Solutions to improve customer satisfaction at sony service center in northern vietnam

36 2.2 Quantitative analysis of the quality of repair and warranty service provided by Sony Vietnam .... 50 2.3 Qualitative analysis of the repair and warranty service quality provided

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT SONY

SERVICE CENTER IN NORTHERN VIETNAM

Program : Master of Marketing and Prospective

Author : Luong Thi Hue

Class : Marketing 6

Supervisor : Trung Hien Nguyen, PhD

International School – Vietnam National University

Ha Noi, August 2018

This work would not have been possible without the support from the Director of Sony Center Ms.Vo Dien who spent time to share with me about the vision and mission of Sony Service Center

I am especially indebted to PhD Nguyen Trung Hien, lecturer of Marketing Head who has been supportive of my thesis Without his guidance, my thesis wouldn’t be completed

A very special gratitude goes out to all my friends and my colleagues at Sony Service Center in Ha Noi who helped me to communicate with customers, collected surveys, giving

me a lot of information for my thesis

My sincere thanks also goes to Mr Loc, my ex-colleague who is an expert of SPSS

He helped me analyze data and find the results from SPSS Without him, my thesis cannot be completed

And finally, last but by no means least, many thanks go to attendants who directly or indirectly involved in this thesis, without their help, I wouldn’t figure out issues and recommendation for my thesis Thanks for all your encouragement

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

LIST OF FIGURES 6

LIST OF ABBREVIATION 7

LIST OF TABLES 8

ABSTRACT 10

INTRODUCTION 11

1 Reason for choosing thesis topic (the importance of thesis topic) 11

2 Objectives and Tasks 12

3 Research objects 12

4 Scope of research 12

5 Thesis methodology 12

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASE OF SERVICE QUALITY 15

1.1 Theory of service and service quality 15

1.1.1 Definition of service and repair, warranty services 15

1.1.2 Quality and service quality 16

1.1.3 Instruments of service quality 17

1.1.4 The need for measuring and evaluating service quality 20

1.2 Theory of customer satisfaction in the service sector 23

1.2.1 Definition of satisfaction 23

1.2.2 Why must customer satisfaction 23

1.3 The relationship between quality of service and customer satisfaction 24

1.3.1 The American Customer Satisfaction Index 24

1.3.2 The European Customer Satisfaction Index 25

1.4 Model and research hypothesis 26

1.4.1 Study models 26

1.4.2 Research hypotheses 27

1.5 Research Methods 28

Summary of Chapter 1 35

CHAPTER 2: ANALYSES CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR REPAIR SERVICE, WARRANTY OF SONY SERVICE CENTER 36

2.1 Introduction of Sony Vietnam service center 36

2.1.1 Company profile and repair, warranty service 36

2.2 Quantitative analysis of the quality of repair and warranty service provided by Sony Vietnam 37

2.2.1 Results of survey data collection 37

2.2.2 Rating scale with Cronbach's Alpha reliability 38

2.2.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 40

2.2.4 Evaluate the impact of factors on customer satisfaction through regression analysis 45

2.2.5 Analytical results 50

2.3 Qualitative analysis of the repair and warranty service quality provided by Sony Vietnam Service center 54

2.3.1 Reliability component 55

2.3.2 Responsiveness component 56

2.3.3 Empathy component 58

2.3.4 Tangible component at the service center 59

2.3.5 Infrastructure component of the service center 59

2.3.6 Assurance component 60

2.4 General assessment of factors affecting the quality of repair and maintenance services of Sony Vietnam Service center 60

2.4.1 Reliability component 60

2.4.2 Responsiveness Component 61

2.4.3 Empathy component 61

2.4.4 Tangible component at the service center 61

2.4.5 Infrastructure component of the service center 61

2.4.6 Assurance component 61

Summary of Chapter 2 62

3.1 Warranty Objectives: Best Customer Service Center in Asia 63

3.2 Actions to improve the quality of repair, warranty services 64

3.2.1 Responsiveness 64

3.2.2 Reliability 67

3.2.3 Empathy 70

3.2.4 Tangible at the service center 71

3.2.5 Infrastructure of the service center 71

3.2.6 Assurance 74

Summary of Chapter 3 75

CONCLUSION 76

REFERENCES 78

APPENDIX 80

Figure 1 1 The American Customer Satisfaction Index 24

Figure 1 2 The European Customer Satisfaction Index 25

Figure 1 3 The Research Model 26

Figure 1 4 Research Process 34

Figure 2 1 Official research model 44

3D : three dimension

ASC : Authorized service center

CSP : Customer service plaza

DSC : Direct service center

EFA : Exploratory Factor Analysis

ESC : Exclusive service center

FIFO : First In, First Out

HD : High dedfinition

IMEI : International Mobile Equipment Identity KMO : Kaiser – Meyer – Olkin

KPI : Key performance Index

NFC : Near Field Communcation

NPS : Net Promote Score

RTAT : Repair Turn Around Time

VIF : Variance Inflation Factor

Table 1 1 Factors and Observation Variables 31

Table 2 1 Statistics on sex characteristics and age of survey data 38

Table 2 2 Reliability of initial scale scales 40

Table 2 3 Factor matrix has been rotated 41

Table 2 4 Barlett and KMO test 43

Table 2 5 Linear regression 46

Table 2 6 The suitability of the model 47

Table 2 7 Analysis of Anova 48

Table 2 8 Reliability 51

Table 2 9 Responsiveness 51

Table 2 10 Empathy 52

Table 2 11 Tangible at the service center 53

Table 2 12 Infrastructure of the service center 53

Table 2 13 Assurance 54

Table 2 14 Repairing repetition rate 56

Table 2 15 Consumption rate and total stock of spare parts 57

Appendix 1: QUALITATIVE QUESTIONNAIRE

Appendix 2: QUANTITATIVE QUESTIONAIRE

Appendix 3: AVERAGE POINT FOR EACH SECTION

Appendix 4: THE RESULT OF CRONBACH’S ANPHA

Appendix 5: THE RESULT OF TOTAL VARIANCE EXPLAINED

Appendix 6: THE RESULT OF EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS

Appendix 7: PEARSON’S CORRELATION COEFFICENT

Appendix 8: REGRESSION ANALYSIS TABLE WITHOUT VARIABLES

Appendix 9: REGRESSION ANALYSIS TABLE WITH SEX DUMMY VARIABLES

Appendix 10: REGRESSION ANALYSIS TABLE WITH AGE DUMMY VARIABLES

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the competition among enterprises is growing in intensity and organizations of all types and sizes have increasingly come to understand the importance of customer satisfaction and good services The purpose of this thesis is to provide solutions to improve the quality of repair and maintenance services through the customer satisfaction survey at Sony Service Center

This thesis will discuss and analyze the factors that influence the customer’s level of satisfaction and assist the company to analyze the current situation and identify any existing problems with their services

Data used in this thesis are collected from conducting survey of customer in Ha Noi With the help from the Manager and staffs of Sony Service Center, the collected data has 236 valid responses, the customer identified 6 components include Responsiveness, Reliability, Tangible, Empathy, Infrastructure and Assurance

Furthermore, the thesis measures consumer satisfaction and identify important strengths need to be retained and weaknesses need to be worked on fast Based on the result, the thesis also gives some suggestions for Sony Center to further improve Customer Service level

INTRODUCTION

1 Reason for choosing thesis topic (the importance of thesis topic)

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has opened a new era, the era of smart electronics

Cellphones, tablets, televisions and even kitchen equipment has software installed that

can be used to replace people The world of smart digital products is a fiercely competitive market for many big names About ten years ago, when it came to cellphones

we all think of Nokia or Sony But now, names such as Apple and Samsung have dominated the market

So what is the cause of this dominance? Are modern day customers only interested in the quality of products and the product’s brand name without considering other factors? This

is true and here’s why As we might already knew, electronic products are globalized in production Microchips or major processors are produced by specific companies and then supplied to many electronics manufacturers With slight differences and short product realize dates these companies will release products with a similar look, feel and set up with only miner tweaks to each new product Different features can be seen however in software content as well as the design of the product and more importantly companies strategies on how to attract and retain customers through marketing programs and after-sales customer care

In order to attract consumer’s loyalty, electronic companies have to invest a lot of money

in marketing and customer care How can these companies bring the highest customer

satisfaction, in an area where they have the lowest budget? It is not easy to answer this question, especially in the current difficult and competitive economic situation

After-sales services include product consulting, software upgrades, installation, repair, warranty and product maintenance In particular, repair and warranty service are considered the most basic and important tasks in the after-sales service of electronic companies Once the customer's product is damaged, they feel dissatisfied creating negative thoughts about the product and its brand The task of a service center is to remove this feeling, reassuring the customer of the products quality This will help aid the customer to forget any doubts and allow them to continue believing and supporting the brand

Currently, Sony Service Center has a system for evaluating the quality of its service however these reviews are internal and not really objective Everyday, customers are asked by company employees directly so they find it uncomfortable to answer honestly The survey is sometimes conducted by the technician or the receptionist who directly handle the product This can often lead to the psychology "A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit" Clients might give a high review score even though they have poor judgment on the technician or the receptionist

Sometimes, through a third party, the company also buys the result and compares it with other competitors; however, due to the high cost, this does not happen often

Therefore, the author decided to select the topic: "Solutions to improve customer satisfaction at Sony Service Center in Northern Vietnam" to be the research topic for her thesis and also to apply in her current job

2 Objectives and Tasks

The main objective of the project is to provide solutions for the customer satisfaction at Sony Service Center Based on experience, with surveys as well as the use of SPSS statistical analysis tool, the author wants to find out the factors that have effects on customers satisfaction and give a regression model of customer satisfaction at Sony Service Center Then she will provide solutions to improve the quality of this service

- Limited research area in Hanoi

- Scope of the survey: The survey will be conducted at two Sony Service Centers in Thanh Xuan District and Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi

- Research time: from March to May 2018

- Survey time: from March to April 2018

5 Thesis methodology

Qualitative Research: The author will find out about theoretical foundations of service,

quality, service quality and the correlation between service quality with customer satisfaction and customer service quality evaluation charts/graphs As well as previous research that has mentioned satisfactions in service quality will be epitomized in this

thesis From there, the graph that demonstrates “Relation between service quality components in Customer Service Center and Customer Satisfaction” will be created

Open questions will be asked in order to find out some related factors and new factors mentioned about repair and warranty service quality The author will interview specialists (who supervise Service Centers of some big brand names) and also interview clients that use or used service at these centers Based on that, the scale and graph will be adjusted accordingly

