The research is based on the discussion of Customer Satisfaction and its importance to the management of a company. The research will highlight the importance of customer satisfaction and the extensive impact it can have on the success of the company in the market. Apart from the success of the company in the market, customer satisfaction has also a great role in the build up to a strong competitive advantage. The research has find out the main problems that leads to the failure of Surf Shack and IT Solutions in achieving customer satisfaction. The main challenge for the business organization is to move away from being product oriented and concentrate on the customer orientation.
The fact that customers are becoming too much sophisticated, educated and well informed has further increased the demand for ensuring the best possible consumer satisfaction. Total care of the consumers can only be achieved if the management considers the demands of both the internal as well as the external customers of the organization (Zhang & Wei, 2018). Therefore it is important for the management of the company to deliver the promises of the company according to schedule to ensure top quality service and satisfaction. The research highlights the important elements and necessary information that determines the importance of customer satisfaction in the business organization.
1.1 Overview of the Company
Surf Shack and IT Solutions Limited is a privately managed Company which was established in New Zealand in the year 2016 under a legal registration number. The company is directed by Gagandeep Kumar, the managing director of the company. The organization currently operates from Wallace Road in Auckland which was the place of its birth or establishment (business.govt.nz, 2018). The company provides Computer Maintenance services to its different clients and deals in different kinds of computer hardware and peripherals.
The main business of the organization is to supply its clients with Computer hardware. The company is nowadays operated by Sahil Bedi along with two other staff members who work for the company (business.govt.nz, 2018). The main task of the organization is to provide its clients a better service and maintain quality through each of the service. Increase in the service quality will help the organization to attract the customers and ensure profitability in the business. However, the absence of thorough professionalism and lack of proper and effective innovation has led to the decline of the customer pool in the business organization.
2.1 Links to the Gap
The research has been carried out to identify the problems within the organization and investigate the impacts of the customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction and service quality are considered to be the variables and the impact of the customer satisfaction has been broadly discussed in the review by linking them in an organized manner. The gaps between the relationships between the two have been identified and addressed accordingly.
2.2 Customer Satisfaction
Large-scale competition in the globalized market has become increasingly intense and different types of the business organizations now realize that they cannot compete with each other solely on price, but also need to focus on their valued customers (Zhang & Wei, 2018). According to, Sniukas, Lee & Morasky (2016) customer Satisfaction is one of the major elements of the business and the absence of an efficient customer satisfaction can threaten the sustainability of the organization. The modern, competitive, fast paced global economy demands the management of a company to consider the customers more than ever. It is the duty of the management of the organization to manage the business in a proper and efficient manner.
According to, (Saeidi et al. 2017) managing the business in a proper and efficient manner in the modern world requires the management to identify and meet the demands of the customers. As mentioned in the introductory part, the organizations have to deliver all the promises that are given to the customers by them. It is important to deliver all the promises as because proper delivery of all the promises will help the organization to outclass its rivals in the market and attract the largest number of customers. Customer satisfaction in an organization can also be achieved by means of competitive pricing, employee courtesy and behavior, great value, service quality and many other such similar elements. Customer care is thus said to be the most important and critical part of the business.
Customer Satisfaction is believed to be an important part of the business as because it directly contributes to the success of the business organization. According to different marketing experts like Kumar (2016) loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase in the organization. Whereas the management of some of the global organizations believe that it is much more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep a loyal customer under the umbrella of the organization.
Therefore the organization generally does all the necessary things to ensure business success for the organization. The organizations in the modern world also need to ensure the presence of a healthy financial strength to attract new customers and satisfy them according to their demands (Sniukas, Lee & Morasky, 2016). Therefore Customer Satisfaction achievement helps to ensure that the organization stands at a unique level than the others in the competition.
2.3 Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in the Business
As discussed earlier, Sniukas, Lee & Morasky (2016) in his research on customer satisfaction has said that Customer Satisfaction in today’s fast pace world has turned out to be the new trend. The knowledge scope of the customers has seen a large scale rise and people are now more concerned and aware of the different developments around them. This has forced the management of the different organizations to ensure that they take the proper steps to satisfy their clients. The consumers have the tendency to switch over from one brand to the other if they feel that a particular organization has been failing to meet up their demands.
