Key determinants of real estate service quality among renters and buyers

Purpose\ud\ud - The purpose of this study is to compare quality perceptions of virtual servicescapes and physical service encounters among buyers and renters of real estate.\ud\ud\ud\udDesign/methodology/approach\ud\ud - Qualitative data from a sample of 27 professionals engaged in higher education in the USA are gathered by recorded interview before being transcribed and imported into MAXQDA 2007 software for analytical coding.\ud\ud\udFindings\ud\ud - Particular differences are found to exist between renters and buyers with regard to specific service attributes – for example, description of properties and type of visuals during the pre‐purchase stage, knowledge/experience and honest behavior of realtors during the service encounter stage and a continuous relationship with the realtor in the post‐encounter stage.\ud\ud\udResearch limitations/implications\ud\ud\ud - Generalization of the results is limited because the study utilizes data from only one industry (real estate) and from only one demographic segment (professionals in higher education).\ud\ud\udPractical implications\ud\ud\ud - Real‐estate firms need to pay attention to both the training of agents and the design and content of their websites.\ud\ud\udOriginality/value\ud\ud - This paper contributes to knowledge regarding virtual servicescapes in professional services