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Modelling service quality in the construction industry

Article in International Journal of Business Performance Management · January 2014

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2014.063026

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Business Performance Management, 15(3), 262-276.
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJBPM.2014.063026

Modelling Service Quality in the Construction Industry

Riza Yosia Sunindijo

Faculty of Built Environment

UNSW Australia

UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA

Bonaventura H.W. Hadikusumo*

School of Engineering and Technology

Asian Institute of Technology

58 Moo 9, Paholyothin Highway, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

*Corresponding author

Thanawat Phangchunun

School of Engineering and Technology

Asian Institute of Technology

58 Moo 9, Paholyothin Highway, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Abstract

Service quality is seen as an important factor that affects client satisfaction and behavioural

intention, which are considered as important contributors of business success. This research

1
investigated the relationships between the three constructs in the context of small and medium

construction projects in Thailand. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the

theoretical model and to establish relationships among the research variables. The results show

that there are four dimensions of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and

tangibility, in which the first three dimensions are more important than the last in influencing

service quality. Furthermore, client satisfaction is a mediator of the causal relationship between

service quality and behavioural intention. Contractors should focus on maintaining and

identifying factors that affect client satisfaction, particularly after projects are completed, to

encourage client behavioural intentions.

Keywords: behavioural intentions; client satisfaction; construction projects; service quality;

Thailand.

Biographical notes: Dr Riza Yosia Sunindijo is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Built Environment,

UNSW Australia (The University of New South Wales). He obtained his PhD degree from

UNSW in construction management. Previously he worked as a project engineer, project

manager, and sustainability champion for international construction and project management

organisations. He is a recipient of the Australian Institute of Building 2013 NSW President’s

Award for Research and a best paper award at the 2011 ARCOM Conference. He is a member of

the Australian Institute of Building and an incorporated member of the Chartered Institute of

Building.

Dr Bonaventura Hadikusumo is an Associate Professor in Construction Engineering and

Infrastructure Management (CEIM) in Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. He

2
obtained his Master’s degree from AIT and PhD from The University of Hong Kong. Currently,

he is the coordinator of the CEIM field of study and Professional Master in Project Management

which are being offered in Thailand and Vietnam. He has provided many consultancy and

research projects to various large companies in Asia. His research interests are related with

project management in construction, safety management, strategic management in the

construction industry, and innovation.

Thanawat Phangchunun obtained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Sirindhorn International

Institute of Technology, Thammasat University with second class honours in 2010 and a Master

of Engineering in Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Management from Asian Institute

of Technology in 2012. He currently works as a Project Control Associate at Black & Veatch

where he has been involved in two combined cycle power plant projects in Chana and Wangnoi,

Thailand, and a nuclear power plant project in Taiwan.

Introduction

Client satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of success in the construction industry.

Arslan and Kivrak (2009) found that client satisfaction is the topmost factor that determines

success in the Turkish construction industry. It is also an important means of gaining market

advantage due to increased market share (Buzzell and Gale, 1987), improved profitability

(Business International, 1990), and increased word-of-mouth recommendations (Vandermerwe,

1984). More importantly, client satisfaction leads to repeat sales (Oliver and Linda, 1981), which

offer long-term growth and key to survival in today’s competitive business environment.

3
LeBoeuf (1987) stated that an average business spends six times as much to attract new clients

than it does to keep old ones, thus demonstrating the importance of repeat sales or client

retention.

In the context of the construction industry, client satisfaction is influenced by several factors,

which includes cost, time, quality, safety, and service quality (Chinny, 2007). Although the first

four factors are relatively straightforward and can generally be assessed objectively, service

quality is difficult to be measured due to its unidentified determinants. This may cause a lack of

clarity for contractors to provide services that meet the expectations of the clients. This may lead

to client dissatisfaction and significantly affect client behavioural intentions or client willingness

to use the same service provider in future projects.

As such, the aim of this research is to study the impact of service quality of contractors to client

satisfaction using structural equation modelling (SEM) method. In order to achieve this

objective, this research has done the following: identifying the service quality components of

construction business and their measurement; developing an SEM model that demonstrates the

relationships between service quality, client satisfaction, and behavioural intention; and

recommending strategies to improve service quality to enhance client satisfaction and

behavioural intention in the context of small and medium construction projects in Thailand.

