Assessing Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: A Study based on Organized Retail Outlets in Rajasthan

Abstract

Satisfaction can be defined as a feeling of acceptance. Customer satisfaction is associated with the customer’s response or emotional state after experiencing the cues by the marketers which is received directly or indirectly by the customer. Achieving satisfaction is a continuous process and requires consistent efforts. Satisfaction could be an emotional reaction, evaluative judgment, cognitive state after experiencing or using goods and services or the entire service environment. It is multi-dimensional in nature and is one of the dimensions for measuring firm’s performance. Performance can be defined as the satisfaction of stakeholders hence customer satisfaction can be considered an outcome and thus part of firm’s performance. Expectation serves as a standard for evaluating customer satisfaction. The gap identified between expected service level and perceived service level can show certain dimensions on which customers are little satisfied and reflect the areas of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The present paper assesses the service quality of organized retail outlets in Rajasthan by conducting a Gap analysis of the level of expectation and perception.

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, GAP analysis, Service Expectation, Service Perception