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A measure of retail service quality

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A measure of retail service quality
Keywords
Service quality, Retailing,
Department stores,
Customer service
Abstract
Current measures of service
quality for retail stores are scarce.
A validated Retail Service Quality
Scale is used to study the service
quality delivery of a department
store chain and its impact on
consumption behaviour. It results
in six dimensions; they are
namely: personal interaction;
policy; physical appearance;
promises; problem solving; and
convenience. The findings show
that the impact of physical
appearance and the policy are
salient on the overall perceived
service quality and the future
shopping behaviour respectively.
Among the six service dimensions,
the physical appearance and
policy have the greatest impact on
the overall service quality and on
future consumption respectively.
The implications for practitioners
and researchers are discussed.
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
# MCB University Press
[ISSN 0263-4503]
[ 88 ]
Noel Y.M. Siu
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, School of Business, Hong Kong
Baptist University, Hong Kong
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
MPhil student, Department of Marketing, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist
University, Hong Kong
Introduction
Service quality has become a significant
research topic in the past decade due to its
apparent relationship to customer
satisfaction (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Boulding
et al., 1993), high revenues, increased cross-
sell ratios, higher customer retention
(Bennett and Higgins, 1988), repeat
purchasing behaviour (Taylor and Cronin,
1994) and expanded market share (Bowen and
Hedges, 1993). In today's competitive retail
environment, the delivery of high service
quality has long been treated as the basic
retailing strategy (Berry, 1986; Hummel and
Savitt, 1988; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990).
Gagliano and Hathcote (1994) have classified
the retail services into ``store service'', the
extent to which variety, quality, and
dependability of service can be obtained, and
``sales service'', the extent to which prompt
and individual service attention can be
achieved. Retailers can concentrate their
retail strategies on both store and sales
service. Thus, checking and measuring the
retail service quality becomes important.
Nevertheless, the most widely known and
discussed scale for measuring service quality
± SERVQUAL ± has not been successfully
adapted to and validated in a retail store
environment (Dabholkar et al., 1996).
Dabholkar et al.(1996), based on US samples,
have recently developed a validated Retail
Service Quality Scale to measure retail
service quality specifically. The scale has
been viewed as a generalized scale that is
suitable for studying retail businesses that
offer a mix of services and goods, such as
department or speciality stores (Dabholkar et
al., 1996). However, it has not been applied in
other cultures.
As opposed to a pure service setting, a
department store represents a complicated
retail environment that offers a mix of
merchandise and services. There is strong
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers
evidence that many department stores fail to
offer desired services (Dotson and Patton,
1992). Considerable research and planning
are needed to ensure high quality shopping
experience. The study attempts to apply the
Retail Service Quality Scale in the retail
business in Hong Kong using a renowned
department store chain as a case study. This
aims to examine the generalizability of the
scale to a different culture and to investigate
the salient elements in delivering services in
the context of department stores. It can
provide insight for retailers towards the
issue of service quality delivery in a global
business environment. In this respect, the
perceived service quality is associated with
various demographic characteristics as well
as future consumption behaviour. Finally,
discussion and managerial implications are
provided.
Measuring service quality
Measuring service quality seems to pose
difficulties for service providers because of
the unique characteristics of service:
intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability
and perishability (Bateson, 1995).
Conceptually, service quality is defined as
global judgement or attitude relating to the
overall excellence or superiority of the
service (Parasuraman et al., 1988). It involves
a comparison of customer expectations with
customer perceptions of actual service
performance (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988).
Parasuraman et al. (1988) have attempted to
quantify this complex issue by developing a
measurable scale termed SERVQUAL. Five
dimensions have been identified in the scale
that includes: tangibles; reliability;
responsiveness; assurance; and empathy.
