17-04-2012, 03:42 PM
RETAIL SERVICE QUALITY AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTIONS: AN EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THE RETAIL SERVICE QUALITY SCALE IN NORTHERN CYPRUS
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Introduction
In today‘s highly competitive environment,
virtually all companies are forced to be more
customer-oriented [32]. It is generally agreed
that the level of customer satisfaction determines
repeat sales, word-of-mouth recommendations,
and customer loyalty [5]. Superior service quality
has become a major differentiator in producing
customer satisfaction, and successful quality
management is recognised as the most powerful
competitive weapon that many leading service
organisations possess [30] [9].
Service quality and customer satisfaction are
thus the two core concepts of contemporary marketing
theory and practice in service industries
[46]. As Shemwell et al. [42] have observed, the
key to sustainable competitive advantage lies
in delivering high-quality service that results in
satisfied customers. The link between service
quality and customer satisfaction is now firmly
established [11] [12], and it has been shown that
this link subsequently produces higher revenues,
increased cross-sell ratios, higher customer
retention [7], repeat purchasing behaviour [49],
and expanded market share [14].
All of these arguments are especially applicable
to the contemporary retail service sector,
which is characterised by intense competition,
mergers and acquisitions, and more sophisticated
and demanding customers with higher
expectations [45] [41]. In these circumstances,
it is generally agreed that the delivery of superior
service quality is essential if retailers are to satisfy
their customers and thus establish a sustainable
competitive advantage, loyal customers, and repeat
purchases [8] [28] [39].
In view of the benefits that are associated
with superior service quality (and consequent
customer satisfaction), there has been significant
interest in the nature and measurement of service
quality in all service industries, including retail
services. One of the best-known measuring instruments
has been the ‚SERVQUAL‘ instrument
[35]. Despite doubts about the general applicability
of this instrument [17], ‚SERVQUAL‘ has been
generally accepted as a valid instrument for the
measurement of service quality in a wide range of
contexts [15] [16] [22] [23] [13].
The ‚SERVQUAL‘ scale has also been the basis
for development of new scales to measure service
quality in specific service settings-including retail
services. Although the ‚SERVQUAL‘ scale has
not been validated in the retail store environment,
it has been used as a basis for developing the so-
-called ‚retail service quality scale‘ (RSQS) [19].
This scale, which is a multi-item scale measuring
five dimensions of retail service quality (‚physical
aspects‘, ‚reliability‘, ‚personal interaction‘, ‚problem
solving‘, and ‚policy‘), includes 28 items-17
of which came from the existing SERVQUAL scale
and 11 from the researchers‘ qualitative work.
The RSQS has been tested in the United States
of America, Hong Kong, and Korea, but has not
been tested elsewhere.
The present study therefore applies and tests
the RSQS in Northern Cyprus, which is a cultural
setting in which the scale has not been previously
used. The aims of the study are: (i) to assess the
applicability of the original five dimensions of
the RSQS in a different cultural setting; (ii) to
analyse how customers perceive retail service
quality in this setting; and (iii) to ascertain whether
perceptions of retail service quality influence
consumers‘ behavioural intentions (intention to
repurchase and intention to recommend).
The remainder of this paper is organised as follows.
Following this introduction, the next section
presents a review of the relevant literature on: (i)
the measurement of service quality in general;
(ii) the measurement of retail service quality in
particular; and (ii) the influence of service quality
RETAIL SERVICE QUALITY AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTIONS:
AN EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THE RETAIL SERVICE
QUALITY SCALE IN NORTHERN CYPRUS
Halil Nadiri, Mustafa Tümer
MARKETING A OBCHOD
strana 128 2 / 2009 E + M EKONOMIE A MANAGEMENT
on consumers‘ behavioural intentions. The paper
then describes the methodology of the empirical
study in Northern Cyprus. The analysis and results
are then described. The paper concludes with
a summary of the major findings, managerial implications,
and suggestions for future research.
1. Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
1.1 Measuring Service Quality
Grönroos [25] defined service quality as a perceived
judgment whereby customers compare
their prior expectations of a service with their
perceptions of the service that they actually received.
Parasuraman et al. (p.42) [36] agreed
with this general conception of service quality in
defining service quality as „... a measure of how
well the service level which is delivered matches
customer expectations“.
Based on this disconfirmation model (or so-called
‚gap‘ model) of service quality, Parasuraman
et al. [36] developed the well-known ‚SERVQUAL‘
model to measure how consumers assess service
quality in terms of ten original dimensions, which
were later reduced to five (‚tangibles‘, ‚reliability‘,
‚responsiveness‘, ‚assurance‘, and ‚empathy‘)
[35]. The ‚SERVQUAL‘ instrument was subsequently
revised to a final version in 1991 [37].
Since its introduction and modification, the
‚SERVQUAL‘ instrument has been applied and
validated in a variety of service settings. However,
the appropriateness of the five dimensions
of ‚SERVQUAL‘ in certain service contexts has
been questioned [38]. The instrument has also
been criticised because it necessary to measure
expectations and perceptions separately (as
a ‚gap score‘), which is regarded by some critics
as inappropriate in terms of scale reliability and
questionnaire length [15]. As a result of these criticisms,
Cronin and Taylor [18] proposed a ‚perception-
only‘ measure of service quality (known
as ‚SERVPERF‘).
1.2 Measuring Retail Service Quality
According to Fisk et al. [23], service quality is
an important strategic weapon in retail contexts,
particularly in developing defensive marketing
strategies. Several authors have agreed that intense
competition in the retail sector makes service
quality an important determinant of customer
satisfaction and overall business performance in
the sector [21] [6] [29].
