1. The Gaps Model of Service Quality
• Introduce a framework, called the gaps model of
service quality.
• Demonstrate that the most critical service quality
gap to close is the customer gap, the difference
between customer expectations and perceptions.
• Show that four gaps that occur in companies,
which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the
customer gap.
• Identify the factors responsible for each of the four
provider gaps.

2. Gaps Model of Service Quality
• Customer Gap:
– difference between customer expectations and perceptions
• Provider Gap 1 (The Knowledge Gap):
– not knowing what customers expect
• Provider Gap 2 (The Service Design & Standards Gap):
– not having the right service designs and standards
• Provider Gap 3 (The Service Performance Gap):
– not delivering to service standards
• Provider Gap 4 (The Communication Gap):
– not matching performance to promises

3. The Customer Gap
Expected
service
Customer Gap
Perceived
service

4. Key Factors Leading
to the Customer Gap
Customer
Expectations
Customer
Gap
 Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect
 Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards
 Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards
 Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises
Customer
Perceptions

5. Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 1
Customer Expectations
 Inadequate marketing research orientation
Gap Insufficient marketing research
Research not focused on service quality
1 Inadequate use of market research
 Lack of upward communication
Lack of interaction between management and customers
Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers
Too many layers between contact personnel and top management
 Insufficient relationship focus
Lack of market segmentation
Focus on transactions rather than relationships
Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers
 Inadequate service recovery
Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints
Failure to make amends when things go wrong
No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place for service failures
Company Perceptions of Customer
Expectations

6. Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
2
Customer-Driven Service Designs
and Standards
Gap
 Poor service design
2 Unsystematic new service development process
Vague, undefined service designs
Failure to connect service design to service positioning
 Absence of customer-driven standards
Lack of customer-driven service standards
Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals
 Inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape
Failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations
Servicescape design that does not meet customer and
employee needs
Inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape
Management Perceptions of
Customer Expectations

7. Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
3
Customer-Driven Service Designs
and Standards
Gap  Deficiencies in human resource policies
Ineffective recruitment
3 Role ambiguity and role conflict
Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems
Lack of empowerment, perceived control, and teamwork
 Customers who do not fulfill roles
Customers who lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities
Customers who negatively impact each other
 Problems with service intermediaries
Channel conflict over objectives and performance
Difficulty controlling quality and consistency
Tension between empowerment and control
 Failure to match supply and demand
Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand
Service Delivery

8. Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
4
Service Delivery
 Lack of integrated services marketing communications
Gap Tendency to view each external communication as independent
Absence of strong internal marketing program
 Ineffective management of customer expectations
4 Absence of customer expectation management through all forms of
communication
Lack of adequate education for customers
 Overpromising
Overpromising in advertising
Overpromising in personal selling
Overpromising through physical evidence cues
 Inadequate horizontal communications
Insufficient communication between sales and operations
Insufficient communication between advertising and operations
Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units
External Communications to
Customers

9. Gaps Model of Service Quality
Expected Service
CUSTOMER
Customer
Gap
Perceived
Service
External
COMPANY Service
Communications to
Delivery Gap 4 Customers
Gap 3
Gap 1 Customer-Driven Service
Designs and Standards
Gap 2
Company Perceptions of
Consumer Expectations

10. Service Quality: The Parasuraman,
Berry and Zeithaml Models
Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, professors at various
American business schools- built a conceptual model of
service quality, developed a questionnaire called SERVQUAL
which measures service quality, and conceptualised a model
for shortfall in service quality called the Gaps Model. We will
discuss their work, as it forms an important part of the
literature on services marketing.
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11. Contd…Service Quality
These three authors contend that the customer is the best
judge of service quality. They identified five criteria that
customers use to evaluate service quality. These were-
Tangibles
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
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12. Definitions of the SERVQUAL Dimensions
• Tangibles: Appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
personnel, and communication materials.
• Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and
accurately.
• Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide
prompt service.
• Assurance: Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their
ability to inspire trust and confidence.
• Empathy: Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its
customers.
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13. Determinants of Perceived Service
Quality
Dimensions of Service Quality
Word of Personal Past
1. Access Mouth Needs Experience
2. Communication
3. Competence
4. Courtesy External
5. Credibility Expected Communication
Service to Customers
6. Reliability
7. Responsiveness
8. Security Service Perceived
Quality Service
9. Tangibles Gap Quality
10. Understanding/Knowing the
Customer
Perceived
Service
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14. Correspondence between SERVQUAL Dimensions and
Original Ten Dimensions for Evaluating Service Quality
Original Ten SERVQUAL Dimensions
Dimensions for
Evaluating Service
Quality TANGIBLES RELIABILITY RESPONSIVENESS ASSURANCE EMPATHY
TANGIBLES
RELIABILITY
RESPONSIVENESS
COMPETENCE
COURTESY
CREDIBILITY
SECURITY
ACCESS
COMMUNICATION
UNDERSTANDING/
KNOWING THE
CUSTOMER
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15. The Five Key Service Dimensions
• ASSURANCE - a combination of the following
– Competence - having the requisite skills and
knowledge
– Courtesy - politeness, respect, consideration and
friendliness of contact staff
– Credibility - trustworthiness, believability and
honesty of staff
– Security - freedom from danger, risk or doubt

16. The Five Key Service Dimensions
• EMPATHY - a combination of the following:
– Access (physical and social) - approachability and
ease of contact
– Communication - keeping customers informed in
a language they understand and really listening
to them
– Understanding the customer - making the effort
to get to know customers and their specific
needs

17. Framework for isolating differences in
evaluation of quality
• Search Properties : attributes which a
consumer determine prior to purchasing a
product.
– Ex colour, style, price, fit, feel, hardness, and smell
• Experience Properties : attributes which can
only be discerned after purchase or during
consumption
– Ex taste, wearability, and dependability.

18. • Credence properties : Characteristics which
the customer may find impossible to evaluate
even after purchase and consumption.
• These aspects of service quality can be
categorized into the 10 service quality
determinants and can be arrayed along a
continuum ranging from easy to evaluate to
difficult to evaluate

19. Figure 5.1
Customer Perceptions of Quality and Customer
Satisfaction

20. Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction
• Product/service quality
• Specific product or service features
• Attributions for service success or failure
• Perceptions of equity or fairness
• Other consumers, family members, and
coworkers
• Price
• Personal factors
– the customer’s mood or emotional state
– situational factors

21. Service Quality
• The customer’s judgment of overall
excellence of the service provided in relation
to the quality that was expected.
• Service quality assessments are formed on
judgments of:
– outcome quality
– interaction quality
– physical environment quality