Literature Review

Service quality

4
As mentioned earlier, service quality is a key factor that contributes to client satisfaction and

success in the construction industry. Construction organisations, therefore, have to improve their

service quality to retain their clients and ensure their survivability in the current fierce business

environment. In general, quality can be defined as conformance to requirements. Service quality,

on the other hand, is more complex due to the characteristics of services. First, most services are

intangible because they are related to ‘performances’ rather than physical objects that can be

counted, measured, inventoried, verified, and tested. Second, services are heterogeneous,

especially when they are highly dependent on human performance where it may vary

significantly on daily basis. This dependency causes what a company intends to deliver may be

entirely different from what the client receives. Third, the production and consumption of many

services are inseparable, meaning there are interactions between the client and the service

provider which affect the process. As a result, a service company has less managerial control

over service quality when client participation is intense (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

These characteristics are evident in the service quality of construction projects. First, it is

intangible because construction projects start from an abstract design and only attain full

tangibility upon completion. Second, it is heterogeneous as each project is unique rather than

being sold as a standard mass-produced item. Third, inseparability is obvious as clients assess the

project throughout the delivery process rather than waiting until its completion (Forsythe, 2008).

These underpin the principle that construction is a service industry, thus making service quality

as an important factor that determines its performance and client satisfaction.

5
Parasuraman et al. (1988) found five broad dimensions of service quality that are applicable to

any service company. First is tangibility which revolves around physical facilities, equipment,

and appearance of personnel. Second is reliability or the ability to perform the promised service

dependably and accurately. Third is responsiveness which manifests in the willingness to help

clients and providing prompt services. Fourth is assurance which demonstrates the levels of

knowledge and courtesy of employees as well as their ability to inspire trust and confidence.

Fifth is empathy which is about the care and individualised attention that the company provides

to its clients.

Based on these dimensions, Parasuraman et al. (1988, 1991) developed an instrument to assess

service quality called SERVQUAL. Although there are other instruments developed for the same

purpose, the five-dimension SERVQUAL instrument is considered to offer the best generic

template for measuring service quality (Oliver, 1993). SERVQUAL has also been applied across

different service industries, including car retailing (Carman, 1990), dental services (Carman,

1990), healthcare (Butt and Run, 2010), banking (Kumar et al., 2010), airline (Pakdil and Aydin,

2007), and mobile communication (Negi, 2009).

The SERVQUAL model is also applicable in the construction industry. Cravens et al. (1985)

used the model to assess the quality of architectural services. Hoxley (1994) applied

SERVQUAL to identify items that indicate good service quality provided by building surveying

companies. The same researcher, then, adopted the model for assessing service quality in the UK

construction professional service. Samson and Parker (1994) also adopted SERVQUAL to assess

client perceptions of the service quality provided by consulting engineers. Siu et al. (2001) and

6
Lai and Pang (2007) used the model to assess service quality in building maintenance services.

Due to the robustness of SERVQUAL, the instrument was used to measure service quality in this

present research.

Behavioural intention

Behavioural intention is the tendency that client will purchase the product or service with the

same provider and recommend the service provider to friends and relatives (Zeithaml et al.,

1996; Cronin et al., 2000). There are four main client behaviours which can generate profitability

and increase market share through behavioural intention. First is word-of-mouth which refers to

information flow from the client to others by sharing experience on the product or service

(Zeithaml et al., 1996). Second is repurchase intention in which a client intends to purchase a

goods or service from the same company due to positive past experience (Hellier et al., 2003).

Third is feedback to service provider, which comes in two forms: positive feedback or

compliment and negative feedback or complaint. Dissatisfied customers are significantly more

likely to provide feedback than the satisfied ones (Söderlund, 1998). Fourth is the willingness to

pay more due to past satisfaction which creates attitudinal loyalty (Jaiswal and Niraj, 2011).

The abovementioned studies indicate that client past satisfaction plays an important role in

behavioural intention. Satisfaction can be generally regarded as a comparison between

individual’s perception of an outcome of service or product with his/her expectation for that

service or product. A well-known model of satisfaction is the disconfirmation of expectation

model which was the comparison of pre-purchase expectations and post-purchase product or

7
service performance (Oliver, 1993). Anderson and Sullivan (1993) found that the short-fall of

meeting expectations has greater impact on satisfaction and behavioural intention than exceeding

expectations.

