Abstract
The interest on quality issues have increased and attracted much attention in the last two decades. Limited academic research has been done in measuring service quality in a supermarket context. The research study attempts to clarify the conceptualisation and measurement of service quality within a supermarket environment. Multiple stages in the development of an instrument to measure supermarket service quality are explored. Exploratory factor analysis was undertaken to establish the dimensionality of the supermarket service quality scale. Several factor solutions were considered. A three-factor structure (atmospherics, physical interaction and shopping convenience) consisting of 24 items is proposed to capture the dimensions of service quality. The implications for future research are outlined.
Highlights
Intensified competition and the deregulation of the South African economy have led many retail businesses to seek profitable ways to differentiate themselves
The main aim of the study was to develop a set of attributes, which can be incorporated in the measure of service quality in a supermarket context in South Africa
These authors proposed that retail service quality comprise five basic dimensions with three sub-dimensions having two subdimensions
Summary
Intensified competition and the deregulation of the South African economy have led many retail businesses to seek profitable ways to differentiate themselves. In South Africa, chain store supermarkets have progressed exponentially in the retailing field in the last two decades (Farquhar, 2002: 6). Such progression is evident in the retail sector, where major retail stores (including supermarkets and hypermarkets) were responsible for more than half of South Africas turnover on groceries, toiletries and confectionery (GTC) (Neilson, 2002: 16). This contributed only 2 per cent of the stores selling these products. The main aim of the study was to develop a set of attributes, which can be incorporated in the measure of service quality in a supermarket context in South Africa
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