Analysing service quality using customer expectations and perceptions in the South African telecommunication industry

Abstract

Service quality is a differentiator for organizations in the South African telecommunications industry. This is in no doubt as a result of increasing competition. The competition is influenced by new participants such as Internet Service Providers. In addition, the sudden rise of over-the-top applications creates a new form of competition. This paper seeks to ascertain what customers expect from telecommunications providers and how they feel about the service after consuming it or interacting with the telecommunications organization. The study looks at the influence from the customers' perspective. The assumption is that the quality of the service leads to future customer behavior. The SERVQUAL model is used to analyse the customers' expectations of the services before interacting with the telecommunications provider and the customers' perceptions of the services after interacting with the telecommunications provider. The research findings show that consumers value assurance from their telecommunications service providers. In essence, it is of paramount importance that telecommunications organization focus on assurance and responsiveness if they are to remain relevant.