A TEST OF SERVICE QUALITY:

CAREEM Vs UBER

SUBMITTED BY:

KHURAM AHMER
YASOOB ZAIDI
WAIZ FAROOQI

SUBMITTED TO:

SIR SAJID SIRAJ

SPRING 2018

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Institute of Business Management

Korangi Creek, Karachi-75190, Pakistan

UAN (9221)111-002-004, Fax: (9221) 509-0968

http://www.iobm.edu.pk
We would take this opportunity to thank Sir Nawaz Ahmed our instructor for the course of
Methods of Business Research at the Institute of Business Management Karachi, for his
valuable support and encouragement which he has offered. His words of wisdom will always
be remembered, and we are convinced that the knowledge of Methods of Business Research
that he has imparted would go a long way helping us all through our professional career.
We are also grateful to Ma’am Nimra for all the support and assistance. We would also like
to mention gratitude to Muqaddas Jan, a fellow colleague and senior fellow research student
for her role with SPSS assistance.
We have chosen “A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber” as our topic of research
and gone through various available materials with regard to the knowledge which we gain
from the text available and have mentioned them in the references. We have tried to compile
this report in a simple and comprehensive form. We tried to provide all relevant information
as accurately as possible but we would appreciate, if any mistakes found to be pointed out
to us. A lot of handwork has done in this report and we hope that whoever refers it will find
it interesting and useful.

Yours sincerely,

Khuram Ahmer
Yasoob Zaidi
Waiz Farooqi

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

ABSTRACT

Careem and Uber have taken over the streets of Karachi in recent times. Both applications
have enjoyed vast amount of success and have rendered the traditional transport system of
Karachi as a mere secondary option. The objective of our research was to gauge the
service quality of both Uber and Careem and to compare it with one another. In order to
fulfill this, we used the ‘SERVQUAL’ model which gauges service quality on the basis of
five dimensions namely Reliability, Assurance, Empathy, Tangibility and Responsiveness.
We took a sample size of 162 students mainly from IoBM but also some from other
institutes while specifically targeting middle class and upper middle class. The sampling
technique used by us was convenience sampling. We used SPSS in order to analyze our
data. Our research indicated a strong sense of satisfaction with Careem and its service
quality. Uber in general failed to match the standards set by Careem especially in terms of
conditioning and maintenance of vehicles as well as the attitude and professionalism of
their drivers.

Key words: Service quality, SERVQUAL, Careem, Uber, Ridesharing, Ridehailing,

Transportation, Taxi, Travel

JEL

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Contents
LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................... 2
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION:........................................................................................................................... 5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW: .................................................................................................. 6
2.1. Review of Literature: ........................................................................................... 6
2.2. Theoretical Framework: .................................................................................... 11
3. METHODOLOGY: ........................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Data:.......................................................................................................................... 11
3.2 Variables: ................................................................................................................. 12
3.3 Inclusion Criteria: .............................................................................................. 12
3.4 Sampling Technique:............................................................................................... 12
3.5 Model: .................................................................................................................. 12
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: ....................................................................................... 12
4.1. Descriptive Analysis: .......................................................................................... 12
Paired Samples Statistics (table 1.1) ..................................................................... 12
4.2. Inferential Analysis: ........................................................................................... 14
4.3. Chronbach Alpha: .............................................................................................. 18
4.4. Discussion: ........................................................................................................... 18
5. CONCLUSION: ................................................................................................................. 20
5.1. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 20
5.2. Limitations: ......................................................................................................... 20
5.3. Recommendations: ............................................................................................. 20
REFERENCES: .................................................................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX 1: (QUESTIONNAIRE) ..................................................................................................... 22

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

INTRODUCTION:

1.1. Background of the study:

In recent years there has been a boom in the business for private transportation services
in the market. The inadequate conditions of the public transport means that the
customers are looking for better options which are safe, secure and convenient. Due to
advancement in technology calling a cab, is a matter of few seconds, and use of a user
friendly application service at the convenience of your smart phones. The shift of
customers towards convenience and on demand services, and most importantly fairly
lower prices have fueled the boom for these services providers.

However as more and more people are preferring tp sue these private transport
services, the more is the pressure on these services to provide quality services to their
customers. Taking in mind the power of social media, one single collateral damage to
the brand can result in a loss of millions of rupees.