Research hypotheses

Service quality is found to be an antecedent of client satisfaction (Chinny, 2007; Cronin and

Taylor, 1992; Dabholkar, 1995; Parasuraman et al., 1994). Service quality is also found to be a

strong predictor of behavioural intention (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Cronin et al., 2000; Zeithaml

et al., 1996). In addition, as shown in the previous section, client satisfaction is an important

factor that affects behavioural intention. This present research has investigated the relationships

between the three constructs in the context of the Thai construction industry through the testing

of the following hypotheses:

H1: The lower the gap between the expected and perceived service quality, the more satisfied the

client is.

H2: Service quality that meets expectation influences behavioural intention positively.

H3: Client satisfaction has positive influence on behavioural intention.

The theoretical research model is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1 is here.

Research Methods

8
Questionnaire development

A large number of quantitative data was required to test the model. As such, questionnaire

survey was the most suitable data collection method for this purpose. The items for measuring

service quality were adopted predominantly from the SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman et

al., 1988). In addition, the three adapted versions used in the construction industry (Hoxley,

2000; Lai and Pang, 2007; Sui et al., 2001) were also considered during the development of the

questionnaire items. The items to measure customer satisfaction and behavioural intention were

newly developed based on discussions in previous literature.

In order to ensure that the items are appropriate for the Thai construction industry, particularly

small and medium projects, interviews were held with five experts, including two clients and

three consultants, who have relevant experience in managing client requirements. The experts

reviewed and gave comments whether the items are accurate representations to measure the

constructs in this research. They also suggested some items which are more appropriate to be

used in the context of the research. This exercise was useful to provide content validity and

ensure that the items are neither ambiguous nor confusing.

The questionnaire items are presented in Table 1. The items for measuring service quality were

classified into five dimensions as used in the SERVQUAL model. There are two types of

responses for this section. First is the respondent’s expected level of service and second is the

respondent’s perception of the current level of service. Both types use a 5-point Likert scale

9
format, ranging from “lowest” to “highest”. As such, service quality is assessed by determining

the gap between the expectation and perceived level of service. The client satisfaction and

behavioural intention sections also use a 5-point Likert scale format, ranging from “strongly

disagree” to “strongly agree”.

Table 1 is here.

Sample selection

The convenient non-probability sampling technique was adopted due to difficulty of population

inference as well as time and budget constraints in this present research (Cooper and Schindler,

2003). The respondents were clients or client representatives of private projects. It is argued that

private projects will pay more attention on service quality which affects behavioural intention,

while public clients generally focused more on costs in selecting contractors. The targeted

population is small and medium projects which form the majority of construction projects in

Thailand.

Data Analysis

In total, 151 questionnaires were returned, but 16 were discarded due to incomplete and bias

responses. As such, 135 data were valid and used for analysis. Seventy-one per cent of the

respondents were project clients, while 29 per cent were owner representatives. Most of the

projects were houses (52%) followed by office buildings (12%), factory (12%), townhouse

10
(11%), apartments (7%), and other types of building (6%). The project costs were varied ranging

from less than one million Baht (12%), one to three million Baht (43%), three to six million Baht

(27%), six to ten million Baht (14%), to more than 10 million Baht (4%). One Pound Sterling

was approximately equal to 46 Baht.

Reliability analysis

Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire. The coefficients for

service quality, client satisfaction, and behavioural intention are 0.943, 0.868, and 0.904

respectively. All coefficients are above 0.7 demonstrating that the questionnaire is reliable

(Nunnally, 1978). Thereafter, item analysis was performed to eliminate items with total-item

correlation less than 0.32. The results show that all items should be retained.

Factor analysis

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with oblique rotation was applied to determine the underlying

factor structures of the service quality construct. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling

adequacy is 0.926 and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity has a significant value of less than 0.05,

thus factor analysis is suitable to be applied. A scree plot and eigenvalue (> 1) were used to

assess the dimensionality of the service quality construct. The results show that there are four

dimensions that form the construct.

11
The items of each dimension were then analysed using rotated component matrix with oblimin

rotation and the results are presented in Table 2. Factor loading values that are less than 0.4 were

eliminated.

Table 2 is here.

The Cronbach’s alpha for the four dimensions are 0.895, 0.85. 0.853, and 0.704 respectively. All

coefficients are above 0.7 demonstrating that they are reliable. Item analysis was also performed

for each dimension where all item-total correlation values are above 0.32 showing that all items

should be retained.

In addition, factor analyses for the client satisfaction and behavioural intention constructs show

that both constructs are best represented by one dimension each.