SERQUAL has been widely acknowledged
and applied in various service settings in the
past decade. Examples include: health care
settings, a dental school patient clinic, a
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Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
business school placement centre, a tire
store, acute care hospital, large retail chains,
banking, pest control, dry cleaning, and fast-
food restaurants (Babakus and Mangold,
1989; Bebok and Garg, 1995; Bowers et al.,
1994; Carman, 1990; Cronin and Taylor, 1992;
Teas, 1993). However, the generalizibility of
the dimensions of SERVQUAL across
different service industries is questioned
(Rao and Kelkar, 1997). In addition, the two-
battery instrument to measure expectation
and perception separately as difference score
is regarded as inappropriate in terms of scale
reliability and questionnaire length
(Carman, 1990).
A study conducted by Cronin and Taylor
(1992) has found that their perception-only
measure of service quality (SERVPERF)
outperformed the traditional SERVQUAL
because the former scale has provided a more
construct-valid explication to service quality
due to their content validity and the evidence
of their discriminant validity. Also, Wall and
Payne (1973) note that when people are asked
to indicate the ``desired level'' (expectations)
of a service and the ``existing level''
(perceptions) of the service, there is a
psychological constraint that people always
tend to rate the former higher than the latter
(E > P). Babakus and Boller (1992) have found
that service quality, as measured in the
SERVQUAL scale, relies more significantly
on the perception score than on the
expectation score. Apart from this,
respondents appear to be bored, and
sometimes confused by the administration of
E and P version of SERVQUAL (Bouman and
van der Wiele, 1992). Undoubtedly, boredom
and confusion will adversely affect data
quality. Therefore, perception-only-measure
seems to be more realistic and applicable in
this study.
Retail service quality
Although SERVQUAL has been empirically
tested in a number of studies involving
``pure'' service settings (e.g. banking, long-
distance telephone service, securities
brokerage, and credit card service), it has not
been successfully adapted to and validated in
a retail store environment (Dabholkar et al.,
1996). Dabholkar et al. (1996) believe that a
measure of retail service quality must
capture additional dimensions. As a result of
numerous focus groups, they have developed
a scale entitled Retail Service Quality Scale
that includes five dimensions. They are
namely:
1 Physical aspects. Store appearance and
convenience of store layout.
2 Reliability. Retailer keeps its promises
and ``does things right''.
3 Personal interaction. Associates are
courteous, helpful and they inspire
confidence and trust from the customer.
4 Problem solving. Associates are trained to
handle potential problems, such as
customer complaints, returns and
exchanges.
5 Policy. Operating hours, payment options,
store charge cards, parking and so forth.
They believe that their instrument is able to
serve as a diagnostic tool for retailers to
determine which service areas need
improvement. Thus, a store manager could
concentrate resources on improving
particular aspects of service quality.
Service quality and future
consumption behaviour
Service quality is found to be a significant
predictor of behavioural intentions, e.g.
likelihood of recommending, repeat
purchase, switching, and/or complaining
(Bitner, 1990). Woodside et al. (1989) have
found in their study that there is a significant
association between service quality and
repurchase behaviour. This is echoed by
Dabholkar et al. (1996) who, in their study,
have found statistical relation between retail
service quality on one side and the likelihood
of recommending and repeat purchase on the
other side. Therefore, one of the aims in the
study is to investigate the impact of service
quality on future consumption behaviour.
Methodology
A well-known multi-national department
store chain, whose headquarter was in the
UK, was adopted as a case study. The reason
for the choice of the case was that the
emphasis of its global marketing strategies
was on ``Quality, value and service world-
wide''. The corporation ran more than 400
stores throughout the world. In 1996, the
retailer was ranked the top five out of 260 UK
companies regarding its product and service
quality performance (Merriden, 1996). In
Hong Kong its target customers are those
who have disposable income ranging from
HK$10,000 to HK$15,000 and are aged between
18-45, in which the core target is 24-35. The
majority of its customers are female. The
image of quality service has been
acknowledged as consistent across the chain
stores. Some lessons on quality service
delivery could be learned, through the study,
from the retailer.
[ 89 ]
Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
[ 90 ]
The validated Retail Service Quality
Scale developed by Dabholkar et al. (1996)
was employed. A person-administered
survey was carried out by one of the
authors. The target respondents were
current customers of the department store.
The questionnaire was administered prior
to the respondents' shopping experience.