Business have become more competitive. Innovation has changed the business
landscape. The service industry still has tough competition and businesses compete on
the concept of service quality. The higher the service quality, increased is the customer
satisfaction and more is the business growth. Like any sector of the service industry,
service quality is more competitive and in today’s Karachi the competition has become
fierce ride hailing apps and services. As is a key factor for business leadership for
Careem or Uber or even Uride.

1.2. Objectives of the study: We aim to look into the competitive business leadership in
between these digital transportation services. The research looks into the service
quality standards by Careem or Uber, and which of them is superior.

1.3. Scope of the study: The research looks into Careem and Uber operating in Karachi.
The boundaries will cater to the customer’s service who use the ride hailing apps.
The scope here digs deep into make sure the captains or partners in any commercial
fleet, the customer service representatives at call centres for complaints and
feedbacks and also their CRM system software.

1.4. Statement of the problem: To measure and compare the customer’s perception of
both Uber and Careem’s service quality.

1.5. Research questions: The research will try to find answer to the following key
questions
.
1.5.1: Which of the two service is more reliable; Careem or Uber?

1.5.2: How much do the customers have trust and assurance issue with Careem &
Uber respectively?

1.5.3: How do Careem & Uber value empathy?

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

1.5.4: How significant is physical tangibility for the services, respectively?

1.5.5: How responsive are the two ride hailing services ( Careem and Uber)?

1.6. Hypothesis:

Ho1: Careem and Uber have same reliability.

Ho2: Careem and Uber have same level of assurance.

Ho3: Careem and Uber have same level of empathy

Ho4: Careem and Uber have same physical tangibility.

Ho5: Careem and Uber have same responsiveness.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

2.1. Review of Literature:

The strategy is to create valued propositions for service quality. If pricing is risky,
competition is on quality. This key here is building up a reputation for delivering excellent
services and utilizing brand for attracting consumers. Quality objectively, has something to
do with aesthetics, reliability, durability, performance and serviceability. Subjectively,
quality has is about captivating the day’s zeitgeist. Fashion makes users perceive some
products and services as more valuable than others. It is key to identify that consumers
want attachment of feelings of ambition or hope to the product; in the high-end markets
(Ofstad, 2017)

A substantial’s significant amount of hurdles are present in the path of ride sharing firms
like Uber and Lyft. These hurdles are based across four dimensions namely economic,
behavioral, technological and institutional. It is certain that this industry needs to tackle
these challenges with aplomb in order to stand the test of time. Issues like trustworthiness
of the driver, increasing transactional costs as well as subsidization of other transportation
mediums pose a stiff economic challenge. The behavioral challenges include flexibility of
schedule, reliability and power mismatch between the driver and the customer. These
challenges coupled with Government regulations and the dynamic ever evolving
technological landscape all combine to make firms like Uber and Lyft to sweat over how
to keep on improving service quality overtime. Real time ride sharing is seen by many as
the prime weapon to fight off these challenges but it does not come without its limitations.
(Amey, 2011)

Economic efficiency and equity of the sharing economy are still left as largely unexplored
areas. The economic impact of the ride sharing service has been closely evaluated by Hahn
and Metcalfe, 2017. Ride sharing service helps in easing the traffic congestion as the
number of vehicles on the road would certainly decline as more and more people indulge
in sharing rides instead of driving around in their personal cars. Traffic has always been a
matter of concern for the governing bodies of large metropolitan cities and ride sharing
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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

could certainly help by easing this load. Another positive externality associated with fewer
vehicles on the road is of decrease in carbon emissions which would help in controlling
pollution. Environmentalists fear that greenhouse effect if not dealt with immediately
could have a devastating effect in the near future; ride sharing by decreasing the number of
vehicles on the road will certainly play a part in curbing the pollution hazard. The paper
further delves into the benefit ride sharing directly provides to the customers. In a
comparative experiment between UberX and a local cab, it was observed that UberX
charged lesser as compared to the cab while also had less waiting time. The service quality
of these ride sharing companies is rapidly improving and thus fostering better customer
experiences. Even though plenty of questions have been raised with respect to ride sharing
companies’ surge pricing algorithm, it can be concluded that the upside of the ride sharing
industry greatly outweighs the downside. (Metcalfe, 2017)

