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UM E-Theses Collection (澳門大學電子學位論文庫)

Title

Perceived service quality dimensionality and customer behavioral intention : the case of China mobile

English Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The development of the service industry in China is decades behind the western world. Research of this topic in China is exiguous, and is suffering from a simple adoption of the concepts and tools developed in the west. However, institutional and cultural factors in China can be very different from those in western countries. This raises a question on the validity of measurement of service quality that was developed in the west. Without a confidence in the validity of the measure, any research findings can be challenged. The objective of this research is to test the dimensionality of the well-known SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et an, 1988) measure in the China mobile context, and to extend this measure to incorporate any new dimension(s) that are unique to China. I first conducted a qualitative research, asking 16 people about their experiences and perceptions of the service from the mobile service provider they are using. Two new dimensions, Transparency and Problem Solving emerged, besides the five original dimensions of SERVQUAL. Five items were added for these new factors to the original SERVQUAL questionnaire. Then I conducted a survey in two groups of mobile users in two cities in south China: Guangzhou and Zhuhai. Principal components factor analysis was conducted to test the dimensionality of the measures. Five dimensions emerged from the factor analysis, they are: 1. Tangibles; 2. Reliability; 3. Assurance; 4. Empathy; 5. Controllability. So the two new dimensions found in the qualitative research emerged into one. Finally, multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship tween the service quality dimensions with two behavioral intentions: 1. Positive Word-of-Mouth; and 2. Continuity to use the service. The result shows that Reliability and Assurance are positively and significantly associated with positive Word-of-Mouth, while Empathy is positively and significantly related to continuity of the service. The new dimension - Controllability - is positively and significantly related to both behavioral intentions. This further confirms that the new dimension is critical when companies in the mobile service sector want to improve customer satisfaction. The results of this research suggests that the service perception measurement tools developed and tested in the western world need to be adjusted when they are used in the Chinese context. The dimensions of the well established model do not emerge exactly as they are in the western culture, at least in the mobile service sector. Also, the new dimension found in this research is very influential to the customer behavioral intentions.

Issue date

2007.

Author

Ren, Ye

Faculty

Faculty of Business Administration

Department

Department of Management and Marketing

Degree

M.B.A.

Subject

Cell phone services industry -- China

Consumer behavior -- China -- Case studies

Service industries -- Customer services

Supervisor

Nguyen, Thang Van

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Location
1/F Zone C
Library URL
991002632229706306