Title: Measuring supermarket service quality: proposal for a scale

Authors: Eduardo Torres-Moraga, Luis Jara-Sarrua, Jose M. Moneva

Addresses: Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, University of Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 257, Santiago, Chile. ' Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, University of Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 257, Santiago, Chile. ' Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Zaragoza, Gran Via 2, Zaragoza, Spain

Abstract: The success of the retail industry and especially that of supermarkets is largely determined by the services they offer. Even though service quality scales have been developed in different sectors, because of the unique characteristics of supermarkets, it seems convenient to create a specific scale for them. The results of this study indicate that supermarket service quality is a multidimensional construct (made up of reliability, personal attention, assurance, hygiene, tangibility and accessibility) that is different from the standard constructs previously proposed. These results provide an important tool which enables the assessment and management of supermarket service quality.

Keywords: service quality; supermarkets; customer satisfaction; structural equations; standards; retail industry; services; eliability; personal attention; assurance; hygiene; tangibility; accessibility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2008.016086

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2008 Vol.4 No.1, pp.81 - 96

Published online: 05 Dec 2007 *

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