here - ERIM - Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam

A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators
2.4 SERVQUAL
The SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al (1985) provides organizations a technology
for measuring and managing service quality (Buttle, 1996). Unlike the quality of goods, the quality of
services cannot be measured objectively by for example the number of defects. Parasuraman et al
(1985) stated that the quality of services is an abstract and elusive construct because of the following
three unique features of services; intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability of production and
consumption. As objective measures for services are difficult, an appropriate approach for measuring
the quality of the firm is to assess customer’s perceptions about the service. The multi-item scale
SERVQUAL model measures customers perceptions on a quantitative way and can be uses as
diagnostic application to indicate service quality and strengths. The SERVQUAL model defines service
quality as the difference, the gap, between customer’s perceptions of the service and the
expectations of the service. Since its foundation in 1985, extensive research has resulted in a refined
model that consists of 22 items distributed into five dimensions. The 22 items describe aspects of the
following five dimensions of service quality:
Tangibles: physical facilities, equipment, and the appearance of personnel.
Reliability: ability to perform the promised service accurately and dependably.
Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and to provide prompt services
Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence.
Empathy: caring and individualized attention to customers
To measure the five dimensions of service quality, the SERVQUAL survey consists two sets of 22
statements. The first set measures customer’s expectations for a class of services (e.g. hotels)
whereas the second set measures the perceived performance of a particular service provider (e.g.
Hilton Hotel). A score for the quality of service is assessed by subtracting the perceptions score (P) of
the expectations score (E). Positives scores mean that the perceived performance exceeds
customer’s expectations. Negative scores submit to an underperformance in relation to customers
expectations. A score of zero means that there is satisfactory quality.
Parasuraman et al (1988) tested the SERVQUAL model in different service categories (appliance
repair and maintenance, retail banking, long-distance telephone, securities brokerage and credit
cards) and claim that the model consists of generic dimensions and therefore is applicable for use in
a variety of service encounters. Other research studies challenge the dimensionality of the
SERVQUAL model. Buttle (1996) stated that the SERVQUAL dimensions are not universal but the
number and content of the dimensions depend on the context. Within some contexts the domain of
33