Ernest Emeka Izogo

Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in automobile repair services sector

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL scale within non-western service setting as well as the impact of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach was employed, using 32-item, seven-point Likert-scaled questionnaire administered to 384 participants with 55.99 per cent usable response rate. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s internal consistency and γ test to, respectively, measure scale suitability, usability and strength/direction of association. Findings – The outcome from the study was the reduction of the 32 items to 26 scale items with 0.929 total α score. Further outcomes show that service quality dimensions are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and loyalty with the commitment dimension accounting for the highest degree of this impact. Research limitations/implications – Findings failed to corroborate past research as it was established that distinct efforts to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty within non-western service contexts proved to be less useful. However, outcomes cannot be generalized and as such, the modified scale that emerged from this research should receive more rigorous tests in other emerging services contexts. Practical implications – Automobile repair services firms within Ebonyi State will be better placed in their strategic responses to customer loyalty if they boost customers’ satisfaction through excellent service quality improvement actions. Social implications – The best way to enhance the welfare of the consumers of automobile repair services in Ebonyi State is by improving the empathy, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability and commitment dimensions of service quality. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates that the commitment dimension of service quality emerged as the most significant predictor of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The research also demonstrates that satisfied customers will definitely be loyal because a distinct effort to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty was found to be less useful.

Customers’ service quality perception in automotive repair

Purpose - – This purpose of this paper is to investigate the diagnostic abilities and dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL scale within a non-western automotive repair services setting. Design/methodology/approach - – Data collected from a randomly generated sample of 555 participants that produced a 50.63 percent response rate was factor analyzed and tested for internal scale consistency. A one sample Findings - – This study reveals that the SERVQUAL scale is a valid and reliable measure of service quality within the automotive repair services setting in a non-western context. Further outcomes from the assessment show that, even though the original five dimensional SERVQUAL structure was successfully replicated, there were definite differences in items assignment. Empathy also emerged as the most important dimension of service quality. Research limitations/implications - – The outcomes of this study cannot be generalized. As such, the SERVQUAL scale should receive more rigorous research in non-western contexts in two directions. First, the scale should be tested across other services fields to further confirm its diagnostic abilities and dimensional structure. Second, more multi-sectoral as well as cross-cultural studies tested across larger data sets is equally required to enhance generalizability of findings across other non-western environments. Originality/value - – This study demonstrated that the SERVQUAL scale is a valid and reliable measure of service quality within the automotive repair services setting in a non-western context with empathy emerging as the most significant dimension of service quality.

Customer loyalty in telecom service sector: the role of service quality and customer commitment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms can influence customer loyalty through customer commitment by leveraging two constructs of service quality: service assurance and service reliability. Design/methodology/approach The analyses are based on 138 responses retrieved from experienced users of mobile phone services in one of the big cities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria through a survey questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the measurement model as well as the proposed hypotheses were examined through the partial least squares structural equation modelling procedure. Findings Service reliability is a direct predictor of customer loyalty while service assurance is not. Affective commitment has a direct positive effect on customer loyalty and partially mediates the relationship between service reliability and customer loyalty. In contrast, the mediating effects of affective and continuance commitment on the relationship between service assurance and customer loyalty were positive but insignificant. Finally, affective commitment mediates the effect of continuance commitment on customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications The mediating role of the individual components of commitment in the links between the individual dimensions of service quality and customer loyalty is largely untested in the literature. This line of inquiry can form the basis for future research proposals. Additionally, the outcomes that emerged from this research must be interpreted with caution due to the size of the sample on which analyses were based. Future research should employ larger samples. Practical implications Services organisations especially telecommunication firms may benefit from customer loyalty by pursuing a combined strategy of increasing service assurance, service reliability, affective commitment and continuance commitment both independently and in tandem. Originality/value As far as could be established, this paper is the first to explore the mediating effects of affective and continuance commitment on the links between service quality dimensions and customer loyalty.