It is noted that continuous service, comfort, affordability and reliability are the variables
which can have a significant impact on the customer service. Safety while being an
important factor has been deemed as insignificant while driver behavior has a negative
effect on customer satisfaction. This research took place in Ghana and tested the service
quality of mini cab taxis. The cab should be comfortable, in good condition and should
have proper air conditioning. The cab must also be readily available at all times, on
weekends and on public holidays. The waiting time should be as less as possible and the
arrival on time at destination is also a crucial factor. The driving skill of the driver as well
as his knowledge about the routes and his behavior are all closely linked with the process
of creating a pleasant experience for the customer. However, it must be noted that these
variables only amount to 53% of customer satisfaction while other variables amounting to
the rest. (Yeboah, 2015)

Majority of the population in one of the major cities of South Africa, Johannesburg uses
public transport for their routine activities on a daily basis with bus and mini bus taxi
service being the two most commonly used mediums. Comparative research conducted on
the perceived service quality of bus and mini bus taxi tells us that buses tend to be more
reliable when compared to mini bus taxi. In terms of extent of service, it was discovered
that both buses and mini bus taxis were mostly available at all times during the day and on
public holidays. Majority of the customers perceived buses as more comfortable than mini
bus taxi in terms of availability of seat, air conditioning and spaciousness. Buses were
deemed as safer when compared to mini bus taxis by the majority of the respondents while
buses were also perceived to be cheaper than mini bus taxis. Overall, the research
indicated that a greater chunk of the population perceives the service quality of buses
better in comparison to that of mini bus taxis. (Govender, 2014)

Uber and Lyft have been battling for supremacy on the streets of US for quite some time
now. However, whereas Uber has invested heavily in creating a massive global presence,
Lyft still lags some way behind as it is only operating in US. In terms of global coverage,
there is only one clear winner and that is Uber. However, according to surveys, Lyft has
got the beating of Uber when it comes to quality of service provided and customer
satisfaction. Customers perceive the service provided by Lyft to be far more reliable and
comfortable than Uber. Besides that, Lyft is also considered by many as more affordable.
(Branman, 2017)

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

In the current scenario of globalization, public transportation service need to introspect

sensitivity towards the quality of service offered. This survey was conduct among people
how use public transport regularly for raveling. This survey is to measure dependency of
people on public transport in inner-city and connecting two cities. By using servqual and
generic servqual dimension which included the new aspect of culture.
The commuters of this service were mainly professionals middle age and old age how
travel to reach their work or offices. The culture aspect was that the women and children
seat were separated and was reserved.
Public transportation can help decrease urban cities population , better service quality of
public transportation can attract more people to leave private cars and travel through
public transport and which decrease road rush, traffic jams and fuel consumption .
This study is first of its kind in measuring service quality in public transport services in
India. A framework is carved for measuring the service quality in public transportation. As
sighted in the study that in most of the SERVQUAL studies, tangibility was found to be
most preferred dimension. (Randheer, 2011)

In (Shaheen, 2014), conceptual model that consider service expectation, service

prediction, service value, passenger satisfaction, airline value and behavior of staff.
Delivering high quality service to passengers Is very essential for airline survival and
customer retention. The delivering high quality is marketing requiring as competitive
pressure increase on airline.

This paper has presented a model of service expectation. The analysis shows that service
value, passenger satisfaction, and airline image are each found to have a direct effect on
passengers’ behavioural intentions. (Woo Park, 2004)

This paper gives understanding that how important is customer perception about service
the will receive from airline. The perception of passenger about service quality and after
receiving as marketed and perception was developed y airline if does not meet the
customer will be dis satisfied.
The rapid growth of on demand ride service such as Uber, Careem and Lyft or ride
sourcing has prompted debate among policy makers and stakeholders. At present usage
and impact are not well understood.

The recent emergence of app-based, on-demand ride services has sparked debate over their
role in urban transport. By leveraging advances in technology, ride service companies such
as Uber, Lyft, and their competitors—also known as “Transportation Network Companies”
(TNCs) or, more colloquially, “ridesharing”—promise to increase reliability and reduce
wait times of point o-point transportation.

