BANGLADESH RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS JOURNAL

ISSN: 1998-2003, Volume: 3, Issue: 4, Page: 1171-1180, March-April, 2010

AN ANALYSIS OF THE SERVICE GAP OF ADVERTISING AGENCIES IN

BANGLADESH: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON AD AGENCY CLIENTS
Farhana Khan
Farhana Khan.(2010). An Analysis of the Service Gap of Advertising Agencies in Bangladesh: An
empirical Study on Ad Agency Clients. Bangladesh Res. Pub. J. 3(4): 1171-1180. Retrieve from
http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/admin/journal/upload/09138/09138.pdf

Abstract
An Advertising Agency or ad agency is a service provider that works for
clients to create an effective and goal oriented advertising campaign
aimed at representing the Company positively in the eyes of its target
customers. Businesses hire advertising agencies to connect with their target
customers. In the face of stiff competition, every Co / brand wants to break
through this clutter and create a favorable space for itself. Ad agencies
help clients to do just this by creating attention grabbing, persuasive and
unique ad campaigns that make the brand stand out in the minds of
customers. Many businesses organizations are involved with different
advertising agencies in order to maintain their activities effectively and
efficiently. But till now, this sector has not developed their service up to
level of expectation of user. There are plenty of reasons behind such
condition of this sector, but one of the important reasons is that Ad
agencies failed to meet the expectations of the clients regarding services.
This study aims to compare the clients perceptions and expectations of
services offered by the advertising agencies in Bangladesh and find out
the gap by using the SERVQUAL model as the basis of conducting the
research. Among the seven major service gaps, this study was concerned
about gap five, i.e. the between the expectations and perceptions of the
clients of Advertising Agencies. For conducting this research, 50 clients in
the Dhaka city were selected who are involved with Ad agencies. From
data analysis it is found that there is a significant gap exists between the
clients expectations and perceptions in all the items under all of the
dimensions of the chosen Model. As the highest gap exist in the
Responsiveness dimension of the SERVQUAL model, the Ad agencies
should concentrate on all the items of this dimension in order to minimize
the service gap. It is also found that user perceptions vary significantly
across their level of education, the different types of clients, and their status
of experience with the agency. Employees of the agencies should give
prompt service to clients and always be willing to help them. Moreover,
they should not show any business to respond to customers requests. This
study recommends some steps to minimize the service gap for the future
growth of the Advertising agencies in Bangladesh.
Key words: Advertising, Advertising Agency, Service gap, SERVQUAL Model

Introduction
With the growing population of the world, it is a natural thing that there is a
great demand for products of all kinds. This demand for products means that
there is an obvious need to create such products and launch them in the market.
Another factor at work here is the growing industry which manufactures
everything imaginable under the sun. Hence, there is a subsequent need to let
Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University

Farhana Khan

1172

people know about these myriad products. Herein comes the concept of
advertising. Most individuals are ignorant about many products. Since the
company has come to the market with the objective of selling its product, the
onus is on the company itself to let more and more people know about their
product. It is through advertising that this can be done. With the development of
printing technology in the 15th and 16th centuries, handbills were used as a form
of advertising. By the 17th century, newspaper advertisements made their way in
England, which were mainly for printed books, and medicines. By the 19th
century, classified advertisements became popular in the United States for
promoting a variety of goods. This century also brought in the first advertising
agency in Philadelphia, in 1843. From just being brokers for ad space in
newspapers, the advertising agencies graduated to writing ad contents by the
20th century. An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated
to creating, planning and handling advertising (and sometimes other forms of
promotion) for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and
provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or
services. An agency can also handle overall marketing and branding strategies
and sales promotions for its clients. Typical ad agency clients include businesses
and corporations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Agencies
may be hired to produce an advertising campaign. Many businesses
organizations are involved with different advertising agencies in order to maintain
their activities effectively and efficiently. But till now, this sector has not developed
their service up to level of expectation of user. There are plenty of reasons behind
such condition of this sector, but one of the important reasons is that Ad agencies
failed to meet the expectations of the clients regarding services. This study aims to
compare the clients perceptions and expectations of services offered by the
advertising agencies in Bangladesh and find out the gap by using the SERVQUAL
model as the basis of conducting the research.
Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study is to find out the service gap, i.e, the gap
between the expectations and perceptions of the customers (here clients) about
the service rendered by the Advertising Agencies.
Specific objectives of this study are:

To find out the expectations of the clients of Advertising Agencies

To find out the perceptions of the clients of Advertising Agencies

To find out whether the customers (here clients) perceptions vary across their
different levels of education or not.