The responses could then reflect
evaluations of previous shopping
experiences at the store (Rust and Oliver,
1994). Five stores from the chain were
chosen in the study because they were
either in central business districts or in
secondary business districts. The
sample of 200 respondents was obtained.
The sample consisted of 100 women with a
mean age of 29 and 100 men with a mean age
of 31.
A pre-test with a sample of 20 was
conducted. It resulted in the deletion of three
items from the Retail Service Quality Scale
because they were deemed inappropriate in
terms of meaning in this research. First, the
customers seldom interacted with store
employees on the telephone in Hong Kong
and most of them would visit the store
directly. Also, the chain stores did not offer
parking spaces for customers. Parking spaces
were often provided by shopping malls or
parking companies. Moreover, the
corporation did not offer its own credit card
in Hong Kong.
Finally, the questionnaire included 25
statements on the retail service quality and
three statements on the overall service
quality, intentions to shop and intentions to
recommend the department store to friends.
All statements employed a seven-point
Likert scale because it would give a better
normal spread of observations.
Demographic information was collected
which included gender, marital status, age
and income level.
Multiple steps were taken to analyze the
data. A principal components factor
analysis with varimax rotation was
performed for data reduction purpose. Then
factor scores were obtained from the
identified dimensions that were used as
independent variables for further analysis
(Afifi and Clark, 1984; Hair et al., 1992). The
one-way independent sample t-test and
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to
determine if the perception means varied
among different demographic
characteristics at 95 per cent confidence
level. The results from the separate
questions, i.e. overall service quality,
intention to shop and intention to
recommend, were used as dependent
variables for the regression purpose.
Findings and analysis
A principal components factor analysis with
varimax rotation was performed on the 25
items that assessed the perceived service
quality of the department store. The
statistical test result (KMO = 0.83629, Bartlett
Test of Sphericity = 2,326.7426, Significance =
0.00000) indicated that the factor analysis
method was appropriate. Thus, the 25 items
were reduced to six factors with eigenvalues
greater than 1.0, which were retained for
subsequent analysis. The resultant factor
structure explained 62.4 per cent of the item
variance, which was an acceptable figure.
The six factors and the loadings are listed in
Table I.
The findings showed that the original five
retail service quality dimensions did not
factor out. Some similarities and differences
were found in the study. The overall
reliability of this construct was satisfactory
(Cronbach's coefficient alpha = 0.91), while
the reliability coefficients for six factors
ranged from 0.62 to 0.86 indicating a fair to
good internal consistency among the items of
each dimension.
Factor 1, which was labelled as personal
interaction, was composed of eight items and
accounted for 31 per cent of the variance. The
items in this factor were similar to the
original dimension but a new item ``perform
the service right the first time'' was added. It
could be explained by the fact that the pace of
life was generally fast in Hong Kong and
customers in the process of interaction often
expected prompt and accurate services. In
fact, this factor was dominated by items such
as individual attentions, knowledge of the
employee and several items related to the
responsiveness of the employee. The personal
interaction characteristics reflected the
``sales service'' component of service quality.
Factor 2 comprised of six items that related
to the policy of the retailer (coefficient alpha
= 0.70) and accounted for an additional 7.5 per
cent of the variance. Policy included the
matter of return/exchange, quality of
merchandise, operating hours as well as
safety and error-free transactions.