In the following research the service quality and the customer satisfaction has been taken as an independent and dependent variable respectively. The quality of service provided to the customers is generally termed as an important part of the success of the business (Gaur, Sharma, Herjanto& Kingshott, 2017). The satisfaction of the customers thus mostly depends on the quality of the products offered by the business organization. A good quality product will thus ensure much better response from the business and can also help the organization to retain loyal customers of the business.
On the other hand the dependent variable in this particular case is customer satisfaction. It is important for the service providers to achieve high level of customer satisfaction by meeting all the demands of the consumers. According to, Elbeltagi & Agag (2016) a high level of customer satisfaction will ensure the improvement in the financial performance of the business and increase profitability. Customers of a business generally don’t buy products and services but they buy experiences through their buying of these services. Therefore it is important for the management of the business to ensure that the organization provides the best experience to the customers so that they feel the urge to visit them every time.
Most of the companies, be it small or large in organizational size, have a clear understanding of the customer satisfaction and thus have the belief that a strong relationship with the customer is pivotal to the success of the company (Ruben, Paparoidamis & Chung, 2015). The management must make it a point to treat the customers as the first and foremost priority of the business. Thus the above results clearly show the importance of customer satisfaction and the impact that customer satisfaction has on the business of the company.
2.4 Research Problems
The main problems in Surf Shack and IT Solutions Limited have been the sudden decline of customer satisfaction. The decline in customer satisfaction has become an issue for the last few months. This sudden decline has led to the loss in number of sales and as a result the loss of profitability of the organization. The current problem thus threatens the sustainability of the business. Therefore the management of the organization needs to identify the problems and address them accordingly to avoid the current situation. Therefore to be more specific the research problem is to investigate the relationship between quality and its effect on the satisfaction of the customers. The decline in the service quality of the products and the services of the organization has been cited to be the main reason for the sudden change in the number of people visiting the organization.
2.5 Research Purpose
The main purposes of the research are as follows;
The findings of the particular study will help the organization improve the quality of service provided by them and will lead to the adaption of a number of different frameworks that can change the dimension of the service and make “Surf Shack” one of the leading IT Solution companies of Auckland.
2.6 Theoretical Framework
As mentioned in the proposal the theoretical Framework has been proposed from the study adopted by Besley (2015). The main reason behind the adaption of the following framework has been because of the dimensions of service quality and its impact on the satisfaction of the customers which is quite relevant to the following research. The use of the SERVQUAL Model can be seen in the following research. This is because it involves the research to find out the different dimensions on the impact of customer satisfaction.
2.7 Research Hypothesis
The research hypothesis has been generated on the basis of the theoretical framework that has been provided in the review and the explanation of the following research.
H1-Tangibility has a positive impact on customer satisfaction
H2-Reliability has a positive impact on customer satisfaction
H3-Responsiveness has a positive impact on customer satisfaction
H4-Assurance has a positive impact on customer satisfaction
H5-Empathy has a positive impact on customer satisfaction
3.0 Methodology, Methods and Research Design
The methodology chapter of the research deals with the different kind of the methods that the researcher has generally implemented to complete the following project. The main objective of the research is to determine the customer satisfaction of the organization and its importance to the success of the organization in the market. It is important for the organization to take different kinds of step that helps to develop a healthy customer relationship along with a healthy customer satisfaction within the organization (Mackey & Gass, 2015).
The methodology chapter provides all the different methods and processes that are applied and implemented by the formulator of the research to complete the analysis of the report. The elements of the research methodology like the research design, research approach have been provided in this particular research. Along with the explanation of each of the approaches and the designs used in the completion of the research, the justification for the selection of the different elements used in the research have added extra value and has made the research more compact in nature (Mackey & Gass, 2015).
3.1 Research Approach
The choice of the research method is one of the basic considerations to ensure a scientific approach for the research. The researchers often choose between the qualitative and the quantitative research methods that help in the development of the content of the research. The research that is based on different kinds of information and its analysis in a theoretical form is said to be qualitative in nature (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). On the other hand, the research that is done by the use of the different statistics and results based on mathematical calculations can be described as quantitative research. The use of both quantitative as well as qualitative research can be seen in some cases.