To find out whether the customers (here clients) perceptions vary across the
different types of customers (here clients) or not.

To find out whether the customers (here clients) perceptions vary across their
status of experiences or not.

Advertising agencies in Bangladesh

It is not long time adverting agencies have emerged as a major

contributing industry to the economy of Bangladesh. More than 50 agencies are
operating business currently in Bangladesh. Table 1 shows the list of the Leading
Advertising Agencies in Bangladesh. These agencies come in all sizes and include
everything from one or two person shops (which rely mostly on freelance talent to
perform most functions), small to medium sized agencies, large independents,
and multi-national, multi-agency conglomerates. Most full-service agencies work
on a combination of fee-based and commission based compensation. The fee is
paid by the entity for which the marketing is being done. The commission is a

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payment from the medial to the agency and is usually equal to 15% of the cost of
the advertisement. The broadcast media, radio and television traditionally pay a
commission. Interactive agencies may differentiate themselves by offering a mix
of
web
Design/Development,
Search
Engine
Marketing,
Internet
Advertising/Marketing, or E-Business/E-Commerce consulting. The advertising
agencies always try to give their best for your product because they want to
create a good impression on you so that you will refer others to their agency and
remain faithful to their work.
Table-1.Leading Advertising Agencies in Bangladesh
Adcomm Ltd
Asiatic Marketing
Communication Ltd
Benchmark Limited
Beach Adverting
Bitopi Adverting
Expression Ltd.
Grey Advertising Bangladesh
Ltd.
Interface Communications
Interspeed Advertising
Mattra
Charisma
Desh Procharoni
Don Advertising
Expressions Ltd.
Glory Ad.
Goti Media Ltd.
Inter Ad. Private Ltd.
Media-mix Enterprise Ltd.
Protishabda
Communications
Sani Advertising
Turn Communications
COREMEDIA
The Progoti Adverting

Media Comm Ltd

Neptune Adverting

Tint Communication
Universal Media

Nimbus Adverting
Nishu Advertising
Popular Advertising
Prism
Protishabda

Unitrend Ltd
ZANALA Bangladesh
ACI Media
Andes Ltd.
AD Headquarter Ltd.

Roop Communications
Step Media Ltd
Triune Advertising
Chowdhury Advertising
Dhara Ad.
DP7
Gemini
GUNGCHIL
Images
Madona
Poli Adverting
Prova Ad Corner

AD SCIENCE
Bicon Ad.
Care Ad.
Confidence
Discovery
Elegant Advertising
Genesis
Goti Media Ltd.
Impression Ltd.
Media plus
Prochito
Rubicon

Sharna Trade International

Vision Advertising
Ruma Advertising
Rekhayon Advertising Ltd.

The Austral Publicity

Wings Advertising
Perfect Design
Arani Advertising Ltd

Literature Review
Services can be defined as any activity or benefit that one party can offer
to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in ownership of
anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product. A
companys offerings often include some services. (Lovelock Christopher, 2004).
The instrument used in this study was adapted from SERVQUAL model
(Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988). This model highlights the main
requirements for delivering high service quality. Few studies have used SERVQUAL
to mesure Ad agencys service quality (KIM 1990: Pitt, Watson and Kavan 1995;
Shaw, Delone and Niedman 2002). These studies have confirmed that SERVQUAL
can be used in the environment of Advertising agencies.
The SERVQUAL is based on the concept of a service quality gap that
exists between the customers expected level of services (from the previous
experience and word-of-mouth communication) and their perception of actual
level of service delivery. And the model also identifies seven gaps that cause
unsuccessful delivery. The figure of the gaps of SERVQUAL Model is stated below:

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Personal needs

Word of mouth
communication

Past experience

Expected service
Gap 5
Perceived service

Consumer
Gap 6

Gap 4
Service delivery
(including pre-and post
contacts)
Provider

Employee
perceptions of
consumer
expectation

External
Communications to
customers

Gap 3

Translation of perceptions into

service quality specifications.

Gap 1

Gap 2
Gap 7

Management perceptions of
consumer expectations.