Should relationship quality be measured as a disaggregated or a composite construct

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an empirical study that tested two competing models of relationship quality for superiority and further examined the effect of relationship quality antecedents as well as relationship quality constructs on customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach - – Quantitative cross-sectional data generated from 332 informants who are experienced users of banking services formed the final database. The construct validity and reliability of the data set was confirmed. The two competing models were tested with partial least squares structural equation modelling technique. Findings - – Although the two competing models support all the hypothesised relationships as expected, the disaggregated model of relationship quality was found to be a better predictor of customer loyalty than the composite model of the construct. The two models also show that relationship quality does transmit the effect of customer orientation, expertise and information sharing to customer loyalty. But each of these determinants contributed differentially to relationship quality in both models just as trust and satisfaction contributed differentially to customer loyalty in the disaggregated model. Research limitations/implications - – This paper questions the predictive ability of all previous models that tested relationship quality as a composite construct. The concern is that outputs from those studies may not have reflected the accurate explanation of the construct on companies’ bottom line. Future research integrating the construct into behavioural models should, therefore, examine the construct from a disaggregated viewpoint. Practical implications - – Retail managers especially those within the banking sector are better placed to enhance customer loyalty when relationship quality implementation is initiated from the lens of both trust and satisfaction as separate and interdependent constructs, rather than a composite measure. Such approach widens the latitude to identify areas where attention to improvement is needed most. Originality/value - – The uniqueness of this paper is the measurement of relationship quality both as a disaggregated and composite construct in one study. As far as could be established, in exception of Rafiq

Antecedents of attitudinal loyalty in a telecom service sector: the Nigerian case

Purpose – Although the benefits of customer loyalty are well researched and understood, a clear explication of how customer attitudinal loyalty evolves is lacking. Cultural discrepancies across contexts are also argued as restraining the search for universal and dominant antecedents of loyalty. As a result of the high collectivistic ranking of the Nigerian culture, the purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents of attitudinal loyalty within the Nigerian telecom market. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on survey data obtained from 138 informants who are experienced users of telecommunication services in Nigeria. The cross-sectional data were examined for internal consistency using Cronbach α internal consistency measure whereas the proposed hypotheses were tested using a multiple regression technique after conducting series of validation tests to ensure that none of the assumptions of regression was violated. Findings – The results indicate that service reliability and customer co...

Correlates of the determinants of relationship marketing in the retail sector: the Nigerian case

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to explore the linkages between the determinants of relationship marketing and the behavioural component of these determinants within a non-Western retail stores setting. Design/methodology/approach - – A quantitative approach was employed, using 19-item, seven-point Likert scaled questionnaire administered to 350 participants with 67 per cent usable response rate. Data was analysed using exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s Findings - – Trust-Quality services emerged as the most outstanding determinant of relationship marketing within the retail stores context followed by relational orientation, commitment and proximity. Quality services were found to have the most significant positive impact on trust whereas trust was found to have a strong positive impact on commitment. Relational orientation was found to have a strong positive impact on trust, commitment and quality services but proximity was found to be a docile factor determining commitment and relational orientation. Finally, consumers were identified as being more relationally oriented than retailers and all categories of consumers can be served with same blend of relationship marketing strategies. Research limitations/implications - – Since findings could not be generalized across other sectors and regions, guides for testing the proposed research model are put forward. Practical implications - – Relationship marketing implementation within the context of retail stores will be more successful if based on delivery of quality services. Consumers are also more likely to patronize closer than distant retail stores. As such, even if retail firms build strong trust, commitment and relational orientation with customers through quality services, consumers will still patronize stores that are closer to them more than stores in distant locations. Siting retail stores in locations with the largest pool of customers’ is therefore central to enhancing retail stores performance. All categories of customers could be served with same stream of relationship marketing strategies because designing different schemes of relationship marketing programmes for different customer categories were found to be counter-productive. Originality/value - – This paper identified 16 attributes that are important to consumers under four dimensions: Trust-Quality services, relational orientation, commitment and proximity within the retail stores context. The findings are acknowledged to be unique because they emerged from a largely under-researched collectivistic emerging market where relationship marketing formation is key.

