Measurement of internal service quality: application of the SERVQUAL battery to internal service quality

TLDR

Internal marketing depends on internal service quality, yet no consensus exists on how to measure it, and prior attempts to adapt SERVQUAL have not proven its suitability. The study sought to adapt the SERVQUAL instrument for internal service quality measurement and evaluate its appropriateness. The authors modified SERVQUAL for a service setting and empirically tested its validity. The study confirmed that all five SERVQUAL dimensions—reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness—are distinct and conceptually clear in this context.

Abstract

Internal marketing is an important approach for fostering a service‐ and customer‐oriented culture in an organization. A critical component of internal marketing is the provision of internal service quality. While researchers have conducted studies of internal service quality, there has been no general agreement on the measurement of the concept. Work to date has attempted to use the SERVQUAL instrument as a tool for measuring internal service quality. Researchers have not, however, demonstrated that the instrument can be reasonably modified to measure internal service quality. The current study modified the SERVQUAL instrument for a service setting and empirically tested and confirmed that it is appropriate for measuring internal service quality. While previous research has not confirmed the validity and reliability of all five SERVQUAL dimensions in a service setting, the results of the current study confirmed that all five dimensions – reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness – were distinct and conceptually clear.