Functional Service Quality Research Articles

A Parallel Mediator Model to Explain the Organizational Performance Oriented to the Quality of Life of People with Intellectual Disabilities: The Employees and Family Members Perspectives

AbstractThis research examines whether employees’ perceptions of service climate are related to organizational performance oriented toward improving the quality of life (QoL) of people with intellectual disability (ID) through the mediation of service quality perceived by family members. The research was conducted in 252 centers for people with ID in Spain. Employees (N = 2.021) reported on service climate. Family members (N = 2.267) reported on service quality and organizational performance oriented toward improving QoL. We used an overall measure of service climate. Service quality was composed of two dimensions: functional (efficiency in the delivery of the core service) and relational (quality of the social interaction between employees and service users beyond the core service) service quality. Organizational performance oriented toward QoL was composed of four dimensions: overall QoL; self-determination; social inclusion; and defense of rights of people with ID. Results supported full mediation, with functional and relational service quality mediating the relationship between service climate and performance oriented toward improving QoL. Implications for research and organizations are also discussed.

Development and Validation of Survey Instrument for Measurement of Hospital Functional Service Quality

Development and Validation of Survey Instrument for Measurement of Hospital Functional Service Quality

Perceived customer value and willingness to pay: strategies for improving and sustaining water service quality

PurposeSeveral studies have examined the relationship between service quality and willingness to pay in many industries. However, this relationship has not been explored through the lens of customer perceived value and their willingness to pay for improving and sustaining water service. This study aims to examine the impact of technical and functional service quality dimensions on customer perceived value and assess the influence of customer perceived value and socio-economic factors on customers' willingness to pay for improving and sustaining the water service.Design/methodology/approachTechnical service quality includes core water service such as water delivery and maintenance, while functional service quality refers to the appearance of facilities, employees’ dress, and communication. SERVQUAL questionnaire responses were collected from 333 Palestinian household customers. Cronbach’s alpha was conducted to measure internal consistency and convergent validity. Path analysis was utilized to evaluate a causal diagram by examining the relationships among the constructs.FindingsThe results showed that technical and functional service quality and relative price explain 52% of the customer perceived value variation. Additionally, the results revealed that customer perceived value, technical service quality, and relative price significantly impact the customer’s willingness to pay for improving and sustaining service. In contrast, the functional service quality and socio-economic factors have insignificant effects. These predictors explain 60% of the customer’s willingness to pay for improving and sustaining service.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that water providers should prioritize improving and sustaining technical service quality to increase customer willingness to pay. Furthermore, they should be aware that other factors, such as employee appearance and politeness, are less influential in driving customers’ willingness to pay.Originality/valueThe study presents a water service improvement model that utilizes data from a developing country to assess the influence of perceived customer value, along with its dimensions, on the willingness to pay for improving and sustaining water service quality.

Development of Surgical Functional Service Quality scales for Tertiary Care Hospitals: Consumer’s Perspective

Background: Surgical department is the economically viable and resource generation department of a hospital. Its services not only focus to build a long-term image of the hospital but also to generate a positive word of mouth in the community because the consumers have longer hospitalization Objective: This study is aimed to design a scale for measuring functional service quality of surgical department based on service user’s perspective. Methods: This was a mix method research with a cross-sectional study design. Survey questionnaire was used to get primary data from the respondents (patients admitted to wards). Out of 835 self-administered questionnaires, 499 valid responses were received for further data analysis. Simple descriptive, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis were employed using SPSS version 21 and AMOS version 21. Results: The scale identified five constructs that can be used as contributing factors to measure and evaluate surgical department functional service quality. These dimensions include skill, empathy, food, responsiveness and promptness. The model fit values include CFI (0.98), RMSEA (0.055), and GFI (0.96) which show goodness of fit. Conclusion: Though the method of assessment and development of scale is not novel but according to our knowledge based on published literature this study is novel to identify the scale based on service quality dimension in surgical facilities in the developing countries.

Robotic service quality, authenticity, and revisit intention to restaurants in China: extending cognitive appraisal theory

Purpose Using cognitive appraisal theory, this study aims to propose and test an integrated framework – comprising robotic service quality, robotic service authenticity, customer existential authenticity and customer revisit intention – on diners with experience using robotic technology in restaurants. The moderating role of robotic appearance is in the hypothesised relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data was gathered through a Web-based survey delivered to 428 diners who had experience using robotic services in restaurants in China. The hypotheses were analysed using a structural equation model and multi-group analysis was used to analyse the moderating effect. Findings The findings indicate that functional service quality positively influences robotic service authenticity and existential authenticity. However, technical service quality only affects existential authenticity, which leads to revisit intention. Robotic appearance moderated the relationship between functional service quality and service authenticity. Research limitations/implications Restaurateurs should enhance robotic service authenticity, existential authenticity and revisit intention by improving robotic technical service collaborating with robot manufacturers and operators. Originality/value Focusing on cognitive appraisal theory, the findings serve as a starting point for investigating robotic service quality and authenticity in robotic service settings theoretically and empirically.

