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Abstract
Perception of service quality is extremely individualistic in nature. The service organizations are redesigning stimulus to generate a desired level of perceived service quality (PSQ) amongst its customers. Empirical research works have explored the relationship between service quality and its possible consequences and its significance towards growth and profitability of service organizations. Adaptation of CRM philosophy over the last decade or so has been pivotal in realigning the marketing focus for the service organization. This paper attempts to explore the causal relationship between service quality (perceived) and behavioural consequences, specifically altitudinal loyalty and propensity-to-switch, in the CRM-driven banking environment of State Bank of India.
Key words:
Service Quality, Service Organization, Attitudinal Loyalty, Propensity to Switch, CRM, Relationship, Bank.
/Service quality has been recognised as a factor-critical by modern service organizations. The concept of service quality for intangible and heterogeneous services is starkly different from that of goods market where perception about service quality can be easily framed by the customers due to standardized tangible existence of the same. Therefore, for a service organization, creation of evidence is a must to allow customers frame perception about service quality. Comparative superior service quality offers a firm to differentiate themselves in competitive markets (Karatepe et al, 2005). Perception of service quality has been conceptualized to be an attitude towards interpreting superiority of the service (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000). Ndubisi (2003), was of the opinion that customers' perception of superior service is related with customers' perceived mutualism (i.e. customer-firm interaction) associated with customer support resulting in organizational growth and increase in market share and profit. A service organization can gain competitive advantage over its competitors by ensuring repeat patronization of customers on the ground of superior perceived service quality (Park et al, 2004, Morash and Ozment, 1994). Service quality has been considered as antecedent to behavioural intentions of the customers with customer satisfaction as an intermediary variable. Positive behavioural consequences result in customer retention, repeat purchase, long-term attitudinal loyalty and self-endorsement of the service brand being used. On the other hand negative behavioural consequences are associated with customers' intention to switch to a different service provider and negative endorsement. Therefore study of behavioural pattern of customers availing intangible and heterogeneous services is extremely important for a...