Figure 1. Model of service quality gaps (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Curry, 1999; Luk and
Layton, 2002).
Based on this service-quality model the researchers identified the following five
determinants of service-quality in order of importance.
1. Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
2. Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
3. Assurance: Employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust
and confidence.
4. Empathy: Caring, individualized attention given to customer.
5. Tangibles: Appearance of physical facility, equipment, personnel and written
materials.
Based on these five factors the researchers developed the 22-item SERVQUAL scale. These
are listed below:
1. Reliability:

Providing service as promised.

Dependability in handling customers service problems.

Performing services right the first time.

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An Analysis of the Service Gap

Providing services at the promised time.

Maintaining error-free records.

1175

2. Responsiveness:

Keeping customer informed as to when services will be performed.

Prompt service to customers

Willingness to help customers

Readiness to respond to customers requests.

3. Assurance:

Employees who instill confidence in customers

Making customers feel safe in their transactions

Employees who are consistently courteous

Employees who have the knowledge to answer customer questions.

4. Empathy:

Giving customers individual attention.

Employees who deal with customers in a caring fashion.

Having the customers best interest at Heart.

Employees who understand the needs of their customers

Convenient business hours.

5. Tangibles:

Modern equipment

Visually appealing facilities

Employees who have a neat, professional appearance

Visually appealing materials associated with the service.

Methodology
This study used self-administered questionnaire to collect necessary data.
The target population of this study was the clients of Advertising Agencies in
Dhaka City who are provided services by these agencies in their business
operation. Among various types of clients, this study only considered three types
of clients such as businesses and corporations, non-profit organizations and
government agencies. For conducting this research, necessary data had been
collected from 50 customers (here clients) on a convenient basis. The detail of the
sample size is shown in the following table.
Table 2. Details of Sample Size
Sl No.

Types of clients(according to business size)

Number of Clients

Non-profit organization

10

Business and corporations

35

Government agencies

05

Total

50

Analysis and Findings

t-test

For analyzing the data we have followed the t-test where null hypothesis
was that there is no gap exists between the customers expectation and

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perception of service delivered by the Advertising agencies. As the t value of all

items under the dimension of Reliability falls in significant area, we couldnt
accept the null hypothesis. Thus we can conclude that, there is a significant gap
exists between the users (here clients) expectations and perceptions in all the
items under the dimension of Reliability. The following table shows the result:
Table 3. Reliability
SL.
No.
1

Items
The firm will perform the service right the first
time
When the firm promises to do something by a
certain time, it will do so.
When a customer has a problem, the firm will
show a sincere interest in resolving it.

2
3

Mean Scores
Expected Actual
4.03
2.71

t
Value
8.344a

4.83

3.92

6.587a

4.83

3.94

8.547a

a = Significance at 1% level

As thet value of all items under the dimension of Responsiveness falls in

significant area, we couldnt accept the null hypothesis. Thus we can conclude
that, there is a significant gap exists between the users (here clients)
expectations and perceptions in all the items under the dimension of
Responsiveness. The following table shows the result:
Table 4. Responsiveness
SL.
No.
1
2
3

Items
Employees in the firm will give prompt service to
customers
Employees in the firm will always be willing to
help customers
Employees in the firm will never be too busy to
respond to customers requests

Mean Scores
Expected Actual
4.73
3.42

t
Value
9.045a

4.74

2.96

9.583a

4.05

3.03

7.104a

a = Significance at 1% level

As thet value of all items under the dimension of Assurance falls in

significant area, we couldnt accept the null hypothesis. Thus we can conclude
that, there is a significant gap exists between the users (here clients)
expectations and perceptions in all the items under the dimension of Assurance.
The following table shows the result:
Table 5. Assurance
SL. No.

Items

Employees in the firm will be consistently

courteous with customers
Employees in the firm will have the
knowledge to answer customers questions
Customers of the firm will feel safe in their
transactions.

2
3

Mean Scores
Expected Actual
4.81
4.17

t
Value
5.621a

4.83

3.80

8.481a

4.58

3.39

8.361a

a = Significance at 1% level

As thet value of all items under the dimension of Empathy falls in

significant area, we couldnt accept the null hypothesis. Thus we can conclude
that, there is a significant gap exists between the users (here clients)
expectations and perceptions in all the items under the dimension of Empathy.
The following table shows the result:

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1177

Table 6. Empathy
SL.
No.
1

Items
The firm will have employees who give
customers personal attention
The employees of the firm will understand the
specific needs of their customers
The firm will have the customers best interests
at heart.