As a relatively new transportation option, ride sourcing is not yet well understood. In this
paper, we presented exploratory evidence of its role in urban transportation using an
intercept survey of ride sourcing users in San Francisco. This ride sourcing provided
consumers to avail quick and on destination plus. (Shaheen, 2014)

The article talks about how important are customers for a service sector. Customers
determine what aspects of a service quality are important, and hence these aspects should
be worked upon by the service quality provider.
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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

The idea of a service quality information service quality information system has been
proposed in the article. It is inevitable for a company to establish ongoing listening system,
using multiple methods and different group of customers This provides a deeper insight
for the purpose of rational decision making, which is the essence of systematic listening.
Systematic Listening inculcates multiple research methods. The purpose is to collect,
organize, analyze and disseminate information in order to take productive decisions. The
data needs to be continuously generated and updated which can be referred and analyzed
on back to back and timely basis. (p65). This data not only provides a clear picture at an
executive level but also provide pattern of changes. These patterns of changes provide
assistance in initiating change and updating services in order to meet customer needs.
Lastly it helps in providing better planning and resource allocation in order to gain better
returns on your investments. (Parasuraman, 1997)

In this research was conducted in the metropolitan areas of Bangkok and response from
400 users of metered taxi was taken. The results showed that overall quality of services in
each aspect include responsiveness to customers, service tangibles, confidence &
assurance, knowing and understanding of customers which is rated at the moderate level
except the assurance or confidence and trust are rated at a higher level. The findings
showed the economic and social conditions of consumers used more taxis and
demographics of education and incomes led to frequency of taxi usage. Quality on led
more frequency of use with respect to 2.1%. (Techarattanased, 2015)

The (HUSSEIN, 2016) research was conducted in Nairobi, Kenya. It was questionnaire
responses from 40 company manager and 120 riders or customers. The purpose was to see
how much service quality dimensions implemented at the taxi services, although different
at the different taxi companies and results showed that service quality ,was good and
customers were satisfied and hence loyal. It was to study relationship of service quality
and customer satisfaction. The study showed the managers did focus on service quality
dimensions and customers were loyal.Improved servqual dimensions could lead to more
customer satisfaction.

The service quality of trans-Jakarta has been on a steady decline. Initially formed to ease
the burden on the inadequate public transport system of Jakarta, TransJakarta in its infancy
was a big hit but as the years rolled on the quality of its performance started deteriorating.
One huge issure pertaining to this decline in sercive quality is due to the inefficient
complaint handling system. Only one medium of complaint recording system is present
and that is the customer helpline number which gets overloaded with customer complaints
resulting in a number of them getting ignored. TransJakarta must come up with a better
mechanism in order to uncover the issues faced by its customers so that it could take the
necessary steps in order to halt the decline in its quality. Service quality can be measured
in five dimensions namely reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, assurance and empathy.
By keeping these five dimensions in mind, TransJakarta can regain its former glory and
become the go to option when it comes to public transport in Jakarta. (Wijaya, 2009)

Railway sector has always been a crucial pillar of the public transportation system of any
country. An efficient railway system links together all the regions of a country assisting in
economic growth and welfare. Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia
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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

and thus its reliance on its railway system is growing by every day, however, the railway
system of Bangladesh has so far struggled to satisfy this upsurge in demand and as a result
service quality has massively dipped lately. A relationship between overall satisfaction and
the key performance attributes needs to be determined in order to improve the railway
system. It is observed that there are eight key features which can make or break a railway
system: Security, waiting arrangement, train environment, space, staff behavior, waiting
time, station security and timely arrival at destination. Out of these eight key features
perhaps the most important one is safety inside the train as customers have experienced
looting and theft a number of times which has discouraged them to use the railway service
in the futute. (Khan Rubayet Rahaman, 2009)

Sharing Economy has pretty well known origins in history but now currently has serious
regulatory issues. The incidents with Uber and Lyft are known to the public and media.
Although there is rating in these apps. These ratings donot exactly quantify servqual
experience and cannot be based upon, due to psychological effects and biases. Then the
profile for Uber partners is just a basic data connected to facebook and headshot. This can
be plagiarized and hence reliability and assurance issues. Lastly insurance, of Uber partner
or customers; is needed to be addressed. (Martens, 2016)

The research was conducted on radio cabs in India about studying servqual effects on
customer satisfaction. However, Indian customers are earlier used to pay later hence not
accustomed to pre pay or online payment for rides. Similarly, Indian customers are
traditionally comfortable for using taxis available on road. However, the trend has started
with travel to airport or railways station in Tier 1 cities and now adapting into Tier 2 and
Tier 3 cities. The women in India have safety and assurance issues, unlike the women in
West easily travel in cabs. (Das, 2017)

