Master’s Thesis
The effects of service quality on consumer behavior intentions in the retail environment Marcella Snel
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Economics and Business MSc Business Studies, Marketing track Student number: 10475656 1st supervisor: Dr. L. Moratis Date: February 8th,2016
Statement of Originality
This document is written by Student Marcella Snel who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used creating it.
The faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Acknowledgement
Achieving a Master’s degree was my main motivation when I started my Master’s in Business Studies, and after three years I am graduating with this thesis. The last mile is the longest. The end of my Master education has been a tough time. I really am relieved that I have brought this part time study to a successful conclusion and have enjoyed the knowledge and content offered by the University of Amsterdam.
The completion of this Master in Business Studies could not have been possible without the stimulating role of Henk Schilder, my partner. I would like to thank him for his patience and understanding that I needed for studying a lot of evenings and giving less coziness and attention than he deserved.
Also my mother has fulfilled an unconditional supportive role to me. She has always been encouraging me to take enough time to study for my exams.
I would also like to thank Dr. Lars Moratis for providing me with highly valuable feedback. His insights and feedback were very helpful and provided the opportunity for significant improvement.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Albert Heijn, my employer, for encouraging me and giving me the opportunity to earn my master’s degree. Specifically I thank Bregje Maes, who frequently sent me packages with good luck tea, which were always very helpful.
Table of contents
Abstract 6
1. Introduction 7
2. Literature review 11
2.1 Components determining behavioral intentions 11
2.1.1 Definitions of each concept 11
2.1.2 Service quality 12
2.1.3 Expectations 13
2.1.4 Perceptions 14
2.1.5 Behavioral intentions 15
2.2 Characteristics of services 16
2.3 Wheel of consumer analysis 17
2.4 Subjective norms 18
2.5Value for money 19
2.6 Research gap 20 2.7 Conceptual model 21 3. Methods 22 3.1 Research design 22 3.2 Analysis strategy 23 3.3 Sample selection 24 3.4 Data collection 24 3.5 Data analysis 25 3.6 Methodological justification 26
3.6.1 Aided versus unaided awareness 26
3.6.2 Rating 27
4. Results 27
4.1 Service quality perceived from a consumer perspective 27
4.2 Interaction between expectations and perceptions 32
4.3 The influence of perceptions and expectations on behavioral intentions 33
5. Discussion 35
5.1 Discussion of findings 35
5.3 Managerial implications 38
5.4 Limitations 39
5.5 Future research 40
6. Conclusions 41
7. References 42
Appendix 1 Interview guide 46
Appendix 2 Calculated categories 49
Abstract
Triggered by signals from practice and reading the academic literature, is the service
encounter still valued? The role of service within companies seems to be a changing subject. To determine the current state of service quality, this thesis will look into what consumers perceive as (distinctive) service quality. Service quality factors will influence behavioral intentions, moderated by expectations and perceptions. Do these moderators both have the same effect on behavioral intentions?
Subsequently, the following research question is formulated for this thesis: “What are the effects of service quality on consumer behavioral intentions in the retail environment?”. This master thesis is a qualitative study, based on twenty-five semi-structured interviews with consumers of different supermarkets within the county Noord-Holland, conducted to achieve a better understanding of what consumers perceive as (distinctive) service quality. It becomes clear that the organizations within the supermarket environment should focus on availability of products, which takes place within the operational areas of the company─ the stores where consumers visit. In addition, availability is the aspect all consumers appointed unaided in the interview whereupon quickly helped, friendly and helpful staff and good quality followed as aided themes.
With these findings this study contributes to more insights in the perceptions of consumers’ evaluation of each aspect and the influences on behavioral intentions.
Keywords: Service quality – expectations – perceptions – behavioral intentions – retail – supermarkets
1. Introduction
Building customer loyalty and enhancing relationships is the aim of customer experience management (Frow and Payne, 2007). In a strong competitive market, achieving
differentiation through goods becomes more difficult, where service encounters become increasingly important(Reinartz and Ulaga, 2008). Experience from practice within the retail supermarket environment agree with these conclusions from literature and earlier research. As an employee of supermarket Albert Heijn, the author of this thesis found that an
emphasis on service encounters is extreme: “Every store of Albert Heijn aims to attain a 9+ rating from the customers satisfaction surveys. The main question that arises from practice within the role as a supermarket manager: is the service encounter still valued?”
Resnick, Foster and Woodall (2014) found that consumers are not looking for the best prices or best services, but for the best value for their money. According to this research, “the staff remains fixated on the personal service aspect, where consumers appear to have moved on”. The service encounter has been a source of competitive advantage for years but seemed to no longer act as an incentive to choose a particular retailer (Resnick et al., 2014). The study of Resnick, Foster and Woodall (2014) took place at a single UK location, which offers the possibility for this thesis to investigate whether the service encounter seems no longer to act as a competitive advantage within the Dutch supermarket retail market as well.
Underlying the effects of service quality on consumers’ behavioral intentions, the definition of what consumers perceive as distinctive service quality needs to be taken into account. This could help to achieve a better understanding of what expectations and perceptions consumers have of service quality. Service quality within this study is defined as a form of
attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction, that results from the comparison of expectations with performance (Cronin and Taylor, 1992).
In this study, research is focused on the link between service quality and the behavioral intentions of consumers in a retail environment. The best definition for behavioral intentions is displayed by H.C. Triandis (1980); “Behavioral intentions are instructions that people give to themselves to behave in certain ways”. In psychological terms, a behavioral intention indexes a person’s motivation to perform a particular behavior (Sheeran, 2002) and is to a significant degree determined by expectations and perceptions of the dimensions of service quality (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Zeithaml et al. (1993) believe that their process model would apply to products as well as services. However, empirical support for this belief remains to be provided.
