THE

SERVQUAL

MODEL

By
Zouleikha Toorawa
& Deepraj Naiko

Topic(s)

OVERVIEW
Slide(s)

I.

Introduction

II.

SERVQUAL as a Measuring Tool

04

III.

Basis of the SERVQUAL Model

05

IV.

The SERVQUAL Gaps

06

V.

Causes for the Gaps

12

VI.

Solutions to the Gaps

17

VII.

The Key Service Dimensions

18

VIII.

Conceptual Model of Service Quality

24

IX.

Criticisms to SERVQUAL

25

X.

SERVQUAL; Good or Bad???

26

XI.

Advantages of SERVQUAL

27

XII.

Disadvantages of SERVQUAL

28

XIII.

Methodology for SERVQUAL

29

XIV.

Uses of SERVQUAL

XV.

Applications of SERVQUAL

XVI.

Conclusions

XVII.

The End

XVIII. List

03

30
31
32
33

of References

34

XIX.

Appendix

XX.

CD-ROM of Presentation (Soft Copy)

36
38

INTRODUCTION

Service quality is an approach to manage business processes in order to

ensure full satisfaction of the customers & quality in service provided. It
works as an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Ruyter and Bloemer, 1995)
If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less
than satisfactory and hence customer dissatisfaction occurs (Parasuraman
et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990)
SERVQUAL is a service quality framework, developed in the eighties by
Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry, aiming at measuring the scale of Quality
in the service sectors.
SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality:
reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication,
credibility, security, understanding the customer, and tangibles, to measure
the gap between customer expectations and experience.
3

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed

20 October 2012]

SERVQUAL AS A MEASURING TOOL

In 1988 the 10 components were collapsed into five dimensions (RATER).

Reliability, tangibles and responsiveness remained distinct, but the
remaining seven components collapsed into two aggregate dimensions,
assurance and empathy.
Parasuraman et al. developed a 22-scale instrument with which to measure
customers expectations and perceptions (E and P) of the five RATER
dimensions. Four or five numbered items are used to measure each
dimension.
The instrument is administered twice in different forms, first to measure
expectations and second to measure perceptions.

Dimensions

Scale

Reliability

Assurance

Tangibles

Empathy

Responsiveness
Francis Buttle,
1996, "SERVQUAL: review, critique, 4
research agenda," European Journal of Marketing,
Vol.30, Issue 1,

BASIS OF THE SERVQUAL MODEL

The SERVQUAL model is dependent on three major bases

1)

The 5 Gaps: There are 5 Gaps that create a void between the customers

expectations and the service delivered by the service provider.

Organizations should measure, manage and minimise these 5 Gaps for
successfully marketing their service.

2)

Causes & Solutions to Gaps: Identifying the causes and appropriate

3)

The Key Service Dimensions: The aspects that should be stressed upon

solutions are very crucial to minimize that void.

so as to allow the service to be adopted by targeted segments

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

Gap 1

Commonly known as the management perception gap

Gap 1 results from a difference between what customers expect and
what management perceives these expectations to be.
It indicates a problem with the understanding of the market. This can
occur, as a result of insufficient research or communication failures.
E.g. : Management of ABC Dry cleaning Ltd perceives that a particular
segment simply expects low prices on its service, when in fact,
the
expectation is a value-for-money service.

M a na ge m e nt
P e r c e p t io n s
o f C u s to m e r
E x p e c t a t io n s

E x p e c te d
S e r v ic e

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October

2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

Gap 2

Commonly known as quality specification gap.

Gap 2 results from a difference between management perceptions of
what customers expect and the specifications that management draws up
when detailing the service quality delivery actions that are required.
Service design and performance standards are pre-requisites for
bridging this gap.
E.g. : Most hotels do not do housekeeping in a room on the day the
customer is checking out. But has management realised that the customer
who is doing a late checking out wants a clean room during that day?

S e r v ic e
Q u a lit y
S p e c ific a t io n s

M an ag em en t
P e r c e p t io n s
o f C u s to m e r
E x p e c t a t io n s

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed

20 October 2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

Gap 3

Commonly known as the Service delivery gap.

