DIMENSIONS OF

QUALITY FOR
SERVICE PRODUCTS
Garvin(1987), in an article in Harvard business Review, metioned that because of
the competition for high quality goods and services and with the
internationalization of said concepts, the following dimensions for quality should
be observed and considered:

PERFORMANCE- it refers to a service product’s primary

operating characteristics. Usually in the hospitality and tourism
industry, as we are catering to intangible dominant concepts,
performance often means prompt service. This dimension of
quality has very measurable attributes, that is why brands can
usually be ranked objectively on their respective aspects.
Although measurable, it is quite hard to measure overall
performance rankings as they involve benefits that not every
consumer needs.
FEATURES- features are dimensions of quality, which are
usually cited as a secondary aspect of performance. They are
secondary in such a way that they supplement the basic
functioning of a service product. Examples would include free
drinks on a plane, free WIFI service in guest rooms, and a
complimentary hot tea after a full-body massage. Sometimes,
identifying features from the primary performance
characteristics is difficult as they accentuate the actual
performance indicators. But what is important to know is that
features involve objective and measurable attributes that can be
clearly observed which sometimes affect their translation in
quality differences.
RELIABILITY- it refers to the ability to perform the
promised service product dependably and accurately. This
means that being able to provide service as promised is one of
the main considerations in assessing this dimension. The guest
assesses quality by gauging that when he/she is promised to for
his/her pizza to be delivered in 30 minutes, it should be
delivered in less than or exactly 30 minutes. When the guest is
promised for a mouthwatering dining experience, then the
ambiance, service, and food should all be complimentary to
deliver the said experience. Reliability can also mean
dependability in handling guests’ service problems, in that every
challenge or difficulty that may arise be treated right the first
time.
CONFORMANCE- this quality dimension means that a
service product’s design and characteristics should meet the
standard set. Juran became the one of the pioneers who
specialized on this area. Service products to be accomplished
and performed properly need to have specifications. When new
product offerings or service provisions are developed,
dimensions are actually set to become standards for evaluation.
These specifications are treated as the “targets” to be met in a
specific service product.
DURABILITY- this dimension is more detectable in goods
rather than in services and it has both technical and economic
dimensions. Technically, durability can refer to the amount of
use before a specific product deteriorates. For example, a
commercial oven can be measured by the number of years it
may service a specific kitchen inside a restaurant or an espresso
machine in the case of coffee shops. In the case of service
aspect, in both personal and company reputation, costs in
training and hiring of qualified and complementary staff may be
considered within this dimension.
SERVICEABILITY- the sixth dimension of quality, again
more inclined toward goods rather than services, is
serviceability or the speed, courtesy, competence, and the ease
of repair. Guests are concerned with the breakdown of the
products that are actually offered to them. But most
importantly, they are concerned with how fast the standard they
paid for can be restored. Connecting to service concepts, this
dimension can also cover how fast a hotel can transfer a guest to
another hotel after he/she was declined because the initial
hotel was fully booked, or how the restaurant management can
deal with accidents and give service recovery at the soonest
possible time.
AESTHETICS- this dimension, along with the last
dimension, are highly subjective. Aesthetic- how a service
product is perceived- is clearly a matter of personal judgement.
It reflects how a guest is as an individual. Even with this fact,
there appears to be some patterns in guests’ likes and dislikes
when it comes to basis of tastes. Their tastes of course are
affected by a variety of factors, including their demographic and
psychographic characteristics. Because of this, hotels, resorts
and other hospitality and tourism establishments need to
conduct market segmentation to develop their target segments;
as what the quote says, “You can’t have it all”. In the case of
some famous hotel chains, they have segmented their properties
or brands to cater to differing needs of the guests.
PERCEIVED QUALITY- guests usually do not have a
complete guide on a service product’s dimensions; unknowingly,
they are indirectly measuring and this measurement is the only
basis for them to compare brands. A tour experience for
example cannot be observed directly; it is usually must be
gauged by a number of tangible and intangible aspects of the
tour package. Because of this, images, advertising, and brand
names can be critical. Some brands even ship from outside the
country to maintain service quality and to deliver value as they
promised it to their guests. Corporate reputation is its most
prized possession and is the focus of perceived quality.