Service quality has received wide attention in prior research. For example it is discussed by Cronin and Taylor (1992), Grewal and Parasuraman (1994) & Baker (1994). Nevertheless, there is still a lack of empirical support in which way service quality has influence on
consumer behavioral intentions. The existing literature that is available is focused on service environments, like drugstores or specialty stores, while retail environments, supermarkets in particular, are underexposed.
Findings from different investigations suggest the need for further research due to a lack of generalizability. Are the findings from research within an apparel specialty store (Gagliano & Hathcote, 1994), for example, concurrent within a different setting, like a grocery store? Are the findings of the study that took place at a single UK health and beauty retailer (Resnick et al, 2014) comparable with a Dutch supermarket? Almost all investigations that are taken into
account in the literature review underline the need of future research to which this study seeks to contribute.
To get more insights in what factors influence behavioral intentions, as well as how they influence behavioral intentions, the next research question is proposed:
What are the effects of service quality on consumer behavioral intentions in the retail environment?
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of service quality on consumer behavioral intentions in the Dutch retail market, focusing on supermarkets. In specific, what service quality includes for consumers and how this relates to their behavioral intentions.
One of the most effective ways to learn about the circumstances of people’s live is to ask them about those circumstances (Berg & Lune, 2012), so data was collected by
semi-structured interviews that took place on location at different supermarkets within different cities. All respondents that participated had come out of the store after doing their
shopping.
This study will make an academic and managerial attribution. Firstly, it provides insight into the importance of the best predictor for behavior, videlicet behavioral intentions
(Sheeran,2002), which provides academic value by adding to the body of knowledge on the role of service quality on these intentions. Secondly, from a managerial perspective, it brings an insight into the build-up of behavioral intentions of consumers which organizations can focus on within their strategies to attract and attain consumers.
The paper begins with a literature review of several important concepts and the different questions that arise from investigations to which this study seeks to contribute. An overview of the research methodology and design is provided after which qualitative findings are presented, discussed and finally converted into theoretical and managerial implications. This paper will end with suggestions for future research and the conclusions of this particular study.
2. Literature review
The following section is meant to provide an overview of already existing academic literature and insights into the topic of this study. It will first take a look into the core themes and their definitions. Additionally it will show some basic underlying theories. Finally, the importance of service quality, how it is used or perceived in practice and the research gap will be
introduced. In order to display a correct and clear delineation, this chapter is concluded with a conceptual model of the area were this research takes place.
2.1 Components determining behavioral intentions
Behavioral intentions are to a significant degree determined by expectations and
perceptions of the dimensions of service quality (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Zeithaml et al. (1993) believe that this principle would apply to products as well as services but empirical support for this conclusion remains to be provided.
Underlying the effects of service quality on consumer behavior intentions, the definition of what consumers perceive as distinctive service quality needs to be taken into account. In order to get a better understanding of the perception of distinctive service quality,
expectations and perceptions consumers have of service quality contribute to a complete overview of which factors influence behavioral intentions at the beginning of this process.
2.1.1 Definitions of each concept
In order to get a full understanding of what the four most impactful concepts include, the following definitions are shared;
2.1.2 Service quality
Service quality has been described as a form of attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction, that results from the comparison of expectations with performance (Cronin and Taylor, 1992).
Grewal and Parasuraman (1994) investigated a closely related factor of what is of influence to service quality. This study’s findings suggest that “customers’ merchandise and service quality inferences have a significant impact on overall store image and that managers can strive to achieve a desired store image by changing the store’s ambient and social
characteristics appropriately”. The results point to the idea that managers can shape a store’s image regardless of its current layout and architecture because of the apparently weak impact of design factors on customers’ quality inferences. Suggestions for further research display that the specific context in which this research took place (a card and gift store), is also a boundary for the found results. The results are limited to the study’s context. Future research is needed to explore the effects of store environment on quality inferences in other stores. The effects of store environment on quality inferences can be taken into account for investigating what consumers determine to be distinctive service quality.
Baker (1994) investigated what impact a unique atmosphere or environment of a store has on the consumers’ inferences about merchandise and service quality. The inferences that customers make about a store’s merchandise and service quality are influenced by the characteristics of the store. Specifically, the ambient and social elements in the store
environment provide cues that influence the inferences of the consumers. In line with these findings, the author suggests “managers can strive to achieve a desired store image by
changing the store’s ambient and social characteristics appropriately”. A valuable insight to be taken into account for future study is offered by examining which factors influence service quality, which then influence behavioral intentions.
Also, in this study a limited context is applied. Future research is needed to explore the effects of store environments on quality inferences in other store types, where this future study can engage.
2.1.3 Expectations
Consumer expectations are widely researched within academic articles. In these academic articles, the consensus is that “expectations serve as standards with which subsequent experiences are compared, resulting in evaluations of satisfaction or quality” (Parasureman et al., 1993).
To provide further understanding of what expectations are, Olsen and Dover (1979) describe them as pretrial beliefs about a product. These beliefs serve as standards or reference points against which a product’s performance is judged (Parasureman et al., 1993).
Service quality has received wide attention in prior research, and it has been shown that a distinction can be made between two different types of expectations─ what will happen in the next service encounter with a firm and what should happen in the next service
encounter with a firm (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Current perceptions of the service quality of a firm are a blend of these two different expectations.
Two main standards of expectations are distinguished from each other within the literature. One standard represents an expectation as a prediction of future events. The other standard
is a normative expectation of future events, operationalized as either desired or ideal. This is the standard typically used in the service quality literature, according to Zeithaml et al. (1993). Zeithaml et al. (1993) found strong support for their conceptualization that will expectations positively influence perceptions of quality. These perceptions, in turn, positively influence behavioral intentions. The authors believe that their process model would apply to products as well as services, however, empirical support for this belief remains to be provided.
