The relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in cleaning serviec industry

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY……… Huỳnh Thị Ngọc Mai THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION and CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN CL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY

………

Huỳnh Thị Ngọc Mai

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION and CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN CLEANING SERVICE INDUSTRY

An evidence of Pan Pacific Corporation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to record my most sincere appreciation and heartfelt thanks toindividuals, of whom without, might not lead to the possibility of this research to berealized First and foremost, I wish to express my deep sincere gratitude to mysupervisor Dr.Tran Ha Minh Quan for his guidance, encouragement and excellentadvices throughout this study

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to assistant Prof Nguyen Dinh Tho,Dr.Nguyen Thi Mai Trang and Dr.Dinh Cong Khai for their valuable comments andconstructive suggestions

I would also like to avail this opportunity to express my appreciation toProfessor Nguyen Dong Phong and UEH Board of Directors for creating MBAprogram in English

I am also thankful to all my classmates in MBA class-Bath 16, especiallyMs.Nguyen Nhu Chang, Mr.Nguyen Thanh Trung, Mr.Lam Hong Phong, for theircollaboration and valuable assistance throughout my study

Gratitude also goes to Board of Management of Pan Pacific Corporation,colleagues for giving me supports Many thanks for Pan Pacific’s Clients who savevalue time to respond my survey questionnaire, without them my thesis could nothave been done

Last but not least, the express my profound gratitude to my beloved mother,

my lover and my closest friends for being patience and never failed giving mecontinuous supports, spiritually and encouragement along the study

ABSTRACT

In the present cleaning service industry, service quality is a vital competitivepolicy to keep customers support and long-term cooperation Cleaning serviceproviders are trying to win customer satisfaction and loyalty by proving enhancedquality service The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between servicequality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in cleaning service industry Inthis study, attention is paid to the measurement model of service quality in cleaningservice industry based on the well-known SERVQUAL model, but withmodification on the basis of focus group discussions and expert opinions to reflectthe specific industry attributes and the special culture of Vietnam 158 samples werecollected from Pan Pacific Corporation’s various clients in the South of Vietnam.Cronbach Alpha was carried out to test the reliability of each statement and thesummated scales were formulated by means of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).Then, Multiple Linear Regressions test was used to test the effect of Service Quality

on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty, the effect of customer satisfaction

on loyalty Overall findings from this study suggest there were significantrelationship between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty.The study found that there were six dimensions of cleaning service qualityincluding affectivity, cleaner competence, supervisor competence, tangibles, servicesafety, empathy and all dimensions are positively related to Customer Satisfaction.The regression test also found that there was a positive direction and significantrelationship between customer satisfaction on customer loyalty The resultsindicated that the overall service quality has significantly positive effect on overallcustomer loyalty Among these six dimensions except Empathy, all of them have asignificantly positive effect on overall customer loyalty

Keywords: cleaning service industry, service quality, customer satisfaction,

customer loyalty.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENT iii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction about cleaning service industry 1

1.2 Research background: 2

1.3 Research problem 4

1.4 Research Questions 5

1.5 Objectives of the study 5

1.6 Scope of the Study 5

1.7 Research method 6

1.8 Structure of the study 6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 Service quality 8

2.2.1 Definition of service quality 8

2.2.1.1 Definition of “Quality” 8

2.2.1.2 Definition of “Service” 9

2.2.1.3 Definition of “service quality” 11

2.2.2 Measurement of service quality 11

2.2.3 Cleaning se rvice quality 16

2.2.3.1 Definition of “Cleaning” 16

2.2.3.2 Definition of cleaning service quality: 16

2.2.3.3 Determinants of cleaning service quality: 17

2.2.3.4 Cleaning quality awareness 20

2.2 Customer satisfaction 23

2.3 Customer loyalty 24

2.4 Relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and

loyalty 25

2.5.1 Relationship between Service quality and customer satisfaction 25

2.5.2 Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty 26

2.5.3 Relationship between service quality and customer loyalty 27

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 29

3.1 Research design 29

3.2 Item generation 31

3.3.1 Items to measure Service Quality 32

3.3.2 Items to measure customer satisfaction 33

3.3.3 Items to measure customer loyalty 35

3.3 Preliminary study 35

3.4 Theoretical Model 37

3.5 Main survey 37

3.5.1 Sampling 37

3.5.2 Sample size 38

3.5.3 Survey method an d data collection 39

3.6 Data Analysis techniques 39

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS 41

4.1 Descriptive statistics of sample 41

4.2 Descriptive Analysis 44

4.3 Scales assessment 44

4.4.1 Reliability An alysis Results 44

4.4.2 Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) 46

4.4.2.1 Measurement scales of cleaning service quality 46

4.4.2.2 Measurement scales of customer loyalty 51

4.4.3 Adjustment of theoret ical model 54

4.4 Testing the research model and the hypotheses 55

4.4.1 Testing correlations between all constructs 55

4.4.2 Testing hypotheses 56

4.4.2.1 The relationship between Cleaning Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction 56

4.4.2.2 The relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty …………58

4.4.2.3 The relationship between cleaning service quality dimensions and customer loyalty 60

4.5 DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS 63

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 65

5.1 Conclusions of the study 65

5.2 Implications of the study 66

5.2.1 Theoretical implica tions 66

5.2.2 Practical implications 66

5.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research 68

APPENDIX 1- CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FEEDBACK 69

Vietnamese 73

English 73

SOME ACTIVITIES OF CLEANING SERVICES FOR REFERENCE 76

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1- Measurement scales of cleaning service quality 34

