<p><p><strong>Title:</strong> The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality.</p><p><strong>Problem Statement: </strong>How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services?<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The main purpose of this research is to find out how a service company can measure Thai customer satisfaction and which factors to consider in order to improve their service qualities with respects to cultural dimensions.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Theory and Method: </strong>The research is based on the quantitative approach in the form of questionnaires.  The structure is developed in accordance to the Service Quality Gap of measuring Thai customer satisfaction by comparing their expectation and perception of service during and after service approach.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>From elaborate results of the distributed questionnaires,<strong> </strong>Thai customers<strong> </strong>are flexible and have integrated into the Swedish culture; therefore the current level of bank service approach is appropriate to their needs.</p></p> / Tobias Eltebrandt

<p>Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand in order to remain competitive in business and hence grow. It is very important for companies to know how to measure these constructs from the consumers’ perspective in order to better understand their needs and hence satisfy them. Service quality is considered very important because it leads to higher customer satisfaction, profitability, reduced cost, customer loyalty and retention.</p><p><strong>Purpose</strong> – The main purpose of this study theoretically is finding out how applicable the SERVQUAL model is in the context of grocery stores and empirically, describe how consumers (students) perceive service quality and whether they are satisfied with services offered by these stores in Umea.</p><p><strong>Design/methodology/approach</strong> – A self-completion questionnaire was developed from the SERVQUAL instrument and distributed using a convenience sampling technique to students in the Umea University campus to determine their perceptions of service quality in grocery stores.</p><p><strong>Findings</strong> – From the analysis carried out, it was found out that, the SERVQUAL model was not a good instrument to measure service quality because some of the items under the dimensions overlapped and regrouped under different dimensions from the factor analysis carried out. It also showed some items associated to more than one component.</p><p>Some dimensions showed a reliability scale of less than 0.7 which could have been as result of the wordings used in the questionnaires or the number of items used under each dimension. Also, it was found that the overall service quality perceived by consumers was not satisfactory meaning expectations exceeded perceptions and all the dimensions showed higher expectations than perceptions of services.</p><p><strong>Research implications</strong> – Theoretically, from the findings, it implies that the SERVQUAL model is not the best tool to use measure service quality in grocery stores because the dimensions do not best measure the construct in that context. Practical implications suggest that grocery stores in Umea are not providing the level of service quality demanded by customers. The findings suggest that grocery stores need to improve all the dimensions of service quality from the gap analysis carried out.</p><p><strong>Originality/value</strong> – This study contributes to the already existing studies examining service quality in grocery stores using the SERVQUAL model and also provides empirical results that could guide management dealing with retail activities to take corrective actions that lead to growth in the company.</p>

Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand in order to remain competitive in business and hence grow. It is very important for companies to know how to measure these constructs from the consumers’ perspective in order to better understand their needs and hence satisfy them. Service quality is considered very important because it leads to higher customer satisfaction, profitability, reduced cost, customer loyalty and retention. Purpose – The main purpose of this study theoretically is finding out how applicable the SERVQUAL model is in the context of grocery stores and empirically, describe how consumers (students) perceive service quality and whether they are satisfied with services offered by these stores in Umea. Design/methodology/approach – A self-completion questionnaire was developed from the SERVQUAL instrument and distributed using a convenience sampling technique to students in the Umea University campus to determine their perceptions of service quality in grocery stores. Findings – From the analysis carried out, it was found out that, the SERVQUAL model was not a good instrument to measure service quality because some of the items under the dimensions overlapped and regrouped under different dimensions from the factor analysis carried out. It also showed some items associated to more than one component. Some dimensions showed a reliability scale of less than 0.7 which could have been as result of the wordings used in the questionnaires or the number of items used under each dimension. Also, it was found that the overall service quality perceived by consumers was not satisfactory meaning expectations exceeded perceptions and all the dimensions showed higher expectations than perceptions of services. Research implications – Theoretically, from the findings, it implies that the SERVQUAL model is not the best tool to use measure service quality in grocery stores because the dimensions do not best measure the construct in that context. Practical implications suggest that grocery stores in Umea are not providing the level of service quality demanded by customers. The findings suggest that grocery stores need to improve all the dimensions of service quality from the gap analysis carried out. Originality/value – This study contributes to the already existing studies examining service quality in grocery stores using the SERVQUAL model and also provides empirical results that could guide management dealing with retail activities to take corrective actions that lead to growth in the company.

Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality. Problem Statement: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services? Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to find out how a service company can measure Thai customer satisfaction and which factors to consider in order to improve their service qualities with respects to cultural dimensions. Theory and Method: The research is based on the quantitative approach in the form of questionnaires.  The structure is developed in accordance to the Service Quality Gap of measuring Thai customer satisfaction by comparing their expectation and perception of service during and after service approach. Conclusion: From elaborate results of the distributed questionnaires, Thai customers are flexible and have integrated into the Swedish culture; therefore the current level of bank service approach is appropriate to their needs. / Tobias Eltebrandt

Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality. A Study of Thai – born Customer Segment in the Swedish Banking Industry in Sweden Problem Statement: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services? Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to find out how a service company can measure Thai customer satisfaction and which factors to consider in order to improve their service qualities with respects to cultural dimensions. Theory and Method: The research is based on the quantitative approach in the form of questionnaires. The structure is developed in accordance to the Service Quality Gap of measuring Thai customer satisfaction by comparing their expectation and perception of service during and after service approach. Conclusion: From elaborate results of the distributed questionnaires, Thai customers are flexible and have integrated into the Swedish culture; therefore the current level of bank service approach is appropriate to their needs. / Tobias Eltebrandt

Den ekonomiska strukturen har under de sista decennierna genomgått en stor förändring. Service sektorn har vuxit till att bli en drivande kraft i de utvecklade länderna. Därför är konceptet med tjänstemarknadsföring relativt nytt. Fastän fler och fler tjänsteföretag är numera medvetna om hur viktigt det är att marknadsföra sitt företag och dess varumärke, finns det fortfarande många tekniska tjänsteföretag som inte har tillämpat konceptet. Det svenska konsultföretaget SWECO, som kommer att användas som fallstudie i uppsatsen, är en av dem. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur viktigt det är för tekniska tjänsteföretag att marknadsföra sitt varumärke och hur de kan förbättra sin image samt sitt varumärke. Undersökningen har tillämpats med hjälp av elektroniska enkäter. Som ytterligare förstärkning, har tre teorier använts som analysverktyg. Studien visar att SWECO är ett relativt okänt företag. Trots att företaget agerar på ett internationellt plan, så har det inte utvecklat en marknadsföringsstrategi. De slutsatser som kunde dras demonstrerar att ett starkt varumärke för tekniska tjänsteföretag är väldigt viktigt eftersom de 7 p:na för tjänster anses vara otillräckliga som marknadsföringsmedel. Den högt upplevda kvaliteten av företagets tjänster samt deras finansiella styrka ger företaget goda förutsättningar för att marknadsföra sitt varumärke internationellt. / The economical structure has faced a great change during the last decades; the service industry has grown into a dominant force in the developed countries. Therefore, the concept of services marketing is relatively new. Although more and more service companies are realizing the importance of marketing and branding, there are still technical service companies that has not adapted the concept. The consultancy firm SWECO, which will serve as a case study, is one of them. The purpose with this essay is to examine the importance of branding for technical service firms and how they do to improve their image and brand. The research issue has been studied with the assistance of electronic surveys. As further assistance, three theoretical models has been used as instruments for the analysis. The study shows that SWECO is a relatively unknown company. Although the company is operating in an international arena, it has not developed a marketing strategy. The conclusions attained demonstrate the importance of creating strong brands for technical service companies since the 7 P’s of services are insufficient as marketing tools. The highly perceived quality of the company’s services and their financial strength give the company good prerequisites for marketing their brand internationally.