2.1.4 Perceptions
Perceptions lie in the extension of expectations. According to Zeithaml et al. (1993),
perceptions of the dimensions of service quality are viewed to be a function of a customer’s prior expectations of what will and what should happen during a service encounter, as well as the customer’s most recent contact with the service delivery system. These perceptions of quality dimensions form the basis for a person’s overall quality perception, which in turn predicts the person’s intended behaviors.
In another study, Gagliano & Hathcote (1994) obtained information about the perceptions and expectations of the level of service quality offered within apparel specialty stores. They found that the easiest factor to duplicate is the merchandise variety and price. Service is the means whereby a specialty store retailer can gain advantage over its competitors (Gagliano & Hathcote, 1994).
The greatest gap within this research was found on personal attention factors, which indicated disparity between what specialty store consumers expected and how specialty
store consumers perceived service quality. An important question that arises, which is not argued within this article, is what consumers actually perceive or define as service quality. The authors found that “store appearance, employees and promotional materials offer visible cues to customers that they use to form perceptions of store image”. Gagliano & Hathcote (1994) state that it is important for the retailers to create an image for the store that they wish to project. Whenever this image is projected, the retailer can survey the customers as to their perceptions of the store image, which would have a relation to the consumers expectations and perceptions. The influence of store image and what factors influence store image can be a valuable insight for this future study.
Unfortunately, this study only focuses on the apparel specialty stores within a small part of the USA. There is still no support for the findings within different stores and different countries, where this relationship still must be proved.
2.1.5 Behavioral intentions
Behavioral intention is defined as a function of salient information or beliefs about the likelihood that performing a particular behavior will lead to a specific outcome (Ajzen et al., 1992. In order to get a full understanding of what are understood as behavioral intentions, descriptions from other literature are shared. In psychological terms, a behavioral intention indexes a person’s motivation to perform a particular behavior (Sheeran, 2002). According to H. C. Triandis (1980), behavioral intentions are instructions that people give to themselves to behave in certain ways. The focus of this study will be on the behavioral intentions of
consumers, where the influence of behavioral intentions on actual behavior is a fruitful area for future research.
An interesting question is investigated by McCabe et al. (2007), which includes hunting down the reason why consumers shop at a favored retail organization. They try to explore the relationship among shopping motivations and outcomes, specifically focusing on service quality, customer loyalty and behavioral intentions.
The paper demonstrates that perceived service quality is a dynamic concept that fluctuates based upon a consumer’s shopping motivation. The paper highlights that “service marketers must consider that perceived service quality is not solely a function of the consumption setting, but rather a function of a setting and a consumer’s shopping motivations”. McCabe, et al. (2007) emphasize the importance of the shopping moods as a factor, which could, in line with this future study, influence perceptions or expectations after experiencing a service encounter.
The setting of this study provides evidence for a limited context as it was oriented on fashion retail organizations and data was gathered among retailing students. Future studies could try to find out whether these effects still exist within a different context.
2.2 Characteristics of services
Parasuraman et al. (1985) describe three well-documented characteristics of services: inseparability, intangibility and heterogeneity. Three underlying themes, to underpin these characteristics, are provided:
- For consumers, service quality is more difficult to evaluate than goods quality.
- A comparison of service performance with consumer expectations results in service quality perceptions.
- Quality evaluations are not made solely on the outcome of a service; evaluations of the process of service delivery are also taken into account.
The researchers pinpointed four gaps on the service provider’s side that are likely to affect service quality as perceived by consumers. This contribution underlines the interesting sub-question of what consumers exactly define as distinctive service quality instead of the company’s thoughts of it.
A future research suggestion is also made by the authors that recommend having a deeper search on the expectations of services by consumers. In addition to the influence of a marketer’s communication, what are the influences of word-of-mouth communications, personal needs and past experiences on expectations of services? This suggestion confirms the importance of the examination of the expectations of consumers, which can influence the behavioral intentions, and which is in line with the proposed field study model for this future research.
2.3 Wheel of consumer analysis
The effects of service quality on behavioral intentions that could take place will be examined from the three elements for consumer analysis, also known as the wheel of consumer analysis (Peter & Olsen, 2001), consumer affect and cognition, consumer behavior and consumer environment.
Consumer affect and cognition refers to two types of mental responses consumers have to stimuli and events in their environment. Affect refers to consumers’ feelings (i.e., emotions, feeling status, moods, attitudes) about stimuli and events such as whether they like or dislike a product. Cognition refers to their thinking, such as their beliefs about a particular product. Consumer behavior refers to the physical actions of consumers that can be directly observed and measured by others. It is also called overt behavior to distinguish it from
mental activities that cannot be observed directly, such as thinking. Behavior is critical for marketing strategy because it is only through behavior that sales can be made and profits can be earned.
Consumer environment refers to everything external to consumers that influences what they think, feel, and do. Social stimuli that influence consumers such as the actions of others in cultures, subcultures, social classes, reference groups and families, are examples. Also physical stimuli such as stores, products, advertisements and signs that can change consumers’ thoughts, feelings and actions can influence consumers.
The consumer environment is important to marketing strategies because it is the medium in which stimuli are placed to influence consumers. A special focus of the suggested research is on the consumers’ environment in which promised services could play a role.
