SERVQUAL: a tool to measure service quality

servqual consists of a model developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1986) which helps measure service quality through a series of steps. It concentrates on the notion of perceived quality. "Perceived quality refers to a consumer's judgment about a product's overall excellence" (Zeithaml). "Perceived quality is more subjective than other definitions of quality" (Zeithaml). Through research conducted with focus groups, the researchers asked about the characteristics a service provider should have in order to have high quality. They found out that consistently all of the members of the focus group had similar criteria. With these findings, they created 10 quality dimensions. Later on, researchers found that these 10 dimensions overlapped and that customers could only distinguish 5 dimensions. (4. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1986). This perception of service quality builds up from attitudes developed by customers over time towards a product or service. The other element present is consumer satisfaction that has been achieved by the actual use of a product or service.