3.2 Justification for the selection of the Research Approach
The following research has taken the example of the Quantitative research. The quantitative research will be carried on by analyzing the data that has been collected from 43 different respondents who participated in the research survey and provided their responses to the different questions based on a number of variables like Reliability, Tangibility, Empathy, Assurance, Responsiveness and Customer Satisfaction. The main reason behind the selection of the quantitative research approach is that the customer satisfaction depends on a number of different variables and thus a quantitative analysis can determine the level of the satisfaction accordingly. Therefore the selection fo quantitative research approach in the following case is totally justified.
3.3 Research Philosophy
As seen by, Lewis (2015) there are three most widely used research philosophies that are practiced by the researchers. This includes the likes of the positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism research philosophy. The validation of a truth that is being studied by the research can only be identified by the selection of the positivism research philosophy. The use of the positivism philosophy generally limits the formulator of the particular research from the collection as well as the interpretation of the data that is either directly or indirectly related to the research topic. Scientific testing is the only way possible to derive the philosophy of positivism.
The pragmatism research philosophy is the combination of both positivism and interpretivism philosophy. Therefore, pragmatism philosophy includes scientific testing analysis of the research topic along with considering various perspectives related to the research topic. The interpretivism philosophy helps the research to consider the perceptions of the respondents who have been selected to undergo the survey based on the following research topic. As a result, the researcher is able to consider the meaningful observations and emphasis on studying the human nature rather than the scientific method. Therefore, considering various perspectives and opinions enables the researcher to develop a broad concept and idea of the research topic from the past and present information.
3.4 Justification for the Selection of Positivism philosophy
In the case of this particular research, the positivism research philosophy has been chosen. The choice of the positivism research philosophy has been done mainly because it helps the researcher to use the factual knowledge and test the formulated hypothesis of the research and also get proper answers to the different kinds of the research questions. Apart from this the use of the positivism philosophy also allows the data to be used in a scientific manner.
The use of the scientific methods in the research helps to analyze the collected data more scientifically. The use of the statistical approaches in the research is useful to prove the reliability and the validity of the data as well as prove the trustworthiness of the research. On the other hand the use of the Interpretivism research philosophy has been avoided by the researcher as because it could have restricted the research to get the most updated and latest data related to the customer satisfaction in Woolworths and the reasons behind the decline of the same.
3.5 Research Approach
Two of the research approach that are used by the researchers are used by the researchers are namely inductive and deductive research approach. The deductive research approach enables the researcher to formulate a hypothesis that is based on the previously existing theories and concepts. The use of the deductive research approach is thus useful as because it provides validity to the research. The use of previously used research theories and concepts ensures the validity of the research accordingly (Lewis, 2015).
This provides an opportunity for the researcher to consult and gather information from existing literatures and concepts. In the case of deductive approach, the researcher is also able to make observations based on the previously existing literatures, concepts and theories. On the other hand, the Inductive Approach is based on the formulation of new theories and models that are based on the observations during the conduction of the research. In the case of inductive approach, the researcher has to develop new concepts and theories based on the observations (Flick, 2015). As a result, the emphasis of the researcher shifts from research questions to observations as well as from description to analysis.
3.6 Justification for the Selection of Deductive Approach
The following research has used the deductive approach in order to complete the research. The use of the deductive approach for the particular research is totally justified. The first reason is that the deductive approach goes well with the positivism philosophy which has been used in the following research and the other reason is the ease of testing the hypothesis of the research. Apart from this it also helps the general data to turn into scientific data. The use of the deductive data also helps to save time and increase the reliability of the research as because there will be no need to formulate new data in this particular case.
3.7 Design of the Research
Explanatory, Exploratory and Descriptive Research Designs are the three research Designs used for the research. An explanatory research design is generally defined as the research design that provides the opportunity for the researcher to explain the reasons for the particular phenomena of the research (Flick, 2015). An explanatory research design is defined by Choy (2014) as the research design that provides an opportunity for the researcher for explaining the reasons for the particular phenomenon. Moreover, explanatory design helps in predicting any future occurrences of the phenomenon in terms of the research topic.