2
3

Mean Scores
Expected Actual
4.74
3.46

t
Value
9.165a

4.85

3.83

8.834a

4.76

3.53

10.730a

a = Significance at 1% level

As thet value of all items under the dimension of Tangibles falls in

significant area, we couldnt accept the null hypothesis. Thus we can conclude
that, there is a significant gap exists between the users (here clients)
expectations and perceptions in all the items under the dimension of Tangibles.
The following table shows the result:
Table 7. Tangibles
SL.
No.
1

Items
Materials associated with the service will be
visually appealing in the firm

Mean Scores
Expected Actual
4.12
3.37

t
Value
5.604a

a = Significance at 1% level

Based on data analysis, the major finding of this study is that there is a
significant service gap exists regarding the users expectations and their
perceptions in all the items under all the dimensions of the SERVQUAL Model. It
indicates that the vendors are not concerned about expectations of their
customers (here clients) regarding the services they offered. Though all the
dimensions under this model represents gap, the intensity of the gap is not the
same in all dimensions. Based on average mean score, the following table shows
the intensity of the service gap of all the dimensions under the model concerned.
Table 8. Relative position of the dimensions based on service Gap
Dimensions
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
Tangibles

Perception
Average
3.52
3.13
3.79
3.60
3.37

Expectation
Average
4.56
4.51
4.74
4.78
4.12

Gap
-1.03
-1.38
-0.95
-1.18
-0.75

From the above table it is clear that the Responsiveness dimension has the
highest gap based on the customers (here clients) perception (mean score) and
their expectations (mean score). The second large gap is found in the Empathy
dimension.
ANOVA

To see whether the users perceptions vary across the different levels of
education, types of clients, and status of users experience, the ANOVA test was
used. The following tables (09, 10 and 11) show it.

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Table 9. Variation of Users Perception across the level of Education

Sl No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Items
When a customer has a problem, the firm will show a sincere interest
in resolving it.
Employees in the firm will give prompt service to customers
Employees in the firm will always be willing to help customers
Employees in the firm will never be too busy to respond to
customers requests
Employees in the firm will have the knowledge to answer customers
questions
The firm will have the customers best interests at heart.
Materials associated with the service will be visually appealing in the
firm

F
Value
5.636a
14.204a
7.213a
5.028a
3.311b
2.589b
4.842a

a= significance at 1% level, b= significance at 5% level

From the above table it is clear that among the 13 items of the chosen
model, customers (here clients) perceptions vary significantly across their level of
education (under graduation, graduation, and post graduation) in the 7 items.
Table 10. Variation of Customers Perception across Different Types of Customer
Sl
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Items
When a customer has a problem, the firm will show a sincere interest in
resolving it.
Employees in the firm will always be willing to help customers
Employees in the firm will be consistently courteous with customers
Employees in the firm will have the knowledge to answer customers
questions
The firm will have employees who give customers personal attention
The employees of the firm will understand the specific needs of their
customers
The firm will have the customers best interests at heart.

F
Value
2.592b
3.514b
16.233a
11.760a
18.763a
4.951a
6.890a

a= significance at 1% level, b= significance at 5% level

Above table shows that customer perceptions also vary significantly

across the different types of customers in 7 items out of 13 of the chosen model.
Table 11. Variation of Customers Perception across status of their Experience
Sl No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Items
When the firm promises to do something by a certain time, it will do
so.
The firm will perform the service right the first time
Employees in the firm will give prompt service to customers
Employees in the firm will always be willing to help customers
Employees in the firm will never be too busy to respond to
customers requests
Employees in the firm will be consistently courteous with customers
Employees in the firm will have the knowledge to answer customers
questions
The firm will have employees who give customers personal attention
The employees of the firm will understand the specific needs of their
customers
The firm will have the customers best interests at heart.

a= significance at 1% level, b= significance at 5% level

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F
Value
6.606a
7.827a
4.328b
14.731
4.951b
6.760a
14.403a
75.519a
7.248a
33.642a

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1179

Above table indicates that customers perceptions also vary significantly

across their status of experience with agency in 10 items out of 13 of the chosen
model.
Finally, it can be said that there is a significant gap exist between the
perceptions and expectations of the customers regarding the services provide by
the Agencies and there is a significant variation in the customers perceptions
across their different level of education, the different types of customers, and their
status of experience with software.

