Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions

Abstract

Service-based industries such as hotels and restaurants are spending a tremendous effort to measure and improve the service quality of their businesses. Service quality is one of the key factors in achieving competitive advantages in the restaurant industry since high service quality presumably results in increased customer satisfaction, and thus increased future patronage. The purpose of this study was to examine the two generic service-quality dimensions: physical quality and staff behavior/attitude in restaurants by employing the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The findings indicated that the two-factor model of restaurant service quality was successfully validated and also, the predictive accuracy of the model was established.     

服务质量与服务忠诚的多维度关系研究

本文选择北京地区接受餐饮业服务的消费者为调研样本,运用因子分析、结构方程模型等计量手段,从多维度角度研究服务质量与服务忠诚的关系。研究结果表明:服务质量由有形性、可靠性、响应性、保证性和移情性五维度构成,服务忠诚由情感忠诚和行为忠诚两维度构成;服务质量不仅对服务忠诚存在着显著的直接正向影响,而且通过顾客满意对服务忠诚存在着显著的间接正向影响;服务质量各维度对服务忠诚各维度的影响机理与程度各不相同。研究结果同时引申出若干有关我国服务业如何提升服务质量以达到提升服务忠诚的启示。     

Multi-Attribute Dimensions of Service Quality in the Fast Food Restaurant Industry

Abstract

As the fast food restaurant industry grows in the Western industrialized world, it has also become increasingly competitive. In such an environment, marketers are concerned about how to increase or maintain market share through better service quality and effective segmentation strategies. This paper reports a two-phase exploratory study conducted to determine the dimensions of service quality in the fast food industry, from the consumer's perspective. Factor analysis revealed 10 dimensions made up of 57 different attributes. The 10 dimensions were able to discriminate among three groups of fast food patrons, namely: frequent, less frequent, and more frequent patrons. Managerial implications of these findings, for market segmentation, targeting, positioning, and promotional strategies are discussed.     

The Secretary Problem Revisited - The Group Decision-Making Perspective

We consider a decision situation where there is an initial set of alternatives that may be augmented, a variant of the problem known in the literature as the "secretary problem". We focus the discussion on the special case of group decision-making, where a group or committee is charged with the responsibility of negotiating the decision. We investigate situations of explicitly stated (multiple) criteria and the simpler situation of no such stated criteria. The former case includes the congenial, the mixed, and the uncongenial cases, where the individuals agree on the direction of all, some, or none of the criteria, respectively. We offer a framework within which a group of individuals can be supported in such a decision process. In the case of explicit criteria, we provide the decision-makers with probability information of the likelihood of finding more preferred alternatives provided the initial set of alternatives is expanded. The framework is tested using a simulated real-world choice situation.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Dimensions of Service Quality in Australia Accounting Firms

No abstract available for this article.     

The Quality Dimensions of Internet Retail Food Purchasing

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examines relevant factors affecting consumers' evaluation of product and service quality in the context of Internet retail food purchasing. A total of 489 anecdotes, written by online consumers based on their own shopping experience, were collected and content analyzed. In turn, 18 quality dimensions and 58 sub-attributes were identified. The asymmetric effect of positive and negative attribute-level performances on consumer dis/satisfaction was discussed. The impact of two delivery strategies on consumers' perceived quality was also examined. Finally, managerial implications and recommendations were provided in order to pave the way for possible improvement of the quality of Internet retail food purchasing and, in turn, consumer satisfaction.     

The Location of Service Outlets: An Economist's Perspective

The intention of this article is to illustrate the usefulness of economic analysis as a first stage in analysing the determinants of the locational decisions by service outlets. Although economic analysis cannot explain fully the reasons why an individual firm chooses any particular location, it does provide us with a methodology for isolating the major determinants of the locational decisions of service outlets. By using this analysis the author has shown why service outlets have tended, in recent years, to move into shopping centres. Moreover, the analysis suggests why these central locations are so important for certain service outlets.     

System-Based Quality Dimensions in Fitness Services: Development of the Scale of Quality

This research, based on the systems perspective, proposed nine dimensions of quality in fitness services. A scale was developed and its factor structure was confirmed in two studies of fitness club customers. As the factor structure of the nine-dimensional scale was confirmed through confirmatory factor analyses in both studies, it was concluded that the nine proposed dimensions were independent of each other. The final scale consisted of 35 items to measure Service Climate, Management Commitment to Service Quality, Programmes from the input stage; Interpersonal Interaction, Task Interaction, Physical Environments, Other Clients, Service Failures/Recovery from the throughput stage; and Perceived Service Quality form the output stage. The internal consistency estimates for the nine dimensions were found to be adequate. The utility of the proposed scheme, and its applicability to other contexts is discussed.     

European Community Merger Policy in the Service Industries: The Second Phase

This article examines recent developments in the application of the EU Merger Regulation to services. Policy evolution regarding the jurisdictional divide between Brussels and the national authorities is highlighted as is the contrasting treatment of different types of joint ventures. Particular attention is given to the first two prohibitions of service industry transactions (in broadcasting and related telecommunications) which were among only three cases banned under the Regulation in its initial five years. These show some of the problems of ensuring competition in services where access to infrastructure plays an important role. The conditional clearance after full proceedings of the first case where a separate market for technology was defined is also considered with reference to licensing.     