Structural equation modelling

SEM uses various types of model to understand the relationship among observed variables and

latent variables. Using SEM, a hypothesised model can be tested statistically in a simultaneous

analysis based on the collected data. If the goodness-of-fit is adequate, the model has the

plausibility of postulating relationships among variables. If it is inadequate, the tenability of such

relations is rejected (Byrne, 2010). SEM is gaining popularity because, unlike basic statistical

methods which are applicable only with a limited number of variables, it permits complex

phenomenon to be statistically modelled and tested by confirming or disconfirming a theoretical

12
model quantitatively. SEM also takes measurement errors into account, which can be obtained

simultaneously when analysing data (Schumacker and Lomax, 2010).

The results of the SEM analysis are presented in Figure 2. All path coefficients are the

standardised estimate of regression weight of the model and all are significant at the 0.001 level,

except one relationship between service quality gap and behavioural intention. The Comparative

Fit Index (CFI) of the model is 0.907. Although Hu and Bentler (1999) suggested that the value

should be more than 0.95, Bentler (1992) argued that a value greater than 0.90 is sufficient to

indicate well-fitting model. The Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of the

model is 0.064. Hu and Bentler (1999) recommended a value of less than 0.06 to indicate a good

fit model, while MacCallum et al. (1996) noted that a value greater than 0.10 indicating a poor

fit. The Standardise Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) of the model is 0.064 in which a value

less than 0.08 is considered as a good fit model (Hu and Bentler, 1999). The Expected Cross-

Validation Index (ECVI) of the model is 5.504. This value was compared with the saturated

model (6.739) and independent model (21.263). The lower ECVI value represents the best fit for

the data (Byrne, 2010). These show that, empirically, the model fits the data.

Figure 2 is here

Discussion

Understanding service quality

13
There are four dimensions of service quality in construction business, namely, reliability,

responsiveness, assurance, and tangibility. Reliability is the most important dimension of service

quality as indicated by the highest factor loading (0.96) in the model. There are nine components

of reliability. First, keeping promises is a primary requirement of contractor services

(REL01=0.725). ‘Formal promises’ are stated in the contract, thus any deviation has to be fixed

by contractors to maintain their reliability. In addition, ‘informal promises’ like minor changes

and oral agreements also affect client perceptions regarding the reliability of contractors. Second,

due to the uncertainty nature of construction projects, problems may arise at any time. As such,

contractors have to show sincerity and demonstrate their capability in solving these problems

professionally (REL02=0.716). Third, tidiness after works has the highest factor loading

(REL03=0.830) among the components of reliability. Clients of small and medium projects may

not be familiar with the details of construction process. They generally use a simple judgement

based on the appearance of the finished work. Contractors, therefore, need to focus on

minimising the number of defects and maintaining the quality of the finished work to create good

impression on the clients in regards to their service quality.

Fourth, proper material storage and good housekeeping (REL04=0.658) ensures smooth

operations and creates organised-looking sites, which will have positive influence on client

perceptions. Fifth, providing maintenance service in the work that has been done (REL05=0.747)

is another important component of reliability. After a project is handed over to the client, the

contractor should return and fix defects during the defect liability period as this will have high

influence on the perceived service quality. Sixth, contractors should understand the specific

14
needs of clients (REL06=0.708), meaning that contractors should deliver the desired quality as

stated in drawings and specifications.

Seventh, delivering services on time (REL07=0.734) is an important factor that demonstrates the

commitment and capability of contractors. Contractors have to deliver work packages on time so

that the clients feel that they can rely on their performance. Eighth, clients judge the reliability of

contractors based on the availability of equipment and their readiness to work (REL08=0.543).

Ninth, contractors should provide sufficient manpower to complete the project (REL09=0.582).

Manpower is the key resource in small and medium projects in Thailand. As such, clients

perceive the service quality of contractors based on the adequacy of human resource on site.

The second dimension of service quality is responsiveness (0.913) which consists of six

components. First, contractors should provide prompt services for their clients (RES01=0.683).