Quantitative research: Using the scale after adjustment above, the author will form a

questionnaire and ask the customer to answer Reality survey will be conducted in two Sony Customer Service Centers in Hanoi Participants in the survey are customers who have just used the repair and warranty service at these centers These results will be run

on the SPSS program to evaluate Cronbach's Alpha reliability level as well as the EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) The two steps of analysis and evaluation will eliminate unsatisfactory observations and keep factors that meet mathematical-statistical requirements The author then calibrates the scale and presents a formal research graph Multiple regression analysis method is applied to find the recurrence equation regression

is an important quantitative analytical step with the purpose of finding the proportion of factors that influence customer satisfaction

At the end, with all analysis results, the author will give a verdict and solution accordingly to maintain or improve customer satisfaction when using service at Sony Service Center

Thesis outline:

Besides this introduction part, the thesis is divided into 3 main chapters:

• CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY

This chapter will provide theoretical background on service, quality, service quality and service quality scales widely used in the world today The types of deviation in service quality assessment are also raised

• CHAPTER 2: ANALYSIS ON THE QUALITY OF REPAIR AND WARRANTY SERVICE AT SONY SERVICE CENTER

This chapter will show the results of analysis of six components that affect customer satisfaction This result is based on customer feedback scores, from the coefficient Beta

in the regression equation when running the SPSS program

• CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONs TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF REPAIR AND WARRANTY AT SONY SERVICE CENTER

From the analysis of the status and results of customer evaluation in Chapter 2, the author has proposed solutions to improve the quality of repair services, warranty of Sony

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASE OF SERVICE QUALITY

In this chapter, the author presents the theoretical issues of service, service quality, customer satisfaction, why need customer satisfaction, the need for measurement, service quality evaluation and models that measure customer satisfaction on the service This is a fundamental problem that has been mentioned in many previous studies The author will also list some types

of customer service centers of present electronics firms Later, the author will summarize some

of the studies that mention satisfaction in service quality in many areas Finally, with the research theories and the actual situation, the author will provide an initial study model to assess the quality of repair and warranty of Sony's Service Center

1.1 Theory of service and service quality

1.1.1 Definition of service and repair, warranty services

In addition, service also has characteristics that are Non-Transportable, Non-Uniform Service,

need a lot of Manpower to make service and must have Buyers at Time of Delivery service 1.1.1.2 Definition of service and repair, warranty services

When selling a product to a customer, manufacturer expects products to be perfect quality and not damaged However, technical errors may be less or more likely to occur with some or even a series of products that have been sold and used Manufacturers, through their customer care centers, are responsible for correcting technical errors or even compensating for customers if the

product is damaged That is the definition of repair, warranty service

Normally, warranty period of a product is limited to a specified time and is constraint both at the time of manufacture and at the time of purchase If the product is still within the warranty period, the cost involved in the repair is incurred by the manufacturer All these policies and terms of use are set in the warranty card or on the website or official statement of the company

Warranty costs are one of the costs that the company is quite interested in as it not only affects the profit but also affects the quality of service of the company

The purchase decision of the consumer depends on many factors, of course, the product's characteristics or features play an important role Additional services such as warranty service can encourage consumers to make a purchase If the repair service is well done and the customer

is satisfied then this is a key decision for the next purchase

1.1.2 Quality and service quality

1.1.2.1 Definition of quality

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines quality as follows: "Quality is the

ability of a set of characteristics of a product, system or process to meet customer requirements and involved parties "

One of the leading experts in quality research, W.E Deming says, "Quality is a anticipation level

on homogeneity and reliable at a low cost and market acceptance "

1.1.2.2 Definition of service quality

Quality of service is what customers feel when using the service Quality of service is determined by the perceptions or perception of customers in relation to their individual needs According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985), the quality of service is when customer's perception about a service and are compared to their previous expectations According to Parasuraman, expectations in service quality are customer expectations, meaning that they feel the results the provider must deliver rather than fulfill their service requirements

Cronin and Taylor (1992) argue that customer satisfaction should be measured in terms of customer attitudes toward that service over a long period of time

1.1.2.3 Characteristics of service quality

According to the above definitions, there are many different statements about the quality of service, but in terms of its nature, the quality of service has the following characteristics:

Superiority (Transcendent) (expressing its superiority compared other service), Characteristic

of the product (Product led) (service or high quality product will be more "superior" than the low quality service), Supply (Process or supply led) (quality of service associated with the process of delivering and delivering services to the customer), Satisfaction of the demand

(Customer led) (Quality of service is required to satisfy customer's demand) and Value creation (Value led) (Service does not create any value that is considered as not having quality)

1.1.2.4 Types of deviation in service quality assessment

In the experience process of service, quality of service that reflects the interaction between the customer and the employee of service provider Therefore, evaluating service quality is not easy work There are deviations from the evaluation of service quality as follows:

• Type 1 deviation: A type of deviation from the company, the manager does not grasp the

needs and expectations of customers

• Type 2 deviation: Deviation between the characteristics of service quality and the

perception of the manager This deviation arises when company service meets difficulties

in developing service quality criteria that are consistent with expectations of service expectations of customers

• Type 3 deviation: Deviation between providing a service and its characteristics of quality

service

• Type 4 deviation: Deviation between information informs to customers of service

provision

• Type 5 deviation: Deviation between the desired service and the received service Type 5

deviation is the distance between the service qualities of the company Quality of service

is considered to be perfect when the distance is 0 Service quality improvement is the minimization of type 5 deviation, which means that the deviations are minimized