In the case of exploratory research design, the researcher is able to test the formulated hypothesis, research objectives and questions. Moreover, this research design also enables the researcher to clarify the various topics and concepts in terms of the research topic. On the other hand, the descriptive research design is a combination of both exploratory and explanatory research design. As commented by Choy (2014), descriptive research design emphasizes on describing the characteristics of a population through the collection of data. Due to the dual characteristics of descriptive research design, it is the most widely used research design by the researchers while conducting a research.
3.8 Justification for the Selection of the Descriptive Design
The particular research design has used the descriptive research design. The main reason for using the descriptive research design is to provide an opportunity to clarify the formulated hypothesis and the topic of the research. A deep understanding about the cause and effect of the research rationale and the prediction of the future occurrences of the specific research rationale is developed through the use of the descriptive research design. The clarification and prediction of the future occurrences were not possible through the use of the other two research designs. Therefore the use of the descriptive research design in this particular case is quite justified as because the research has been able to test the formulated hypotheses that are linked with the customer satisfaction in the organizations.
3.9 Research Strategy
There are different research strategies like case study, action research, survey and interview. Any of the four strategies or a mix up of the strategies is generally used for the completion of the researches. The case study research highlights the study of the real life factors that are evaluated with the study of the individual behaviors related to a particular topic. Both interview and survey helps in collection raw data in terms of the research topic (Dang & Pheng, 2015). The interview process involves the collection of data from the managers or supervisors of the company regarding the topic of the research. On the other hand, the survey research refers to, the when, where, who and the how of the research topic. The survey generally provides a clear and statistical data based on the topic of the research. The survey and interview methods can be said to be two of the most common research strategies that are used by the majority of the researchers.
3.10 Justification for Selecting the Survey Strategy
As said earlier, the survey research strategy is the best method that can be used to bring forth the results of the following research. The main benefit of the survey research strategy in this particular case is that it helps to allow the researcher the necessary opportunity to gather and collect informative data based on the perspectives of customer satisfaction in Woolworths. The survey allowed the collection of live data from the customers of the concerned organization, which is one of the most important criterions of the following research.
3.11 Sampling Technique and Size of the Sample
The selection of the proper sampling technique is utmost necessary in order to conduct the survey or the interview. The most widely used sampling technique while the conduction of the research is probability and the non-probability sampling technique. The samples of the survey are collected from a number of 43 different individuals. The 43 different people have been selected from the customers of Surf Shack IT solutions Limited.
3.12 Data Collection Technique
Primary and Secondary Data collection technique has been research techniques are two of the most common data collection techniques. The secondary data collection techniques include the likes of collecting information from earlier researches, books, journals and many more as such. Apart from this the primary data collection techniques will include the likes of collection of data from live research participants (Wiek & Lang, 2016).
3.13 Justification for Selecting the Data Collection Technique
The use of both the primary as well as the secondary research has been crucial for the success of the research. The literature review was conducted using the secondary data collection technique while the primary research was conducted by the analysis of the responses of 43 different individuals who participated in the research, using the SPSS method.
3.14 Data Analysis and Selection of SPSS technique
The data collected from the primary sources were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The data was analyzed by using data in a cross tabular form. The data has been summarized through descriptive statistics that includes percentages and frequencies. Pie charts, graphs and tables have also been used appropriately to present the collected data for ease of understanding and comparison.
3. 15 Ethical Considerations
Ethics is one of the most important concerns of the research. The need to follow the different types of ethical considerations is a must for the organization. The first and foremost ethics that must be followed and implemented in the research is secrecy and confidentiality. secrecy is one of the major concerns of the research and therefore the identity and the responses of the 43 different participants of the particular research must be kept confidential. Apart from this honesty and integrity must also be maintained while doing the research and no internal or external pressure must be created over the participants to ensure a fair response. Lastly the data must be collected with the consent of the participants and the research mist not be used for any kind of commercial purpose without proper permission.
4.0 Data Analysis
The following chapter provides a clear and transparent view of the collected data that has been used for the survey and has also provided the analysis of the data. The first thing that has been provided in the following chapter is the introduction of the different features of the sample. The chapter will be followed by the frequency analysis of the samples and then the reliability and regression analysis. The mean scores of the variables will be analyzed by the proper use of the independent sample T-Test. The data analysis chapter ends with the discussion of the different findings or the result that will be highlighted after the analysis of the data through the conduction of these different tests.