Table 3.2- Measurement scales of customer loyalty 35

Table 4.1- Sample characteristics 41

Table 4.2- Descriptive Statistics 44

Table 4.3 – Reliability of the measurement instrument 46

Table 4.4 – Rotated component matrix of cleaning service quality scale 50

Table 4.5 – Total Variance Explained of customer loyal 51

Table 4.6 – EFA result for individual measurement scales 52

Table 4 7-Final construct measurement scales 52

Table 4.8- Summary of hypotheses 55

Table 4.9– Correlation matrix 56

Table 4.9a- Model Summary (cleaning service and customer satisfaction) 57

Table 4.9b – Coefficients 58

Table 4.10a-Model Summary ( customer satisfaction and customer loyalty) 58

Table 4.10b – Coefficients 60

Table 4.11a - Model Summary ( service quality and customer loyalty) 61

Table 4 11b – Coefficients 61

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1- SERVQUAL gap analysis 13

Figure 3.1-Research process 31

Figure 3.2 - Theoretical Model 38

Figure 4.1a - Position of respondents 42

Figure 4.1b-Gender of respondents 43

Figure 4.1c - Service range of respondents 43

Figure 4.2 - Adjusted theoretical model 54

Figure 4.3- Hypothesis H1 testing result 58

Figure 4.4-Hypothesis H2 testing result 60

Figure 4.5 -Hypothesis H3 testing result 62

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter begins with general introduction about cleaning service and thecurrent study is provided with research background, research problem, researchobjectives and research questions are mentioned as the rationale for this study.Also, scope of the current study are discussed and an introduction of themethodology to be used in this chapter At the end of the chapter, the structure ofthis study is provided

1.1 Introduction about cleaning service industry

Nowadays, cleaning service is very popular in human life Cleaning serviceproviders is responsible for providing all necessary management, manpower,machinery, equipment, tools, chemicals (exclusive such items, which the Landlordshall provide), which were pre-approved by the Landlord to efficiently carry out thecleaning tasks of the project in accordant with the international standard andLandlord requirements They also provides uniformed, properly trained andappropriately skilled cleaners All cleaners have a yearly health check Cleanersshall at all time while on duty be dressed in full uniform, well groomed, clean-shaven, polite and helpful Service providers maintains the minimum number ofcontracted cleaners and provides additional cleaners as it determines necessary forfull cleaning coverage during sickness, holidays, etc

Using cleaning service bring to us much advantage : high quality service,reasonable fee, the professional and well trained working force from the leadingcompany in cleaning and property care, the modern specific cleaning equipmentswithout any investment, maintaining the value of the property, creation a clean andbeautiful working environment for both officers and visitors, avoidance fromdirectly management to the cleaning workers and risks from its potential problems,whole hearted concentration on own business

Among of many cleaning service providers in Vietnam, Pan Pacific is oneleading company in this industry, with operating in over 20 cities and provincesnationwide, supplying cleaning service for more than 300 customers of manybusiness types Pan Pacific also is among of Vietnam largest cleaning providerswith over 5000 skilled employees With more than 17 years experience in cleaningservice industry, Pan Pacific has developed various customer system includingCommercial Buildings (office buildings, service apartments), Supermarkets andShopping Centers, Hospitals & Medical Centers, Factories in IPs, EPZs,International Schools Especially, Pan Pacific also have many experiences insupplying regular cleaning service for typical projects with highest level nationalsecurity such as; International Airports, Television Station.

1.2 Research background:

Going with developing real estate market and foreign investment, demand offacility management in office buildings, shopping centers, international schools,foreign factories are appeared These management services include security,property maintenance, pest controls, landscape and cleaning service In whichcleaning service industry is very important to enhance quality and brand of thebuilding

Instead of organizing and managing a cleaning division, owners can contractwith professional cleaning company which can provide package service includingmanpower, equipments, tools, chemicals A cleaning company will provideuniformed, properly trained and appropriately skilled cleaners, all cleaners have ayearly health check, cleaners shall at all time while on duty be dressed in fulluniform, well groomed, clean-shaven, polite and helpful Cleaning company willprovide additional cleaners as it determines necessary for full cleaning coverageduring sickness, holidays, etc Cleaning company also is responsible compensatingdamage of property which cause of their employees

With lot of advantages bring to customer, industry cleaning service is firstchoice for Office Buildings, Shopping Centers, Shopping Malls, Foreign Factories,International Schools….By outsourcing, the owner can save their time toconcentrate main business fields.

Therefore, cleaning service industry in Vietnam has developed rapidly inrecently year with a lot of customers in many fields such as : almost OfficeBuildings with grade A-B-C have demand of using high-class cleaning service(Bitexco Financial Tower, Saigon Centre, Metropolitan, Sunwha, Kumho…),famous shopping centers (Diamond, Parkson,…), modern factories in electricity,pharmacy, food (Intel, P & G, Unilever, Kimberly Clack, Sanofi, Sonion…),international schools (VUS, VAS, ACG, RMIT, V-STAR, Bắc Mỹ, Việt Mỹ,Saigontech …), high-class service apartments (The Manor, Saigon Pearl, Somerset,Catavil…), Hotels ( Sheraton, Rex, Kumho, ) Number of cleaning providers alsoincrease quickly to meet market demand In the such competitive market,developing and keeping customer loyalty is essentially for business survival.Customer loyalty is another way to gain the best possible customer, repeatcustomers Not only do repeat customers tend to spend more money but they areoften the people who tend to provide the best word of mouth advertising possible