S e r v ic e
D e liv e r y

S e r v ic e
Q u a lit y
S p e c ific a t io n s

Gap 3 results from a mismatch between the service delivery

specifications required by management and the actual service that is
delivered by front line staff.
It is the difference between customer-driven service design & standards,
and the service delivery of the provider.
Managers need to audit the customer experience that their organization
currently delivers in order to make sure it lives up to the expected level.
E.g. : Usually, all restaurants need to attend to every request and orders of
the customers. But very often when customers place orders, they either do
not receive the orders at all or the waiter has confused it with that of
8
another customer.

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed

20 October 2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

Gap 4

Commonly known as market communication gap.

This is the gap between the delivery of the customer experience and what
is communicated to customers, i.e. the discrepancy between actual
service and the promised one
All too often organizations exaggerate what will be provided to
customers, or discuss the best case rather than the likely case, raising
customer expectations and harming customer perceptions.
E.g. A company commercialising slimming products boasts that customers
may lose up to 4-5 kgs/week. But they do not specify that a strict diet and
regular exercise must accompany the treatment for it to have the desired
effect.
S e r v ic e
D e liv e r y

E x te rn a l
C o m m u n ic a t io n s
to C u s to m e rs

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed

20 October 2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

Gap 5

Commonly known as the perceived service quality gap.

Gap 5 may be identified as the overall difference between the expected service
and the perceived service experienced. Gap 5 results from the combination of
Gaps 1 to 4
Customers' expectations have been shaped by word of mouth, their personal
needs and their own past service experiences.
Unless Gap 5 is kept under check, it may result in lost customers, bad
reputation, negative corporate image.

E x p e c te d
S e r v ic e

P e r c e iv e d
S e r v ic e

10

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22

October 2012]

THE SERVQUAL GAPS

2 ADDITIONAL GAPS

Gap 6:

The discrepancy between customer expectations and employees

perceptions: as a result of the differences in the understanding of
customer expectations by front-line service providers.

Gap 7:

The discrepancy between employees perceptions and management

perceptions: as a result of the differences in the understanding of
customer expectations between managers and service providers.

11
Shahin, A. (2010), SERVQUAL and Model of Service Quality Gaps: A Framework for Determining and
Prioritizing Critical Factors in Delivering Quality Services, Online artilcle.

CAUSES FOR THE GAPS

GAP 1 - not knowing what customers expect

E.g. : XYZ Events Ltd organised a wedding with the usual white and
blue decorations, when the customer had expected something new and
original.
Causes:

Lack

of a marketing orientation to quality

Poorly

interpreted information about customers expectations

Research
Too

not focused on demand quality

many layers between the front line personnel &

top level management

12

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

CAUSES FOR THE GAPS

GAP 2 - The wrong service quality standards

E.g. : XYZ Events Ltd perceived that the customer wanted a very
nice reception with at least 2 waiters at each table, but
management eventually decided otherwise to reduce costs.
Causes:

inadequate
lack

of perception of feasibility

inadequate
the

commitment to service quality

task standardization

absence of goal setting

Insufficient

planning of procedures

13

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

CAUSES FOR THE GAPS

GAP 3 - The service performance gap

E.g. : XYZ Events Ltd had promised the most exquisite catering and
wedding cake, but the food was not appreciable and the bride didnt like
the cake at all.

Causes:

Poor employee or technology fit - the wrong person or wrong

system for the job
Deficiencies in human resource policies such as ineffective
recruitment, role ambiguity, role conflict

Failure to match demand and supply

Too much or too little control

14

Lack of teamwork within the organisation

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

CAUSES FOR THE GAPS

GAP 4 - When promises do not match actual delivery

E.g : XYZ Events Ltd promised to have a Mercedes limousine
for the entry of the groom, but eventually the latter was given a
simple Nissan Sunny.
Causes:

inadequate

horizontal communication

Over-promising

in external communication campaign

Failure

to manage customer expectations

Failure

to perform according to specifications given to

customers

15

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

CAUSES FOR THE GAPS

GAP 5 - The difference between customer perception of service and the

expectation they had.
Usually the cause is the occurrence of the 4 other Gaps, which results in a
difference between customer perception and the expectation they had.
Ultimately the grooms experience was way too far from what he had
expected, and thus results in dissatisfaction.
Other causes can be:

cultural background,
family lifestyle,
personality,

demographics,
advertising,

experience with similar service

information available online.