1.1.3 Instruments of service quality

1.1.3.1 Instrument of SERVQUAL

The SERVQUAL instrument (Service Quality-Service Quality) scale is one of the key tools in marketing, service use for assessing service quality (Parasuraman & ctg, 1988) Parasuraman & ctg (1988) repeatedly tested the instrument and considered different theories, and thinks that SERVQUAL is a measure of reliability and value This instrument can be applied in different types of services such as restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, airlines, tourism, etc SERVQUAL Measurement instrument on service quality according to perception of the

customer using the service Parasuraman & ctg (1985) think that any service, the quality of service perceived by customers can be modeled as 10 components, that is:

1) Reliability: Ability to carry out service suitably and on time right after the first time 2) Responsiveness: Express expectation and willingness of service personnel to provide

services to customers

3) Competence: Express professional level to perform the service

4) Access: involves creating easy conditions in accessing services such as shortening

customer waiting times, service locations, and convenient opening hours for customer

5) Courtesy: Express the warmth, respect and friendliness of employees to customers 6) Communication: involves communicating and inform to customers in the language in

which they (the customer) easily understand and listen to related issues to them, such as explaining service, expense, complaint settlement

7) Credibility: Express ability to create trust for customers, make customers trust in the

company

8) Security: involve ability to ensure the safety of customers, express through the safety of

material, finance as well as information security

9) Understanding customer: Express understanding ability and seize customer's needs by

understanding the customer's requirements, personal attention and identifying regular customers

10) Tangibles: express through appearance, costumes of service staff, equipment supporting

service

1.1.3.2 Instrument of RATER

The above SERVQUAL Instrument shows full components of service quality and covers every aspect when mentions quality of service but it is quite complex After many studies, duplicate components were removed and the RATER model was recognized as follows:

1 Reliability: Ability to carry out service suitably and on time right after the first time

2 Assurance: express through professional level, communication style to create

confidence, peace of mind for customers

3 Tangibles: express through appearance, costumes of service staff, equipment supporting

service

4 Empathy: Express care, sharing, understanding each customer

5 Responsiveness: Express desire, enthusiasm and willingness of the service staff,

providing the fastest service to customers

This instrument is divided into 2 parts, each with 22 questions The first part is to determine customer expectations for the service type of the business in general It means, regardless of the specific business, interviewees indicate their level of desirability for that type of service The second part is to determine the customer's perception of service performance of survey enterprise That is, based on the specific service of the enterprise surveyed for evaluation The results of the study are to identify the gaps between the customer perception of the quality of service performed by the business and expectations of customers for the quality of the service Specifically, according to the SERVQUAL model, service quality is defined as follows:

Service quality = Perception level – Expectation value

1.1.3.3 The instrument of SERVPERF

Another instrument is also used to measure service quality that is SERVPERF that is given by Cronin and Taylor in 1992 The SERVPERF model is developed foundation of the SERVQUAL model but measures service quality based evaluation of service quality is carried out (performance-based) rather than gap between expected quality and perception

1.1.3.4 Rating by 4P criteria

Comprehensive quality of service can also be defined as customer perception of 4P:

1 Product: characteristics of the product or service provided

2 Procedure: Procedures in the service process: can be simple or complex, causing troublesome or pleasant for customers

3 Provider : qualities of the service provider

4 Problems: ability to cope, handle unexpected situations occurring during the service

1.1.3.5 Module FSQ and TSQ

According to Gronroos (1984), service quality is assessed on two criteria: Functional Service Quality and Technical Service Quality, and Service quality is strongly influenced by corporate image (or image of the business) Thus, three factors that affect quality of service are functional quality, technical quality and corporate image and referred to as the FTSQ model

1) Functional quality:

Functional quality reflects the process of service implementation of the business, reflect how the business has performed service It is expressed in seven criteria: convenience in transaction, employee behavior, staff service attitude, business organization, customer contact, staff service style, spirit, all for the customer

3) Corporate image (Company image)

Corporate image is understood as the general impression or impression of customers about the business It can be said that if the business creates good image in the customer's heart, customers will easily overlook the errors in using the service Moreover, the image of company also helps customers become more confident in business and become loyal customers of the business

1.1.4 The need for measuring and evaluating service quality

Many companies are now beginning to change their perception by focusing on measuring and evaluating quality of their services Measuring quality of service will give the company the following benefits:

The company knows customers objectively evaluate about its current service quality accurately

● Identify important criteria that strongly influence quality of service From there, further promote this strength more

● Determine how many criteria customers receives What criteria should be invested to maximize quality at the lowest cost?