Structural equation test of relationship quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how companies can influence customers’ repurchase intention and willingness to recommend through relationship quality (RQ hereafter) constructs by leveraging customer orientation, expertise and information sharing. Design/methodology/approach – The research informants were recruited from a Southeastern Nigerian city. Data analysis was based on 303 qualified cases extracted from the 332 valid responses retrieved from the customers of retail banking services through a bank-intercept method and online survey. Findings – Except customer orientation, all the antecedents of RQ were directly related to trust and satisfaction. Whereas satisfaction was both directly and indirectly related to repurchase intention and willingness to recommend, trust was directly and indirectly related to repurchase intention but was not directly related to willingness to recommend. It was only indirectly related to willingness to recommend through satisfaction and repurchase intentio...

Determinants of relationship quality and customer loyalty in retail banking: Evidence from Nigeria

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of relationship quality (hereafter referred to as RQ) and its impact on customer loyalty within an emerging retail banking market through a dual-lens theory. Design/methodology/approach - The research informants were recruited from a city in South-eastern Nigeria. A quantitative data obtained through bank-intercept method and online survey from 332 customers of retail banking services formed the final database. The proposed model and by implication the research hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling procedure. Findings - The results show that customer orientation, expertise and information sharing are stimulus factors that directly influence the constructs of RQ (i.e. trust and satisfaction and indirectly influence customer loyalty through the constructs of RQ. The paper also demonstrates that the stimulus factors are direct predictors of consumers’ response. The proposed model explained 49 per cent of the total variance in customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications - Customer orientation, expertise and information sharing are stimulus factors that improve RQ and customer loyalty. However, the explanatory power of the proposed model is modest. Future research should therefore integrate other determinants of RQ. Practical implications - The paper provides clear insights into how retail bank managers operating in a very competitive and emerging market can improve RQ and subsequently attract customer loyalty. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the growing body of stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) literature within the retail environment by exploring unique stimulus and organism variables from an emerging retail banking market perspective. Additionally, by showing that the stimulus factors are direct predictors of consumers’ response, the paper challenged the existing tenets of the S-O-R framework and deepened the current understanding of the model. The paper also contributes to the social exchange theory by demonstrating how the components of RQ mediate the antecedents and consequences of the construct.

Creating particularized trust in e-retailers through experiential value and generalized trust

Abstract Although practitioners-based survey indicated that trust in businesses and other societal institutions wane simultaneously whilst academic literatures support the view that externally sanctioned beliefs drive consumers’ trust in specific firms, the relationship between broad-level generalized kind of trust and trust in specific firms is an understanding that is yet to be empirically investigated. This paper examined the relationship between generalized trust and particularized trust as well as the mediating role of experiential value in that relationship. Data generated from 268 informants through a snowball sampling procedure indicates that generalized trust is directly related to components of particularized trust whilst components of utilitarian and hedonic value mediate the relationships between generalized trust and components of particularized trust. The implicit proposal is that e-retailers must look beyond the primary responsibility of enhancing profits and strengthen trust in their market offerings by taking managerial actions that not only ensure consistent delivery of valuable services but are consistent with public interests and opinions in the environment where they operate.

Empirical Study of Relationship Quality in a Service Setting of an Emerging Economy: The Nigerian Experience

This paper examined the behaviour of a relationship quality (hereafter referred to as RQ) model within the service context of an emerging economy. Specifically, the purpose of this paper was two-fold. First was to examine the determinants of RQ and second, to ascertain the impact of those determinants on word-of-mouth behaviour through RQ. A quantitative approach was used to sample 384 customers of telecom services. SEM-PLS analysis was used to ascertain the structural behaviour and, by implication, the research hypotheses. Findings showed support for all the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, service communication and perceived value were found to be positively significant to RQ and RQ, on the other hand, is a significant predictor of word-of-mouth behaviour. The model explains over 40 percent of variance on word-of-mouth behaviour which was attributed by the combined efforts of other predictors. Thus, the research model is modest. Implications and future research agenda were outlined.