Customer perception is totally subjective and is based

on the customers interaction with the service.

16

Brainmates. [Online] Available at < http://www.brainmates.com.au/brainrants/the-customer-service-gapmodel > [Accessed on 23 October 2012]

SOLUTIONS TO THE GAPS

No Solutions as such, but rather, measures that can be taken to minimize the gaps
Gap

Definitions

Measures

Customers expectations

Use of good Customer Relationship Management Techniques to

versus management

profile & know customers expectations, tastes and needs

perceptions

E.g: XYZ Events Ltd should conduct sample surveys to know what

Management

Managers need to make sure the organization is defining the level of

perceptions versus

service they believe is needed.

service specifications

E.g.: XYZ Events Ltd could have offered pre-set wedding packages at

Service specifications

Managers need to audit the customer experience that their

versus service delivery

organization currently delivers in order to make sure it lives up to

customers expect nowadays

different prices with different services set.

the expected level.

E,g.: XYZ Events Ltd needs to ask customers to give their post
experience feedbacks
4

Service delivery versus

Use of good Communication skills and avoid ambiguous or

external

fraudulent terms to confuse or mislead the customer.

communication:

E.g.: XYZ Events Ltd should clearly inform the customer about

The discrepancy

Application of all the above measures to make sure the service

between customer

delivered meets the expectations of the customer

something that will not be possible to implement

17
17

THE KEY SERVICE DIMENSIONS

The five SERVQUAL dimensions are: R-A-T-E-R:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

RESPONSIVENESS - Willingness to help customers and

provide prompt service
ASSURANCE - Knowledge and courtesy of employees
and their ability to convey trust and confidence
TANGIBLES - Appearance of physical facilities,
equipment, personnel, and communication materials
EMPATHY - Caring, individualized attention the firm
provides its customers
RELIABILITY - Ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately
18

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed

on 22 October 2012]

RESPONSIVENESS

Responsiveness means to
immediately, or instantly.

respond

quickly,

promptly,

rapidly,

Even if customers are chronically slow in getting back to providers,

responsiveness is very crucial in their service quality assessment.
Whether it's 30 minutes, 4 hours, or 24 hours, it's important that
customers feel providers are promptly responsive to their requests
at anytime. Not only for emergencies, but even for everyday
responses as well.
E.g. : A member of the public calls at Chantefrais to complain that a
particular Chantefrais outlet is not respecting its opening hours. The
quality officer, to whom all complaints are addressed, has to make
immediate inquiries & revert back to the plaintiff to reassure him
that necessary actions have been taken.
19

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed

20 October 2012]

ASSURANCE

Assurance is a combination of the following:

Competence - having the requisite skills and knowledge

Courtesy - politeness, respect, consideration and friendliness of

contact staff

Credibility - trustworthiness, believability and honesty of staff

Security - freedom from danger, risk or doubt, to feel in good hands

E.g. : Management of Chantefrais ensures that all staff is empowered

enough to address complaints and requests. Following to some rumours
sometime back, customers began asking whether there will be an
increase in price of products. Any staff were competent enough to
handle this question and was ready to give explanations and details if
asked.
20
Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22
October 2012]

TANGIBLES

Tangibles deals with all that is physically visible and touchable.

Even though this is the least important dimension, appearance matters.

Service providers will still want to make certain their employees appearance,
uniforms, equipment, and work areas on-site (closets, service offices, etc.) look
good.

The danger is for providers who can make everything look sharp, and then fall
short on RELIABILITY or RESPONSIVENESS.

E.g. : Chantefrais, stresses on ethics about dress code. Uniforms are provided
and no eccentricities are allowed such as flashy colours, or outrageously sexy
dresses for the ladies.

21

Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed 20 October

2012]

EMPATHY

Empathy is the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by

another person. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy
before they are able to feel compassion.
Empathy is a combination of the following:

Communication - keeping customers informed in a language they

understand and really listening to them.