The clients perceive that the contractors have good service quality when they respond quickly to

requests or enquiries. Second, contractors should be proactive in keeping the clients updated and

informing them when services will be performed (RES02=0.704). This component is highly

related with the third component, reporting the progress of work (RES03=0.712). Both are

important to keep the clients in the loop, thus creating positive perceptions regarding the

responsiveness of the contractors. Fourth, giving personal attention to clients (RES04=0.660) is

about providing individualised consideration to the clients which will affect positively on the

perceptions of the clients regarding the responsiveness of the contractors. Fifth, performing work

order as required has the highest factor loading among the components of responsiveness

(RES05=0.728). In this case, contractors have to execute tasks quickly as instructed by the

15
clients. Sixth, contractors should show willingness to include minor additional works

(RES06=0.700) beyond the agreement of the contract.

Assurance is the third dimension of service quality (0.907) and has six components. First, being

polite to clients (ASS01=0.650) is always an important matter in any service business. This is

particularly important as Thai culture prizes harmony and considers interpersonal relationships

as a top value in the society (Boonsathorn, 2007). Second, many clients may not understand the

fine points of construction process. As such, in order to assure the clients, contractors should be

able to provide explanation and address clients’ enquiries competently (ASS02=0.718). Third,

contractors should not only demonstrate willingness to solve problems, but also their ability to

provide sound solutions (ASS03=0.730). Fourth, contractors can provide assurance to their

clients through the behaviours of their employees (ASS04=0.712). For example, the contractors

should be able to assign the right tasks to the right people to create the perceptions that

employees are competent in what they are doing. Furthermore, workers should not demonstrate

unethical or unsafe behaviour on site like smoking and drinking while at work. Fifth, assuring

the quality of work up to standard is the most important factor to give clients assurance

(ASS05=0.744). This is understandable as the contractors generate quality products or services

that meet or exceed client expectations. Sixth, the operating hours should be convenient for

clients to inspect or observe construction progress (ASS06=0.656).

The fourth dimension is tangibility (0.654) which has two components. This is the least

important dimension that affects service quality. The first component of tangibility is the way

workers dress themselves, particularly in the matter of wearing PPE (TAN01=0.654). This

16
indicates that safety implementation has less influence on service quality and that clients of small

and medium projects in Thailand do not consider safety as a key factor of project success. The

second component is details of documents (TAN02=0.835). Into a certain extent, good document

management system influences client perceptions in regards to service quality. In general, it

should be noted that clients only concerns with contractors’ ability to interpret and convert

designs and specifications into reality.

The interrelationship among service quality, client satisfaction, and behavioural intention

Figure 2 shows that the service quality gap affects the level of client satisfaction negatively.

When there is a big gap between the expected service quality and the perceived service quality,

then clients will be dissatisfied. The model shows that the coefficient of this path is -0.533,

which is significant at the 0.001 level. This result supports hypothesis 1. Client satisfaction also

has a strong influence on behavioural intention as supported by the coefficient of 0.924 which is

significant at the 0.001 level. This relationship supports hypothesis 3. Interestingly, hypothesis 2

is not supported as service quality gap does not influence behavioural intention directly. As such,

it can be concluded that client satisfaction serves as a mediator between service quality and

behavioural intention.

The nature of construction business may explain these relationships. Repeat clients, although

relatively common, are more intermittent in the construction industry than in other industries. In

many cases, small- and medium-sized project clients only have a few number of projects or even

a single project in their life time. The gap between projects could be quite long encompassing

17
many years even decades. This is different from the condition in, for example, the mobile phone

industry where customers change their phone every year or so. Therefore, the findings of this

research show that it is important to focus on service quality as this affects client satisfaction

which leads to behavioural intention. However, it is more important to focus on maintaining

client satisfaction even after the project is completed to influence client behavioural intentions.

Besides service quality, other variables that affect client satisfaction have to be identified. This

may simply include maintaining contacts with clients after projects are completed.

Conclusion

This research has investigated the relationships between service quality, client satisfaction, and

behavioural intention in small and medium projects in the Thai construction industry. There are

three key findings of this research. First, in order to provide good service quality for clients in

small- and medium-sized construction projects in Thailand, contractors should focus on the

dimensions of service quality, comprising reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and tangibility.

The first three have bigger influence on service quality, thus they should be prioritised. The

components that form each dimension have also been identified. Second, within the same

context, the research has found that client satisfaction is a mediator of the causal relationship

between service quality and behavioural intention. Third, it is recommended that, although

service quality is important to ensure client satisfaction which leads to behavioural intention,

contractors should focus on maintaining client satisfaction after projects are completed to

encourage behavioural intention. As such, other factors, besides service quality, that influence

client satisfaction should be identified.