基于公交企业观点的公交服务可靠性评价指标研究

对于公交运营企业,服务质量评价体系的核心功能是支持企业的持续自我完善。企业的自我完善是一个不断迭代的过程,包括明确目标、改善运营到评估效果等环节。这一过程中,企业需要通过一系列指标量化目标,并明确每个指标拟达到的标准,才能定量地评估期初的目标是否达到。服务可靠性是乘客评价常规公交服务质量时最为关心的问题。本文以改善服务可靠性为例,在分析公交运营企业建立评价指标体系应遵守的原则的基础上,对服务可靠性指标的选取问题提出了建议。     

Service Encounter Conceptualisation: Employees' Service Behaviours and Customers' Service Quality Perceptions

The enhancement of service quality is an area of optimal managerial relevance that has, to date, received minimal attention in the literature. Because customers' service quality evaluations are based almost entirely upon the behaviours of frontline employees, organisations rely heavily upon these employees to improve overall service quality provision. However, much of the literature looking at service quality enhancement lacks detail when examining the impact of employee service-related behaviours on customers' service quality perceptions. As a result, this paper comprehensively conceptualises those front-line employee behaviours which are the most likely to enhance customers' service quality perceptions. This conceptualisation is grounded in an extensive review of the services marketing literature, pooling together previously disparate research strands. Formal hypotheses are presented. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.     

Service Quality in Customer Relationships:

This article presents the results of a study of 205 service-related critical incidents in customer relationships in mechanical engineering companies. Information has been gathered from 15 Swedish companies, including Asea Brown Boveri Robotics, Atlas Copco, Bofors, Carlamo, Zander &; Ingesttorn and Wennmec. The selection has been made so as to obtain a spread as regards both tine of production and size of company.

The overall aim of the inquiry has been to increase the understanding of service-related critical incidents in the perspective of long-term, interactive customer relationships. What lies behind these situations? What effect do they have on the development of the selling process? How are customer relations affected? Critical incidents directly connected with the price or the hardware have not been included in this study.

‘Critical incident’ means a problematic, unpleasant situation which places special demands on the service-producing company's resources, especially on its personnel: for example, a customer meeting that fails to avoid friction. The customer may demand customer adaptation of the hardware, special training, special terms of guarantee, short delivery time or a special financing model. Other examples of critical incidents are agreements that have not been kept and missing or incorrect information.     

Business Ethics Research As Dialogue: A European Perspective

Britain's Economic and Social Research Council offered criteria for excellence in research which appear to express a shared basic idea of research–as–dialogue. This approach does not appear to be met very well by business ethics research in the USA or the UK, but it was seen to be impressively present in some of the German contributions to the European Business Ethics Network conference held in Frankfurt last year. Dr Collier analyses the conditions which may underlie this difference of approach and considers the contribution of modern "discourse ethics to the process of dialogue, concluding that dialogue "is an essential characteristic of research excellence", and that without it we therefore fail to meet both our own standards and the needs of the business community". Dr Collier is Lecturer in Management Studies the Judge Institute of Management Studies at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.     

服务质量构成要素对顾客满意影响力差异研究--现有顾客同潜在顾客间的比较

本研究通过对银行服务业现有顾客样本和潜在顾客样本的比较分析发现:两种不同类型的顾客样本分析结果都显示服务互动质量和结果质量要素对顾客满意都有显著正影响,顾客满意对(重复)购买或口头传播等行为意向有积极效应。物理环境质量对顾客满意的显著影响效应只是在潜在顾客样本中发现,而在现有顾客样本中并不显著。现有顾客样本的分析结果显示三方面服务质量要素对顾客满意的影响力是有显著差异的,而对于潜在顾客样本,三方面的服务质量要素对顾客满意的形成所起的作用没有显著差别。     

Productivity of the Service Sector: A Regional Perspective

In this article we analyse the evolution of productivity in the service sector for the Spanish Regions during the period 1986-94. The study environment has been limited to marketed services. Within this group of activities, we set out an analysis for different branches of activity - credit and insurance, transports and communications, and other marketed services. The methodology used includes tools such as data envelopment analysis to measure technical efficiency, the Malmquist indexes to determine the evolution of the productive change and the break-up of total efficiency into intra-sectorial efficiency and composition efficiency. The results at a national level show a tendency to drop of total efficiency until 1990 and a later recovery until the end of the analysed period. This evolution is explained by the behaviour of the composition efficiency, while the intra-sectorial efficiency maintains quite a uniform growth in this period.     

基于服务质量形成模式的服务创新模型

服务创新是推动服务业发展的强大动力,同时对增强制造业企业的竞争力有重要作用。由于服务质量形成模式与一般产品质量形成模式的差别,服务创新与制造业技术创新在创新内容和形式上有所不同,关键在于创新维度的不同。通过对基于服务质量形成模式的服务创新四维度模型的探讨,识别了服务企业创新活动包含的四个一般性维度及其关联。     

CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality

This article examines the mediation effect of brand identification and the moderating effect of service quality (SQ) on the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) association on service brand performance. A survey of customers of mobile telecommunications services was conducted. The study finds, first, that both CSR and SQ have direct effects on brand identification and customer satisfaction and indirect effects on customer satisfaction (via brand identification) and on service brand loyalty (via customer satisfaction and via “brand identification/customer satisfaction”). Second, SQ enhances the effect of CSR on brand identification. This study contributes to the literature by incorporating three perspectives of service brand performance – CSR association, SQ, and brand identification – into one general framework that stresses (a) the mediating role of brand identification in predicting customer satisfaction and service brand loyalty; and (b) the interactive effect of CSR and SQ in predicting brand identification.     

The Effect of Market Orientation on Service Quality

Abstract

The authors explore the effect of market orientation on service quality based on a survey on Taiwanese security brokerage firms. The results indicate that market orientation and service quality have a positive relationship, but fail to support the proposition of a curvilinear, diminishing function. An ad hoc investigation on the effects of individual components revealed that, among the four market orientation components, only customer orientation and profit expectation have a more consistent and significant effect on overall service quality and the five service quality components. Important managerial and future research implications are offered.