● Help management board as well as company staff better understand the wishes of customers

● Know trends and tastes of customers in assessing quality of service today

● Easily compare service quality across different departments, different products or compare with competitors

● Predict changes in customer perception when evaluating quality of product or service

1.1.5 Types of repair, warranty service center of the electronic brands

In order to fulfill their duties and responsibilities to bring satisfaction to customers, present electronic companies have now built various types of service centers Different types of service centers make the company more convenient depending on specific conditions Therefore, the right type of service center is one of the ways to bring high satisfaction to customers in parallel with optimization of operation costs Currently, in Vietnam, electronic companies have type of service center as follows:

1.1.5.1 ASC (Authorized Service Center)

These are the centers established by organizations and individuals and allowed by electronic companies to repair their products Normally, electronic companies will pay the authorized centers a fixed fee called maintenance fees to pay for such expenses as rent, electricity, water, internet, central decoration, etc At the same time, based on the number of monthly repairs and product warranties, electronic companies will pay repair fees for authorized service centers Authorized service centers are responsible for recruiting labors and manage activities at their centers They are legally responsible for the operation of these service centers

Authorized service centers can sign contracts with various electronics companies at the same time

The advantage of choosing an investment in an authorized service center is that initial investment costs are low, which can easily be extended to a quick warranty network and the cost

of repairs is flexible If the authorized service center does not operate well, electronic company has the right to change it to a better one

However, authorized service centers also have many disadvantages Because it can be signed with many electronic companies, personal image of the company in eyes of customers is not high A technician of authorized service centers must repair many different brands so specialty

of a brand is not high Authorized service centers also receive and store many products of different companies This will undoubtedly impress customers if they are loyal to a particular brand In addition, the inadvertent creation of opportunities for customers to access many of the comparable products of different firms can cause psychological comparison and abandon brand being used if conditions permit

1.1.5.2 ESC (Exclusive Service Center)

Exclusive service center is similar to authorized center but the difference is that exclusive service center can only be contracted with an electronics company At exclusive service center, the product displayed and repaired is the product of a exclusive brand

Clearly that, priority of exclusive service center is retained and keep the image of brand that is better than authorized center Technician of exclusive service center, only repair, warranty for only one brand so high specialization, easy to create sympathy with customers

However, exclusive service center also an one unit as partner of operation company which many problems of service quality are hard to control and ensure Besides, investment for exclusive service center is higher than authorized service center

1.1.5.3 DSC (Direct Service Center)

As center type of direct investment company and operation Company that carries out from early

to the end of the investment items as rent house, recruit staffs, remain operation…

Normally, in large cities where the number of clients is high, the company usually invests directly under service center Initial investment costs, its operating costs of service center is quite high However, company image brings higher and quality of service is easier to control and ensure

Nowadays, common problem in companies is the burden of human resource management Therefore, many companies are afraid to invest in the type of direct under service center due to

fear of the number of official staff increase However, Sony's direct under service centers at the present combining both the company's official human resources and outsource large numbers of unqualified employees With this organizational structure, the company takes control quality of service as well as all activities easily

1.1.5.4 CSP (Customer Service Plaza)

Not only a repair and maintenance center but also this is where the company can display and sell its products This kind of center is quite much invested and is also authorized for business partners

1.2 Theory of customer satisfaction in the service sector

1.2.1 Definition of satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is mood, feeling of customers when their expectations are met, satisfied throughout process of using the service Customer satisfaction is subjective feeling of customers, not quantitative so it is not easy to measure accurately Therefore, to assess the quality of services requires taking many samples and analyzing them with statistical tools

1.2.2 Why must customer satisfaction

One of the most common characteristics of Vietnamese people, which does not exclude citizens

of other countries, is word of mouth They easily communicate with each other about their experiences In the current information age, word of mouth does not mean "talking" to each other There are many ways to communicate with each other, such as email, blogs, social networking sites (Facebook) It can be said that the internet and social networks are very popular and very easy to information exchange The writer expresses his views without being censored And the information is shared with a lot of people in a very short time Thus, information on the quality of products and services of the company is easy to share with many people quickly in today's era

If customers are satisfied with the product or service they will be loyal to the company, they will protect the company image in some adverse situations for the company Loyal customers intend

to purchase very high repetition as well as introduce their friends and relatives to purchase They maintain the choice with the brand they have been loyal to They are less or afraid to change the

brand The company will also spend less to sell products to loyal customers than new customers

In addition, the company may be more profitable to offer higher prices but persuade loyal customers to pay for the product

On the business side, if customers are satisfied with their products and services, enterprises will continue to produce and provide such products and services In contrast, businesses must innovate to improve quality of their products and services if consumers are not satisfied

1.3 The relationship between quality of service and customer satisfaction

Many studies have shown the relationship between quality of service and customer satisfaction but in fact there is no similar formula for all situations Let's look at some of the models below:

1.3.1 The American Customer Satisfaction Index

Figure 1 1 The American Customer Satisfaction Index

In the American Customer Satisfaction Index, perceived value is influenced by perceived quality and customer expectations Then, the expectations of customers have a direct impact on perceived quality In fact, higher expectations, higher the quality of customer perception for product or vice versa Therefore, quality requirements of products and services provided to customers need to be ensured and satisfied on the basis of their satisfaction Customer satisfaction is based on perceived quality, expectation and perceived value If quality and value perceived that is higher than expected will create loyalty to customers

1.3.2 The European Customer Satisfaction Index

Figure 1 2 The European Customer Satisfaction Index

European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) has some differences Compared to ACSI, the image of the product or brand has a direct impact on customer expectations At the same time, customer satisfaction is the impact of four factors: image, perceived value, and expectation, perceived quality of the product (tangible) and service (invisible-Inta)

• Image: Image expresses relationship between brand and customer's association with the attributes of the brand This variability is expressed by the reputation, prestige, trust of the consumers themselves with the brand

• Expectations: Express level of quality that customers expect

• Perceived quality: There are two types:

• Product perception quality (tangible): is an estimate of the consumer's recent product consumption for a product

• Service perceived quality (invisible -Inta) is evaluation of related services such as during and after-sales service, delivery condition and delivery