Understanding the customer - making the effort to get to know customers

and their specific needs while trying to wear their shoes

E.g. : The way of living, the background, & the level of education, have to be
taken into consideration while dealing with Chantefraiss customers
(franchisees). The language used and the way the franchisee in DEpinay is
addressed is not the same as the one in Floreal is dealt with.
Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

22

RELIABILITY

Do what you say you're going to do when you said you were going to do it.
because Customers want to count on their providers.
It is three times more important to be reliable than have shiny new
equipment or flashy uniforms. Doesn't mean you can have ragged uniforms
and only be reliable. Service providers have to do both. But providers first
and best efforts are better spent making service reliable.

E.g. : Some time back, Chantefrais management had promised the launching
of a new product by a certain deadline, but for some technical reasons, was
not able to do so before I year. This resulted in a lost of trust and reliability
because the customers (franchisees) kept on asking about the new product
and front liners were unable to give satisfactory explanations. Chantefrais
now never makes promises before being sure to be able to fulfil them.
23
Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed 20
October 2012]

CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY

GAP 1: Not knowing what customers
expect
GAP 2: wrong service quality standards
GAP 3: The service performance gap
GAP 4: promises do not match actual
delivery
GAP 5: The difference between customer
perception and expectation

24
The Integrated Gaps Model of Service Quality
(Parasuraman, Zeithaml, Berry 1985)

CRITICISMS TO SERVQUAL

It has been criticized that SERVQUAL's 5 dimensions (RATER)

are not universals, and that the model fails to draw on
established economic, statistical and psychological theory.
There is little evidence that customers assess service quality
in terms of Perception / Expectation gaps.
SERVQUAL focuses on the process of service delivery, not the
outcomes of the service encounter.
There is a high degree of intercorrelation between the five
RATER dimensions, thus the scores obtained cannot be exact.
25

Francis Buttle, 1996, "SERVQUAL: review, critique, research agenda," European Journal of Marketing,
Vol.30, Issue 1,

SERVQUAL; GOOD OR BAD???

SERVQUAL remains the most complete attempt to conceptualize and

measure service quality Nyeck, et al. (2002)
The main benefit to the SERVQUAL measuring tool is the ability of
researchers to examine numerous service industries such as healthcare,
banking, financial services, and education
Nyeck et al. (2002) reviewed 40 articles that made use of the SERVQUAL
measuring tool and discovered that few researchers concerned themselves
with the validation of the measuring tool, which means it is well anchored
as a trusted model.
SQ is widely regarded as a driver of corporate marketing and financial
performance

26
Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed 20
October 2012]

ADVANTAGES OF SERVQUAL

Enables assessing service quality from the customers perspective

We can track customer expectations and perceptions over time,

together with the discrepancies between them

Servqual enables comparison to competitors on common aspects

We can assess the expectations and perceptions of internal

customers
e.g. other departments or services we deal with.
27
Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed on 22 October 2012]

DISADVANTAGES OF SERVQUAL

The uniform applicability of the method for all

service sectors is difficult.

The use of expectations in measuring service

quality has currently come under a lot ofcriticism.

Does not measure service outcome perceptions.

28
Scribd [Online] Available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/54111013/What-isServqual [Accessed on 20 October 2012

METHODOLOGY OF SERVQUAL

The method essentially involves conducting a sample survey of

customers so that their perceived service needs are understood.
For measuring their perceptions of service quality for the
organization in question, customers are asked to answer
numerous questions within each dimension that determines:

The relative importance of each attribute.

A measurement of performance expectations that would
relate to an excellent company.
A measurement of performance for the company in question.

This provides an assessment of the gap between desired and

actual performance.
This allows an organization to focus its resources where
necessary and to maximize service quality whilst costs are
controlled

29

Scribd [Online] Available at <http://www.scribd.com/doc/54111013/What-is-Servqual> [Accessed on 20 October 2012

USES OF SERVQUAL

To assess a company's service quality along each of the 5 SERVQAL

dimensions. E.g. XYZ Events Ltd carries out the servqual survey to know
where it stands in the perception of customers.
To track customer's expectations and perceptions over time. E.g. XYZ
Events Ltd wants to compare its score of last year against that of the
current year to know whether it has improved or has to improve
To compare a company's SERVQUAL scores against competitors. E.g.:
XYZ Events Ltd wants to compare its score against that of 1570 Events
Ltd to see who is the best.
To identify and examine customer segments that differ significantly in
their assessment of a company's service performance.
To assess internal service quality (interdepartmental comparison)
30
Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_servqual_model> [Accessed
20 October 2012]

