Service quality evaluation by service quality performance matrix

Abstract

Excellent service quality and high customer satisfaction is the key issue and challenge for today's service industry. Customer perception (satisfaction) and customer expectation (importance) determines the service quality performance. Questionnaires help service providers to realize their service quality performance, and the weighted average of customer satisfaction and the associated variance are commonly used indices reflecting customer expectation and customer percep tion. To evaluate, effectively and efficiently, service quality performance, this paper aims to portray customer expectation and customer satisfaction by assuming that the evaluation scales for expectation and satisfaction are between 0 and 1. This paper defines a customer satisfaction index and a customer expectation index based on the two parameters of a beta distribution, and the unbiased estimators for these two indices are provided. A standardized Service Quality Performance Matrix helps managers realize the service quality performance for important service elements with respect to the locations of the satisfaction index and the expectation index on the Service Quality Performance Matrix to propose adequate service quality improvement plans and strategies.