• So both are made up of important attributes that are crystallized in the product itself

• Perceived value: Theoretical studies show that: Customer satisfaction depends on the perceived value of goods and services According to Philip Kotler & Gary M Armstrong (2006), customer value is the difference between the total value a customer receives and the total cost that a customer pays for a product or service

1.4 Model and research hypothesis

1.4.1 Study models

1.4.1.1 Model selection

As presented in the previous sections, many models have been proposed to assess service quality Many researches on service quality are based on the RATER model and adjusted to suit the actual conditions

Based on the above mentioned theory as well as actual situation, the author decided to choose the research model based on the RATER model as below:

Figure 1 3 The Research Model

1.4.1.2 Explain the suitability of the selected model

The model consists of five independent factors: responsiveness, assurance, empathy, reliability,

and tangible Dependent factor is customer satisfaction In fact, in order to please our customers,

the Sony Service Center must meet the following requirements:

1) When customers bring products to the service center, receptionists quickly receive, not let customers wait long Delivery procedures and repair time must also be fast This is the ability to respond (Responsiveness)

2) Employees must make the customer trust in their skills and abilities of receiving and repairing products The receptionist must understand what the customer presents about the product failure Technicians must repair the products thoroughly, do not let customers come back to correct the second time No fraud as well as replace components inside the product The above issues relate to reliability as the model above

3) Empathy factor is the understanding and sharing with customer by employees Showing concern and empathize with the customer, provide them with entertainment facilities to relieve their discommodity when the product has problem

4) The center must be close to the customer's location and easy to find so they do not spend a lot of time for searching The working time must also be flexible In addition, the center must

be equipped with tools and equipment for employees as well as for customers to relax These are elements of the Tangible

5) Finally, implementation of commitments, policies of the center as declared Good repair for the first time, appointments and repairs completed as scheduled, operating the product under the witness of customers when delivery These are the factors that show assurance of a good repair warranty service

Hence, the components listed in the above RATER model are in line with the actual repair warranty at the Sony Service Center that the author intended to study

In addition, age group and sex factors are also included to determine whether there is a perception of service quality in different age groups, gender or not In this study, the author distinguishes between age group under 30 years or over 30 years Gender discrimination is between men and women

1.4.2 Research hypotheses

Based on the theory presented above, referring to previous researches as well as based on the proposed research model, the author presents the research hypotheses for the service for repairing and warranty of Sony Service Center:

H1: The increase in reliability will increase the harmony of customer's satisfaction

H2: Increase of responsiveness will increase customer satisfaction

H3: Increase of empathy will increase customer satisfaction

H4: Increase of assurance will increase customer satisfaction

H5: Increase of investment in tangible material will increase customer satisfaction

H6: The satisfaction level of repair and warranty service quality among age groups is not different

H7: The satisfaction level with the quality of repair and warranty service between men and women is not different

In other words, the author believes that the factors of reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, and tangible means have a positive effect on customer satisfaction when using repair service, warranty of the Sony Center The assessment of the quality of service does not depend

on age group or sex To verify these hypotheses, the author will conduct quantitative and qualitative research, details will be presented in the following chapters

The author designs discussion outline (Appendix 1) consists of three parts to interview respondents:

1) Introduction: introduce the purpose and meaning of the study

2) The middle part: open- questions to collect as many factors as possible to satisfy the customer when using the service

3) The last part: personal information of interviewees

For the direct discussion of high efficiency, people who are selected by the author, are working

in the field of repair services, the warranty of electronics companies have many years of experience in the industry and customers have just experienced repair, warranty service

The author had chance to meet all the customers and staffs of Sony service center and also the staffs of other service centers such as: Sam Sung, Mobistar,…The Sony show hold 3 days in Ly Thai To street, Hoan Kiem district, Ha Noi The organizer arranged an area for loyal customers and other area for the invitees from electronic companies and service centers So it’s easy for the author to contact customers to interview Most of time for interview is in morning, the number of interviewees was 20 persons

When discussing, the author noted all the new and duplicate comments In fact, when discussing the 11th person, almost all factors were raised Since the 12th one, almost no new elements have been added Before the interview, the author suggested the interviewees to answer follow a script

to make sure the answers go in right way to explore the new factors Here are 25 factors (25 variables) most interested customers when it comes to quality repair services:

1) Attitude of receptionist

2) Waiting time to receive the product

3) Fast delivery procedure

4) Fast repair time

5) Agility of employees

6) The product is perfectly repaired and is not damaged

7) The internal components of the product are not exchanged

8) The good ability and professional of good technician

9) The ability to recognize damaged products quickly

10) Employees sympathize with product damages and customer nuisance when their products is failure

11) Employees share the hard work of customers when they have to spend time visiting the service center

12) Employees provide soft drinks, candy for guests while they wait

13) Employees understand the concerns of customers

14) Customers are thoroughly inquired about the damage of the product

15) The center has newspapers, television, and free internet for customers to use while waiting 16) Center equipped with advanced equipment for customers as well as repair service

17) Employees have neat style, beautiful uniforms

18) Center location is easy to find

19) Time to go to service center is short

20) The opening time of the service center is convenient for customers

21) The service center complies with the warranty as stated in the warranty policy

22) Employees have a notice of the expected time of repairing completion

23) The Center hands over products on time

24) Good repair for the first time

25) Operating the product when deliver, instruct customers to use not to be damaged next time Details on the RATER model include five factors that affect customer satisfaction when using the service specified and apply to the actual situation of repair, warranty at Sony Service Center

as follows:

1) Responsiveness: meet the needs of customers when they come for repair warranty

2) Reliability: believe on profession and ability as well as honest of the center staff

3) Empathy: Employees must understand the psychology, frustration of customers when the product is broken

4) Tangible: The service center is equipped with sufficient facilities to serve customers 5) Assurance: The service center carry out exactly what it promises both in terms of quality and time

Through the qualitative survey and combined with the above research model, the author proposes 25 detailed observation variables and grouped into 5 factors representing the 25 observed variables In addition to measuring customer satisfaction, the author offers three observational variables to ask customers to compare Sony's service with other brands whether Sony's service meets customer expectations and overall customers satisfy on Sony service? These three variables combine into one dependent factor as satisfaction in the model Since then, the author has set up a questionnaire for surveying data for quantitative research

Please refer to Appendix 2 for details of the questionnaire The following table summarizes the factors and observable variables in the questionnaire:

Table 1 1 Factors and Observation Variables

No Factors and Observation Variables

Responsiveness

1 Receptionist welcomes you warmly, cheerfully

2 You do not have to wait long for the turn to be received

3 Fast and easy product delivery producer

4 Time to repair the product quickly

5 You always get help from the staff

Reliability

6 You trust that your product will be repaired well and not damaged again

7 You do not fear the components of your product will be exchanged

8 You fully trust the ability and level of the Sony employees

9 Employees understand about the product and the damages when you describe

Empathy

10 The receptionist is sympathetic and understands your inconvenience

11 Employees share hard when you have to spend time and effort to bring the product

to the service center

12 Sony staff introduce you to soft drinks, candy free

13 Sony staff understand your concern and worry

14 You are thoroughly asked about the damage of the product

Tangible

15 While waiting, you can read the newspaper, watch TV or free internet comfortably

16 The center is equipped with modern equipment and facilities for repairing and serving customers

17 Employees have neat style, beautiful uniforms

18 You can easily find the address of this center

19 You do not have to spend a lot of time to go to the service center

20 The working time of the service center is convenient for you

Assurance

21 Sony is committed what is stated in the warranty policy

22 Sony staff have a clear notice of the expected time of completion

23 The Sony Center delivered the finished product as scheduled

24 The Sony Center repairs your product for the first time

25 The technician will advise you on how to prevent it from getting damaged again

Service satisfaction level

26 Compared to repair services, the warranty of other bands, you are more satisfied with the service of Sony

27 Sony's service for repair, warranty meets your expectations

28 In general, you are satisfied with Sony's repair and warranty service

Measurement uses the 5-level Linkert instrument The larger the number, the higher the degree

of agreement

1.5.1.2 Quantitative research

The author uses the complete questionnaire as Appendix 2 and asks the customers of Sony

Service Center for respond The survey was sent to the customers who came to the Service Center to get their product The author was working in the 2 centers in 2 days to deliver the survey collect data with the support from receptionists According this, incomplete or inaccurate responses to the data, will be rejected The answer sheets that meet the requirement, will be entered in SPSS to conduct a evaluation of the reliability of the observed variables as well as extract the factor, finding the regression equation

1.5.2 Research process

In summary, the research process can be summarized as follows:

Figure 1 4 Research Process

Summary of Chapter 1

In Chapter 1, the author presents theoretical background on service, quality, service quality and service quality scales widely used in the world today The types of deviation in service quality assessment are also raised

The author also mentioned some types of repairs and service centers of current electronics companies in Vietnam to have a realistic view on the way of operation and management of repairs of electronic companies For Sony, the type of service center is focused and established

in all major cities in the country with the desire to bring satisfaction to customers higher The author also presented the concept of customer satisfaction, the reasons for customer satisfaction and some satisfaction models of the US and Europe

The RATER scale with five independent factors is a standard scale and is widely used in evaluating service quality or customer satisfaction Previous research as well as recent quality

of service use this scale

From the theoretical background of repair service, warranty, customer satisfaction, previous similar field research and actual situation at the Sony Service Center, the author has proposed a model of research as well as detailed methodology The research model based on the Parasuraman's RATER model with five independent components is Reliability, Responsiveness, Tangible, and Impact Assurance on a Dependent Component as Satisfaction of customers Two age group and gender factors were also included in the model to study their impact The author also presented the research process with specific steps Detailed results of quantitative and qualitative research will be presented in the next chapter

CHAPTER 2: ANALYSES CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR REPAIR SERVICE,

WARRANTY OF SONY SERVICE CENTER

2.1 Introduction of Sony Vietnam service center

2.1.1 Company profile and repair, warranty service

2.1.1.1 Overview of Sony Corporation

Sony is one of the Japanese multinational corporations with "coverage" lines around the world Sony, a Japanese multinational corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, is the world's fifth-largest electronics company with 81.64 billion USD (2011)

The company was founded in Tokyo in May 1946 at Tokyo Nihonbashi, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K with an initial capital of 190,000 yen

The company changed its name to Sony in January 1958 The founders of Sony were Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita

Sony's Category of over 5,000 products includes DVD players, cameras, personal computers, TVs, stereos, semiconductor devices, and they are set up as branded categories

2.1.1.2 Vietnam Sony Company

Well-known for its quality and uniqueness of the products that is style always associated with the Sony brand - a consistent representation of "Made in Japan" products that are trusted and believed by Vietnamese consumers