According to Zajonc & Markus (1982), two different mental responses influence attitudes or preferences in the evaluation process within the consumer behavior scheme. Cognitive- or affect-based preferences or attitudes influence behavioral intentions (Armitage & Christian, 2003). Following the author’s definition, persuasive information is appropriate when the focus is on cognitive basis for preferences (traditional view). When the focus is on affect-based preferences, the aim is at affective components. This fact could help in determining which method of communication would help in influencing the behavioral intentions of consumers.
2.4 Subjective norms
Ajzen et al. (1992) assessed the theory of planned behavior as an extension of the theory of reasoned action. They found that the inclusion of perceived behavioral control significantly
enhances the prediction of behavioral intentions and target behavior. The results indicated that increased precision in the prediction of intentions and target behavior could be
achieved by assessing perceived behavioral control over the behavior (Ajzen et al., 1992).
Chang (1998) discussed the applicability of the theory of planned behavior for moral
behavior and the implications for future research. He found that the attitude and subjective norm components are not as independent as the theory predicts, which has been supported by previous studies. Therefore, future studies should take the path linking subjective norm to attitude into account. Due to the different conflicting outcomes, this study chose to include subjectivity by investigating the personal evaluations of service quality and its influence on behavioral intentions.
2.5 Value for money
Sheilagh Resnick, Carley Foster and Tony Woodall (2014) made an interesting contribution to already existing literature. They found that staff of a health and beauty company in the UK remain fixated upon an aspect that has been a distinguishing factor for years; personal service expectation. A snapshot of this retail environment showed that consumers moved on; “personal customer service seemed not to act as an incentive to use this particular retail store and, consequently, would appear no longer to be a significant source of competitive advantage”. They concluded that the customers’ perspective on the store was based on “value for money”, a relatively narrow view of the retail encounter, because of the focus on minimal costs and rejecting the entirely traditional attributes of the store. Due to the research environment, which was within just one health and beauty store at a single UK location, this study results cannot be generalized across the wider retail environment. While
this investigation offers great insights, it unfortunately does not demonstrate support for the influence of service quality on behavioral intentions. That is were this study can contribute to the body of knowledge within this subject─ tested within another environment.
2.6 Research gap
To sum up, the importance of service quality in relation to behavioural intentions is well documented in academic literature. Previous findings highlight the most important antecedents of influence on behavioural intentions.
Zeithaml et al (1993) stated that behavioral intentions are to a significant degree determined by expectations and perceptions of the dimensions of service quality. Due to the lack of generalizability, because the only market that has been researched was the services market, this study can add to existing literature by investigating these effects in retail market, and, specifically, in supermarkets.
Grewal and Parasuraman (1994) found that managers can shape store image regardless of a store’s current layout, because of the apparently weak impact of design factors on
customers’ quality inferences. These results are also limited to the study’s context (card and gift shop), where the supermarkets could be the perfect place to find out whether these conclusions are generalizable. In addition, there arises another them─ what consumers perceive as (distinctive) service quality. Besides, Baker (1994) underlines the necessity to investigate the consumers’ definition of service quality, where this author also found the possibility to shape store image by influencing the ambient and social elements.
This study will look into the different possible aspects affecting behavioral intentions
specifically for the supermarket environment, so the formulated research question will be as follows:
What are the effects of service quality on consumer behavioral intentions in the retail environment?
In order to find the best and complete results of this research question, several sub-questions are taken into account:
What do consumers define as distinctive service quality?
Do both expectations and perceptions have the same moderating effect on
behavioral intentions?
How can service quality be influenced from a marketing perspective with positive
behavioral intentions as a result?
2.7 Conceptual model
3. Methods
The following section is meant to provide an overview of the research strategies and analysis tools that have been used.
3.1 Research design
To get a better understanding of the role of service quality on behavioral intentions, it is important to study the perceptions of service quality of participants and the relationship between behavioral intentions and those perceptions. Gaining insight and translating it to useful and practical information for practice is an important factor of this study. In this case, the researcher wanted to know how people will behave in reaction to a service encounter or how they respond to exposure to these kinds of events. The best way to find out is to ask people how they intend to behave(Sheeran, 2002). According to Saunders (2012) the aforementioned aspects are characteristics for a qualitative study.
Three methods are applied in conducting this research: literature review, interviews with consumers and a document study. As set in the previous chapter, the influence of service quality on behavioral intentions within the supermarket environment is underexposed. Therefore a in-depth investigation can contribute to a complete understanding(Maxwell, 2005) of the phenomenon in regard to consumers within this environment.
One of the most effective ways to learn about the circumstances of peoples’ live is to ask them(Berg & Lune, 2012, 8th edition), so data will be collected by semi-structured interviews. An interview protocol has been used as a guideline for this approach. The semi-structured setup gives the possibility to deepen interviewees’ answers. Miles & Huberman (1994)
stated that semi-structured interviews are used as an instrument to build theory, to make recommendations about practice and to improve explanations or predictions. In order to enrich explanations of events or situations participants are involved in and to understand the meaning for participants, this method has been chosen. Before bringing the method to practice, test-interviews are held in order to define the most appropriate understandable questions for consumers. Appendix 1 includes the interview guide.
3.2 Analysis strategy
The desired data is collected by conducted semi-structured interviews, which use a flexible interview protocol. This method gives the opportunity to ask profound questions and anticipate the reaction of the interviewees. Transcribing took place directly after the
conversations, which improves the quality of forthcoming interviews. Maxwell (2005) stated that the main strategy of categorization within qualitative research is coding. Therefore, the obtained results are labeled and encoded in order to get all qualitative data well organized. Due to the fact that this is an iterative procedure, patterns could be discovered throughout the process.
