Port logistics service quality and customer satisfaction: Empirical evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

This paper aims to validate five determinants of service quality and to examine the service quality-customer satisfaction link in the port logistics service industry of a developing and transitional economy. First, the research reviews literature pertinent to service quality and customer satisfaction. Second, it uses both qualitative and quantitative methods through focus group discussion and direct interviews with 212 respondents who are the employees of firms that have been using port logistics service provided by Cat Lai Port, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Finally, the multivariate analysis is subsequently employed to analyze data obtained from surveys by structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings indicate that port logistics service quality is positively determined by five factors including responsiveness, assurance, reliability, tangibles and empathy. In addition, port logistics service quality exerts positive influence on customer satisfaction. Most noticeably, as embedded in the tangibles component, technological advancements appear to enhance service quality which ultimately satisfies customers in the port logistics service industry.