Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Prinsloo, Carly

Titel

Is SERVQUAL an inclusive indicator of SMEs’ service quality advantage during an economic downgrade?A South African case

Ist Teil von

• Journal of Business & Retail Management Research, 2018-01, Vol.12 (2)

Ort / Verlag

London: Centre for Business & Economic Research

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Confidence levels among small business owners are lower since South Africa’s economy has been downgraded to technical recession. With the economic climate looking dismal, small business owners are not convinced that the South African government will spend on small business development. Where large and small businesses are competing for the same market share, there is a need for small businesses to differentiate themselves in some manner to attract and retain customers through the tough economic climate. A particularly excellent competitive advantage to pursue is high service-quality levels to satisfy customer wants and needs in such a way that customers make repeat purchases. The purpose of this paper is to establish if small businesses can utilise the same measurement models as larger businesses. The research utilised a quantitative research design whereby the data was collected by means of a five-point Likert scale survey, known as the SERVQUAL model. The results recommend that small and medium enterprises use the SERVQUAL model to measure and manage service quality and that the SERVQUAL instrument, when used to measure the perceptions of service quality aspects according to business owners in South Africa, functions largely as intended with only four of the items that are not quite interpreted as intended. At a confidence level of 95 percent or alpha at 0.05 is smaller than the p-value of expectations and perceptions at 0.101 and 0.076 respectively. Results indicate there is no evidence that the model does not fit the data and it is deemed acceptable. However, the SERVQUAL model does not measure service quality in its entirety, as there are aspects that differ between large and small businesses that are not addressed in the SERVQUAL model.