Especially in cleaning service industry, competition is rife Customer will nothesitate to terminate cleaning contract in the event that their needs and expectationsare not met In cleaning service, emphasis on the quality is a vital aspect in that itdetermines the level or degree of customer satisfaction A cleaning service providercan reduce the detrimental impact of effective factors by first ensuring that itscustomers are as highly satisfied with its services as possible

Cleaning service organizations are better positioned to reap the positiveoutcomes associated with having a largely satisfied customer base if they have anunderstanding of those factors that contribute to their customers’ satisfaction.Because meeting customers' expectations for key service quality attributes should

lead to satisfied customers who, in turn, will remain loyal to the service andrecommend it to other potential customers.

1.3 Research problem

To evaluate how well their companies are meeting customer needs, servicemanagers often use measurements of service quality and customer satisfaction(Dabholkar, 1995) Therefore, service quality and customer satisfaction havereceived much attention from service marketers and academic researchers (Spreng

& MacKoy, 1996) In addition, Taylor (1997) has noted that the two constructs(service quality and customer satisfaction) have became very important formarketing theory and practice

Oliver (1997) suggested that profit for a company (purchase/repurchasebehavior by the consumer) was dependent on a sequence of three factors: Quality,satisfaction, and loyalty Quality has a direct influence on consumer satisfaction,which can be both a cognitive and affective dimension according to Oliver.Satisfaction, in turn, has a direct influence upon the loyalty of the consumer

A review of available literature found a lot of studies regardinginterrelationship of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.But it is lacking in studies of cleaning service, there is only one published study(Anthony M Kyengo, April 2007) examine quality control in cleaning service

In this circumstance, not only Pan Pacific but also Vietnamese cleaning servicecompanies realize the necessity of empirical studying to examine specificallyinfluences of their service to customers’ behavior They need know that, what specificaspects of their services influence customers in terms of their satisfaction and theirperceptions of service quality, which, in turn, lead to customer loyalty?

1.4 Research Questions

Base on the above stated research problem the following research questions havebeen developed:

Q.1 What are the service quality dimensions in cleaning service industry

Q.2 How do the dimensions of service quality effect on customer satisfaction,

customer loyalty in cleaning service industry

Q.3 Is there any significant relationship between customer satisfaction and

customer loyalty in cleaning service?

1.5 Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study are to:

 Explore the relationship between the components of service quality withcustomer satisfaction and customer loyalty

 Explore the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty

1.6 Scope of the Study

In general Pan Pacific Corporation provides three types of core services totheir customers such as cleaning service, pest control service and laundry service,with activities spreading from the North, the Middle to the South of Vietnam Inwhich, most of current customers concentrate on cleaning service For the purpose

of this study, the study will focus particularly in the areas of cleaning serviceoffered by Pan Pacific which is leading company in cleaning service industry Inaddition, customer information from other competitors is usually confidential andhard to obtain The respondents of the research was categorized to those currentcustomers who use the services directly

1.7 Research method

This study was conducted with two stages:

 A preliminary study: in the first stage, a qualitative approach was applied

in order to explore whether the scale for measuring cleaning servicequality This step was carried out by using group discussion techniques

 The main study: A quantitative approach was used to examine researchquestions Data were collected by using survey questionnaire Pan Pacific’scustomers and SPSS software version 16 was used for data analysis.Cronbach’s Alpha test was carried out to test the reliability of themeasurement scales, and then using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Theresearch model and hypotheses were tested by using Multiple LinearRegression analysis (MLR)

The methodology for this study will be come back with more detail Chapter 4

1.8 Structure of the study

 Chapter 1 will discuss on the research background, research problem,objectives of the study, scope and method of the research Pan PacificCorporation are also mentioned in the chapter as a glance

 Chapter 2 describes about various reviews on past literatures whichdiscussed about service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyaltyand their relationship

 Chapter 3 explains how the research methodology, the development of thehypotheses, data collections and the types of data analysis have been carriedout to make sure all the data are reliable and the findings are valid

 Chapter 4 will discuss on research results in detail, describes sampling andprocessing data, presents analyzing the data collected and the findings ofthe study.

 Chapter 5 will conclude and recommend the findings The findings of theresearch are expected to give guidance to cleaning service companies inprioritized their service

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will give an overview of literature review and models that arerelated to the research problem presented in the previous chapter In this chapter theconcepts of service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and relationship

of them will be introduced The aim of this review is to generate hypotheses thatwill be tested in the cleaning service to answer the research questions and toconfirm the research model Additional, details of cleaning service quality literature

is also mentioned in this chapter

2.1 Service quality

2.1.1 Definition of service quality

2.1.1.1 Definition of “Quality”

To understand what “Service Quality” is, we need to understand what is

“Quality” and it’s concept as a whole Understanding the term “Quality” will revealthat the concept has been defined in many different ways and with differentemphasis by the various quality gurus and writers on the subject Quality is anelusive and indistinct construct Often mistaken for imprecise adjective like

“goodness, or luxury, or shininess, or weight” (Crosby 1979), quality and itsrequirements are not easily articulated by consumers (Takeuchi and Quelch 1983).Quality has been defined (Taylor and Baker, 1994) as superiority or excellence(Zeithaml, 1988), or as the consumer’s overall impression of the relativeinferiorityor superiority of a service provider and its services (Bitner & Hubbert,1994; Keiningham et al., 1994/1995)