Factor 3 was labelled as physical
appearance that included three items
(coefficient = 0.79). It accounted for the
additional 7.3 per cent of the variance. This
factor was similar to the original
subdimension termed appearance in the
physical aspects factor. The three items were
visually appealing physical facilities,
equipment and service material. These were
all tangible influences that customers notice
before or upon entering a store. These
characteristics helped to establish the image
Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
Table I
Factor pattern for retail service items
The factor analysis Loadings
Factor 1: Personal interaction
Q13. Behaviour of employee instills confidence in customer 0.7806
Q12. Knowledge of the employee 0.7069
Q19. Consistently courteous with customers 0.6799
Q15. Giving prompt service by employee 0.6626
Q17. Never too busy to respond to customer's request 0.6417
Q09. Performs the service right the first time 0.6172
Q18. Individual attention 0.6092
Q16. Tell customer exactly what will be performed 0.5892
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.8887
Eigenvalue = 7.843, variance accounted for: 0.314
Factor 2: Policy
Q14. Safety in transaction 0.7020
Q25. Accept most major credit cards 0.6879
Q23. High quality merchandise 0.6332
Q11. Error-free sales transactions and records 0.4871
Q20. Willingly handle returns and exchange 0.4103
Q24. Convenient operating hours 0.3514
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.7009
Eigenvalue = 1.868, variance accounted for: 0.075
Factor 3: Physical appearance
Q02. Visually appealing physical facilities 0.8421
Q03. Visually appealing service material 0.7740
Q01. Modern-looking equipment and fixtures 0.6918
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.7459
Eigenvalue = 1.825, variance accounted for: 0.073
Factor 4: Promises
Q08. Promise to do something by a certain time 0.8676
Q07. Providing service at the time it promising to do so 0.8662
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.9226
Eigenvalue = 1.664, variance accounted for: 0.067
Factor 5: Problem solving
Q22. Handling customers' complaint directly and immediately 0.6831
Q21. Sincere interest to solve problem 0.5961
Q04. Clean, attractive, and convenient public areas 0.4845
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.6299
Eigenvalue = 1.324, variance accounted for: 0.053
Factor 6: Convenience
Q05. Store layout makes it easy for customers to find what they need 0.7989
Q06. Store layout makes it easy for customers to move around 0.7739
Q10. Availability of merchandise 0.4816
Reliability coefficient alpha = 0.6699
Eigenvalue = 1.080, variance accounted for: 0.043

of the store and influence customer
expectations.
Factor 4 was a promises factor that
contained two items (coefficient = 0.92). This
factor was analogous to the subdimension
labelled as promises in the reliability factor of
the Retail Service Quality Scale. It accounted
for the additional 6.7 per cent of the variance.
This factor was related to the
trustworthiness of the department store
perceived by its customers.
Factor 5 was interpreted as a problem solving
factor and comprised three items (coefficient
alpha = 0.63). It accounted for an additional
5.3 per cent of the variance. Surprisingly, the
item ``the store chain has clean, attractive
and convenient public areas'' belonged to this
factor.
It could be explained to a certain extent
that a clean and convenient area could save
customers' times and allow them to shop in a
comfortable condition.
[ 91 ]
Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
[ 92 ]
Factor 6 was labelled as a convenience
factor. It consisted of three items (coefficient
alpha = 0.67) and accounted for an additional
4.3 per cent of the variance. It included the
convenience of store layout and the
availability of merchandise.
General tendency of customers'
perception
Among the six factors, policy had the highest
mean score (5.11) that was followed by
convenience (5.00), problem solving (4.78),
promises (4.71), physical appearance (4.67)
and personal interaction (4.50). The mean
score of policy was 5.11 which indicated that
most respondents appreciated the policies of
the retailer in the sense that it provided high
quality merchandise, safety shopping
environment, accepting most major credit
cards and product return or exchange.
Personal interaction scored the lowest
mean score (4.5). Within this factor, the item
``Consistently courteous with customers''
scored the highest mean score (4.77), whereas
the item ``never too busy to respond to
customer's request'' scored 4.23. To a certain
extent, the result of low mean score in
personal interaction was due to the self-
service policy.
The profile of customers and
service quality perceptions
According to Webster (1989), there is a need
to examine the demographic characteristics
of customers when evaluating service quality
in nonprofessional service such as retailing.
Therefore, the demographic data were
adopted to examine their association with
various dimensions. In this study each
demographic characteristic yielded
significant differences at 0.05 level in the
perceptions of the department store's service
quality. Factor score means and T-test/
ANOVA results are shown in Table II.