The role of service quality in achieving sustainable development goal 3: shaping students' psychological well-being in an Egyptian higher education context

Purpose This study aims at exploring the role of higher education service quality in affecting students' psychological well-being through the lens of the sustainable development goals. This purpose is achieved through investigating the effects of functional and technical service quality dimensions on six psychological well-being dimensions, namely, environmental mastery, autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, personal growth and purpose in life.Design/methodology/approach Using a survey, data were collected from 453 Egyptian students. The hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling via SmartPLS 4. The study's limitations are the inability to use probability sampling techniques and length of the survey that led to low response rates.Findings The results show that functional service quality is positively associated with students' autonomy, positive relationships with others and self-acceptance, while functional service was found insignificant in affecting environmental mastery or self-acceptance. Further, positive results are found in the relationship between technical service quality and students' environmental mastery and self-acceptance. On the other hand, a negative relationship is detected between technical service quality and students' personal growth. Lastly, technical service quality is found to be insignificant in affecting students' autonomy or personal relationships with others.Originality/value This study responds to calls for more studies investigating how service quality can shape and affect customer well-being. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate the different roles played by functional and technical service quality in affecting six psychological well-being dimensions of higher education students. Drawing on a sample of 453 Egyptian students, this study provides a novel contribution about the Egyptian higher education context, which is both understudied in the service literature and the well-being literature.

Evaluation of patients' satisfaction with services accessed under the contributory scheme at a Katsina State, North-West, Nigeria

Background: The evaluation of patient satisfaction provides an indicator of the quality of care and contributes to strategies for the improvement of healthcare delivery. Objective: To assess patient satisfaction with services accessed under the contributory scheme at Katsina State in North-West, Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional study with a sample size of 393 Katsina State Contributory Scheme (KTSCS) patients under a formal sector program was done from 1st October to 30th November 2022, at Katsina State, Nigeria. Patients were selected by multistage sampling techniques. Data was collected using a questionnaire adapted from a study by Parasuraman et al., (1988) who designed the SERVQUAL instrument to specifically measure functional service quality using both the gap concept and service quality dimensions. The SERVQUAL instrument, in its original form, contains twenty-two pairs of Likert scale statements structured around five service quality dimensions: These dimensions are: · Tangible: describes the appearance of physical facilities, personnel, and equipment. · Reliability: deals with the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. · Responsiveness: considers the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. · Assurance: talks about the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence, and · Empathy: the ability to provide caring and individualized attention to customers Results: The overall average satisfaction score was 75.8%. The study found that the positive gap of responsiveness, assurances, and empathy means that patients were satisfied with the quality of the service associated with these three dimensions, however, the negative gaps across the reliability and tangibility indicated that patients’ expectations generally were not being met. Conclusion: This study showed that the overall patients' satisfaction with services accessed was good. However, there is a need for the KTSCS and healthcare providers to continuously improve on the provision of healthcare services and address areas of dissatisfaction.

Building a New Framework for Urban Parking Facilities Research with Quality Improvement: The Case of Chongqing, China.

People-oriented development has become the main theme of China's current social development, and the construction of various urban infrastructure has shifted from a focus on functionalism to a continuous pursuit of service quality. As an essential infrastructure for urban transport, urban parking facilities have an impact on pedestrian experience and landscape appearance based on the provision of parking functions. Therefore, this study is oriented to improving the quality of parking facilities, proposes a research framework of parking facilities based on meeting functional demand and service quality, and constructs a quality index to evaluate the quality of parking facilities, which includes three dimensions of evaluation indexes: pedestrian space impact, environmental space impact, and demand matching. By analyzing the current characteristics of urban parking facilities and measuring their quality index (6.5), the study finds that while satisfying the basic function of parking demand, it brings a negative impact on the pedestrian experience and the overall urban landscape appearance of the city. Motivated by this, this study proposes strategies to improve the quality of parking facilities: demand matching, spatial synergy, and environmental design to address parking difficulties, while injecting different ideas for future value orientation of parking facility planning and construction.