Most of the efforts in defining and measuring quality are coming from thegoods sector According to the prevailing Japanese philosophy, quality is “zerodefects – doing it right the first time” However, understanding of quality in goodsand its importance is not sufficient to understand service quality

2.1.1.2 Definition of “Service”

A service is an economic activity that produces time, place, form, orpsychological utility Four well documented characteristics of services –intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability and inseparability – must beacknowledged for a full understanding of service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithamland Berry 1985) :

Intangibility

Services are activities or benefits or benefits that are essentially intangible,cannot be prefabricated in advance and do not involve ownership of the title (York,1993) They may include the traditional personal assistance service, for instance,baby-sitter, gardener etc The fix it service such as mechanic, repairman, etc andfinally the value added service as the least tangible of all (Cotter, 1993) Mostservices are intangible (Bateson 1977,Berry 1980, Lovelock 1981, Shostak 1977).Because they are performances rather than objects, precise manufacturingspecifications concerning uniform quality can rarely be set Most services cannot becounted, measured, inventoried, tested and verified in advance of sale to assurequality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985) Because service is not an objectbut a phenomenon, it is difficult for customers to evaluate the quality of services asthey evaluate physical goods Because of intangibility, the firm may find it difficult

to understand how consumers perceive their services and evaluate service quality(Zeithaml 1981)

Heterogeneity

Services, especially those with high labor content, are heterogeneous; theirperformance often varies from producer to producer, from customer to customer,and from day to day (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985) Consistency ofbehavior from service personnel (ie uniform quality) is difficult to assure (Booms

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and Bitner 1981) because what the firm intends to deliver may be entirely different from what customer receives

Inseparability

Production and consumption of many services are inseparable (Carmen andLangeared 1980, Gronroos 1978, Regan 1963, Upah 1980) Services involvesimultaneous production and consumption Inseparability implies that service issimultaneously produced and consumed while physical goods are first produced,then sold and finally consumed Inseparability of production and consumption oftenforces the involvement of the customer in the production process Inseparabilityalso means that the producer and the vendor often compromise one economic entity(York 1993) In labor intensive services for example, quality occurs during servicedelivery, usually in an interaction between the client and the contact person fromthe service firm (Lehtinen and Lehtinen 1982) In this situation, the customer inputbecomes critical to the quality of service performance

Perishability

The inseparability of production and consumption in turn results in aninability to store service capability Perishability means that services cannot beproduced in advance, inventoried and later made available for sale Services areperformance that cannot be stored (Zeithaml, 1998) It is often difficult toadequately match up with demand and supply such as those corrective maintenanceworks, for instance, heating and cooling repairs

In conclusion, base on the examination of those writing and other literaturereviews on services (Gronroos 1982; Lehtinen and Lehtinen 1982; Lewis andBooms 1983; Saser, Olsen, and Wyckoff 1978) Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in

1985 suggest three attributes of service quality:

2.1.1.3 Definition of “service quality”

Despite of all the debates, many researchers were traditionally agreed andaccepted that service quality is a comparison between expectations with perceptions

of performance Perceived quality is the consumer’s judgment about an entity’soverall excellence or superiority (Zeithaml 1987) It is clearly differs from objectivequality (as define by few researcher, for example, Garvin (1983) and Hjorth-Anderson (1984)) Parasuraman et al (1985) defined service quality as “the globalevaluation or attitude of overall excellence of service” So, service quality is thedifference between customers’ expectation and perceptions of services delivered byservice firms

2.1.2 Measurement of service quality

Ducker (1991) defines service quality as “what the customer gets out and

is willing to pay for” rather than “what the supplier (of the service) puts in”.Hence, service quality is often “conceptualized as the comparison of serviceexpectations with actual performance perceptions” (Bloemer, Ruyter et al 1999;Kara, Lonial et al 2005) Service science literature often relies on SERVQUAL

as an instrument to measure quality of service provided SERVQUAL scalewas developed based on a marketing perspective with the support of the MarketingScience Institute (Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al 1986) Previous research confirmsits use as applicable to healthcare environment (Babakus 1992; Dean 1999; Arasli,

Ekiz et al 2008) For a thorough analysis of SERVQUAL see Nyeck et al.(2002) SERVQUAL principle primarily relies on a gap model (Parasuraman,Zeithaml et al 1985) (Figure 2.2) Every gap in SERVQUAL has a unique role asfollows:

• Gap 1: difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions ofconsumer expectations

• Gap 2: difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations andservice quality specifications

• Gap 3: difference between service quality specifications and the service actuallydelivered

• Gap 4: difference between service delivery and what is communicated about theservice to the consumer

• Gap 5: difference between consumer expectations and perceptions

The construct of service quality as conceptualized in the service marketingliterature centers on perceived quality, defined as a consumer’s judgment about anentity’s overall excellence or superiority (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Zeithaml, 1988;Bitner, 1990) In other words, Service quality can be defined as a measure of howwell the service delivered matches the customer expectation of the service Gronroos(1982) considers services as products requiring, to a large extent, the consumer’sinvolvement in the process of production and consumption, during whichconsumers compare their expectations about the service with what they actuallyreceive The result of this comparison is perceived service quality (Parasuraman etal., 1985, 1988)

Therefore, it is how customers perceive the quality of service thatshould be of key concern to managers To assist managers inunderstanding their customers'

Service delivery (including pre and post- contacts)

Communication to Customer GAP 1

Translation of Perception into Service Quality spec.

