MSc in Business Administrations The Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Loyalty, and its Influence on Business Model Design A study in the Dutch Automotive Industry R.A.J. van Es September 2012 1 Contact information Author R. A. J. van Es Business Administrations, track Innovation & Entrepreneurship University of Twente Student number; S0184373
[email protected] Graduation committee University of Twente Ir. B. Kijl, Faculty Management & Governance Dr. K. Zalewska-Kurek, Faculty Management & Governance Koskamp B.V. T. Heinen, Marketing and purchase manager 2 Management Summary This research is focusing on a customer loyalty problem of a wholesaler in car materials and accessories. The company Koskamp B.V. sells car materials and accessories to garages in the Dutch business-to-business automotive industry. Like other wholesalers, Koskamp has to deal with the threat of cheap Internet companies and the growing power of buyers due the Internet technology. Koskamp wants to create a loyal customer relationship without decreasing their prices. Some reputable journals presented scientific evidence about positive relationship between service quality, customer loyalty and customer loyalty. However, most of these results are conducted in different business-to-consumer industries. This study fill in the theoretical gap by testing these relationships in the industry mentioned above. Besides, it gains managerial relevance by answering the follwoing research question for Koskamp: ‘To what extent does service quality influence a loyal customer relationship and how does Koskamp have to change their business model in order to increase customer loyalty?’ Service quality is made measurable by using the SERVQUAL model of Parasuraman et al (1988).