Mobile on Demand Systems have changed the ride sharing and private taxi market. The
personalized and user interface apps have directly connected customers and drivers to each
other and their destination with the power of branding. Through New York City data,
2,000 vehicles (15% of the taxi fleet) of capacity 10 or 3,000 analytics show that a ride-
pooling service can give a significant upgrade in urban transportation systems and that
the system parameters like fleet size and vehicle capacity depend on quality of service
requirements and capacity demand of 4 rather than 13,000 taxis with assumption 1
person/car, can serve 98% of the demand within a mean waiting time of 2.8 min and mean
trip delay of 3.5 min can be used for the transportation purposes for the city. (Alonso-
Moraa, 2016)

Railway in Pakistan is considered as one of the cheapest modes of transport and Pakistan
Railway is in a survival stage. Out of 700 respondents 493 were selected whose use of
railway was frequent and their perceptions of service quality have been investigated with
modified servqual added with information system, safety and security and food. To which
the passengers felt the services were not upto the mark. The transport system has been set
up by British in 1861 and since then it hasnot much progressed and Information System is
a failure as it confuses passengers and causes waiting and disagreements too. Physical
tangibles such as train seating, size, lighting were the only positive parameter and safety is
still needed to work on. (Syed Muhammad Irfan, 2012)

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

The relationship between customer service quality and passenger demand is critical issue
or air carriers, because it enables airline manager o make strategies decisions on the level
of service and related resources. The results show the goodness of it of the asymmetric-
response model for the eight reference point approximate methods. The results indicate
that the best fit is achieved by the median method of the current reference point
approximation approach. Our study results indicate that if an airline service quality falls
below the market reference point (median service quality of the industry at time t), the
airline market share will decrease but the service increase from the reference point may not
increase an airline share. This type of information cannot be obtained from the model.
(Suzuki, 2001)

2.2. Theoretical Framework:

Variables that affect service quality of Careem and Uber, also theories relevant to service
quality.

Reliability

Tangibles
Service Assurance

Quality
Responsive
Empathy ness

3. METHODOLOGY:

3.1 Data:
Secondary data is the online resources. Primary data will be collected through
surveys of students. Utilizing any relevant customer service data from the companies. The
servqual questionnaire will allow response on likert scale 1 minimum agreement to 5
highest agreements. The statement of subsets will assess 2 likert scales for respective
companies.

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

3.2 Variables:
Empathy, Reliability, Responsiveness, Trust, and Physical Tangibles are prime
variables to be observed. There other variables like local security, government
intrusions, weather conditions, employment and more. There will be subset questions
for sub variables.

3.3 Inclusion Criteria:

Research will include surveys from young people 18-30yrs of age, with education of
high school, undergrad, bachelors and post grad and mostly student of lower middle
class or above. People who have used both Careem and Uber services.

3.4 Sampling Technique:

Convenience Sampling from sample size of 163 respondents

3.5 Statistical Model:

Paired ‘T’ test for comparison between the means of Uber and Careem

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

4.1. Descriptive Analysis:

Paired Samples Statistics (table 1.1)

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pair 1 RelaibilityC 3.2957 163 1.08237 .08478

RelaibilityU 3.0098 163 .95188 .07456

Pair 2 AssuranceC 3.2863 163 1.07782 .08442

AssuranceU 2.8875 163 .97092 .07605

Pair 3 EmpathyC 2.9816 163 .83557 .06545

EmpathyU 2.9399 163 .81502 .06384

Pair 4 TangiblesC 3.4939 163 1.16035 .09089

TangiblesU 3.0997 163 1.01818 .07975

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC 3.3021 163 1.07420 .08414

ResponsivenessU 3.0982 163 .91221 .07145

In order to gauge the difference in service quality in Uber and Careem, we made a sample
of 163 people who had used the services of both Careem and Uber. We will make the

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

comparison on the basis five variables namely Reliability, Assurance, Empathy,

Tangibility and Responsiveness. This model is also called Servqual.

In the table presented above, it can be stated that on average, respondents found the
services of Careem to be more reliable than Uber. On average, Careem scored higher than
Uber in terms of assurance as well. Our respondents on average also found the drivers of
Careem to be more empathetic and professional than their Uber counterparts. In terms of
tangibility, the average score of Careem once again is greater than Uber indicating well
maintained vehicles and a up to date application system. Lastly, Careem on average seems
to be more responsive than Uber according to our results. Overall, if we compare the
means of all five variables of both Careem and Uber, the results seem to indicate that
Careem is ahead of Uber if we follow the Servqual model.

