VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT MARKETING DEPARTMENT BOYUKAGHA MIRIYEV THE EVALUATION OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SPORTS SERVICES: CASE STUDY OF HOCKEY SCHOOLS IN KAUNAS Master Diploma Paper Programme: Marketing and International Commerce, State code 621N50005 Study Field: Marketing Advisor: assoc. prof. Lina Pilelienė (degree, academic position, name, surname) (signature) (date) Defended: prof. habil. dr. Pranas Ţukauskas Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management (signature) (date) Kaunas, 2014 CONTENTS SANTRAUKA ......................................................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ 4 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ...................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 6 1. THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SPORTS SERVICES .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.1. The evaluation of customer satisfaction with sports services .................................................... 8 1.1.1. Sports specifics and the meaning of sports services ........................................................... 8 1.1.2. The evaluation of customer satisfaction with services ..................................................... 12 1.2. The evaluation of customer satisfaction with sports services in Lithuania ............................. 21 2. A RESEARCH OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH ICE HOCKEY SERVICES IN KAUNAS ............................................................................................................................................... 27 2.1. Research methodology ............................................................................................................. 27 2.2. Results of research ................................................................................................................... 29 3. IMPROVEMENT OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH ICE HOCKEY SERVICES IN KAUNAS .......................................................................................................................................... 45 3.1. Gaps model of service quality ................................................................................................. 45 3.2. Customer gap of hockey schools in Kaunas ............................................................................ 48 3.3. Company gaps of hockey schools in Kaunas ........................................................................... 49 3.4. The model of improving customer satisfaction ....................................................................... 59 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 61 LIST OF REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 63 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................. 67 ANNEX 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 68 ANNEX 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 72 ANNEX 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 75 ANNEX 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 79 2 SANTRAUKA Baigiamojo darbo autorius: Boyukagha Miriyev Pilnas baigiamojo darbo pavadinimas: Vartotojų pasitenkinimo sporto paslaugomis vertinimas: ledo ritulio mokyklų Kaune atvejo analizė Baigiamojo darbo vadovas: Doc. dr. Lina Pilelienė Baigiamojo darbo atlikimo vieta ir metai: Vytauto Didţiojo universitetas, Ekonomikos ir vadybos fakultetas, Kaunas, 2014 Puslapių skaičius: 82 Lentelių skaičius: 4 Paveikslų skaičius: 25 Priedų skaičius: 4 Darbo tikslas – nustatyti vartotojų pasitenkinimą ledo ritulio paslaugomis. Darbą sudaro trys dalys: teorinė, analitinė ir projektinė. Pirmoji darbo dalis skirta apţvelgti teorinius vartotojų pasitenkinimo paslaugomis vertinimo aspektus, nustatyti paslaugų kokybės bei vartotojų pasitenkinimo vertinimo metodus bei sporto paslaugų organizavimą Lietuvoje. Antroji darbo dalis skirta atlikti vartotojų pasitenkinimo ledo ritulio mokyklų teikiamomis paslaugomis vertinimą. Tyrimui buvo pasirinktos dvi ledo ritulio mokyklos – VšĮ „Griunvaldas“ ir VšĮ „Baltų ainiai“. Kauno miestas turi dvi viešąsias organizacijas, teikiančias tokias paslaugas, ir tarp jų yra didţiulė konkurencija, kuri vis didėja ir darosi vis sunkiau išlaikyti klientus. Anketinei apklausai buvo sukurtas klausimynas, kuris padėjo ištirti klientų pasitenkinimą ledo ritulio mokyklų teikiamomis paslaugomis. Trečioji – projektinė darbo dalis skirta vartotojų pasitenkinimo sporto paslaugomis tobulinimui. Iš atlikto vartotojų pasitenkinimo ledo ritulio paslaugomis tyrimo rezultatų paaiškėjo, kad ne visos savivaldybės remiamos įstaigos teikia kokybiškas paslaugas, todėl vartotojų pasitenkinimas paslaugomis ne visada atitinka kokybės standartus. Vadovaudamasis atlikto tyrimo rezultatais, darbo autorius pateikia projektinius pasiūlymus Kauno ledo ritulio mokyklų teikiamų paslaugų tobulinimui. 3 ABSTRACT Author of diploma paper: Boyukagha Miriyev Full title of diploma paper: The Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction with Sports Services: Case Study of Hockey Schools in Kaunas Diploma paper advisor: Assoc. Prof. Lina Pilelienė Presented at: Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Economics and Management, Kaunas, 2014 Number of pages: 82 Number of tables: 4 Number of figures: 25 Number of annexes: 4 The main aim of the work is to determine customer satisfaction with the ice hockey service. The master diploma paper consists of three parts: theoretical, analytical and practical. The first part is dedicated to overview theoretical aspects of customer satisfaction with services, to determine the evaluation techniques and the organization of evaluation process in service quality and customer satisfaction, also to overview public sports service organizations in Lithuania. The second part is dedicated to evaluation of customer satisfaction with services of hockey schools. Two hockey schools – PI “Griunvaldas“ and PI „Baltų ainiai“ were chosen for the research. Kaunas city has two public organizations providing such services, and the competition between them is fierce and it is getting harder and harder to maintain customers. The survey instrument was designed – a questionnaire, which helped to research customer satisfaction with the services of hockey schools in Kaunas. The third – projectical part – designed to improvement solutions of customer satisfaction with sports services. Survey results of customer satisfaction with hockey services showed that not all public organizations, supported by municipalities, provide high-quality services, and customer satisfaction does not always meet the quality standards. In accordance with the results of the research, the author provides design concepts for service improvement in Kaunas hockey schools. 4 GLOSSARY OF TERMS A quality acceptable to the user – is the result of expected and incurred evaluation of quality (Goetsch and Stanley, 1995). Customer satisfaction – the result of a product, service quality and features (Фасхиев, 2010). Grönroos Perceived Service Quality model – model that is composed of two parts: the expected quality and the perceived quality. Multilevel model for service quality – a model of three-stages: overall perceptions of service quality, primary dimensions, and subdimensions (Dabholkar et al., 1996, citing Thorpe and Rentz, 1996). SERVQUAL model is based on the approach of expectations‟ disconfirmation known as disconfirmation paradigm and identifies the reasons for any gaps between customer expectations and perceptions (Gupta, 2011). The model of customer expectations contains expected services, desired services, tolerance zone and adequate service. The Gummesson model of customers expectations is oriented to the customer, and to the process, which means that it is necessary to ensure a good quality of service from the moment of conception to the final customer evaluation. The intergrated model – focuses solely for the organisation to achieve customer satisfaction through improving the quality for the customers. 5 INTRODUCTION The relevance of the problem. Quality of public services is characterized by orientation to the customer. The public sector is facing many challenges and has to meet new and emerging needs and demands of society. Customer satisfaction is linked to their experience of getting a service and shows how the service provided meets the users‟ requirements and expectations. In order to improve public services, service providers need to understand their customers better and improve services in response to customers‟ needs and attitudes. In the future,