Customers' cognitive patterns of assurance: a dual approach

Assurance has been identified as a key service quality dimension but has not attracted theoretical and empirical attention on a distinct basis. The present pilot study adopts both qualitative and quantitative methods to look at how distinct customer groups (internal and external) perceive assurance in particular when they evaluate service quality. Evidence comes from 83 individuals of the medical staff and 79 patients at an outpatient unit. The novelty of the present study lies in the combination of means–end analysis with a probabilistic model to ground the conceptually appealing composite structure of assurance on a more concrete attribute foundation. Findings suggest that while the groups under investigation realize different benefits in achieving assurance, they share a common guide when prioritizing service-related attributes, namely the professional capacity of personnel. Overall, assurance proves itself to be critical, at least for the healthcare sector.