Integrating current and competitive service‐quality level analyses for service‐quality improvement programs

Abstract

In competitive economic environments, a service‐quality improvement program (SQIP) should focus on customer satisfaction and should differentiate a company's service from its competitors' service. In this paper, current and competitive service quality (SQ) levels are considered for improving competitive SQ using current SQ levels measured by the SERVQUAL model with a ratio‐score scale. Second, competitive SQ is analyzed by customer assessment relative to each service attribute. Subsequently, the entropy method is used to quantify competitiveness. The value of each attribute's entropy indicates the relative importance of the attribute for SQIP. Third, the final priorities are determined by the combination of current SQ level and entropy value. Empirical testing on a fast‐food case study identifies the importance of considering the current SQ level and competitive performance indices simultaneously within a SQIP model.