Effects of logistics service quality and price fairness on customer repurchase intention: The moderating role of cross-border e-commerce experiences

The dimension of logistics service quality (LSQ) has been receiving much attention as a key factor for the success of many leading domestic e-commerce platforms (DEC). However, the recent increase in demand for cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) calls for a reexamination of the relationship between LSQ and consumer repurchase intention. This study assesses the significance of the moderating effects of CBEC on the LSQ–satisfaction–loyalty–repurchase intention consequence chain. The findings revealed that CBEC has an enhancing moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and functional service quality (personnel quality) and, conversely, an attenuating moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and technical service quality (timeliness) and price quality (price fairness). Many DEC business platforms that are considering expanding into foreign markets can use these findings to create effective CBEC logistics service strategies.

Functional and Self-Congruity's influence on lodging choice: A comparison of franchise and independent accommodations

Increasingly, guests are choosing accommodations not solely for the functional service quality they provide, but on the experiential and symbolic aspects of lodging stays. While some have begun to compare the influence of functional and self-congruity on lodging choice, there has yet to be a comparison between franchise and independent accommodations. This research compares the influence of functional and self-congruity on intent to choose franchise and independent accommodations. Results reveal that for a sample of 623 U.S. travelers, the decision to choose a franchise or independent accommodation is influenced by both functional and self-congruity. However, the influence of self-congruity on likelihood to stay was greater for independent accommodations than franchise accommodations, signifying that the symbolic aspects of staying at an accommodation are much stronger for independent accommodations. Other analyses such as paired samples t-tests and qualitative word clouds confirm that the two lodging categories are distinct offerings within consumers’ psyche.

Is brand experience a good mediator? An empirical study on ISP sector

Notwithstanding the increasing acknowledgment of prominence of Brand Loyalty (BL), in business performance, research efforts directed at investigating the relationship among Brand Service Quality (ServQ), Brand Experience (BE), Brand Trust (BT) and Brand Loyalty (BL) in the context of Kurdistan Region internet service industry, have largely been neglected. Therefore, the principal objective of this study is to fill this void. Service quality in this research is measured in two dimensions: technical and functional, while BE is measured in four dimensions: sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral. In particular, the current study seeks to explore the direct effects of Technical Service Quality (TQ) and Functional Service Quality (FQ) on consumer BE, BT and BL; and the mediating role of BE in brand service quality – brand trust relationship. Moreover, the direct impact of BT on BL along with the mediating role of BT in the BE-BL relationship will also be examined. To empirically test the posited research hypotheses, data is collected from internet consumers in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil provinces of the Kurdistan region in Iraq. In total, 485 internet users were interviewed in the region. The collected data were analyzed using IBM AMOS 23. Findings demonstrate that the Technical Quality of internet services impacts Brand Experience more positively than Functional Quality does. On the contrary, Functional Quality affects the customer Brand Trust directly while Technical Quality does not have any direct impact on the customer Brand Trust. Secondly, It is also observed that Brand Experience significantly mediates the relations between Technical Quality and Brand Trust. The direct impact of the Functional Quality on Brand Trust was stronger than the mediation effect of Brand Experience between Functional Quality and Brand Trust. It was observed that Brand Trust had a significant impact on customer Brand Loyalty. Lastly, Brand Trust significantly mediates the relations between Brand Experience and Brand Loyalty.

QoS-Aware Multicast for Crowdsourced 360° Live Streaming in SDN Aided NG-EPON

The IEEE 802.3ca Task Force group has recently approved the standardization of the next-generation Ethernet passive optical network (NG-EPON) to satisfy future bandwidth demands. NG-EPON architecture classifies the optical network unit (ONU) transmission to allow simultaneous Wavelength-Agile (WA-PON) transmission, which increases the network capacity (50 Gb/s) and flexibility. The recently launched 5G services and related functional standards, new capabilities, and quality of service (QoS) imposed on the optical transport network. The Peer-to-peer (P2P) based live streaming application is the most popular multimedia application in access networks, i.e., Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, and other streaming and video conferencing services are increasing, especially in global epidemics which requires a higher QoS. Hence, media-based applications require adequate infrastructure resources to meet customer demands such as high bandwidth, low latency, high quality audiovisual, live streaming, and services. Therefore, this paper proposes an SDN enhanced P2P virtual reality (VR) live video streaming application NG-EPON multicast architecture based on 5G-enabled Tactile Internet (TI) and aims to improve the QoS, QoE and provide flexible services to the end-users. Finally, we proposed an SDN-based TI-dynamic wavelength and bandwidth allocation (SD-TI-DWBA) mechanism. Simulation results show that our proposed architecture can improve the system performance and QoS metrics regarding packet delay, jitter, system throughput, and packet loss.

