Examining the Role of Service Quality in Overall Service Satisfaction

Service quality is generally viewed as the output of the service delivery system, especially in the case of pure service systems (Fitzsimmons and Sullivan, 1982). Moreover, service quality is linked to consumer satisfaction. Although there is no consensus in the research community about the direction of causality relating quality and satisfaction, the common assumption is that service quality leads to satisfied customers (Anderson and Fornell, 1994; Reidenbach and Sandifer-Smallwood, 1990, Woodside et al., 1989). For example, customers leaving a restaurant or hotel are asked if they were satisfied with the service they received. If they answer "no," we tend to assume service was poor. Direct service providers, such as waitresses, also note that at times the best service efforts are criticized because the customer's perceptions of the service are clouded by being in a bad mood or having a disagreement with someone just before arriving at the restaurant. These service providers recognize that in practice the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction is affected by other factors, one of which is the customers themselves. The purpose of this study is to determine if well-being influences customer satisfaction. A model with both customer well-being and service quality impacting customer satisfaction is compared to a model relating only service quality to customer satisfaction. Long-term health care was chosen as the context for the study since the service experience pervades the person's life environment. In this context service quality would be expected to override other factors in determining overall service satisfaction since the service experience constitutes the person's milieu. ff another factor other than service quality can be shown to affect service satisfaction in this context, then it is reasonable to assume that service quality cannot be equated with overall service satisfaction in other less constrained service contexts. BACKGROUND This study examines three constructs and their relationships. Two of the constructs, service quality and customer satisfaction, have received a great deal of attention in the marketing and operations management literature. Although there is no consensus about the differences and relationships between the constructs, prior empirical work makes it possible to differentiate between the constructs and operationally define them (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994). Service quality refers to customers' appraisals of the service core, the provider, or the entire service organization. According to Holbrook and Corfman (1985), perceived quality is a global judgment relating to the superiority of a product. Defining service quality as a measure of excellence in terms of perceptions is not sufficient according to Langevin (1988). He maintains that "it is obvious that understanding customer expectations and meeting customer needs is the single most critical issue and determinant of service quality" (1988:4). Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml(1988) agree that expectations are important but add that it is actually the difference between perceptions of a service and expectations for that service which should be used as the measure of service quality. This line of reasoning follows the disconfirmation of expectation paradigm proposed by Oliver (1980). Parasuraman et al. (1988) developed the SERVQUAL instrument to measure perceived service quality in terms of the gaps between customer expectations and actual judgment of performance along five dimensions of service quality. The five dimensions identified from empirical studies are: 1) Tangibles - physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of employees. 2) Reliability - ability to perform the required service dependably and accurately. 3) Responsiveness - willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. 4) Assurance - knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. …