GAP 2

Management Perception of Customer Expectation

perceptions of quality, Parasuraman et al (1988) devised theSERVQUAL instrument This instrument is intended to capture therange of attributes important to consumers of a service

Figure 2.1- SERVQUAL gap analysis

Source: (Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al 1985)

Originally Parasuraman et al (1985) identified ten generaldimensions of service quality such as responsiveness,competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility,security, understanding, knowing the customer and tangibility,but as a result of succeeding research, these were collapsed intofive dimensions (Parasuraman et al., 1988, 1991) that link specificservice characteristics to consumers’ expectations as follows:

a) Reliability : ability to perform promised service as dependably and accurately

b) Responsiveness : Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

c) Assurance Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability toinspire trust and confidence

d) Empathy: Ability to be approachable and also service aspect that stresses thetreatment of customers individuals

e) Tangibles : focus on the elements that represent the service physically (physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel;)

Service quality

Parasuraman et al (1988)

Reliability

RELI1 Providing services as promised

RELI2 Dependability in handling customers' service performed

RELI3 Performing the services right the first time

RELI4 Providing services at the promised time

RELI5 Keeping customers informed about when services will be performed

Responsiveness

RES1.Prompt service to customers

RES2 Willing to help customers

RES3 Readiness to respond to customers' requests

Assurance

ASS1 Employees who instill confidence in customers

ASS2 Making customers feel safe in their transaction

ASS3 Employees who are consistently courteous

ASS4 Knowledgeable employee to answer customer questions

Empathy

EMP1 Giving customers individual attention

EMP2 Employees who deal with customers in a caring fashion

EMP3 Having the customer's best interest at heart

EMP4 Employees who understand the needs of their customers

Tangibles

TANG1 Modern equipment

TANG2 Visually appealing facilities

TANG3 Employees who have a neat, professional appearance

TANG4 Visually appealing materials associated with the service

TANG5 Convenient business hour

2.1.3 Cleaning service quality

2.1.3.1 Definition of “Cleaning”

Cleaning is a part of a facility maintenance activity that aim at increasing andmaintaining the overall life cycle of the facility and, at the same provide a humansupport for an effective working environment to facility’s occupiers

Cleaning is a process that is systematic in nature and aim at the removal ofunwanted matter in our environment The end result of cleaning is to ensure thatunwanted matter is cleaned and maintained to a certain safe degree zone that reducerisk levels to human health The cleaning process then need to be achieved by usingthe highest degree of monitoring system or standard available the time Thesestandard are controls, which are implemented in order to effectively achieve thedesired quality in the cleaning That process of implementing and monitoring camthen be classified as quality control (Anthony M,2007, 5)

2.1.3.2 Definition of cleaning service quality:

Cleaning service quality cannot be easily measured as it perceived different

by every individual In most cases, Quality signifies excellence and reliability, butagain, this also defer from each customer’s point of view

The term quality exists in many definitions and many scholars haveendeavored to define quality as it used in different context In service operation,quality can be defined as: “the right thing, as the right place, as the right time” (wright 1999, 169) In management, quality is seen as “ meeting the customerrequirements” ( Oakland 1993,5)

In the cleaning industry, cleaning service quality is the ability to meet thecustomer expectations and needs If the customers’ s experiences of the cleaningservice correspond with his assumptions, then he consider the overall quality good(huilaja 1998, 22).

Cleaning quality can also be defined and described as the extent to which thecleaning upkeep satisfied and continues satisfy the requirements specified for theuse and function of the rooms (Bound 2002,10-11) The quality is good if the user

of the room in question are satisfied and remain so This applies when the cleaningcan be carried out property, with the correct frequency and under normal conditions

2.1.3.3 Determinants of cleaning service quality:

All business point of view, will ague that the customer is always right, In thiscontext, it means that the customer determines the quality of work However, theoverall quality of cleaning service ( Bound 2002,10) is determined by :

 Cost (Price)

 Reliabilities of the service provider

 Responding to disasters and resolving complaints

 Customer need and expectations

 The organization’s principles and working mechanisms (the efficient of use resources and technology, competition analysis )

 Cleaning quality

Cost/Price

In cleaning service, cost bear heavily in customer’s mind as it is used togauge the level of quality desired The more the customer need and expectation are

clarified the more the cost will be and vice versa When defining the level ofquality, one should compare the effect of various quality levels with the cost Forexample, spaces with a low frequency use and which collect little dirt and employsparse cleaning are not worth the most expensive alternative Thus they reduce thecost of cleaning.

Reliability of the service provider

Reliability of the service provider means that services are provided in acontinuous consistent way Customer are assured of good quality and the deliverysystem, which is the cleaning company, offers guarantee, to that effect It isimportant that things are made right at the first time When cleaning agreementhave been reached and finalized, then it is up to cleaning company to fulfills thecleaning obligation state in the contract

Responding to disaster and resolving complaints

Cleaning companies have an obligation to respond to a crisis caused duringthe process of cleaning and also unforeseen customer emergencies It is up to thecleaning company to respond to that customer’s needs by arranging that the service

be delivered and performed to meet the customer’s expectation Customer need tobuild trust for the service providers Cleaning companies in turn should respond thesame way by guaranteeing and maintaining a stable relationship with the customer.The relationship should work both ways

Customer need and expectation

Cleaning company at the first introduction to a customer should avail theneed to tailor services according to the customer’s expectations, needs andassumptions Negotiations entered should focus on finding out what the workdetails entail Then in turn, the cleaning company can afford to measure and

question whether it is capable of delivering the kind of cleaning quality for the expectations desired.