Functional Quality of Service During Events: An Empirical Analysis

Visitors to events attach great importance to the range of artists and their performances and the quality of their stay and services. To create a staging and, consequently, an emotionalization of the visitor, many action areas simultaneously take effect at an event. In this context, the customer satisfaction of visitors plays a major role for event organizers, which aims to generate a competitive advantage over other providers and be attractive for artists simultaneously. This article aims to analyse the perceived functional quality of service (QoS) during various events in a multi-purpose event venue. The analysis was based on 563 primary data samples. On the off chance, selected visitors were during the events recruited and interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. The data were collected during the break of five events. These events took place in the period from mid-November to mid-December 2019. This was supplemented by an online survey of enthusiastic fan club visitors who regularly watch handball matches within the event venue. The online survey was conducted in parallel with the surveys during November 2019. Overall, the results showed a high level of satisfaction among visitors regarding the QoS. In addition to services, exploratory factor analysis identified cleanliness as a satisfaction factor that significantly accounted for overall service satisfaction. Differences in the perception of both factors could be detected between the fan club visitors on the one hand and all other visitors of various events (comedy, music, sports) on the other. Based upon the results of this analysis, the event managers of this venue are enabled to employ target group-oriented improvements of individual services to consolidate and increase customer satisfaction.
 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Obstetrics services in Malaysia: factors influencing patient loyalty

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the link of functional service quality (hospital’s reputation, administrative procedures, trustworthiness, patient-care provider relationship and waiting time), satisfaction and patient loyalty on the obstetrics services in private health-care in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA total of 419 mothers who had obtained obstetrics services had participated in this study in a continuous and coordinated manner. The study was conducted in 10 private hospitals in Malaysia throughout April 2018.FindingsResults show that providing excellent service had increased the level of patient satisfaction and achieved patient loyalty. Patients tend to switch to other obstetricians if they are unhappy with the current services that are being offered. The findings showed that patient satisfaction was found to be mediating the relationship between hospital reputation and patient loyalty; trustworthiness and patient loyalty; patient care relationship and patient loyalty; and waiting time and patient loyalty. However, this study also found that administrative procedures do not influence patient satisfaction significantly.Practical implicationsThe outcome of this study able to assist the management of the private hospitals to have more operational and practical strategies that would enhance their service quality for the betterment in their services for their patients in this competitive industry.Originality/valueThis paper provides patients’ perception of their loyalty towards obstetrics services offered by private hospitals in Malaysia.

Service quality in higher education: Applying HEdPERF scale in Vietnamese universities

As the higher education sector is more competitive and globalized, service quality and student satisfaction are increasingly essential and attract more attention. However, research on this topic usually employed general service models applied for the higher education context. This paper investigates the service quality in higher education by combining the HEdPERF model and the popular two-dimensional service quality model to link the general and context-focused perspective. Data were obtained from 335 respondents who are students in Vietnamese universities. Findings indicate the effects of functional and technical service quality on student satisfaction and determine each HEdPERF dimension’s relationships on the two dimensions of service quality. This study contributes to understanding the path from service performance in the higher education sector, service quality dimensions, and satisfaction. This also provides suggestions for Vietnamese universities in improving their performance and services.

Effects of a Justice-Based Partnership Between Employees and Families in Creating Services and Supports to Enhance Quality of Life Outcomes.

We propose a justice-based partnership between employees and family members as a means to create services and support systems for people with intellectual disability, enhancing quality of life indicators. More specifically, we examine the links from mutual intergroup justice to three outcomes reported by family members: satisfaction with the center, service quality delivered by employees, and performance focused on the quality of life of people with intellectual disability. We used data from 111 centers. In each center, a group of family members (n = 845) and a group of employees (n = 914) participated. Multilevel modeling revealed that mutual intergroup justice (between employees and family members) has a positive effect on satisfaction with the center, perceptions of functional and relational service quality, and performance based on quality of life.

