaction with service transactions. Journal of business Research, 32, 239–252.
25.
NunnallyJ. C. (1978) Psychometric theory. (2nd ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
26.
OlmsteadR. E.BentlerP. M. (1992) Structural equations modeling a new friend? In BryantE. B.EdwardsJ.TindaleR. S. (Eds.), Methodological issues in applied social psychology.New York: Plenum. Pp. 135–158.
27.
ParasuramanA.ZeithamlV. A.BerryL. L. (1985) A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49, 41–50.
28.
ParasuramanA.ZeithamlV. A.BerryL. L. (1988) SERVQUAL: a multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 12–40.
29.
PloyhartR. E.OswaldF. L. (2004) Applications of mean and covariance structure analysis: integrating correlational and experimental approaches. Organizational Research Methods, 7, 27–65.
30.
PowpakaS. (1996) The role of outcome quality as a determinant of overall service quality in different categories of service industries: an empirical investigation. Journal of Service Marketing, 10, 5–26.
31.
RichardM. D.AllawayA. W. (1993) Service quality attributes and choice behavior. Journal of Service Marketing, 7, 59–68.
32.
RustR. T.OliverR. L. (1994) Service quality: insights and managerial implications from the frontier. In RustR. T.OliverR. L. (Eds.), Service quality: new directions in theory and practice.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 1–20.
33.
Schermelleh-EngelK.MoosbruggerH.MullerH. (2003) Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8, 23–74.
34.
SörbomD. (1978) An alternative to the methodology for analysis of covariance. Psychometrika, 43, 381–396.
35.
SteigerJ. H. (1990) Structure model evaluation and modification: an interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 25, 173–180.
36.
WichertsJ. M.DolanC. V. (2004) A cautionary note on the use of information fit indexes in covariance structure modeling with means. Structural Equation Modeling, 11, 45–50.