Limitations of the study

Like any other research work, several limitations are associated with this
task. They are as follows

Data were not available about customers as well as about agencies.

Some respondents were reluctant to provide information about the subject mater.

Further scope of the study

Actually this study was conducted to find out the service gap between the
customers perception and expectation by using the SERVQUAL model. This is a
unique study because in case of analyzing the service gap of the Advertising
Agencies, the SERVQUAL model was not used here in Bangladesh. But the same
study can be done by using SERVPREF model (Cronin and Taylor 1992) also. So,
there will be an opportunity for the researchers to conduct the same study by
using another model and there will be a scope to find out the validity of such type
of research.

Conclusions
Based on the SERVQUAL model, this article developed a questionnaire to
evaluate the customers perceptions of services rendered by the Advertising
Agencies in Bangladesh. A significant service gap (gap between the customers
perception of services and their expectations) has been found in all dimensions of
the chosen model. But among five dimensions, the largest service gap exists in the
responsiveness dimension. So the Advertising Agencies should concentrate on
each and every item under all the dimensions of the SERVQUAL model in order to
improve their target customers perceptions of services quality. Besides, the
customers perceptions about the services rendered by the Advertising Agencies
vary significantly across their level of education, the different types of customers,
and their status of experience with agency. Thus service providers should concern
about the users level of education, the experience they have about the agency
and different types of customers in order to ensure the better quality services.

Recommendations

As the highest gap exist in the Responsiveness dimension of the SERVQUAL model, the
Ad agencies should concentrate on all the items of this dimension in order to minimize
the gap. Employees of the agencies should give prompt service to customers and
always be willing to help them. Moreover they should not show any business to
respond to customers requests.

The advertising agencies should have employees who give customers personal
attention. Agencies should understand the actual need of their customers as they are
offering services. The firm should have the customers best interests at heart.

The firm should keep its promises to do something by a certain time. When a customer
has a problem, the firm should show a sincere interest in resolving it. Moreover they
should perform the service appropriately the first time.

Employees of the agencies should be consistently courteous with customers.

The agencies should take in to consideration the education level of the user as it is
one of the factors that causes the variation in the customers perceptions of services.

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1180

References
Babakus, E., and G.W. Boller, 1991, An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL
scale. Journal of Business Research 24,pp254-263.
Babakus, E., and G.W. Boller, 1991, An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL
scale. Journal of Business Research 24,pp253-268.
Kotler Philip, Keller Kevin Lane, Marketing Management, Twelfth edition,
Pearson Hall, pp 405-407, 412-414.
Love lock Christopher, Wirtz Jochen, 2004, Service Marketin: People, Technology,
Strategy, 5th edition, Pearson education(Singapore) Pte. Ltd., pp 406-411.
Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V.A , and Berry L.L., 1988, SERVQUAL:A multiple-Item
Scale for Measuring consumer Perceptions of Service Quality, Journal of
Retailing 64 (spring 1988), pp 12-40.
Zeithaml Valarie A., Bitner Mary Jo, 2003, Services Marketing: Integrating
Customer focus across the firm, third edition, TATA McGraw-Hill publishing
Company Limited,pp61-79,84-113,135-141.
Appendix 01
Questionnaire on Service Gap Analysis
Name of the respondent:
Address:
1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4=Agree, 5= Strongly Agree

1
2

3
4
5
6
7
8

9
10

11
12
13

When the firm promises to do

something by a certain time, it will do
so.
When a customer has a problem, the
firm will show a sincere interest in
resolving it.
The firm will perform the service right
the first time
Employees in the firm will give prompt
service to customers
Employees in the firm will always be
willing to help customers
Employees in the firm will never be
too busy to respond to customers
requests
Employees in the firm will be
consistently courteous with customers
Employees in the firm will have the
knowledge to answer customers
questions
The firm will have employees who
give customers personal attention
The employees of the firm will
understand the specific needs of their
customers
The firm will have the customers best
interests at heart.
Customers of the firm will feel safe in
their transactions.
Materials associated with the service
will be visually appealing in the firm.

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What
do
you
expect an Ad firm
to be liked for each
factor?
1
2
3
4
5

How do you rate

your firms service
performance
for
each factor?
1
2
3
4
5