Measuring the impact of perceived service quality on insured and uninsured patients’ satisfaction

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the difference in the pattern of influence of perceived service quality on insured and uninsured patients’ satisfaction levels.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a cross-sectional primary research design. A questionnaire survey method is implemented to collect primary data from 322 respondents who have received medical care during the past 1 year. A total of 168 respondents had a subscription to health insurance and 154 of them were without health insurance coverage. Data is analysed through factor analysis and multiple regression with SPSS-26.FindingsThis study identifies a critical difference in the pattern of influence of perceived service quality on patient satisfaction in the case of insured and uninsured patients. This difference is mainly related to the number of technical and functional service quality dimensions as significant predictors of insured and uninsured patients’ satisfaction.Originality/valueThe present study extends the existing body of knowledge related to perceived service quality and patient satisfaction with an interesting observation. Technical dimensions of perceived service quality act as equally important drivers of patient satisfaction in the case of both uninsured and insured patients. However, more number of functional service quality dimensions act as important drivers of patient satisfaction in the case of insured patients compared to uninsured patients. This serves as an important takeaway for health-care managers/administrators to identify areas of service quality need to be strengthened.

Impact of Service Quality on the Customer Satisfaction: Case study at Online Meeting Platforms

As it’s known business rely on the customers it means the profitability of any company change depending on customer demand. Due to that, it’s necessary to treat customer as the king of the market. In another meaning, Customer satisfaction is very important issue to company’s product which it measures the level of probability between company’s product and customer belief in which the happier customer with quality and types of products more products and more profit will occur. The purpose of this project was to determine the Impact of technical and functional service quality on the customer satisfaction and loyalty. Though conducting a survey number of results was collected, and the results belong to their view about different types of platform which they used for online meeting and academic stuff. Different nationality participates in this project including (Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Turkmen, Indian, Pakistan, Uzbek, Nigerian and British) with having different position such as head of the faculty, instructor, academic staff, head of the department and etc. in number of universities in Kurdistan region of Iraq. As it’s shown in chapter three Excel software was used to calculate collected data through (co-variance, correlation and regression analysis) methods. And Based on the result fulfillment, privacy issues were affected the customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Factors of higher education quality service: the case of a Peruvian university

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that impact the quality of the education service in a Peruvian private university, based on the perception of students and graduates.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consisted of 29 students and 20 graduates from the Administration and Finance Program of a Peruvian private university. The data was collected through focus groups and in-depth interviews based on the students’ and graduates’ perspectives of their experiences. The collected data was subjected to content analysis.FindingsThe study identified ten factors or the underlying dimensions that drive the quality of the education service provided by a Peruvian private university. The factors are professors, lecturers, curriculum, extracurricular activities, position and recognition of the university, infrastructure, library, admission, adequate communication mechanisms with faculty and authorities and services. The main quality indicators of the education service were the professors and curriculum planning. As the students were using the education service, they were more focused on “how” they received the service, rather than “what” services they received, i.e. they evaluated the quality of the process. In contrast, graduates gave more importance to functional service quality. They evaluated the quality of “what they received,” i.e. the result.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has several limitations. First, the qualitative approach does not allow generalizing data. The sample size was relatively small and only involved one Peruvian private university. The study was based on the respondent’s perceptions, which were considered accurate.Practical implicationsBased on the study findings, the authors made recommendations to meet the needs of the students and graduates. These findings can help universities to develop strategies that improve educational quality and to allocate resources more effectively. Further research could focus on factors that impact service quality in higher education at different stages of the student lifecycle, namely, applicants (service expectations), students (quality of the process) and graduates (results). The authors suggest validating these results quantitatively.Originality/valueThe study proposes a framework of the higher education service quality based on the experiences of students and graduates that can be used by higher education institutions to continue improving educational quality. The originality of the study lies in the perspective on service quality according to the experiences of students and graduates. Also, this study provides empirical evidence on service quality research in Latin American higher education institutions.

ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICE QUALITY AND COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS IN PREDICTING RELATIONSHIP COMMITMENT AMONG PROFESSIONAL-CLIENT IN LAWYER SERVICES

Globally, judicial sector regarding its relationship commitment has been discussed in few studies. In South-Asian context, service sector has been explored mostly with commercial industries like banks, restaurants and academic. However, professional industries like lawyers, doctors and brokers have rarely investigated by marketers to understand its relationship commitment with their clients considering their core antecedents. In such service industries, technical and functional service quality attributes along with communication effectives enhance client’s satisfaction. Moreover, it examined trust and relationship quality of service provider that impact client-lawyer relationship commitment. Structured questionnaire was designed for collecting a sample of 220 clients who had/have encountered civil cases at district bar Faisalabad, Pakistan. Results of structured equation model shows that professional service quality and communication effectiveness promote relationship commitment among clients and professional lawyers. Also relationship quality mediates the relationship of service quality, communication effectiveness and relationship commitment. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed. Keywords: Relationship Commitment, Professional Service Quality, Relationship Quality, Communication effectiveness, professional services JEL Classifications: M310, M130 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.9387