Assessing Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality A Vietnamese Context

Service quality and its relationship with customer satisfaction has received considerable academic and business attention in recent years. But the nature of the relationship between these two constructs is not well-explained in the literature. This study used the SERVPERF model as proposed by Cronin & Taylor (1992) to assess perceived service quality in a Vietnamese organization, and then studied the relationship between organization’s service quality and customer satisfaction. Based on the results of a customer survey, the study identified five components – TA-EM (tangible-empathy factor), RESPONSIVENESS (the willingness or readiness of employees to help customers and provide services), RELIABILITY, ASSURANCE and IMAGE – which explain customer perception of service quality. The relationship between these service quality components and customer satisfaction is also investigated through regression analysis. It is found that these five components of service quality have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction in which TA-EM has the most significant impact on customer satisfaction level. The results showed that 64 percent of the variance in customer satisfaction can be explained by these five variables. In addition, based on these findings, the study also gives some suggestions for Vietnamese organizations to further improve service quality and customer satisfaction level.