The study focused on the moderating role of the type of customer on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.
The study sought to examine differences in the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction because of the type of customer.
Previous studies have not examined the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction between residential and business customers.
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.
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.
The main theoretical contribution of the study is the comparison of the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction between residential and business customers.
Despite increased interest in the study of service quality and customer satisfaction (Baumann
A good understanding of the behaviour of various market segments is invaluable in that it can be used to make decisions about target markets (Brennan
Service quality is a multi-dimensional construct that comprises tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Aghdaie & Faghani
Data from the fixed-line telecommunications industry in Zimbabwe were used because prior research on service quality and customer satisfaction has neglected this sector (Almossawi
The significance of the study is two-pronged. Firstly, a good understanding of the differences between the two customer categories is critical in that it allows fixed-line telecommunications operators to craft effective marketing programmes for each of the customer segments (Brennan
The telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe is dominated by a few large firms. TelOne used to be the only major operator in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications sector. With the passage of time, new players came in to take advantage of the untapped mobile telecommunications sector. Currently, the telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe is made up of fixed-line and mobile operators. The single major player in the fixed-line telecommunications sector is TelOne whilst the three major players in the mobile telecommunications sector are Econet, Net One and Telecel (Kabweza
Market segmentation is an important aspect of a successful marketing effort. It involves dividing the market into distinct subsets or groups of customers on the basis of needs, characteristics or behaviour, and then selecting one or more segments to target with a specific marketing mix (Kotler
B2C marketing is concerned with transactions conducted between a firm and end-user consumers. Customers involved in B2C transactions purchase products and services for end use (Hutt & Speh
In B2B marketing, the customer is an organisation rather than an individual as is the case in B2C marketing (Brennan
It is generally agreed that service quality means different things to different people (Beneke
Service quality comprises five dimensions, namely, tangibility (tangibles), reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Lovelock & Wirtz
The success of service-oriented firms is largely dependent on improvements in service quality (Coetzee
There are as many attempts to define customer satisfaction as there are scholars. Despite these attempts, there still does not appear to be an agreed-upon definition of customer satisfaction (Beneke
Tam (
Service quality is an antecedent to customer satisfaction (Agyapong
The study of the effect of each of the dimensions of service quality on customer satisfaction has not received much scholarly attention (Aghdaie & Faghani
Buying behaviour in B2B and B2C markets tends to differ because of differences in the characteristics between B2B and B2C buyers (Brennan
Main differences between residential (B2C) and business (B2B) customers.
Characteristic | Residential (B2C) customers | Business (B2B) customers |
---|---|---|
Buyers | Buying is usually performed by professionally trained people | Buying is usually performed by lone individuals who are not professionally trained to do so |
Number of people involved in buying decision making | Many | Few |
Complexity of buying process | Complex | Simple |
Concentration of customers | Concentrated | Many customers buy as isolated individuals |
Buying power | High | Low |
Rationality of buying decisions | More rational | Less rational |
Strength of relationship between the firm and its customers | Usually strong | Usually weak |
Marketing mix customisation | High; Products are less standardised | Low; products are more standardised |
Transaction values | Typically high | Typically low |
Marketing communication techniques | More personal (e.g. personal selling) | Less personal (e.g. advertising) |
Based on the research hypotheses, the conceptual framework of the study is presented in
Conceptual framework depicting the relationship between the dimensions of service quality and customer satisfaction.
A cross-sectional survey of customers was carried out in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe in 2013 using self-administered questionnaires. A quantitative approach was adopted.
TelOne was the single major player in the fixed telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe. As such, the sample was drawn from TelOne’s customer directory. The total number of active customers in Harare was estimated at 108 000, that is, 84 000 residential and 24 000 business customers. One hundred and twenty five questionnaires were randomly distributed to each of the two customer categories, namely residential and business customers in person. This resulted in a sample size of 250. Surveys were distributed in person.
Out of the 250 questionnaires distributed, 203 were returned and usable (108 and 95 questionnaires from residential and business customers respectively). This represents a response rate of 86.4% for residential customers, 76% for business customers and an overall response rate of 81.2%. The relatively lower response in the business compared to the residential customer category was attributed to work commitments and adherence to company policy in that some businesses required internal departmental approval for data to be collected. Lower response rate is a common phenomenon in B2B market research (Iyer, Germain & Frankwick
Profile of the sample.