4.1 Socio Demographic Analysis of the Respondents
The collection of a socio demographic analysis of the respondents is quite important. Among the 43 participants of the survey around 46.5 % comprised male population. On the other hand, the female population in this case was more than the males and stood at 53.5%. Among the respondents of the survey 14.0% were seen to have received High School graduation, while 9.3% and 76.7% received Masters Degree and Bachelors Degree respectively. This showed that most of the population surveyed was well educated. Another important socio-demographic consideration in this particular regards were the occupation of the respondents.
A whooping percentage of 32.6% of the sample were students, whereas there were also a small percentage of self employed persons, retired persons and businessmen. However, the majority of the respondents belonged to other occupations, 51.2%. From the demographic profile, it is found that majority of the respondents were in the age group of 18 to 40 as 86.0%. 4.7% of the population was above the age of 60 years.
4.2 Reliability Analysis
Cronbach Alpha is one of the most commonly used test that is used to test the internal consistency of the different variables. Therefore the value of the Cronbach’s Alpha in the following research helps to identify on whether the data obtained for analysis is reliable or not. The statistical analysis of the data as highlighted in the above table shows that the value of Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.806. Alpha value when said to be equal to or more than 0.7 then the factors are said to be reliable and be internally consistent. Therefore the factors in the following research can be said to be highly reliable in nature.
Table 2: Reliability Analysis
|
Variables |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Cronbach Alpha |
No. of Items |
|
Tangibility |
3.7791 |
0.56223 |
0.73 |
4 |
|
Reliability |
3.7628 |
0.65503 |
0.80 |
5 |
|
Responsiveness |
4.0233 |
0.54138 |
0.68 |
3 |
|
Assurance |
4.2151 |
0.45507 |
0.70 |
4 |
|
Empathy |
3.936 |
0.64571 |
0.78 |
4 |
|
Customer Satisfaction |
4.1488 |
0.59216 |
0.81 |
5 |
Source: (As created by the Author)
From the above table it is found that the response on customer satisfaction has the highest reliability, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.81. Moreover, the mean of customer satisfaction is 4.1488. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents strongly agreed with Customer satisfaction at Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited. Further, it is found that the standard deviation of Customer satisfaction is 0.59. Thus, it can be inferred that the response for customer satisfaction ranged from agree to strongly agree.
The Cronbach’s alpha for Reliability is 0.80. Thus the response to the dimension of Reliability is reliable. Moreover, it is found that the mean of Reliability 3.76. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents agreed with Reliability of Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited. Further, it is found that the standard deviation of Reliability is 0.66. Thus, it can be inferred that the response for reliability ranged from agree to strongly agree.
The Cronbach’s alpha for Empathy is 0.78. Thus the response to the dimension of Empathy is reliable. Moreover, it is found that the mean of Empathy is 3.96. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents strongly agreed with Empathy at Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited.
The Cronbach’s alpha for Tangibility is 0.73. Thus the response to the dimension of Tangibility is reliable. Moreover, it is found that the mean of Reliability 3.7791. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents agreed with Reliability of Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited. Further, it is found that the standard deviation of Tangibility is 0.56. Thus, it can be inferred that the response for tangibility ranged from agree to strongly agree.
The Cronbach’s alpha for Assurance is 0.70. Thus the response to the dimension of assurance is reliable. Moreover, it is found that the mean of assurance 4.21. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents strongly agreed with assurance of Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited. Further, it is found that the standard deviation of assurance is 0.455. Thus, it can be inferred that the response for reliability ranged from strongly agree to agree.
The Cronbach’s alpha for responsiveness is 0.68. Thus the response to the dimension of responsiveness is reliable. Moreover, it is found that the mean of Responsiveness 4.02. Hence, it can be interpreted that most of the respondents agreed with Reliability of Surf Shacks & IT Solutions Limited. Further, it is found that the standard deviation of Responsiveness is 0.54. Thus, it can be inferred that the response for reliability ranged from agree to strongly agree.