The organization’s principle and working mechanisms

The organization or cleaning company take full responsibility of the qualityonce an agreement has been reached and a contract signed with a client This is themoment of trust and the company should be able to demonstrate an increased andsustained level of quality in order to maintain its customer base and trust Brokenpromises or misguided truths are time bombs that reflect negatively on thecompany’s image and performance

Cleaning quality

The cleaning quality is the major concern that all customers requestingcleaning services with fulfilled It is important that the cleaning quality meets therequirement and expectation of the resident and customers at an affordable priceand that the process should always remain clearly defined so as to providesatisfaction to both parties

Cleaning has a purpose and the five major reasons for cleaning are stipulated

as ( Allen 1993, 198-199):

 Prevention of the spread of infection and disease

The most important aspect of cleaning is the prevention and removal ofdisease causing bacteria This lead to cleaner environment Different spacesrequire different standards of hygiene and also methods of cleaning Highrisk area include hospitals, operating, theatres, clinics, kitchens and sanitaryaccommodations

 Dust control

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Dust level have to be controlled to certain acceptable levels Not only doesthis apply to industrial working environment e.g in manufacturing,pharmaceuticals and electronics to mention a few, but also to schools,offices, kindergartens and homes High level of dust or fumes in theatmosphere are harmful to human health These levels must be controlledthrough cleaning

 Preservation of the fabric, fixture, fittings and furnishings

The accumulation of dust, grease and other types of soils eventually lead tothe progressive deterioration of building and their furnishings Neglect of theprocess of cleaning accelerates damage and the eventual costs of repairs arehigher and the methods applied to restore the facility can also cause furtherdamage

 Provision of a socially acceptable environment

A socially acceptable and attractive working environment enhancesproductivity People working in clean environment are most likely to yieldhigher productivity than their counterparts A clean environment is not onlyrespectable, but also offer mental comfort and employee happiness

 Safety :

The cleaning process includes the removal of obstacles and substances thattend to obstruct The act alone allows for minor or major accident to becontrolled Standards of cleaning must be sufficient to meet health and safety

at work requirement

2.1.3.4 Cleaning quality awareness

According to john Bound (2002,12), quality experience of the customer goes (much) further than “only the proper execution of the cleaning work.” In addition to

 Being addressed by receptionist

 Speed of being called back

 Inspection, instruction, training

 Recruitment, selection, training and supervision

 Professionalism

 Empathy (having the customer’s interest at heat)

The SERVQUAL scale could be used in different service industries andcontexts However, in later work (Parasuraman et al., 1993), they did acknowledgethe need for context-specific tailoring of the instrument Besides, after acomprehensive review of service quality studies, Asubonteng, McCleary, and Swan(1996) concluded that the number of service quality dimensions varies in differentindustries For example, Kettinger and Lee (1994) identified four dimensions in astudy of in formation systems (IS) quality, which did not have tangible dimension.Cronin and Taylor (1992) developed a one factor measurement instrument instead

of the five-factor measures proposed by Parasuraman et al (1988) Sureshchandar,Rajendran, and Anantharaman in (2003) have identified five factors of servicequality from the customers’ perspective As mentioned, the overall quality ofcleaning service (Bound 2002,10) is determined by six factors In Vietnam, manystudies conducted in SERVQUAL such as: Nguyen Dinh Tho et al (2003)identified four dimensions for outdoor entertainment service In addition, Ha ThiHon Tuoi (2009) conducted a study on wedding party service and the resultindicated proposed 6 dimensions of service quality in which keeping 5 dimensionsfrom SERVQUAL( realibility, responsiveness, assurance, tangible, empathy) and 1additional dimension “ convenient approach” Nguyen Thi Mai Trang and NguyenDinh Tho (2006) defined 5 factors of service quality in Viet Nam supermarketservice (goods, staff competence, display, space, safety,) these factor have changedcompare with SERQUAL instrument Besides, in Vietnam research on servicequality has been undertaken in many service contexts such as banking,telecommunication, customs, education Cleaning service quality has general pointswith other services, the result from study of Bound (2002) showed that some factors

of cleaning service quality including reliability, responsiveness In general, cleaningservice company provides service including manpower, tools, equipment, chemical,and these are related to “assurance”, “tangible” factors In addition, cleaning service

is high-contact service between customer and staffs of cleaning service provider(cleaners, supervisors), hence “assurance” and “empathy” are also main factors

cleaning service quality Overall, the results from these studies also concluded thatnumber of service quality dimensions is varies in different industries, therefore need

to have continuing study in specific services and markets as cleaning service inVietnam

In summary, the research should be apply SERQUAL instrument inmeasurement cleaning service quality in Vietnam, however quality service scale inspecific-context need to be adjusted and supplemented Hence, the researcher alsoassumes that there should be some adjustments of the measurement scale in order tomake the research model more suitable for the cleaning service in Vietnam

2.2 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a complex construct It has been defined in variousways Kotler (1996) defined customer satisfaction as ‘the level of the people feltstate resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome inviolation to his/her own expectations” Oliver (1997) defines satisfaction as as “ajudgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided(or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment” (p 13) and