(Table 1.2)

Gender Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Female Pair 1 RelaibilityC 3.2655 58 1.12352 .14753

RelaibilityU 3.0138 58 .95503 .12540

Pair 2 AssuranceC 3.2126 58 1.06823 .14027

AssuranceU 2.8276 58 1.08551 .14253

Pair 3 EmpathyC 2.9345 58 .82111 .10782

EmpathyU 2.8793 58 .81472 .10698

Pair 4 TangiblesC 3.4483 58 1.22811 .16126

TangiblesU 3.0431 58 1.03464 .13585

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC 3.2931 58 1.16992 .15362

ResponsivenessU 3.1638 58 .96830 .12714

Male Pair 1 RelaibilityC 3.3124 105 1.06407 .10384

RelaibilityU 3.0076 105 .95471 .09317

Pair 2 AssuranceC 3.3270 105 1.08602 .10599

AssuranceU 2.9206 105 .90526 .08834

Pair 3 EmpathyC 3.0076 105 .84622 .08258

EmpathyU 2.9733 105 .81716 .07975

Pair 4 TangiblesC 3.5190 105 1.12644 .10993

TangiblesU 3.1310 105 1.01260 .09882

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC 3.3071 105 1.02332 .09987

ResponsivenessU 3.0619 105 .88237 .08611

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

The above table shows the mean, standard deviation and standard of error of our data after
it has been split into two groups on the basis of gender i.e. male & female. Even after
splitting our data, on average, Careem remains ahead of Uber on all five fronts for both the
genders as evident by the table.

4.2. Inferential Analysis:

Paired Samples Test (table 2.1)

Paired Differences

Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pair 1 RelaibilityC – RelaibilityU .28589 .74069 .05802

Pair 2 AssuranceC – AssuranceU .39877 .91389 .07158

Pair 3 EmpathyC – EmpathyU .04172 .34026 .02665

Pair 4 TangiblesC – TangiblesU .39417 .83928 .06574

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC – .20399 .66969 .05245

ResponsivenessU

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

Pair 1 RelaibilityC – RelaibilityU .17133 .40045

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU .25742 .54013

Pair 3 EmpathyC – EmpathyU -.01091 .09435

Pair 4 TangiblesC – TangiblesU .26436 .52398

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC – .10041 .30757

ResponsivenessU

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Paired Samples Test

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Pair 1 RelaibilityC – RelaibilityU 4.928 162 .000

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU 5.571 162 .000

Pair 3 EmpathyC – EmpathyU 1.565 162 .119

Pair 4 TangiblesC – TangiblesU 5.996 162 .000

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC – 3.889 162 .000

ResponsivenessU

In the above table, if we observe the mean column, we can see that all values are positive
indicating that Careem’s average score is higher than Uber’s average score for all
variables. In the next column, we have the standard deviations of the difference scores of
the variables. We then have the standard error (standard deviation divided by the square
root of the sample size) used in computing both the test statistic and the upper and lower
bounds of the confidence interval. We have already established that the average mean
scores of Careem are greater than that of Uber. Now to check whether the difference is
significant or not, we take a look at the sig values of all the variables. We can see that the
sig values of Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility and Responsiveness are less than 0.05 or
5% indicating that their average difference is significant which means that the average
difference score is not likely due to chance. However, the sig value of Empathy is 0.119 or
12% which is greater than 5% hence this average difference can be considered as
insignificant.

Paired Samples Test (table 2.2)

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Paired Differences

Gender Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Female Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU .25172 .96286 .12643

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU .38506 .98290 .12906

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU .05517 .40313 .05293

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU .40517 1.01397 .13314

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - .12931 .78673 .10330

ResponsivenessU

Male Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU .30476 .58776 .05736

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU .40635 .87825 .08571

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU .03429 .30186 .02946

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU .38810 .73050 .07129

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - .24524 .59544 .05811

ResponsivenessU

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Gender Lower Upper

Female Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU -.00145 .50490

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU .12662 .64350

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU -.05083 .16117

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU .13856 .67178

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - -.07755 .33617

ResponsivenessU

Male Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU .19102 .41851

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU .23639 .57631

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU -.02413 .09270

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU .24673 .52947

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - .13001 .36047

ResponsivenessU

Paired Samples Test

Gender t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Female Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU 1.991 57 .051

