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Service quality evaluation in the context of a technology laboratory
Author(s) -
da Silva Marcelo Benetti Correa,
Pagnussat Daniel Tregnago,
Milan Gabriel Sperandio,
Bebber Suélen,
Rauber Mariana Rezzadori,
Graciola Ana Paula
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental quality management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6483
pISSN - 1088-1913
DOI - 10.1002/tqem.21529
Subject(s) - servqual , service quality , context (archaeology) , empathy , scale (ratio) , marketing , reliability (semiconductor) , quality (philosophy) , perception , exploratory factor analysis , service (business) , variance (accounting) , customer satisfaction , psychology , business , social psychology , geography , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , power (physics) , physics , cartography , accounting , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
The intent of this research is to investigate how the customers of a technological control laboratory for civil construction materials perceived the quality of the services delivered by the lab, specifically in regard to the service of concrete compression testing. The popular SERVQUAL scale, a multidimensional instrument used to capture customer expectations and perceptions, was used as a model for the application of a survey. Exploratory factor analyses were employed to evaluate customers’ perceptions and experiences of service quality in regard to the dimensions and accompanying attributes of the SERVQUAL scale. Twenty attributes, which were grouped within five dimensions (Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Responsiveness, and Empathy), were identified, explaining 80.417% of the variance between customer expectations and perceptions and characterizing these dimensions on a modified SERVQUAL scale. Analysis of the results allowed us to identify discrepancies in perceived service quality compared with customers’ expectations. Most of the identified gaps between expectations and perceptions resulted in negative values.