Attribute | Percent (%) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Residential customers ( |
Business customers ( |
Overall ( |
|
Male | 68.5 | 63.2 | 66.0 |
Female | 31.5 | 36.8 | 34.0 |
Below 25 years | 12.0 | 4.2 | 8.4 |
25–30 years | 21.3 | 28.4 | 24.6 |
31–40 years | 24.1 | 42.1 | 32.5 |
41–50 years | 27.8 | 24.2 | 26.1 |
Above 50 years | 14.8 | 1.1 | 8.4 |
Voice/telephone | 72.2 | 58.9 | 66.0 |
Internet/ADSL | 22.2 | 33.7 | 27.6 |
Data | 4.6 | 6.3 | 5.4 |
Other | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
As shown in
The questionnaire was divided into three sections, namely general information about the respondents, service quality, and customer satisfaction. Perceived service quality was measured using 25 items (five items for each of the five dimensions) on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 7 (‘strongly agree’). The items are presented in
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the factors emerging from the data. Before conducting EFA, data were tested for sampling adequacy and whether or not they permitted EFA to be executed using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) and the Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity, respectively. It was found that the sample was adequate and that data permitted EFA to be conducted (KMO = 0.96; approx. Chi-Square = 2 980.23; degrees of freedom = 465;
Summary of validity and reliability statistics.
Scale | Item | Factor loading | Item-total correlation | Cronbach’s α | Mean | Standard deviation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tangibility | TAN1 | 0.65 | 0.62 | - | 4.30 | 1.56 |
TAN2 | 0.73 | 0.68 | - | 4.11 | 1.69 | |
TAN3 | 0.69 | 0.66 | 0.70 | 4.69 | 1.55 | |
TAN4 | 0.88 | 0.77 | - | 4.87 | 1.60 | |
TAN5 | 0.61 | 0.57 | - | 3.66 | 1.89 | |
Reliability | REL1 | 0.81 | 0.75 | - | 3.97 | 1.85 |
REL2 | 0.78 | 0.71 | - | 4.72 | 1.73 | |
REL3 | 0.73 | 0.68 | 0.84 | 4.51 | 1.60 | |
REL4 | 0.69 | 0.66 | - | 4.17 | 2.84 | |
REL5 | 0.67 | 0.63 | - | 4.20 | 1.86 | |
Responsiveness | RES1 | 0.64 | 0.61 | - | 4.30 | 1.75 |
RES2 | 0.67 | 0.63 | - | 4.28 | 1.74 | |
RES3 | 0.73 | 0.68 | 0.83 | 4.82 | 1.70 | |
RES4 | 0.71 | 0.67 | - | 4.46 | 1.70 | |
RES5 | 0.6 | 0.56 | - | 4.04 | 1.84 | |
Assurance | ASS1 | 0.77 | 0.70 | - | 4.53 | 1.63 |
ASS2 | 0.67 | 0.63 | - | 5.18 | 1.55 | |
ASS3 | 0.78 | 0.71 | 0.76 | 5.02 | 1.46 | |
ASS4 | 0.66 | 0.62 | - | 4.99 | 1.55 | |
ASS5 | 0.64 | 0.61 | - | 3.80 | 1.78 | |
EMP1 | 0.74 | 0.69 | - | 4.92 | 1.48 | |
EMP2 | 0.78 | 0.71 | - | 4.83 | 1.61 | |
Empathy | EMP3 | 0.77 | 0.70 | 0.83 | 4.69 | 1.55 |
EMP4 | 0.61 | 0.57 | - | 4.47 | 1.71 | |
EMP5 | 0.60 | 0.56 | - | 4.47 | 1.74 | |
SAT1 | 0.78 | 0.71 | - | 4.89 | 1.80 | |
SAT2 | 0.81 | 0.75 | - | 4.89 | 1.71 | |
Satisfaction | SAT3 | 0.84 | 0.76 | 0.92 | 4.85 | 1.83 |
SAT4 | 0.83 | 0.76 | - | 5.02 | 1.78 | |
SAT5 | 0.81 | 0.75 | - | 4.43 | 1.74 | |
SAT6 | 0.83 | 0.75 | - | 4.75 | 1.78 |
Note: Extraction method: Principal component analysis; Rotation method: Oblimin with Kaiser Normalisation; Rotation converged in 11 iterations; Based on Eigenvalues > 1; Total variance explained = 69.62%; Loadings of less than 0.4 were suppressed.
