Angelos Pantouvakis

The relative importance of service features in explaining customer satisfaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative importance of various service‐quality dimensions in explaining customer satisfaction; and to examine whether this assessment is affected by the measurement instrument that is used.Design/methodology/approach – A new (“servicescape”) model for directly measuring the physical and the interactive features of a service is proposed and tested against the SERVQUAL measurement model and Nordic conceptualisation. Data are collected from a structured questionnaire survey of 434 passengers at the port of Piraeus in Greece.Findings – The findings reveal that the widely used SERVQUAL instrument fails to fully capture the role of “tangibles” in determining overall customer satisfaction in the service under examination. The new proposed “servicescape model” attaches more importance to the role of physical environmental attributes than has been reported in most previous studies.Practical implications – Service providers should pay more attention to the physic...

Customer satisfaction and loyalty in the eyes of new and repeat customers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to explore the relative importance of the physical and interactive elements of service on overall satisfaction, particularly when these elements are moderated by the point‐of‐view of repeat and new customers. Evidence is drawn from the transport sector industry.Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study come from 388 ferry passengers. Regression analysis was used to test the influence of each parameter and SEM employed to assess the moderating effects of repeat patronage on satisfaction.Findings – The results suggest that the physical elements of the service are of greater importance in determining customer evaluations on overall satisfaction than interactive features of service. The results also suggest that these effects are not just direct but also moderated by the repeat use of the service. Finally, both elements are very good predictors of overall satisfaction.Research limitations/implications – As results are obtained from only one industr...

The impact of ISO 9001 effectiveness on the performance of service companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define and subjectively measure ISO 9001 effectiveness as the achievement of the standards objectives and determine its impact on the performance dimensions of service companies related to product/service quality, operational and financial performance.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study was carried out using a sample of 100 ISO 9001:2008 certified service companies. Data were obtained from the quality managers of the companies through a structured questionnaire. Exploratory factor analyses are applied to extract the latent factors of the indicators of ISO 9001 objectives and performance dimensions. Multiple linear regression analyses are also applied in order to determine the impact of ISO 9001 effectiveness on the performance dimensions of service companies.Findings – The findings of the present study confirm the dimensionality of the ISO 9001 effectiveness (evaluated by the degree of achievement of the standards objectives, namely prevention of no...

The link between organizational learning culture and customer satisfaction: Confirming relationship and exploring moderating effect

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework and conduct an empirical study across different service sectors to investigate the inter‐relationships between organizational learning culture, employee job satisfaction and their impact on customer satisfaction. It also aims to examine an individual‐level variable (educational level) to see if it exerts possible moderating effects on the aforementioned relationships.Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from employees in three companies that belong to different service sectors (port, supermarket and automobile repair service). A sample of 437 usable questionnaires from first line employees was collected. Regression analysis, including a moderated mediation analysis, was used to examine the relationships.Findings – The results confirmed the mediating role of employee job satisfaction on the relationship between organizational learning culture and customer satisfaction. In addition, this study ...

Testing the SERVQUAL scale in the passenger port industry: a confirmatory study

A key question is whether the service quality instruments developed for other services’ industries may be used to gauge service quality perceptions in shipping. Grounded on similar studies that test the most widely used American service quality instrument, SERVQUAL, in the commercial shipping sector, this study examines its applicability in the passenger shipping realm. Based on a survey of 436 passengers in Piraeus port, SERVQUALs five main dimensions have been checked regarding their fit with the use of Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Results support that this is a valid instrument for measuring service quality in passenger shipping besides certain considerations regarding its dimensionality. A more parsimonious two-factor model seems more applicable and should therefore be also considered. Finally, it is evident from the study that passengers place more importance to the physical than the interactive elements of service to form their overall satisfaction.

The interrelationship between service features, job satisfaction and customer satisfaction

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a conceptual framework which explores the links between the two service features (physical and interactive), job satisfaction and their impact on customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 168 first line employees of a major European port. Structural equation modelling and regression analysis were used to examine and test the relationships.Findings – The empirical data verifies structural relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and job satisfaction, treating job satisfaction as a consequence of physical features and as an antecedent of interactive features. The direct impact of employee job satisfaction on customer satisfaction, together with its indirect influence via service features, were tested and supported by the empirical data.Originality/value – This study extends the literature by examining the distinct role that the interactive and physical features of ...

Does ISO 9000 Series Certification Matter for the Financial Performance of Ports? Some Preliminary Findings from Europe

This article investigates the role of ISO 9000 certification on the financial performance of the port authorities. The financial and scale efficiency of 18 European port authorities, some certified and some not, have been reviewed and results derived using data envelopment analysis. The inputs and outputs used in the analysis were selected following the literature and after employing regression analysis on the whole data set and the results reveal that ISO certified ports are more efficient financially than their non-certified competitors. By further using the efficiency slacks from the frontier, an indicative estimation of the magnitude of this inefficiency has been also calculated. The method followed may provide the impetus for a research agenda aiming explicitly on the exact contribution of certification on the financial ‘below the line’ results of the companies.

The impact of internal service quality and learning organization on clinical leaders' job satisfaction in hospital care services

Purpose – This survey aims to investigate the perceptions of clinical leaders in hospital care services in the context of the Greek public health system, to define the impact of internal service quality characteristics and learning organization dimensions on job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The sample comprised doctors – department heads of 123 clinical departments of basic medical specialties operating in 15 hospitals and was addressed by the use of a questionnaire specifically designed for the purposes of this research effort. The results were processed with the use of exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression was applied.Findings – The research results revealed a positive impact of interactive internal service quality characteristics and learning organization dimensions, namely, empowerment and continuous learning, on job satisfaction in hospital care services.Originality/value – This research effort focuses, for the first time, on clinical leadership perceptions in publi...

Internal marketing and the moderating role of employees: An exploratory study

Drawing on evidence from the health service sector, this study focuses on the concept of internal marketing and how it affects internal customer satisfaction. The literature review provides the basis for synthesising human resource management, the learning organisation paradigm and Bitners servicescape framework, in order to introduce and empirically test an instrument for measuring internal marketing. The sample consists of 478 medical staff members (medical, nursing and administrative staff) from nine different hospitals, in an attempt to investigate multiple service roles with respect to different aspects of internal marketing orientation. The results support the proposed model and emphasise the moderating aspect of service roles.

The moderating role of nationality on the satisfaction loyalty link: evidence from the tourism industry

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effects of Hofstedes taxonomy of nationalities on the interpersonal and environmental service dimensions that influence satisfaction as well as the link between satisfaction and loyalty. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling on a multinational pool of 1544 hotel customers from 10 different countries visiting the island of Crete, the study offers to the literature by confirming that national cultural differences affect perceived satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, it offers a solid understanding of the role of the service delivery process and its moderating effects on the physical and interactive dimensions of overall satisfaction. However, Hofstedes taxonomy is not fully supported.