Since its entry into the Vietnamese market in 1994, Sony has been a trusted brand and the first choice for Vietnamese consumers who want to be equipped with imaging technology , audio, information technology and digital Sony's success in the Vietnamese market is due to its strong and impressive personal identity, combining top-class product quality with unique design and style and build a brand-creation-respect for indigenous culture

Criteria of Sony Electronics Vietnam is always pioneering to provide customers with the most advanced technology products, high quality and class contributing to make the life of the Vietnamese people richer and more diverse Major Sony products in Vietnam include BRAVIA

TVs, XPERIA mobile phone, Cyber-shot digital cameras, Alpha professional camcorders, Handycam camcorders, Action Cam camcorders, Walkman music players, headsets, PlayStation game consoles, home theater systems, Blu-ray Disc players and DVD players, projectors,… and specialized equipment such as film production equipment and television programs, videoconferencing systems, printers used in the medical field, dedicated monitors

2.1.1.3 Service and Repair Department of Sony Vietnam

Realizing the importance of repair service, Sony has invested significant for this activity since the early days of establishment Currently, the company has its own authorized and authorized service centers nationwide Except for holidays and Sundays, the centers operate from 8 am to

5:30 pm The free hotline number 1800588885 is where customers can easily register their repair

requests CIC (customer information center) has more than 30 operators, equipped with modern online control and work systems The operator makes (outbound) calls to customers to survey about the quality of the service or to receive (inbound) calls to advice, respond to or forward the repair case of the customers to service center across the country

Considered as one of the companies with repair services, good warranty, Sony customer care is perfecting themselves and strive to meet the increasing demands from their customers

2.2 Quantitative analysis of the quality of repair and warranty service provided by Sony Vietnam

In this chapter, the author will quantitatively analyze the results of the survey This quantitative analysis will be supported by SPSS statistical software

2.2.1 Results of survey data collection

The official questionnaire as described in chapter 1 is designed in addition to the 28 variables mentioned above There are two variables that collect information about age and sex So there are 28 quantitative variables, 2 qualitative variables

In fact, from the 260 questionnaires were issued, the author collected and examined 236 questionnaires completed and validated The sample size used for this study was N = 236 that met all of the above criteria

The questionnaire was distributed to customers who brought damaged products to repair at service center at 361 Nguyen Trai Street, Thanh Xuan District and 247 Le Duan Street, Hai Ba

Trung District Some clients refused to respond because they did not have time or were suspicious, although the author stated the purpose of the survey Some customers did not fill out the survey results These tables are excluded

Here are the statistics on the survey:

1) Satisfactory:

- The number of sheet surveys issued: 260 Nos

- Number of sheet meet demand: 236 Nos

- Meet demand rate: 236/260 = 90.77%

2) Detailed statistics on gender characteristics and age:

Table 2 1 Statistics on sex characteristics and age of survey data

(Source: statistical survey data)

Statistics show that sex ratios are relatively equal among men and women Age differences are small Customers over 30 years of age bring more products to the service center than the rest However, this difference is not large

2.2.2 Rating scale with Cronbach's Alpha reliability

The reliability of the scale here refers to the fact that the scale has no systematic deviation and random deviation A reliable scale demonstrates how it evaluates and accurately measures the nature of the object being measured The reliability of the scale was assessed through the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and the coefficient of correlation The Cronbach's Alpha is a

statistical test of the degree to which the items in the scale are interrelated, it tells us whether a scale is a good measure of any side or not

Scale of service quality, repair and maintenance of Sony Center is built on the basis of the multidirectional RATER scale with five independent components including 25 observation variables and a dependent component of 3 observation variables Therefore, the scale test will be conducted by evaluating the reliability of each component of the above 28 variables

The above method eliminates inappropriate variables and limits garbage variables in the research process Variables whose total variance is less than 0.3 will be rejected The scale has a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 0.6 or higher and is applicable to new research conducted in the first place If you remove any variable in each component of the scale, making your Cronbach's Alpha coefficient larger than the initial Cronbach's Alpha, is considered rubbish variables and eliminated

This study was first applied to repair and maintenance services of Sony Center Therefore, the author selected Cronbach's Alpha standard of ≥ 0.6 and adjusted correlation coefficient ≥ 0.3 In addition, if the reliability of the scale increases when a variable is dropped, the variable will be rejected

The following table summarizes the reliability of the scale Please refer to Appendix 4 for details

on this analysis

Table 2 2 Reliability of initial scales

Name of the

scale

Observation variables

Reliability Cronbach Alpha

Correlation coefficient of the least variable sum

Maximum reliability when dropping a variable

(Source: Appendix 4, Cronbach's Alpha Test Results)

For the Service Satisfaction level Scale, the Cronbach's coefficient is less than 0.6 but it is close

to 0.6 and considering the rest of it satisfactory, the author decides to accept this scale The remaining scales meet requirements

In summary, after the reliability check, with the initial 28 variables, all variables were satisfactory Next, we will take independent variables to analyze the exploratory factor to determine the factors that affect customer satisfaction

2.2.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

2.2.3.1 Theory

EFA Discovery Factor Analysis is a method used to evaluate convergence and differentiation, reducing an observation variable to a smaller number of variables KMO (Kaiser - Meyer - Olkin) values are used to determine the suitability of factor analysis KMO values must be between 0.5 and 1, so this analysis is appropriate