As shown in
To be certain about validity, squared inter-construct correlations (SICs) and average variance extracted (AVE) were assessed. The results are presented in
Mean, standard deviation, SICs and AVE.
Factor | Mean | SD | QUAL | TAN | REL | RES | ASS | EMP | SAT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Service quality (QUAL) | 4.47 | 1.66 | 0.55 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Tangibles (TAN) | 4.33 | 1.66 | 0.49 | 0.57 | - | - | - | - | - |
Reliability (REL) | 4.31 | 1.98 | 0.44 | 0.27 | 0.59 | - | - | - | - |
Responsiveness (RES) | 4.38 | 1.75 | 0.48 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.51 | - | - | - |
Assurance (ASS) | 4.7 | 1.59 | 0.41 | 0.21 | 0.27 | 0.36 | 0.55 | - | - |
Empathy (EMP) | 4.68 | 1.62 | 0.43 | 0.24 | 0.29 | 0.35 | 0.4 | 0.54 | - |
Customer satisfaction (SAT) | 4.81 | 1.77 | 0.41 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.27 | 0.31 | 0.34 | 0.67 |
Note: Diagonal elements in bold represent AVE; SD denotes standard deviation.
According to Fornell and Larcker (
Moderated regression analysis was used to test
Moderated regression analysis.
Variable | ||
---|---|---|
Service quality | 0.73 | 13.03 |
Customer category | -0.03 | -0.52 |
Service quality × Customer category | 0.06 | 1.12 |
Dependant variable: Satisfaction.
Predictors: Service quality, Customer category, Service quality × Customer category.
Results from
Moderated multiple regression analysis was used to test
Moderated multiple regression analysis.
Variable | ||
---|---|---|
Tangibility | 0.13 | 1.60 |
Reliability | 0.11 | 1.26 |
Responsiveness | 0.05 | 0.51 |
Assurance | 0.27 | 3.08 |
Empathy | 0.29 | 3.24 |
Customer category | -0.03 | -0.51 |
Tangibility × Customer category | 0.06 | 0.74 |
Reliability × Customer category | 0.15 | 1.70 |
Responsiveness × Customer category | -0.02 | -0.16 |
Assurance × Customer category | 0.07 | 0.79 |
Empathy × Customer category | -0.18 | -2.01 |
Dependant variable: Satisfaction.
Predictors: Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, Customer category, Tangibility × Customer category, Reliability × Customer category, Responsiveness × Customer category, Assurance × Customer category, Empathy × Customer category.
As shown in
Simple slopes for standardised empathy on standardised satisfaction at business and residential customer categories.
According to
It was demonstrated that perceived service quality has a positive influence on customer satisfaction in the fixed-line telecommunications in Zimbabwe. This finding is in line with the view by Baumann
The article revealed that only two dimensions of service quality (assurance and empathy) positively influence customer satisfaction. Tangibility, reliability and responsiveness do not significantly influence customer satisfaction. This implies that, although overall perceived service quality significantly influences customer satisfaction in the fixed-line telecommunications sector, only the assurance and empathy dimensions make a significant contribution to this relationship. Zeithaml
This article demonstrated that the customer category (residential versus business) does not influence the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction. This implies that the extent to which service quality positively influences customer satisfaction is the same for both residential and business customers. Similarly, it is demonstrated that the customer category does not moderate the effect of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness and assurance on customer satisfaction. This shows that the effect of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness and assurance on customer satisfaction is the same for residential and business customers in the Zimbabwe’s telecommunications industry. However, the nature of the customer moderates the effect of empathy on customer satisfaction. This suggests that the positive effect of empathy on customer satisfaction is stronger for business than for residential customers, and that business customers tend to be satisfied with empathy, that is, they want to feel valued and their needs cared for by service providers (Brennan
The article enhances our understanding of the effect of perceived service quality on customer satisfaction. In this regard, researchers may benefit from the findings of the article.
It adds to the existing literature (Aghdaie & Faghani
The major contribution that the article makes to the current body of knowledge is the comparison of the findings between residential and business customer segments. Generally, the influence of perceived service quality on customer satisfaction does not differ between residential and business customers. The only difference is with respect to a dimension of service quality, namely empathy, the positive effect of which on customer satisfaction is stronger for business than for residential customers.