However, the measurement of service quality
in a retail setting is somewhat different from the
measurement of service quality in other (‚pure‘)
service settings (such as banking, telecommunications,
and so on). Retail offerings are a mix of
merchandise and service, and the experience of
customers in retail stores thus involves such activities
as negotiating their way through the store,
finding the merchandise, interacting with a variety
of store personnel, and returning unsatisfactory
merchandise-all of which have a direct influence
on the customers‘ evaluations of service quality
Although measures of service quality in ‚pure‘
service environments and retail environments
are likely to share some common dimensions, it
has been argued that measures of retail service
quality must take additional dimensions into consideration
[19].
Only a limited number of studies have attempted
to measure service quality in retail settings,
so there is a significant gap in the literature
regarding this area of research. Among those
who have made the attempt, Finn and Lamb [22]
tested the ‚SERVQUAL‘ instrument in four different
retail store settings, but because they were
unable to find a good fit between their data and
the five-factor structure of the instrument, the authors
concluded that ‚SERVQUAL‘, without modification,
could not be used as a valid measure of
service quality in a retail setting.
Dabholkar et al. [19] subsequently used both
quantitative and qualitative methods to develop
the ‚retail service quality scale‘ (RSQS), which
is a multi-item scale for measuring retail service
quality in terms of five dimensions. The scale includes
28 items, 17 of which came from the ‚SERVQUAL‘
scale and 11 of which were derived from
the researchers‘ qualitative work. These items are
grouped into the following five dimensions:
• physical aspects: store appearance and convenience
of store layout;
• reliability: retailer keeps promises and does
things right;
• personal interaction: associates are courteous,
helpful, and inspire confidence and trust
from the customer;
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• problem solving: associates are trained to
handle potential problems; and
• policy: operating hours, payment options, parking
areas, and so on.
The instrument uses performance-only measures
(rather than the ‚gap‘ between perceptions
and expectations) because evidence exists that
perception measures have a stronger predictive
power than the ‚gap‘ score [32] [33]. When tested
with customers of department stores in the
USA, the scale was found to possess strong validity
and reliability as a measure of retail service
quality [19].
Including the original study by Dabholkar et
al. [19] in the USA, the RSQS has been applied
in retail-store settings in Hong Kong [43] and in
Korea [31]. In view of the fact that the scale has
not been applied in other cultural settings, the
present study in the setting of Northern Cyprus
will help to bridge a gap in the literature.
1.3 Service Quality and Behavioural Intentions
One of the aims of the present study is to identify
the effects of retail service quality on the future
behaviour of customers in the cultural setting of
Northern Cyprus. Identifying the determinants of
consumer satisfaction and behavioural intentions
is of great importance to managers who are interested
in improving their performance [4] [40]
[1] [2]. In this regard, service quality has been
shown to be a significant predictor of behavioural
intentions-such as repurchase, word of mouth,
and switching and/or complaining [10] [24]. In
particular, a favourable assessment of service
quality is associated with positive behavioural intentions
and a preference for the focal company
over other companies [44]. Other studies have
demonstrated a significant association between
service quality and repurchase [51] [12] [19] and
between service quality and recommendation
intentions [12] [20] [19].
On the basis of the above discussion, the following
hypotheses are proposed for the present
study of retail service quality in Northern Cyprus:
• Hypothesis H1: Retail service quality has a positive
effect on intention to repurchase.
• Hypothesis H2: Retail service quality has a positive
effect on intention to recommend.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research Setting
The study was carried out in Northern Cyprus
during 2007. Cyprus as a whole is a member of
the European Union (EU), and since April 2003
there has been free movement of people between
Southern and Northern Cyprus. The economy of
the island is heavily dependent on services, and
Northern Cyprus in particular has a multicultural
consumer market as a result of the large number
of students who attend the six universities in this
part of the island. The rapid growth enjoyed by
the Northern Cyprus economy after 2003 had
a particularly big impact on imports, trade volume,
production, employment, and consumption.
In tourism sector, for example, the average growth
rate during 2003-2008 period was 4.2% [47].
Consequently, the retail sector has expanded
rapidly, doubling its employment from 8% to 16%
of the total local labour force during the 2005-
2008 period [47]. Thus, it is clear that retailing
is economically crucial sector to the Northern
Cyprus economy.
The study was conducted in the stores of the
largest retail chain in Northern Cyprus. This
chain, which covers most of Northern Cyprus, offers
a variety of products and services of a similar
nature to those of other well-known international
retail chains. One of the prominent items in the
mission statement of this chain of stores is to
offer the highest-possible service quality.
2.2 Questionnaire
The original RSQ scale [19], which was in
English, was back-translated into Turkish [3] for
application in the largely Turkish Cypriot cultural
setting of Northern Cyprus. A pilot study was then
conducted with a sample of 40 respondents,
which revealed that one item (‚employees treat
customers courteously on the telephone‘) within
the third dimension (‚personal interaction‘) was
inappropriate because customers in Northern
Cyprus prefer to visit stores personally for their
purchases and related services.
The final questionnaire thus included 27 statements
(rather than the original 28) to measure retail
service quality. To identify future consumption
behaviour (‚intention to repurchase‘ and ‚intention
to recommend‘), appropriate questions were
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added to the questionnaire. Finally, the questionnaire
also included questions regarding certain
demographic characteristics of the respondents
(gender, marital status, age, and average monthly
income).
Respondents were asked to use a seven point
Likert-type scale to record their perceptions.
Such a scale is said to provide a better normal
spread of observations [43] [50].