Value-in-use and service quality: do customers see a difference?

Gustav Medberg · Christian Grönroos

92 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Service Theory and Practice

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Customer Service Quality and Loyalty Consumer Behavior and Marketing Influence Service and Product Innovation

Abstract

Purpose The definition of value adopted by the current service perspective on marketing theory is value as value-in-use. Surprisingly, however, little attention has been given to the question of what constitutes value-in-use for customers in service contexts? Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide an empirical account of value-in-use from service customers' point of view. Design/methodology/approach To capture and analyze customers' experiences of value-in-use in the typical service context of retail banking, this study employed a narrative-based critical incident technique (CIT) and a graphical tool called the value chart. Findings The study identified seven empirical dimensions of positive and negative value-in-use: solution, attitude, convenience, expertise, speed of service, flexibility and monetary costs. Interestingly, these value-in-use dimensions overlap considerably with previously identified dimensions of service quality. Research limitations/implications The concepts of service quality and value-in-use in service contexts seem to represent the same empirical phenomenon despite their different theoretical traditions. Measuring customer-perceived service quality might therefore be a good proxy for assessing value-in-use in service contexts. Practical implications As the findings indicate that service quality is the way in which service customers experience value-in-use, service managers are recommended to focus on continuous quality management to facilitate the creation of value-in-use. Originality/value This study is the first to explicitly raise the notion that in the minds of service customers, value defined as value-in-use and service quality may represent the same empirical phenomenon.

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References

1985A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research 1988SERVQUAL: A multiple-Item Scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality 1988Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence 2003Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing 1980A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions 1992Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension 2007Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution 1984A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications

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