Perceived service quality was found to influence customer satisfaction positively. This implies that fixed-line telecommunications service providers should aim to provide high quality service, as this would increase customer satisfaction. Thus, service delivery should strive to meet the needs, wants and expectations of customers. As satisfaction increases, fixed-line telecommunications service providers are expected to benefit in terms of repeat purchase (Thaichon
Service practitioners should also pay attention to the dimensionality of service quality when planning marketing programmes in the fixed-line telecommunications sector in developing and transitional economies such as Zimbabwe. Only assurance and empathy were found to have a significant influence on customer satisfaction. Therefore, service providers should focus more on perceived assurance and empathy in order to increase customer satisfaction. Assurance would give customers some sort of guarantee of dependable service delivery (Wang & Shieh
Generally, there is no difference between residential and business customers in terms of the effect of perceived service quality on customer satisfaction. However, a difference was found as regards the empathy dimension. The effect of empathy on customer satisfaction is stronger for business than for residential customers. Telecommunications service providers in developing and transitional countries such as Zimbabwe are advised accordingly. To satisfy their customers through provision of quality services, there is no need to segment their target markets based on the customer category (residential or business). However, firms should commit more effort toward managing empathy for residential than for business customers to achieve the same level of customer satisfaction. This is because the effect of empathy on customer satisfaction is stronger in the business than the residential customer segment.
Although the present findings make some contributions to knowledge, the article is not without limitations. The study sample was small and limited to customers in Harare. Only a single sector, fixed-line telecommunications, was considered. This makes it difficult to generalise the findings to other sectors. Therefore, it is recommended that a more representative sample be considered in future studies. Other sectors may also be considered. Further studies may also be conducted in other countries to validate the present findings. Given the results of the article, other well-established relationships in services marketing such as customer satisfaction and loyalty may also need to be explored in terms of residential versus business customers.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
C.M. was the research project leader and responsible for the choice and development of methodology, data analysis and discussion as well as writing of the paper. D.M. was responsible for data collection, analysis and discussion.
Scale | Scale items | Codes |
---|---|---|
Tangibility (TAN) | This company has modern equipment. | TAN1 |
This company’s physical facilities like buildings and customer service centres are visually appealing. | TAN2 | |
This company’s technicians and customer service employees are commendable in terms of appearance. | TAN3 | |
This company’s materials associated with the service such as pamphlets, statements or adverts are visually appealing. | TAN4 | |
This company’s network infrastructure like poles, cabinets and network cables are in good state. | TAN5 | |
Reliability (REL) | When this company promises to do something by a certain time, it does so. | REL1 |
When you have a problem, this company shows a sincere interest in solving it. | REL2 | |
This company performs the service right the first time. | REL3 | |
This company provides its service at the time it promises to do so. | REL4 | |
This company provides error-free customer detail such as bills, usage records, etc. | REL5 | |
Responsiveness (RES) | This company’s employees tell you exactly when services will be performed, installed or restored. | RES1 |
This company’s employees give customers prompt service. | RES2 | |
This company’s employees are always willing to attend to customer queries and complaints. | RES3 | |
This company’s employees are never too busy to respond to customer requests. | RES4 | |
This company ‘fault report’ telephone numbers are always accessible and quickly answered. | RES5 | |
Assurance (ASS) | The behaviour of this company’s employees instils confidence in you. | ASS1 |
You feel safe in your transactions with this company. | ASS2 | |
This company’s employees are regularly courteous to you. | ASS3 | |
This company’s employees have sufficient service/product knowledge to answer your questions. | ASS4 | |
There is secure parking at all company’s premises. | ASS5 | |
Empathy (EMP) | This company gives you individual attention. | EMP1 |
This company has operating hours convenient to all its customers. | EMP2 | |
This company’s employees give customers personal attention. | EMP3 | |
This company has your best interest at heart. | EMP4 | |
This company’s employees understand your specific needs. | EMP5 | |
Satisfaction (SAT) | This company is my preferred service provider. | SAT1 |
I am satisfied that this company’s service quality compares well with other service providers. | SAT2 | |
I am likely to recommend this company to a friend. | SAT3 | |
I am satisfied that I will remain loyal to this company. | SAT4 | |
The ranges of service this company offers satisfy my needs. | SAT5 | |
Overall my feelings toward this company’s services can best be described as very satisfactory. | SAT6 |