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU 2.984 57 .004

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU 1.042 57 .302

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU 3.043 57 .004

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - 1.252 57 .216

ResponsivenessU

Male Pair 1 RelaibilityC - RelaibilityU 5.313 104 .000

Pair 2 AssuranceC - AssuranceU 4.741 104 .000

Pair 3 EmpathyC - EmpathyU 1.164 104 .247

Pair 4 TangiblesC - TangiblesU 5.444 104 .000

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Pair 5 ResponsivenessC - 4.220 104 .000

ResponsivenessU

We have split our data once again on the basis of gender to see if there is any difference in
our results. The difference in means remain in favor of Careem indicating that both
genders tend to favor Careem over Uber. The only variable which was insignificant in
table 2.1 was Empathy and that is the case once again as the sig values for both the
genders of Empathy are greater than 5% deeming the difference score as insignificant.
What is more interesting however is that that the sig value of Responsiveness for the
females has also come out as insignificant as it is 22% but when it is combined with the sig
value of Responsiveness for the Males, it becomes significant as we found out in table 2.1.
Overall, the results of our study indicate that there is a significant average difference
between the service quality of Careem and Uber and that on average, our respondents were
more satisfied with the service of Careem.

4.3. Chronbach Alpha:

Services Careem Uber

VARIABLES No. of Items Cronbach Alpha Cronbach Alpha
5 . 889 .843
Reliability
3 . 784 .744
Assurance
Empathy 5 .698 .719
4 .856
.915
Tangibles
4 .849 .799
Responsiveness

A chronbach alpha measures the reliability of the test or the internal consistency. Usually
the higher the value of the chronbach alpha, the more reliable the test is. The chronbach
alpha value for our variables range from an acceptable score of 70% to an excellent score
of 89% indicating that our tests are reliable.

4.4. Discussion:
Majority of the population of Karachi uses either Uber or Careem on a daily basis these
days. We set out to find out more about the perception of service quality people had about
these two ride sharing giants. The model which we used to base service quality was the
servqual model. The servqual model is based on 5 dimensions namely Reliability,
Assurance, Empathy, Tangibility and Responsiveness. Our questionnaire was based on this
model and it compared both Uber and Careem on the basis of these 5 variables. It is noted
that continuous service, comfort, affordability and reliability are the variables which can
have a significant impact on the customer service (Horsu & Yeboah, 2015).

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After completing the analysis of the data collected from our survey, we observed that
people were more satisfied with the perceived service quality of Careem. The overall
condition of the car, training and professionalism of the driver as well as consistency in
terms of arrival on time are some areas in which Uber underperformed significantly. The
waiting time should be as less as possible and the arrival on time at destination is also a
crucial factor (Horsu & Yeboah, 2015). We splitted our data on the basis of gender in
order to test whether it would make any difference and in order to know more about the
preferences of males and females. However, the results did not vary much and Careem
came out on top again. Uber has become synonymous with ride sharing applications
worldwide however it must improve in multiple facets if it is to win over Careem. There is
no doubt that both these ride sharing applications have been doing a good job and are
gradually improving bit by bit and also play a vital yet overlooked socio-economic role.
Ride sharing service helps in easing the traffic congestion as the number of vehicles on the
road would certainly decline as more and more people indulge in sharing rides instead of
driving around in their personal cars (Hahn & Metcalfe, 2017).

Perhaps one reason as to why Uber is struggling to match the standards set by Careem is
due to the fact while Careem is only operating in Pakistan, Uber is a global giant with
operations spanning in a number of countries and with every geographic territory come
new foes to worry about. Uber has invested heavily in creating a massive global presence,
In terms of global coverage, there is only one clear winner and that is Uber (Digital
Trends, 2017).

Careem on the other hand seem to be doing a wonderful job in matching their customer’s
expectations and delighting them. Our results indicate that Careem have done a
commendable job in maintaining a fleet of cars in excellent conditions as well as investing
time and money in training their staff. It is paramount that Careem does not slack and
continues to strive for excellence. From a pragmatic viewpoint it may be construed that by
understanding influences of various variables on customer satisfaction, marketers are
likely to envisage and plan the actions in leveraging the services (Sharma & Das, 2017).
Hence both Careem and Uber with a better understanding of key variables of service
quality can improve upon their gray areas and create even more delight for their
customers.