Yin (2003) suggests that when there is use of existing theory to formulate the research question and objectives, theoretical propositions that helped to put the research question into words may be useful in organizing the data. This strategy is in line with the approach used for this research. Based on existing theory and existing research of service quality, the themes on this subject are drawn from these sources. Elaborating on this deductive
approach, the combination with the inductive approach has been made and comes down to two principles:
- The use of “starter codes” which are included within the interview guide ‘themes’ and based on existing theory and previous research.
- The use of new emerging themes or codes from the data.
Due to the method of semi-structured interviews, the opportunity was given to ask profound questions and anticipate the reaction of the interviewees. The researcher used both
principles to obtain the best data.
Bredo & Feinberg (1982) gave insights into research approaches within social science. According to these authors, focus on meaning is central to what is known as the
“interpretive” approach to social science. According to the fact that this study is focused on the comprehensibility of the meaning of participants, this approach has also been employed.
3.3 Sample selection
To investigate the influence of service quality on behavioral intentions within the retail (supermarket) environment, consumers who just left a store were interviewed. For this thesis, twenty-five semi-structured interviews took place with customers of different supermarkets. Customers were selected at random after doing their shopping at the
supermarket. The researcher chose to interview customers from different stores to look for a general effect or general pattern of supermarket visitors, instead of focusing on the customers of just one company.
3.4 Data collection
The interviews took place on locations at different supermarkets and at different brands of supermarkets in different cities in the area of Noord-Holland. The diversity of supermarkets
is enormous. Different types of people visit different types of stores. In order to investigate the general effect among customers, the interviews took place on several locations and also around several brands. All respondents that participated had just come out of the store after doing their shopping at the supermarket. This ensured that the customers’ recent visits to the stores where several events could have taken place were still fresh in their minds. With permission of the respondents, the interviews were recorded in Dutch. The relatively short semi-structured interview was designed to minimize customer inconvenience but acquire most possible and relevant information. Within the interview, questions were focused on the consumer understandings of service aspects and service quality, and focused on themes of the theoretical framework, like expectations and perceptions. Before
interviews were held in practice, several test interviews were held. This ensured that the questions were understandable and tested if these questions met the research question. Several test interviews showed that directly asking about perceptions and expectations was not adequate to obtain the right data. That is why the researcher translated these issues into understandable questions and made an indirect link to expectations and perceptions.
3.5 Data analysis
The interviews that were conducted were transcribed word-for-word. After completing all interviews, the data was categorized; different categories were developed and meaningful chunks of data were attached to them (Saunders et al., 2012). According to Strauss and Corbin (2008), there are three main sources to derive names for the categories: codes that emerge from data, codes that are based on terms used by participants and codes that are used in existing theory. In line with this strategy, the researcher set up codes consistent with the theoretical framework, mainly based on existing theory. To be open to new possible
themes or patters that arise, codes that emerge from the data were used as well. According to the process of the way the codes are derived, the researcher used open coding (Saunders, 2012).
3.6 Methodological justification
Within the interview guide, the author has used several proper strategies and methods for getting most valuable data. All strategies or methods that have been used are in line with different academic literature that will be discussed.
3.6.1 Aided versus unaided awareness
According to the theory, there are three classical measures of awareness in a given category (Giles Laurent et al., 1995). This study has used two types of them.
1. Top-of-mind awareness (unaided)
First, all consumers were asked what they expect from a supermarket in general. Thereafter, consumers were asked what they expect from the service of a supermarket. The author tried to drive the thoughts of the respondents towards the topic ‘supermarkets’ with the first ‘introduction’ question. Next, the consumers were asked about a specific category, videlicet service. With this question, the consumers were forced to state which themes came first to mind when thinking about the service of a supermarket.
2. Aided awareness
In line with themes, which were found in other academic literature, respondents were faced with the assessments of these subjects. All categories were presented to the respondents, and they were given the opportunity to mark them on a scale from 1 to 10. In this form, memory associations were stimulated (Hendrik Hoets, 2009).
3.6.2 Rating
In addition to the categories that were presented to all twenty-five respondents, where they were given the opportunity to classify each category, a 10-point, end-defined scale was used. This scale offers a form of rating (one to ten) which lies within common experience and produce increased sensitivity of the measurement instrument (Cummins & Gullone, 2000).
4. Results
This chapter gives an overview of the findings of this study. To structure all insights, the findings will be divided into three most important themes, which are derived from the research question: service quality perceived from a consumer perspective, the interaction between perceptions and expectations, and the influence of perceptions and expectations on behavioral intentions.
4.1 Service quality perceived from a consumer perspective
Important to understand the distinctive factor of service quality is the understanding of what customers define as ‘good, distinctive service’. Table 1 gives an overview of key customer values or observations, supplemented with themes based on earlier theories.
Participants first answered open questions to get an idea of what first comes to mind when thinking about service of a supermarket. Thereafter consumers were asked about the themes from earlier theories. This sequence of questions was based on the unaided versus aided awareness according to the theory of Giles Laurent et al. (1995). The most important themes that were acknowledged were almost only about the offered products. A broad translation to three important factors that were mentioned by participants: availability,
assortment and freshness of products. All of these factors were valued with an eight or higher. Availability is highlighted as the most important factor of service quality by consumers. This is quite surprising because the themes based on earlier theories did not mention anything about availability. Some quotes are shared to underline the importance of availability:
- “They have an extensive selection of products where I can find everything what I came for.” (interviewee 1)
- “They always have what I would like to have.” (interviewee 11)
- “I think that it would not be pleasant if I often missed particular products.” (interviewee 19) - “For me, service is the availability of everything that I’m looking for.” (interviewee 24) Most respondents have general expectations of a supermarket when thinking of a
supermarket (appendix 3). The first factor that comes to mind is availability of products. The author added the service aspect in this question, to pursue the next (underlying) level, whereas the previous question can be considered as introductory. Most important and surprising was that respondents confirmed previous findings also in this question. Services of supermarkets were linked with the availability aspect (appendix 3). Service quality of
supermarkets is evaluated at the end of the encounter at the store. When availability was not straight, the outcome was very impactful for behavioral intentions for next supermarket visits.
