Abstract:
This research uses the SERVQUAL instrument developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml
and Berry to evaluate the level of service quality perceived by customers at selected
vehicle service dealerships in the country.
In general, none of the dealerships’ performance meets or exceeds the customers’
expectation. The hypothesis of “customers view selected South African vehicle service
dealerships as having equal levels of service quality” is not disproved. Findings of this
research coincide with that of Cronin and Taylor; indicating that measuring perception
scores has a higher internal consistency than measuring the difference between
expectation and perception scores. In addition, respondents consider “reliability” as the
most important aspect in service quality while dealerships perform the worst in this
area. Finally, the discrepancy between customers’ expectations and managements’
perception on such expectations contribute partially to the overall service quality gap
and further research should investigate the other gaps that broaden the overall service
quality gap.
