A Study on the Service Quality Aspects of Mobile Phone Service Providers in Kerala
Keywords:
Service Quality, SERVPERF, Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, Empathy, ResponsivenessAbstract
This study aims to carry out a comparison between the public sector & private sector mobile phone service providers in Kerala. The study also attempt to find out relationship between the various regions of Kerala (North, South, Central) and the overall satisfaction of subscribers
This study makes use of the model SERVPERF. This model appraises the perception of quality services based on the customers‟ perception of actual performance.
Hypothesis testing is carried out with the help of statistical tools to identify and establish the results. The results of hypothesis testing reveal the following
(a) There exist significant differences in the perceived service quality from private sector service providers in comparison with public sector service providers.
(b) There exist significant differences in the perceived service quality by customers of north, central and south districts of the state of Kerala.
The major conclusion of the study states that private sector service providers are far ahead in their race for market share, and they outclass the public sector service providers in every aspect of quality of service. Considering the small state Kerela which is high in population density, the preferences of customers vary across the different regions viz north, central and south. Hence service providers need to zoom in to these region preferences expected by customers so as to satisfy them and retain them in the long run.
Recommendations for future research would be the value added services, retention strategies etc adopted by the major service providers in the state of Kerala.
References
Armstrong, Gary & Kotler(1996). Principles of marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. ; Singapore : Prentice Hall, c1996
Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R., Zeithaml, V.A., (1993). A dynamic process model of service quality: from expectations to behavioral intentions. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 30, February, pp. 7-27.
J. Joseph Cronin, Jr. and Steven A. Taylor (1992). Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1992), pp. 55-68
Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2006). Marketing Management. 12th Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Nunnally, C.J. (1978). Psychometric Theory. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Reichheld, Frederick F (2001). The loyalty effect: Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press
Susan Nash, Derek Nash (2002). Deliver Outstanding Customer Service, 2nd edition, Little, Brown Book Group London, United Kingdom
Ton van der Wiele, Paul Boselie, Martijn Hesselink, (2002). Empirical evidence for the relationship between customer satisfaction and business performance, Managing Service Quality. An International Journal, Vol. 12 Issue: 3, pp.184-193 Published by MCB UP Ltd
Zeithaml, V.A. and Bitner, M.J. (2003). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus across the Firm. 3rd edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, New York.
Zineldin, M. (2006). The quality of health care and patient satisfaction: an exploratory investigation of the 5Q model at some Egyptian and Jordanian medical clinics, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 60-92.