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There are some limitations of the research that should be noted. First, the data were collected in

Thailand, thus the results may not be applicable in other countries. A comparison study with the

construction industry in other countries would be useful to find factors which affect client

satisfaction and behavioural intention. Second, the convenient sampling technique may limit the

generalisability of the research. Furthermore, this research focused on small and medium

projects. Future research can implement the items and dimensions that have been identified in

large construction projects.

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 Client
satisfaction

Service Behavioural
quality intention

Figure 1 Theoretical research model

24
E1 REL01

.72
E2 REL02
.72
E3 REL03 res1
.83

E4 REL04 .66

.75
E5 REL05 Reliability
.71

E6 REL06
.73

E7 REL07 .54 .96 E24 E25 E26

.58
E8 REL08
res5
E9 REL09 SAT01 SAT01 SAT01

.83
E10 RES01 res2 .86 .79
.68
RES02 SQ GAP SAT
E11 .70 .91 -.53

E12 RES03 .71

.66 Responsiveness
.00 res6
E13 RES04
.73 .92
.91
E14 RES05
.70 res7

E15 RES06

E16 ASS01 res3

.65 BI
E17 ASS 02 .72 .87 .72
.90 .85
E18 ASS 03 .73

.71
Assurance BI01 BI02 BI03 BI04
E19 ASS 04
.74
.65
E20 ASS 05
.66
E27 E28 E29 E30
E21 ASS 06 res4

E22 TAN01 .65

.83
Tangible
E23 TAN02

Figure 2 Structural equation modelling results

25
Table 1 Questionnaire items

A Service quality
Tangibles
1 Sufficient equipment and appearing ready to work
2 Sufficient manpower to complete assigned work
3 Proper material storage and good housekeeping
4 Workers dress properly, such as wearing PPE
5 Details of documents
Reliability
6 Keeping promises
7 Showing sincerity in solving problems
8 Performing work order as required
9 Providing the service at the time they promised to do so
10 Always reporting the progress of work
Responsiveness
11 Informing you exactly when the service will be performed
12 Providing prompt service to you
13 Willingness to help you include additional work
Assurance
14 Behaviour of the contractor instils confidence to you
15 Assuring the quality of work up to standard
16 Politeness to you
17 Having the knowledge to answer your enquiries
18 Having the competence to solve problems correctly
Empathy
19 Understanding your specific needs
20 Giving personal attention to you
21 Providing maintenance service in the work that has been done
22 Tidiness after works
23 Operating hours are convenient to you

B Client satisfaction
SAT1 Would you agree to say that “I am satisfied with the contractor works”
SAT2 Would you agree to say that “My choice in using this contractor was a wise one”
SAT3 Would you agree to say that “I feel that my experience with this contractor has
been comfortable”

C Behavioural intention
BI1 Would you recommend this contractor to someone else, such as your friends,
family, and business partners?
BI2 How likely is it that you would choose this contractor again when you have a
chance to do so?
BI3 In the case that the contractor is not available, how likely will you wait until the
contractor is available to service you?

26
BI4 How likely is it that you are willing to pay premium price to hire the contractor?

27
 Table 2 Factor loading for the service quality construct

Dimension Code
Relia- Respon- Assu- Tangi- Item
bility siveness rance ble
.728 REL01 Keeping promises
.702 REL02 Showing sincerity in solving problems
.636 .409 REL03 Tidiness after works
.635 .482 REL04 Proper material storage and good housekeeping
.628 .447 REL05 Providing maintenance service in the work that has been done
.618 .437 REL06 Understanding your specific needs
.557 .426 REL07 Providing the service at the time they promised to do so
.496 REL08 Sufficient equipment and appearing ready to work
.449 REL09 Sufficient manpower to complete assigned work
.763 RES01 Providing prompt service to you
.728 RES02 Informing you exactly when the service will be performed
.610 .428 RES03 Always reporting the progress of work
.535 RES04 Giving personal attention to you
.480 .528 RES05 Performing work order as required
.526 RES06 Willingness to help you include additional work
.793 ASS01 Politeness to you
.713 ASS02 Having the knowledge to answer your enquiries
.478 .658 ASS03 Having the competence to solve problems correctly
.508 .556 ASS04 Behaviour of the contractor instils confidence to you
.515 ASS05 Assuring the quality of work up to standard
.405 .495 ASS06 Operating hours are convenient to you
.777 TAN01 Workers dress properly, such as wearing PPE
.773 TAN02 Details of documents

28

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