First, significant differences for the gender
of respondents were found in two factors:
personal interaction (p = 0.033) and physical
appearance (p = 0.001). For these two
significant factors, factor score means of
males were higher than those of females. In
other words, the male customers felt that the
department store performed better in these
two factors than female customers. The
largest perception difference between male
and female towards personal interaction was
``Knowledge of the employee'' (mean
difference = 0.19). In terms of the physical
appearance, larger mean difference was
found, especially in the items of ``Visually
appealing physical facilities'' and ``Visually
appealing service material''.
Second, significant difference for marital
status was found in the factor of convenience
(p = 0.025). The married respondents' factor
score mean of convenience was higher than
those of the single respondents'.
Besides, one-way ANOVA provided
evidence that significant differences
occurred among different age groups in two
factors: physical appearance (p = 0.016) and
Promises (p = 0.0001). The Tukey's B Test
indicated that the group ``35 or above'' had a
significantly greater factor score than the
group ``25-34'' on the perception of physical
appearance. For promises, it showed that the
``35 or above'' group had a significantly
greater factor score mean than those of other
two groups. Also, in examining the means,
the elders' perception means of each item
within physical appearance and promises
were greater than those of the younger ones.
In terms of the income levels, significant
differences were found at physical
appearance (p = 0.000) and promises (p =
0.003). According to the multiple comparison,
the high-income group ($30,000 >) had a
higher factor score mean than the other
groups on physical appearance. For
promises, it seemed that the factor score
mean of low-income group was higher than
those of the high-income group. Especially
for physical appearance, a large mean
difference could be identified from the
income group ($30,000 >) and the remaining
three income groups on the items of
``Visually appealing physical facilities'' and
``Visually appealing service material''.
Service quality and future
consumption behaviour
Table III reports the results of the multiple
regression model with the overall service
quality rating, purchase intention and
intention to recommend a friend as the
dependent variables and the six dimensions
as the independent variables.
In terms of the relationship between
individual dimensions and overall service
quality rating, the adjusted R2 = 0.50 was
statistically significant. It was suggested that
the retail service quality dimensions
explained 50 per cent of the variance in the
customers' overall rating. All dimensions
were statistically significant (Sig. T < 0.05).
Of the factors, physical appearance has
achieved the strongest association with the
overall perception than other factors. It
showed that physical layout and fixtures
were effective in influencing customers'
Noel Y.M. Siu and Table II
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung Effect of demographic variable on retail service quality perceptions
A measure of retail service
quality Personal Physical Problem
Marketing Intelligence & (n) interaction Policy appearance Promises solving Convenience
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96 Gender
Male 100 0.1507 ±0.0124 0.2320 ±0.1250 ±0.0587 ±0.1098
Female 100 ±0.1507 0.0124 ±0.2320 0.1250 0.0587 0.1098
(F) 0.136* 1.096 1.322* 0.038 2.474 0.849
Marital status
Single 127 ±0.1045 ±0.0793 ±0.0681 ±0.1027 0.0374 ±0.1197
Married 73 0.1818 0.1379 0.1186 0.1786 ±0.0650 0.2083
(F) 0.002 0.140 0.361 4.825 3.569 6.875*
Age
Under 24 53 ±0.2132 ±0.0654 0.0554 ±0.0292 ±0.0929 ±0.1628
25-34 101 0.0336 0.0297 ±0.1770 ±0.2205 0.4768 ±0.0047
35 and over 46 0.1718 0.0102 0.3248 0.5178 0.0023 0.1978
(F) 1.9595 0.1589 4.2225* 9.3514* 0.3412 1.6137
Income
< $10,000 39 ±0.2368 0.0584 0.0959 0.4215 ±0.0589 ±0.2474
£10,000-$19,999 86 ±0.0163 ±0.1194 ±0.3576 0.0438 0.0041 0.0442
£20,000-£29,999 49 0.1842 0.1445 0.1658 ±0.3581 ±0.0157 0.1081
> £30,000 26 0.0620 1.0665 0.7266 ±0.1021 0.1045 0.0212
(F) 1.3312 0.8022 10.0054* 4.8105* 0.1423 1.0469
Notes: *p < 0.05; means are represented in terms of factor score

Table III
Relationship among six service quality dimensions, overall service quality and future
consumption behaviour
Dimensions B  Significant T
Relationship between six dimensions and overall service quality