A fourth factor that was just as important was staff. Subcodes were provided as can be seen in appendix 3 to make a distinction between several factors about staff that interviewees appointed. ‘Friendly and helpful’ staff was mentioned in all interviews, highlighted by the following quotes:
- “If you ask something, they walk with you.” (interviewee 3) - “If I have questions, someone will help me out.” (interviewee 5)
- “If there is a product that I cannot find, there is someone willing to help me.” (interviewee 16)
- “If I ask a question, they will help me.” (interviewee 21)
Friendly and helpful staff is noted as very important but when a supermarket does not meet the expectation on the availability level, friendly and helpful staff will not be a possibility to make a difference for consumers in the overall perception of the store. A quote of an interviewee summarizes best what will happen when a supermarket does not meet his expectation:
- “If products are out of stock, I would not go back over there.” (interviewee 22) This is the general and most important outcome of what interviewees indicate.
Lowest price guarantee was evaluated with a seven where participants enumerate the following quotes:
“It is important, but not the most important factor for me.” (interviewee 2) “I don’t go for best prices, but for best products.” (interviewee 8)
“Euhm, I do not care about best prices.” (interviewee 13)
“The promise of offering best prices does not influence the choice of supermarket. I value it with a 5.” (interviewee 15)
Lowest prices were for most of participants not decisive in their choice for a supermarket. This factor is not seen as a distinctive service quality factor and has no effect on behavioral intentions. This outcome also is applicable for the complaints procedure. A quote of an interviewee summarizes best what is expected from the procedure around complaints:
“If an employee does not do anything with my complaint, it is not right!” (interviewee 24) Participants indicated that they wanted to be taken seriously and experience friendly service. Although they valued this with a 7.6, it is not seen as a distinctive service quality factor. They mentioned that they did not have a lot of complaints in the supermarket which ensures that there is no effect on behavioral intentions as well.
The extra services like packing- or delivery service were rated the lowest. In specific cases participants indicated that this service was irrelevant for them:
“Oh, I don’t use such services. I value this with a 4.” (interviewee 4) “Not relevant for me.” (interviewee 9)
“Redundant.” (interviewee 18)
“Not necessary. I can do it myself.” (interviewee 25)
Despite these findings, an extreme situation, like a physical disability, could possibly change that. The participants did mention that in this case a service like delivery service was “not applicable for me”, but they stated that they could imagine it was applicable for someone else:
“I can imagine that when my leg is broken, this could be a solution.” (interviewee 10) “This would perhaps be useful in case of emergency.” (interviewee 23)
Also these extra services, just like the lowest price guarantees, are not seen as a distinctive service quality factor and have no effect on behavioral intentions.
To sum up, consumers perceive distinctive service quality as a form of product availability and rank this factor by far as the most important. Other factors are perceived as important as well, but are only of influence when availability is fine.
4.2 Interaction between expectations and perceptions
The second table gives insights in what customers expect from a supermarket with regard to service, as well as how they perceive the most recent visit to the store (including
perceptions). Interview questions focused on what customers expected from a supermarket with regard to service. Selected quotations from the interview are used to illustrate this analysis. Expectations serve as standards or as a reference point from earlier experiences (Parasureman et al., 1993). The importance of assortment and availability (full shelves) was stated by every participant. Perceptions, in this research mainly based on the most recent contact with the service delivery system, are judged upon almost the same themes─ assortment and availability. In one case, the retailer did not meet the expectations of the participant: “Did not meet my expectations because the machine was broken”. The most interesting question was, according to the theoretical framework, if any of these findings will have influence on behavioral intentions of the participants to choose another retailer or to visit the same store again. Participants stated that “everything in stock that I’m looking for” and “shelves are full” are good reasons to come back to a particular store and these themes (assortment and availability) are seen as real customer service. The perceptions of a store did not change when the retailer did not meet the expectations once. A valuable addition by one of the participants was that a situation like that needs to be an exception, otherwise it could be a reason to get all the groceries at another store. Due to the constant interaction between expectations and perceptions, both have the same moderating effect on behavioral intentions.
Table 2: expectations and perceptions
4.3 The influence of perceptions and expectations on behavioral intentions As stated earlier in this research, perceptions lie in the extension of evaluations. Consumers perceive a service encounter after they just left the store, whereupon expectations are adjusted. Both have the same moderating effect on behavioral intentions and interact with one another. When a store does not meet expectations and the last recent contact with the store confirms what was already expected, the influence on behavioral intentions will be negative which means a customer will choose to visit another store the next time.
Participants indicated that when they perceive the negative experience as an exception, this will not influence their behavioral intentions. Consumers consider such an event as an incident. This means, for example, that the next visit the product they have not found last time needs to be available again.
Within the interview, themes were drafted based on already existing academic literature, as stated in the literature review. Consumers were asked to value these in advance drafted
themes on a scale from 1 to 10. The three most important and impactful calculated factors are (full results in appendix 2):
1. Quickly helped
2. Friendly and helpful staff
3. Good quality (product guarantee)
Consumers valued these three factors as most important, after the aspects which first came to mind when asking about service.
