Original Research

Are all customers really the same? Comparing service quality and satisfaction between residential and business telecommunications customers

Charles Makanyeza, Darlington Mumiriki
Acta Commercii | Vol 16, No 1 | a348 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ac.v16i1.348 | © 2016 Charles Makanyeza, Darlington Mumiriki | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 21 September 2015 | Published: 10 June 2016

About the author(s)

Charles Makanyeza, Department of Marketing, School of Entrepreneurship & Business Sciences, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe
Darlington Mumiriki, TelOne, Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Orientation: The study focused on the moderating role of the type of customer on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.

Research purpose: The study sought to examine differences in the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction because of the type of customer.

Motivation for the study: Previous studies have not examined the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction between residential and business customers.

Research design, approach and method: The study used a cross-section of 203 customers (108 residential and 95 business) in the fixed-line telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe. Moderated regression analysis was performed to test the research hypotheses.

Main findings: It was established that the customer category (residential versus business) does not moderate the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction. Practical/managerial implications are, generally, that it is not necessary to segment customers by customer category (residential versus business) when managing service quality to achieve customer satisfaction.

Contribution/value add: The main theoretical contribution of the study is the comparison of the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction between residential and business customers.


Keywords

Customer Satisfaction; Dimensions of Service Quality; Services Marketing; Service Quality; Telecommunications Service

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Acta Commercii  vol: 22  issue: 1  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/ac.v22i1.1028