Personal interaction 0.2608 0.3564 0.0000*
Policy 0.2220 0.3034 0.0000*
Physical appearance 0.3157 0.4314 0.0000*
Promises 0.1082 0.1479 0.0034*
Problem solving 0.0892 0.1219 0.0155*
Convenience 0.2040 0.2788 0.0000*
Adjusted R2 = 0.5047; *p < 0.05
Relationship between six dimensions and intention to shop
Personal interaction 0.2065 0.1853 0.0058*
Policy 0.2619 0.2351 0.0005*
Physical appearance 0.1795 0.1610 0.0162*
Promises 0.0653 0.0586 0.3789
Problem solving 0.0928 0.0832 0.2116
Convenience 0.1689 0.1516 0.0236*
Adjusted R2 = 0.1224; *p < 0.05
Relationship between six dimensions and intention to recommend
Personal interaction 0.2471 0.2329 0.0001*
Policy 0.3726 0.3513 0.0000*
Physical appearance 0.3212 0.3028 0.0000*
Promises 0.1296 0.1222 0.0419*
Problem solving 0.0405 0.0382 0.5232
Convenience 0.1748 0.1648 0.0063*
Adjusted R2 = 0.2916; *p < 0.05

[ 93 ]
Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
[ 94 ]
general evaluation on the retail service
quality. This was consistent with a
qualitative study conducted by Dabholkar et
al. (1996) in which the appearance of the store
and its facilities were widely acknowledged
as essential determinants of the shopping
experience.
The relationship between individual
dimensions and re-purchase intention was
relatively weak. According to Table III, the
adjusted R2 = 0.12 was statistically significant
which meant that the six dimensions
explained only 12 per cent of the variation in
customers' purchase intention. Only policy,
personal interaction, physical appearance
and convenience were shown to be
statistically significant but they had very
weak positive association with purchase
intention. The association was the strongest
between policy and re-purchase intention.
In terms of the relationship between
individual dimensions and intention to
recommend, the adjusted R2 = 0.29 was
statistically significant that the retail service
quality dimensions explained 29 per cent
variance of the intention to recommend.
Except the factor problem solving, the
remaining five dimensions showed
significant association. Among those
dimensions, policy had the strongest positive
association with the dependent variable.
Discussion
The measurement scale, developed and
validated in the US, has proved to be
applicable in another culture such as Hong
Kong, albeit some modification is required.
According to Dabholkar et al. (1996), the scale
is suited for studying retail businesses such
as department stores that offer a mix of
services and merchandise. The instrument
could serve as a diagnostic tool that allows
retailers to identify current levels of service
quality and determine service areas that are
weak and in need of improvement. In the
study, six dimensions of retail service quality
emerged. They are namely:
1 personal interaction;
2 policy;
3 physical appearance;
4 promises;
5 problem solving; and
6 convenience.
Among the dimensions, policy was regarded
as the most favourable dimension by the
customers and it has positive impact upon
future consumption behaviour. The policies
of the retailer are consistent with those in the
UK that high quality merchandise is
emphasised, security policy is employed and
electronic scanner registers are used to
minimize errors from transactions. On the
other hand, personal interaction was rated
the weakest dimension. Since the retailer has
employed the self-service policy, staff
members will only answer customers'
inquiries on request. Nevertheless, it did give
the corporation some signals that regular
employee training needs to be conducted
especially on product knowledge and prompt
response. Dotson and Patton (1992) have
concluded in their study that the successful
department stores will focus their resources
on delivering the key services that involve
the intense interpersonal contact on the sales
floor and the ``customer service'' desk.
It has been discussed in the previous
section that the target customers are mainly
female aged between 24-35 and have medium
disposable income. The findings in relation
to the demographic characteristics have shed
some light to the policy makers on the
appropriateness of its service quality
strategies. First, gender differences appeared
in the dimension of physical appearance and
personal interaction in that females have a
lower perception mean than males. It may
suggest that the requirement of personal
interaction and physical appearance may be
higher and more important to females than
males when patronizing the chain stores.
