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A Customised Scale for Measuring Retail Service Quality in a College Shop: a Context Specific Approach

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A Customised Scale for Measuring Retail Service Quality in a College Shop: a Context Specific Approach A Customised Scale for Measuring Retail Service Quality in a College Shop: A Context Specific Approach Derar Shaker Yaghi A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration Research Undertaken in Newcastle Business School June 2010 D Yaghi Abstract The purpose of this research was to modify an existing scale to measure retail service quality in a college shop. This scale was modified based on the retail service quality scale (RSQS) to make it more contexts specific and culturally sensitive for the retail college shop (Al Waha) at Dubai Women‘s College. It also explores the relationship between the new retail service quality dimensions and overall service quality, satisfaction, loyalty and frequency of visits. A total of 424 completed questionnaires obtained from Al Waha customers was used in the analysis for the main study. Principal component analysis was used for scale reduction and multiple regression analysis was used to find associations. The new modified scale (Al Waha scale) resulted in 22 items across four dimensions: interaction quality, physical aspects, policy and understanding and caring which is a new dimension. The results confirm the association between the four new service quality dimensions and overall service quality, satisfaction, loyalty and frequency of visits. The results disclose the importance of age when evaluating physical aspects and caring and commitment dimensions. The study was performed among a very specific demographic sample; generalizations could only be made to similar college shops. Therefore, testing the modified model in other shops outside of the colleges is an area for future research. By modifying the RSQS scale to be context specific to retail shops in Dubai, this study provides an incremental step towards other scales in the region. This reveals that there are associations between Al Waha scale dimensions and overall service quality, satisfaction, loyalty and frequency of visits. Also, it indicated the importance of age when customers‘ evaluate physical aspects and caring and commitment dimensions. This scale gives managers a tool to improve service quality at their shops in order to become more competitive. i D Yaghi Table of contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................... i Table of contents ................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables....................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgement................................................................................................................. ix Declaration ............................................................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the study .............................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 The organization where the research is based: Dubai Women‘s College ............. 3 1.2 Importance of Service Quality ..................................................................................... 7 1.3 Significance of this study ............................................................................................. 8 1.4 Personal motivation for the study ................................................................................ 9 1.5 Objectives of the study ............................................................................................... 10 1.5.1 Research Question and Hypotheses .................................................................... 10 1.6 Structural content of the thesis ................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................... 15 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Map of literature review chapter ................................................................................ 16 2.2 The Nature and Characteristics of Services ............................................................... 18 2.3 The Definition of Quality ........................................................................................... 22 2.4 Service Quality Concept ............................................................................................ 23 2.5 Service Quality Models .............................................................................................. 24 2.5.1 Nordic School ..................................................................................................... 24 2.5.2 The North American School ............................................................................... 28 2.5.3 Other Service Quality models: The Hierarchical model ..................................... 34 2.6 Measuring Service Quality ......................................................................................... 39 2.7 SERVQUAL Discussions and Criticism .................................................................... 42 2.8 Retailing ..................................................................................................................... 44 2.8.1The Importance of Retail Service Quality ........................................................... 46 2.8.2 Measuring Retail Service Quality ....................................................................... 48 2.9 The Need for a Modified Scale .................................................................................. 55 2.10 Retail Service Quality and Culture .......................................................................... 61 2.11 Service Quality and Demographics .......................................................................... 64 2.12 Service Quality and Satisfaction .............................................................................. 67 2.13 Service Quality and Loyalty..................................................................................... 69 2.14 Frequency of Visits and Service Quality ................................................................. 71 2. 15 Hypotheses Development........................................................................................ 74 ii D Yaghi 2.15.1 Overall Service Quality ..................................................................................... 75 2.15.2 Service Quality and Satisfaction ....................................................................... 75 2.15.3 Service Quality and Loyalty.............................................................................. 76 2.15.4 Frequency of Visits and Service Quality .......................................................... 77 2.15.5 Service Quality and Demographics ................................................................... 78 2.15 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 3: Methodology ...................................................................................................... 83 3. 0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 83 3.1 Elements of the research process ............................................................................... 84 3.1.1 Overview of the Researcher‘s research process .................................................. 85 3.2 Epistemology and theoretical perspective .................................................................. 86 3.3 The Research Methodology and Methods.................................................................. 89 3.3.1 Survey ................................................................................................................. 92 3.3.2 Pilot Study ........................................................................................................... 93 3.4 Sample ........................................................................................................................ 94 3.4.1 Sample size.......................................................................................................... 96 3.5 The research questions ............................................................................................... 97 3.5.1 The research hypotheses ..................................................................................... 98 3.6 Method of data analysis ........................................................................................... 100 3.6.1 Factor analysis ................................................................................................... 100 3.6.2 Correlation analysis ........................................................................................... 102 3.6.3 Regression analysis ........................................................................................... 103 3.7 The validity and reliability of the scale ...................................................................
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