4.3 Correlation
Table 3: Correlation Analysis
|
Correlations |
|||||||
|
Tangibility |
Reliability |
Responsiveness |
Assurance |
Empathy |
Customer Satisfaction |
||
|
Tangibility |
Pearson Correlation |
1 |
|||||
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
|||||||
|
N |
43 |
||||||
|
Reliability |
Pearson Correlation |
.491** |
1 |
||||
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.001 |
||||||
|
N |
43 |
43 |
|||||
|
Responsiveness |
Pearson Correlation |
.421** |
.665** |
1 |
|||
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.005 |
.000 |
|||||
|
N |
43 |
43 |
43 |
||||
|
Assurance |
Pearson Correlation |
.324* |
.555** |
.648** |
1 |
||
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.034 |
.000 |
.000 |
||||
|
N |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
|||
|
Empathy |
Pearson Correlation |
.427** |
.532** |
.436** |
.504** |
1 |
|
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.004 |
.000 |
.003 |
.001 |
|||
|
N |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
||
|
Customer Satisfaction |
Pearson Correlation |
.602** |
.516** |
.534** |
.550** |
.623** |
1 |
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
||
|
N |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
|
|
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). |
|||||||
|
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). |
Source: (As created by the Author)
From the correlation table it is found that all the dimensions of service quality are positively correlated with customer satisfaction at 99% level of significance. Empathy was found to be moderately correlated with the customer satisfaction (r = 0.623). Similarly, Tangibility was found to be moderately correlated with the customer satisfaction (r = 0.602). The correlations between Assurance, Responsiveness and Reliability with customer satisfaction is found to be moderate, r = 0.550, 0.534 and 0.516 respectively.
4.4 Regression Analysis
Table 4: Model Summary
|
Model Summary |
||||
|
Model |
R |
R Square |
Adjusted R Square |
Std. Error of the Estimate |
|
1 |
.764a |
.584 |
.528 |
.40699 |
|
a. Predictors: (Constant), Empathy, tangibility, Responsiveness, Assurance, Reliability |
Table 5: ANOVA
|
ANOVAa |
||||||
|
Model |
Sum of Squares |
Df |
Mean Square |
F |
Sig. |
|
|
1 |
Regression |
8.599 |
5 |
1.720 |
10.382 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
6.129 |
37 |
.166 |
|||
|
Total |
14.727 |
42 |
||||
|
a. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction |
||||||
|
b. Predictors: (Constant), Empathy, tangibility, Responsiveness, Assurance, Reliability |
Table 6: Coefficients
|
Coefficientsa |
||||||
|
Model |
Unstandardized Coefficients |
Standardized Coefficients |
t |
Sig. |
||
|
B |
Std. Error |
Beta |
||||
|
1 |
(Constant) |
-.032 |
.644 |
-.050 |
.960 |
|
|
Tangibility |
.376 |
.133 |
.357 |
2.830 |
.007 |
|
|
Reliability |
-.032 |
.142 |
-.035 |
-.222 |
.825 |
|
|
Responsiveness |
.144 |
.175 |
.132 |
.822 |
.416 |
|
|
Assurance |
.263 |
.193 |
.202 |
1.363 |
.181 |
|
|
Empathy |
.303 |
.123 |
.330 |
2.459 |
.019 |
|
|
a. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction |
From the model summary table we find that the value of R-square is 0.584. From the values of R-square it can be inferred that 58.4% of customer satisfaction can be predicted from Empathy, tangibility, Responsiveness, Assurance, Reliability.
Further, from the ANOVA table it is found that F(5,37) = 10.382, sig = 0.000. Thus at 95% level of significance, the independent variables can significantly predict customer satisfactions.
From the coefficients table it is found that Tangibility and Empathy have a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. Moreover, Tangibility has the highest impact on customer satisfaction (b = 0.376, sig = 0.007). Tangibility is closely followed by Empathy in influencing customer satisfaction, (b = 0.303, sig = 0.019). Reliability, Responsiveness and Assurance do not have a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. In addition, Reliability has a negative impact on customer satisfaction, (b = -0.032, sig = 0.825). Thus, with increase in reliability customer satisfaction sees a decrease.