The interviewer asked the consumers about how they perceive each aspect which can be summarized by the following quotes:
- Quickly helped refers to no queues:
“Quickly helped at the checkout, I think that is a high priority.” (interviewee 7) - Friendly and helpful staff:
“If you ask something, you are helped friendly and nice.” (interviewee 23) - Good quality (product guarantee):
“Have fresh products in your store.” (interviewee 6)
“You do not have to search long because all is almost out of date(expiration date).” (interviewee 12)
These three aspects in combination with availability form the basis of how consumers evaluate service quality within the retail environment. A bad perception of a service
encounter is not directly disastrous for a retailer. The interaction between expectations and perceptions creates a negatively-adjusted expectation for the next visit. When the company has not recovered the disaffection in the next visit, the perception of the new visit will again create negative adjustments which subsequently ensures damage for the organization they
have been to. This manifests in the form of negatively speaking about the company to friends and family or immediately avoid that particular business.
5. Discussion
In this chapter the findings of this study will be connected to already existing academic literature. The focus will be on where the results of this thesis contribute to what has been found by earlier research. The theoretical- and managerial implications will be shared after the discussion of the findings. Next the limitations will describe some critical remarks that need to be considered in the evaluation of this study. To conclude, this chapter will make a proposal for future research that needs to be taken into account.
5.1 Discussion of findings
The main goal of this study was to investigate the influence of service quality on behavioral intentions, moderated by expectations and perceptions. First, the components determining behavioral intentions were shared according to the model of Zeithaml et al. (1993). Empirical support for this principle was found in relation to products. This thesis revealed support for the application of this principle in relation to services. Expectations and perceptions of dimensions of service quality influence behavioral intentions, both positive and negative.
The definition of what consumers perceive as (distinctive) service quality was taken into account. The most important factor participants came up with was the availability of products. Cronin and Taylor (1992) described service quality as a form of attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction, that results from the comparison of expectations with performance. This description underlines the interaction between expectations and
perceptions found within this thesis. Positive influences, as described in the previous
paragraph, on behavioral intentions followed when consumers’ shopping list was present in its entirety. Negative influences followed when participants found empty shelves. Grewal and Parasuraman (1994) pointed to the idea that managers can shape a store’s image regardless of its current layout because of the weak impact of design factors on customers’ quality inferences. Results from this thesis can confirm this idea. Participants indicated that the main aspect influencing their behavioral intention is about product availability.
Distinctive service quality can be seen as the completion of the shopping list of each
individual consumer. Realization of this ‘promise’ means that the expectations are met with positive behavioral intentions as a result.
Baker (1994) suggests that managers can strive to achieve a desired store image by changing the store’s ambient and social characteristics appropriately. The findings of this thesis did not found support for the findings of the study of Baker (1994). Store environment in this thesis did not have direct effect on service quality inferences consumers made. The influence of store environment can be considered as an indirect effect because when product availability is not right, store environment will not make any difference. Once the ‘promise’ of the product availability is met, store environment becomes important. Customers’ interpretation of store environment is characterized by the following aspects: Quickly helped, friendly and helpful staff and good quality (product guarantee).
Second, the three elements of the wheel of consumer analysis (Peter & Olsen, 2001) formed the basis from where this research started to examine the effects of service quality on behavioral intentions─ consumer environment, consumer behavior and consumer affect and
cognition. Consumer environment included the store environment for this research. The previous paragraph already gave insight in the findings on this topic. The second element of the wheel of consumer analysis is about actual consumer behavior. This thesis investigated the effects of service quality on behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions indexes a person’s motivation to perform a particular behavior (Sheeran, 2002). The influence of behavioral intentions on actual behavior is a fruitful area for future research. As a third, consumer affect and cognition is where it is all about for this thesis. Expectations and perceptions proved to be a reflection of the consumer affect and cognition section of the wheel of consumer analysis. This is evidenced by the consumers’ perception of an
experienced service quality event. Consumers shared that feeling state when they participated with this research, right after the came out of the store. As an example, participants indicated that they were disappointed when they found empty shelves. Based on their last visit the perceptions reflected the last experienced emotions: the feeling status of this consumer was disappointed. The next time a consumer will visit the store again, he or she will expect improvement on that specific area. An interesting question for future
research will be what feeling status consumers perceive when entering the store the next time and if this have influence on their behavior(intentions). In addition, the expectations of service quality can be linked to consumer cognition. Cognition refers to consumers’ thinking, such as their beliefs about a particular store (Peter & Olsen, 2001). Since expectations serve as standards with which subsequent experiences (perceptions) are compared (Parasuraman et al., 1993), consumers’ thinking about their beliefs of a particular store are related to their expectations. A moderate contribution have been made to the already existing body of knowledge, by connecting one another for the interpretation of these concepts in today’s
markets findings. Due to the constant interaction between expectations and perceptions, it was found that both have the same moderating effect on behavioral intentions.
5.2 Theoretical implications
This study makes a modest contribution to the body of knowledge around service quality but mainly on clarification of how consumers’ behavioral intentions are influenced and formed in today’s market. Earlier findings from academic literature are linked to one another with the additional insights from today’s market. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding and the shaping of the different concept that are discussed.
5.3 Managerial implications
Behavior is critical for the marketing strategy of a company because it is only through behavior that sales can be made and profits can be earned. The findings of this study emphasize on the interpretations that have been made by participants on what could be distinctive factors within the retail environment. This study contributes to the understanding of what consumers perceive as most important so that a company can focus on operational excellence within that specific area. To conclude, practical recommendations are based on the operational excellence of product availability and assortment which are eminently the most important factors from a consumer perspective. Managers of retail store should focus on this perspective and influence this process were possible to acquire advantages within the current retail market and make customers come back and visit again.
5.4 Limitations
A number of critical remarks in this study may be appointed. An important caveat is that the sample taken is relatively small. Perseverance and a proactive approach towards
respondents did not help to reach a larger sample even when interviewees were offered a box of chocolates as a gift for the cooperation in this investigation, because after doing their grocery shopping, customers just wanted to go home. Reaching a total of twenty-five
interviewees was very hard, because people simply were not interested in participating in this study or in a hurry.