The e-commerce is growing among customers and also the companies are more active online. One industry that focuses on customer experience is the online fashion industry. In Sweden, the half of the population has at some time shopped clothes and footwear online. However, for companies to compete against others and to survive in this crowded market, it is important to create e-loyalty. Thereby, the purpose for this study was to evaluate the antecedents of e-loyalty in the online fashion industry. E-loyalty is according to famous researchers one important ingredient to succeed online and stay profitable. Other important ingredients for e-loyalty are e-satisfaction, e-trust and e-service quality. All of these factors have been investigated and evaluate in which degree they affect e-loyalty.   In this master thesis, assessed 212 respondents included in the population. The findings have been tested by following statistical analysis; reliability test, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The result showed that e-satisfaction is the main driver for e-loyalty in the online fashion industry. Thereby, a manager should put main focus in what affect e-satisfaction to increase in e-loyalty in this industry. However, the result from the investigation also stressed an interesting factor, namely responsiveness. This factor was shown to have a significant influence on e-loyalty but also on e-satisfaction and e-trust.

IS quality is an important concept. Basing their model on information communication theory, DeLone and McLean formulated Information Quality and System Quality as two quintessential elements in their 1992 IS Success Model. In recent years, DeLone and McLean (2003) added Service Quality to form a triumvirate of antecedents to success. Unfortunately, the addition of this construct has unintentionally uncovered an overall lack of coherence in the theoretical modeling of IS Success. Research to date on IS Service Quality has largely ignored the impacts of Information Quality and System Quality when service is delivered through an information system (IS). We believe deeper theoretical insights are needed to reconceptualize Service Quality and rationalize IS quality. After reviewing related literature, we apply marketing exchange theory as a reference framework to redefine service related terms and identify possible scenarios of delivering service through systems. Thereafter, we model IS quality in a new way, based on analysis of alternative scenarios. In validating our proposed model, we discuss our research methods and data analysis that will serve as empirical evidence. In particular, we focus on content validity, construct validity, nomological validity, and unidimensionality of the three IS quality dimensions: System Quality, Information Quality, and Service Quality. By furthering our understanding of IS quality, we hope to initiate coherent theory development; this exercise should then lead to a theory that integrates IS quality elements and helps organizations implement effective strategies for using IS to deliver service. Through the empirical validation of IS quality model, we contribute an empirical assessment of content, construct, and nomological validity of the IS quality constructs, as proposed by DeLone and McLean in their 2003 updated IS success model.

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO), state owned monopoly that generates, transmits, and distributes and sales electric power nationwide, has been undergoing various continued utility management practices. One of the major improvements, as part of the transformation, was the introduction of Prepayment (Metering) System, over that of the conventional metering service, which had been forcing the Corporation to follow lengthy service processes, in order to support the realization of its long term strategic vision of providing quality electric service and being competitive in an energy export. However, despite the introduction of this new type of service-prepayment customer service, the Corporation has not been able to attract more than only about five percent out of the two million total customers. Therefore, this study tried to assess and analyze the existing practice (quality) of prepayment customer service both from the employee and the Corporation’s perspectives, and thereby propose possible marketing strategies that are capable of improving the customer service quality for the subsequent adoption of prepayment service. SERVQUAL, as a methodological approach to service quality measures, was employed to measure the prepayment service quality by comparing customers’ perception of the received service against their expectations. Accordingly, the study revealed, despite its limitations, that there has been a substantial gap between customers’ expectations and perception of the service rendered, for which different possible marketing strategies were suggested for improvement.

The government serves must keep pace with the times, can draw close to populace's idea, meets populace's need. This study, which aims to investigate the satisfaction level of fishermen towards the public service of the Southern Coastal Patrol Office of the Coast Guard Administration on the five dimensions of PZB Gaps Model of service quality. Six suggestions based on the aforementioned results are proposed in the study as references for Coast Guard authorities to carry out an overall review,enabling the advantage coastal patrol services to create a bigger public interest, and the fisherman feel the coastal patrol institution's innovation and the progress.