APPLICATIONS OF SERVQUAL

Service quality has become an important research topic because of its

apparent relationship to costs, profitability, customer satisfaction, and
customer retention
SERVQUAL has been a keyword in 41 publications which incorporate both
theoretical discussions and applications of SERVQUAL in a variety of
industrial, commercial and not-for-profit settings.
Some of the published studies include :

hotels (Saleh and Ryan, 1992)

travel and tourism (Fick and Ritchie, 1991),

car servicing (Bouman and van der Wiele, 1992),

business schools (Rigotti and Pitt, 1992),

accounting firms (Freeman and Dart, 1993),

architectural services (Baker and Lamb, 1993),

airline catering (Babakus et al., 1993),

Mobile Telecommunications in Macedonia, (Zekiri et al., 2011)

31

Francis Buttle, 1996, "SERVQUAL: review, critique, research agenda," European Journal of Marketing,
Vol.30, Issue 1,

CONCLUSIONS

SERVQUAL is considered very complex, subjective and statistically

unreliable. The simplified RATER model however is a simple and
useful model for qualitatively exploring and assessing customers'
service experiences
It is an efficient model in helping an organization shape up their
efforts in bridging the gap between perceived and expected service
SERVQUAL is used to track customer's expectations and perceptions
over time to compare the company's SERVQUAL scores against
competitors.
Although SERVQUAL's face and construct validity are in doubt, it is
widely used in modified forms (RATER) to measure customer
32
expectations and perceptions of service quality.

THE END
THANK YOU

SERVICE
MARKETING
33

Toorawa Z., Naiko D., (2012), The Servqual Model

LIST OF REFERENCES

Arlt-lectures. [Online] Available at <www.arlt-lectures.com/servqual.ppt> [Accessed

on 22 October 2012]
Brainmates. [Online] Available at < http://www.brainmates.com.au/brainrants/thecustomer-service-gap-model > [Accessed on 23 October 2012]
Francis Buttle, 1996, "SERVQUAL: review, critique, research agenda," European
Journal of Marketing, Vol.30, Issue 1,
Luis Filipe Lages & Joana Cosme Fernandes, 2005, "The SERPVAL scale: A multi-item
instrument for measuring service personal values", Journal of Business Research
Nyeck, S., Morales, M., Ladhari, R., & Pons, F. (2002). "10 years of service quality
measurement: reviewing the use of the SERVQUAL instrument." Retrieved October
2012, from EBSCOhost database.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1986), "SERVQUAL: a multiple-item
scale formeasuring customer perceptions of service quality"

34

Scribd [Online] Available at <http://www.scribd.com/doc/54111013/What-is-Servqual>

[Accessed on 20 October 2012

LIST OF REFERENCES

Shahin, A. (2010), SERVQUAL and Model of Service Quality Gaps: A Framework for
Determining and Prioritizing Critical Factors in Delivering Quality Services, Online
artilcle.
Van Iwaarden, J., van der Wiele, T., Ball, L., and Millen, R. (2003), "Applying
SERVQUAL to web sites: An exploratory study", International Journal of Quality &
Reliability Management
Wikipedia [Online] Available at : <http://wiki.answers.com/ Q/ What_is_the _servqual
model> [Accessed 20 October 2012]
Wikipedia [Online] Available at: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERVQUAL> [Accessed
20 October 2012]
Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry, "Delivering Quality Service; Balancing Customer
Perceptions and Expectations," Free Press, 1990
Zeithaml,V. A., Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences
of Service quality. Journal of Marketing
35

Zekiri, J. (2011), Applying SERVQUAL Model and Factor Analysis in Assessing

Customer Satisfaction with Service Quality: The Case of Mobile Telecommunications
in Macedonia, Eurojournals

APPENDIX
Servqual Questionnaire for a Study on PCBs (Private Commercial Banks) in Bangladesh

36

APPENDIX

37
Business Management Dynamics Vol.1, No.1, July 2011, pp.01-11

SOFT COPY OF PRESENTATION

38