Determinants of Service Quality and Challenges for Customers using SERVQUAL Model: The Case of Nifas Silk Lafto Sub-City

Abstract

In a world of competitive business environments, one of the most critical areas firms must focus on being successful is customer handling. The better a firm's service delivery, the higher the chance of retaining customer loyalty while having new customers. However, such a scenario becomes complicated when the expected customer satisfaction is not met, because of poor quality of service delivery, at businesses where there is no alternative firm to switch to and get the desired service. Sub-city-level offices are an excellent example of such businesses. Nevertheless, it is a worst-kept secret that the service quality at these government offices is anything but acceptable. The aim of the study was to see the determinants of service delivery quality and to point out the challenges customers face when seeking service in the sub-city. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to answer the level of quality-of-service delivery at Nifas Silk Lafto Sub-City (NSLSC) and how to overcome these challenges. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the relevant data from a sample of 200 respondents who were selected by using a simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was developed based on the five dimensions SERVQUAL model. The data was then analyzed using descriptive statistical and multiple regression analysis, which was done using SPSS version 25. Thus, the correlation results indicate a moderate negative correlation between the dimensions of service quality and overall customer satisfaction. The results of the regression test showed that quality service has a negative impact on overall customer satisfaction. Furthermore, relatively higher correlation is between responsiveness and overall customer satisfaction, followed by tangibility. Based on the findings, the researcher suggested that NSLSC should have active complaint handling mechanisms, provide relevant skill training to its front-line employees, and create an unbiased rewarding mechanism for best-performing employees.