“the consumer's fulfillment response, the degree to which the level of fulfillment ispleasant or unpleasant” (p 28)

Customer satisfaction is the feeling you have when your needs as a customer arefulfilled and meeting the customer's expectations for key service quality attributeslead to overall satisfaction with service Satisfied customers will be more likely touse the service again, or will tell other potential customers positive things about theservice (Patterson and Spreng, 1997) In turn, measuring customer satisfaction canprovide managers with relatively reliable indicators of future customer support fortheir services According to Boselie, Hesselink, and Wiele (2002) satisfaction is apositive, affective state resulting from the appraisal of all aspects of a party’sworking relationship with another

Literature has also made the distinction between overall satisfaction andattribute satisfaction Overall satisfaction results from overall experience whileattribute satisfaction is based on assessment of performance of individual attributes(Oliver, 1993) According to Levesque and McDougall (1996) satisfaction isconceptualized as an overall, customer attitude towards a service provider It wastherefore, client satisfaction construct in this paper will be measured through overallsatisfaction toward the services.

2.3 Customer loyalty

The conceptualization of the loyalty construct has evolved over the years Intoday’s changing global environment, every organization is searching for innovativeways to achieve competitive advantage, increase customer loyalty, and improveefficiency without sacrificing quality of service (Javalgi and Moberg, 1997)

Service loyalty, with its final effect on repurchasing by customers, is perhapsone of the most important constructs in service marketing Indeed, loyal customersthat indulge in repeat purchases are the base of any business (Caruana, 2002) Somehave tagged customer loyalty as a key source of competitive advantage (Bharadwaj

et al., 1993) and a key to firm survival and growth (Reichheld, 1996) However,how “loyalty” has been conceptualized and measured has varied considerablyacross studies, resulting in calls for more research into the fundamental meaning ofloyalty (Oliver, 1999)

In the services context, intangible attributes such as reliability andconfidence may play a major role in building or maintaining loyalty (Dick andBasu, 1994) In a services context, loyalty is frequently defined as observedbehaviour (Liljander and Strandvik, 1995) Pearson (1996) has defined customerloyalty as the mind set of the customers who hold favorable attitudes toward acompany, commit to repurchase the company’s product/service, and recommend theproduct/service to others Jones and Sasser (1995) posit industry structure as an

explanation for increasing and decreasing returns of satisfaction In markets withintense competition, satisfaction shows increasing return and any decline insatisfaction results in rapid drop in loyalty Hence, merely satisfied and completelysatisfied customers exhibit dramatically different levels of loyalty Anderson andMittal (2000) suggest that increasing returns for satisfaction occurs particularlywhen the company’s service performance exceeds customer expectations

2.4 Relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and

customer loyalty

2.4.1 Relationship between Service quality and customer satisfaction

Over the past few years there has been a heightened emphasis on servicequality and customer satisfaction in business and academia alike Sureshchandar et

al, (2003) identified that strong relationships exist between service quality andcustomer satisfaction while emphasizing that these two are conceptually distinctconstructs from the customers’ point of view Spreng and Mackoy (1996) alsoshowed that service quality leads to customer satisfaction while working on themodel developed by Oliver (1997) Bitner et al (1994) and Anderson et al (1994)also point to this link by suggesting that improved service quality will result in asatisfied customer and suggest that to a large extent this relationship is intuitive In arecent study conducted by Ribbink et.al (2004) revealed that this relationship alsoexists in the e-commerce industry

Moreover, after a comprehensive studies review of relationship betweenservice quality and customer satisfaction, the results showed that each components

of SERQUAL has positively related to customer satisfaction The important level ofeach components of SERQUAL on customer satisfaction is different in every kind

of service Mohammad Suhainy Abdull Rahim (2009) concluded that “Reliability”

is as the most important dimension to customer satisfaction, next are tangible ,assurance, empathy and responsiveness is the least important The study of Chich–

Jen Shieh (2006) in library service found that all dimensions had significantlypositive impacts on user satisfaction In addition, a result from study of Ha Thi HonTuoi (2009) in wedding party service showed that all dimensions of SERQUALhave positively related to customer satisfaction, in which “reliability” rated the bestimportant and “empathy” rated the least important.

As mentioned in 2.2.4, all components of SERQUAL appropriate in applying

of cleaning service quality Consistent with these findings, the researcher hashypothesized the following :

Hypothesis 1: Overall, Service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction

in cleaning service industry.

H1a: “Reliability” of service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction H1b: “Responsiveness” of service quality is positively related to customer

satisfaction

H1c: “Assurance” of service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction H1d: “Tangible” of service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction H1e: “Empathy” of service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction 2.4.2 Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty

Customer satisfaction does not always lead to loyalty; however, it iswidely agreed in the literature that satisfaction is the key precursor to customerloyalty According to Oliver (1999), “satisfaction is defined as pleasurablefulfillment That is, the consumer senses that consumption fulfills some need,desire, goal, or so forth and that this fulfillment is pleasurable” Several authorshave found a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and loyalty(Anderson & Sullivan, 1993; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Fornell, 1992) In which,Fornell (1992) argues that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty

for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition.Anderson and Fornell (1994) point out that customer loyalty is determined to a largeextent by customer satisfaction Satisfaction is thus viewed as an antecedent ofrelative attitude because without satisfaction consumers will not hold a favorableattitude towards a brand as compared to other alternatives available (Dick and Basu,1994).