Moreover, significant differences were
found in the dimensions of physical
appearance and promises according to the
age of respondents. The findings suggested
that the group aged 35 or above was in favour
with the chain store's physical appearance
and its reliable service. However, the group
aged 25-34, the core target of the retailer,
showed a relatively low perception score
than the other two groups. It showed that
there was a mis-match between the image
and the target customers. Therefore,
throughout a strategic plan on re-positioning
of the physical appearance and reliability is
urgently needed.
Apart from this, significant differences of
income levels have been found under the
dimensions of physical appearance and
promises. The lower-income group
(especially those who earned $10,000-$19,999)
was less in favour in the two dimensions than
the higher-income group.
To conclude, the target customers of the
retailer were found to be mainly dissatisfied
with the physical appearance and promises.
In other words, the facilities, equipment and
the fixtures are not particularly appealing
and the service promises are not prompt
enough. One possible explanation in relation
to the physical appearance was that the
emphasis of the store appearance and
Noel Y.M. Siu and
Jeff Tak-Hing Cheung
A measure of retail service
quality
Marketing Intelligence &
Planning
19/2 [2001] 88±96
fixtures was in classic mature UK style and
this might not be appealing to the target
customers who are mainly young adults. On
the contrary, the most satisfied group was
the group aged 35 or above and the income
level above $30,000. Re-positioning and
further research needs to be carried out so as
to improve the competitive advantages.
In terms of the impact of service quality on
future consumption behaviour, the findings
showed that the six dimensions were weak in
explaining the variance of intention to
purchase and intention to recommend. It
may suggest that service quality is not the
only weapon in creating purchase intention.
Merchandise, advertising and price might be
alternative variables in explaining future
behaviour. However, by providing quality
service to customers, it could enhance
customers' confidence as well as shopping
satisfaction towards the retailers.
Recommendations and
implications
The department store chain in the study is a
top renowned retailer in the UK. Its
consistent service image has proved to be a
success in its overseas operation. The same
as other global corporations, its continual
survival is dependent on its commitment in
maintaining the high level of service quality
and in identifying the needs of the target
customers. Since the target customers of the
corporation have relatively unfavourable
perceptions toward the physical appearance
and promises, it means that its store
appearance/atmosphere should need re-
engineering. Further studies on store image
or store servicescape could help to identify
which specific items or areas were in need of
improvement.
In terms of service quality, it is found that
the dimensions of policy and physical
appearance are two relatively influential
important factors that will affect customers'
future consumption behaviour. This can be a
significant reference point for retailers when
developing their retailing strategies.
Moreover, the sales service could be
enhanced by providing continuous personal
empowerment programs on interpersonal
communication skills and product
knowledge. Staff empowerment will enable
staff in the retail business to be more
responsive to the needs of their customers.
Due to the cultural differences, global
retailers need to be responsive in developing
customer service. In this regard, a thoughtful
customer research should be conducted to
advance an understanding of local
customers' behaviour and their shopping
experience.
The research could be replicated to
measure service quality at a departmental
level that helps to compare customer
evaluations across departments. A
refinement of this retail service quality scale
could continue by applying to other retail
businesses that offer a mix of goods and
services. In sum, the retail service quality
measurement needs to be conducted
regularly to measure the extent of
service enhancement and customer
satisfaction.
Conclusion
Service quality has long been the most basic
marketing tool for retailers to create
competitive advantages and to enhance
customers' shopping experience. This study
demonstrates the practicality of measuring
the retail service quality perceptions and its
impact on future consumption behaviour. In
this respect, the findings reported here
provide some insights for other global
retailers on how to deliver quality service in
an international business environment.
Among the six service dimensions, the
physical appearance and policy have the
greatest impact on the overall service quality
and on future consumption respectively. To
instigate quality improvements for a
particular dimension, further research into
details of that dimension is required to
capture its dynamics. In sum, global retailers
should be responsive to the local needs and
demands when creating and manipulating
the service strategies.
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