Retail banking service quality measurement: SERVQUAL gap analysis

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to present empirical findings on the quality of service offered by retail banks in South Africa. The SERVQUAL model that measure service quality based on customers' perceptions and expectations that are analysed using gap analysis. The gap analysis findings based on 184 retail banking customers shows that there is need for improvement across all five dimensions of service quality. Further inferential statistical analyses revealed that the mean gap differences among different demographic groups are statistically insignificant. These results show that to improve on service quality and reduce the negative gaps, financial institutions need to improve the overall quality of service without focusing on specific demographic groups of customers. Three of the five dimensions reliability, responsiveness, and empathy, have higher gaps compared to tangibles and assurance.