Measuring cross‐cultural service quality

TLDR

Internationalisation of service industries has heightened the need for cross‑cultural consumer‑perceived service quality data, yet lack of equivalence and response‑bias detection threatens data comparability and can invalidate research conclusions. The study proposes a framework that enables academics and managers to evaluate how international measurement issues affect cross‑cultural service quality research. The authors review existing cross‑cultural service quality literature and outline methods for detecting and correcting cross‑national response biases.

Abstract

The trend towards internationalisation in many service industries has increased the need for both managers and academics to collect cross‐cultural/national consumer‐perceived service quality data. Failure to establish cross‐cultural equivalence and to detect differences in cross‐national response bias will, however, affect data comparability, may invalidate the research results and could therefore lead to incorrect inferences about attitudes and behaviours across national groups. By initially focussing on developments in the mono‐cultural service quality literature, a framework is presented whereby academics and managers can assess the potential impact of these international measurement issues. Existing cross‐cultural service quality literature is reviewed and the extent to which these issues are addressed is highlighted. Methods for detecting and correcting cross‐national response biases are discussed.