It is, despite the small sample size, striking that almost all respondents mentioned “product availability” when asked about experiences of service quality. This could be an indication that could be the essential asset for supermarkets, but given the limited size of the sample it must not be drawn as a firm conclusion.
Another consequence of the small amount of respondents is the inability to investigate differences within categories such as age or gender. In the context of a follow-up study, it might be interesting to investigate possible differences within such categories and to draw a larger sample to further study this phenomenon.
The results are collected on the basis of a self-selection obtained sample, which is not necessarily representative of the Dutch population.
Although this study does not meet all the criteria to prove that the evaluation of service quality is largely filled by “product availability”, which has a major impact on the behavioral
intentions of customers, this research is an essential step towards declaration of the modifiable factors of behavior within the supermarket environment.
Due to the methodological shortcomings, however, it is necessary that a similar study is replicated, preferably by means of a larger sample.
5.5 Future research
Next from the suggestions that have been made from the limitations of this research some additional possibilities for future examination will be made.
According to the proposed conceptualized model, the focus of this study was on the effects of service quality on behavioral intentions. Future study can tell in what way behavioral intentions will influence actual behavior. Due to time restrictions, this study was focused on the behavioral intentions.
Besides, this study offers a proposal for an interesting follow-up question based on the findings from this study. The wheel of consumer analysis of Peter & Olsen (2001) offers great guidelines for consumer research. This study found good insights around consumer affect and cognition which have shown that feeling status is influenced after a service encounter. Interesting question would be what impact this influenced feeling status would have on behavior intentions during the next supermarket visit and if this specific feeling is still present at this visit or if the emotion is decreased.
6. Conclusions
A modest contribution to already existing academic literature has been made by this study by giving insights in the consumers perception of quality within the retail environment and the influence of those perceptions on behavioral intentions. Despite the limitations of this research, the results of this thesis provide insights in the underlying themes within the perceptions and expectations of consumers of service quality, which lead to behavioral intentions. The importance of different aspects that consumers perceive as distinctive service quality gives insights in what is of importance for companies to focus on in today’s market. The results showed that just a service-focused staff and the lowest prices are not enough to be attractive for consumers, and even more importantly, not enough to keep customers coming back and visit again.
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Websites:
Appendix 1 Interview guide
Introductie:
Is het goed als het gesprek wordt opgenomen? Start de opname, indien akkoord!
Bedankt dat u de tijd neemt om met mij dit gesprek te voeren. Zoals ik heb aangegeven ben ik bezig met een onderzoek voor mijn Master Thesis aan de UvA met betrekking tot de rol die de kwaliteit van service heeft op het kiezen en of bezoeken van een supermarkt.
Graag wil ik weten hoe groot de invloed van service kwaliteit is en wat voor u, als consument, service inhoudt.
Ik ben erg nieuwsgierig naar hoe u hier tegen aankijkt en wat voor invloed dit op uw keuzes heeft.
Openingsvragen: Wat is uw leeftijd?
Hoe groot is uw huishouden?
Hoeveel verschillende supermarktketens bezoekt u? Waarom kiest u voor verschillende?
Inleidingsvragen:
Wat verwacht u van een supermarkt in het algemeen? Wat voor service verwacht u van een supermarkt? Kunt u hier een cijfer aan verbinden?
Welke voorbeelden vindt u het meest belangrijk (aansturen op top 3)? Waarom speelt deze top 3 een belangrijke rol voor u?
deze aspecten op een schaal van 1 tot 10? Neem gerust de tijd om de begrippen even op u in te laten werken.
Snel geholpen
Vriendelijk & behulpzaam personeel Goede kwaliteit (product garantie) Klachtafhandeling Inpakservice Vakkundig personeel Bezorgservice Prijsgarantie Transitievragen:
In hoeverre speelt de service die een supermarkt biedt mee in uw keuze om een bepaalde supermarkt te bezoeken?
Waarom?
Heeft u wel eens te maken gehad met fantastische service? - kunt u een voorbeeld geven?
- heeft u deze ervaring vervolgens gedeeld met anderen, zo ja met wie? - komt u nu vaker in deze winkel? Zo ja of nee, waarom?
- heeft dit geleid tot andere of meerdere aankopen? Hoeveel of welke?
Heeft u te maken gehad met teleurstellende service? - kunt u een voorbeeld geven?
- heeft deze ervaring effect gehad op het beeld wat u had van deze supermarktketen? - komt u nu minder in de winkel? Zo ja, zo nee, waarom?
Op welke manier bent u op de hoogte gebracht van de service die supermarkten bieden? Wat zou u willen dat supermarkten communiceren over service?
Op welke manier zouden zij dit volgens u moeten doen? Sleutelvragen:
In hoeverre voldeed de service of het service niveau aan uw verwachtingen? - overtrof de verwachtingen
- voldeed aan de verwachtingen - voldeed niet aan de verwachtingen. Waarom (expectations)?
Heeft dit effect op de keuze voor deze supermarkt in de toekomst? Wat is dit effect; vaker bezoek of keuze voor een andere winkel?
Hoe beoordeelt u het service niveau van deze winkel in het algemeen (perceptie) op een schaal van 1 tot 10, waarbij 1 zeer slecht is en 10 zeer goed?
Waarom deze beoordeling(perceptions)? Afsluiting
Zijn er nog onderwerpen met betrekking tot service die we niet besproken hebben en die u nog met mij zou willen delen?
Bedankt voor uw tijd en medewerking. Stop de opname!