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

5. CONCLUSION:

5.1. Conclusion
The results of our research indicate higher customer satisfaction with regards to Careem
over Uber. One of main reasons we believe such a gap exists is due to the lack of training
of the drivers of Uber as well as the lack of check and balance of the conditions of the
vehicles. Customers want to travel in comfort and if the vehicle is not spacious, clean, air
conditioned and well maintained then they are only going to end up disappointed with their
experience. This is where Uber must take steps to close the gap with Careem. Our
respondents were reasonably satisfied with the behavior of the drivers as well as the
maintenance of the vehicles of Careem. This shows that Careem have been investing
heavily in training as well as hae developed a mechanism to ensure that their vehicles are
in top condition in order to maximize their customers’ satisfaction.

5.2. Limitations:
The purpose of this research was purely academic and our sample was restricted to
students of IoBM and a couple of other institutes only. One could argue that on the basis of
only IoBM’s and a couple of other institution’s population, a concrete conclusion cannot
be drawn out. The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. We al so believe
that a sample size of 163 people is not larege enough. Our initial sample size was large
enough, however, our sample size trimmed down due to a number of respondents having
not used both Uber and Careem. Also there was no method of measuring biasness of the
respondents with regards to either Careem or Uber. One important factor this research
failed to address was the peak factor issue.

5.3. Recommendations:
 Uber must improve the condition of their vehicles, Moreover, greater
emphasis must be placed on quality assurance.
 Uber needs to start programs to better train their staff as their behavior
has been deemed as unprofessional by a number of our respondents.
 Uber needs to improve its waiting time mechanism as their vehicles
generally do not come on time.
 The navigation system remains an area of improvement for both Uber
and Careem. They must come up with a viable solution for this.

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Gummesson, E. (1998). Productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations.
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Metcalfe, R. H. (2017, January 10). The Ridesharing Revolution: Economic Survey and Synthesis.
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Wijaya, D. H. (2009). Study of service quaity in the public bus transport: Customer complaint
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APPENDIX 1: (QUESTIONNAIRE)
Disclaimer
We are students of final year BBA<Hons> and are conducting research for our ‘Methods in
Business Research’ course.

Purpose
This questionnaire will ask you about your recent experiences of traveling with ride hailing apps
referring specifically to Careem & Uber. There will be five basic dimensions of questions that will
ask you to recount your recent trips and your feelings surrounding these trips, as well as your
travel plans for the future. We are looking to investigate which one of the two major competitors
of ride hailing app provide the better service quality.

This document and the responses are to be anonymous and confidential.

Your email address (std_17712@iobm.edu.pk) will be recorded when you submit this form.
Not std_17712?
* Required

1. Gender
Check all that apply.

Male
Female

2. Education Level
Mark only one oval.

High School
Undergraduate Student
Bachelors

Post Graduate

3. Have you traveled with both Uber & Careem?

Mark only one oval.

Yes
No

. How often do you use the Careem/Uber service?

Mark only one oval.

1 2 3 4 5

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

Main Body- Questions

Please Select level of agreement. 1-Strongly Agreed, 2-Agreed, 3-Neutral, 4-Disagreed, 5-
Strongly Disagreed

Reliability:

1. Does the app deliver service on time?

2. Are exact trip specifications followed?
3. Is application free of errors/crashes?
4. Is service performed accurately?
5. Is level of service consistent at all times of the day?

Assurance:

6. The driver provide service without incompetency?

7. The vehicle is well maintained-delivering functional performances?
8. Drivers use the app effectively?

Tangibility:

9. The physical appearance of the car is good?

10. Are the drivers driving professionally (appropriately)?
11. App navigation is easy to use?
12. The application interface looks modrn?

Empathy:

13. The driver recognizes and addresses the client with name?
14. The drivers try to determine what passengers specific objectives are?
15. Are service providers kind, polite, friendly and considerate?
16. Drivers refrain from being busy on calls
17. Drivers are rude to passengers?

Responsiveness:

18. When there is a problem, the organization reacts quickly?

19. The drivers are willing to answer passenger questions?
20. Specific times are given to passengers for pickup/drop off?

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 A Test of Service Quality: Careem Vs Uber

21. Public situations are treated with care

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