Numerous studies in the service sector have also empirically validated thelink between satisfaction and behavioral intentions such as customer retention andword of mouth (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Bansal and Taylor, 1999; Cronin andTaylor, 2000) Hart and Johnson (1999) have added that one of the conditions oftrue customer loyalty is total satisfaction Hence, hypothesis 2 is proposed :

Hypothesis 2: Customer satisfaction is positively related to customer loyalty in cleaning service industry.

2.4.3 Relationship between service quality and customer loyalty

In various studies, the relationship between service quality and customerloyalty had been examined (Boulding, Kalra, Staelin, & Zeithaml, 1993; Cronin &Taylor, 1992) In their study Cronin and Taylor (1992) focused solely on repurchaseintentions, whereas Boulding et al (1993) focused on the elements of repurchasing

as well as the willingness to recommend In the study by Cronin and Taylor servicequality did not appear to have a significant (positive) effect on repurchase intentions(in contrast to the significant positive impact of satisfaction on repurchaseintention), whereas Boulding et al (1993) found positive relationships betweenservice quality and repurchase intentions and willingness to recommend Therefore,following hypothesis has been proposed:

Hypothesis 3: Service quality is positively related to customer loyalty in cleaning service industry.

H1a: “Reliability” of service quality is positively related to customer loyalty

H1b: “Responsiveness” of service quality is positively related to customer loyalty H1c: “Assurance” of service quality is positively related to customer loyalty

H1d: “Tangible” of service quality is positively related to customer loyalty

H1e: “Empathy” of service quality is positively related to customer loyalty

After reviewing the literatures, main three hypotheses have been proposed and are summarized as propose in the article 2.5.2

The methodology is conducted to test the main three hypotheses and find outdimensions of cleaning service quality is presented in the following chapter

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The previous chapter provides literature review of service quality, cleaningservice quality, customer satisfaction, service loyalty and relationship of them Thischapter will provide the Theoretical Model based on the literature review and aqualitative study, it also introduces research methodology using to build andassess the measurement scales, the statistical techniques employed to analyzethe data, and testing the research hypotheses and research model as well

Business research is defined “as a systematic inquiry whoseobjective is to provide information to solve a managerial problem” (DonaldR.C & Pamela S.S., 2003) Based on the purpose of research, researchers often use one of the following three types

Exploratory research is useful when the research question are vague

or when there is little theory available for guide predictions or when there is

a need to clarify the understanding of a problem Exploratory research isused to develop a better understanding( Hair, Babin, Money and Samouel2003) There are three principle ways of conducting exploratory research :

a search of the literature, talking to experts in the subject, conducting focusgroup interviews (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2003)

Descriptive research describes some situation General things are

described by providing measures of an event and activity The objective ofdescriptive studies is “to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or

3 0

situations” (Robson, 1993) This may be an extension of an exploratoryresearch It is necessary to have a clear picture of the phenomena on whichresearcher wish to collect data prior to the collection of the data (Saunders,Lewis and Thornhill 2003)

Causal or Explanatory studies establish causal relationships between

variables The emphasis here is o n studying a situation or a problem in order

to explain the relationship between variables (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill2003)

The purpose of the research is mainly descriptive and explanatory It

is descriptive because descriptive data has been collected throughquestionnaire survey and it is also explanatory since we will explain therelationship between service quality variables and customer satisfaction andhow these dimensions affect customer satisfaction In summary, acombination of descriptive and explanatory ( causal research) is chosen forthis research It is somewhat exploratory nature since we are exploring therelationship between service quality variables and satisfaction based onprevious theories to develop a better understanding about the research area

Business research methods can be classified on the basis of eitherfunction or technique (Zikmund 1997) In term of technique, businessresearch can be classified into experiments, surveys and observationalstudies (Zikmund 1997)

In this study, data was collected by using a survey technique Thistechnique “provides a quick, efficient and accurate means of assessinginformation on a population, especially in the case of a lack of secondarydata” (Zikmund, 1997- cited in Quan, 2006)

The research process of this study is shown in figure 3.2

Figure 3.1-Research process

Final draft of questionnaire

Main quantitative study :A Survey of 158 customers

DROP

Item(s) with

item-total correlation < 3

EFA : Exploratory Factor Analysis

MLR : Multiple Linear Regression

Item(s) with factor loading< 5

Item modifications

In order to measure the constructs in the study, multi-item scales areemployed and existing measures present in the literature are used All items aremeasured on a five-point Likert type scale, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree.

3.2.1 Items to measure Service Quality

As discussed in chapter two, The SERVQUAL scale could be used indifferent service industries and contexts, especially in high contact service such ascleaning service industry

Besides, as mentioned in this study, overall of cleaning service quality(Bound,2002) is determined by cost (Price), reliabilities of the service provider,responding to disasters and resolving complaints, customer need and expectations,the organization’s principles and working mechanisms (the efficient of useresources and technology, competition analysis ), cleaning quality However, after

a comprehensive review of service quality studies, number and content of service

quality dimensions varies in different industries, services and markets.

Therefore, to do research in a specific market, some amendment andcomplement might be needed Cleaning service quality in this study is measured bymainly adapting SERQUAL scale, contents of cleaning service quality developing

by Bound, 2002

After carrying out preliminary study by using group discussion approach, as

a result customer of cleaning service is interest in six main factors as follows :

1 Reliability of the service provider: services are provided in a continuous

consistent way and the cleaning company to fulfill the cleaning obligationstated in the contract

2 Responsiveness : responding to customer requests and solving complaints