Responsiveness has a small statistically non-significant positive impact on customer satisfaction, (b = 0.144, sig = 0.416). Similarly, Assurance has a small statistically non-significant positive impact on customer satisfaction, (b = 0.263, sig = 0.181).
Tangibility and Empathy are the only ones that accept the hypothesis. On the other hand all the others namely reliability, responsiveness and assurance clearly rejects the hypothesis. Therefore apart from Hypothesis 1 and 5 all the other hypothesis gets rejected.
5.0 Findings, Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Findings and Discussion
The theoretical framework has clearly identified five different hypotheses that emphasize to have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. The different such variables includes reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, empathy and lastly assurance. The respondents were mostly female and consisted of around 54% in number whereas the rest 46% belonged to the male gender.
Considering the education, most of the respondents were educated as most of them were seen to be having a bachelor’s degree. After the collection of the responses it was found that all of the participants more or less agreed to each and every question. The reliability test conducted in the research had proved the data to be highly reliable as because the value of the Cronbach Alpha for customer satisfaction was 0.81 which was seen to be more than 0.7. This clearly revealed that the respondents strongly agreed to each and every of the questions and thus it also proves the reliability of the data.
The analysis of Tangibility clearly shows that the increase in the use of the tangibility of a product also results in the increase in the customer satisfaction which by the calculation stands at approximately 0.73. Reliability also has a similar level of significance and again it is seen that a unit increase in the reliability leads to the increase of customer satisfaction by 0.80. Similarly the assurance and responsiveness variables also display a rise in customer satisfaction of 0.70 and 0.68 respectively with a unit increase of each of the variables. Lastly empathy also gives a similar result and shows a rise of 0.78 with a unit rise in the variable.
The correlation table on the other hand shows that there is 99% level of significance between all the different dimensions of service quality and are positively correlated amongst each other. On the other hand the ANOVA table represents a 95% level of significance in between the dimensions, thus assuring the power of high level of predicting the customer satisfaction. However both responsiveness and Assurance shows a non statistical small amount of positive impact and significance on customer satisfaction. Compared to the study of (Minh et al. 2015) the following study states the positive impact on customer satisfaction except that of responsive and assurance.
The research of (Minh et al. 2015) has stated that the continuous increase in each of the five different models will lead to the increase in customer satisfaction. As mentioned in the data analysis part of the study, Hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 5 are accepted. Thus it can be said that the results of the study have indicated that Tangibility and Empathy have a significant impact on customer satisfaction of Surf Shacks &IT Solutions Limited. On the other hand the results indicate that the other three hypotheses clearly get rejected.
The research results clearly demonstrate that service quality is a strong driver to the satisfaction of the customers. The study is quite similar to the study of (Minh et al. 2015) where customer satisfaction of a Vietnamese hotel has been studied based on a number of different variables. Similar to the following study, the research conducted here over “Surf Shack It Solutions Private Limited” of New Zealand has considered 5 different quality dimensions. However, the data analysis using the SERVQUAL Model revealed that tangibility and empathy are the only two variables that have a positive impact on customer satisfaction while the other three have a negative impact.
The findings are highlighted by the study of Hassan & Basit (2015) which shows the impact of service quality dimensions on the tourism industry of Maldives. The role of responsiveness, tangibility and reliability are found to have a positive impact whereas assurance and empathy are found to have a negative impact. The following studies thus clearly identifies and marks the importance of the dimensions of service quality on Customer Satisfaction.
5.2 Recommendations
The research is very limited as because it examines the service quality and the customer satisfaction of the business. The main aim of the business is to get the idea of the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction. The study of the five different variables and examining their impact with quantitative measures has revealed their importance in a business set up. Thus the main recommendation in the following regard is to ensure that the company manages to satisfy the customers accordingly according to their demands and ensure sustainability in the New Zealand market.
Empathy and Tangibility thus scores positive and are found to be having a positive impact on the satisfaction of the customers in the business. The results thus show that it will be beneficial for the organization to be more realistic and presentable to the customers rather than being too much practical. Apart from this it is also recommended to respect the demands of the customers and go by the latest trends in the market. Following the latest trends in the market will ensure the success of the organization.
Some of the main recommendations that can be evaluated after the analysis and study of the following research are as follows;
Therefore it can be concluded that the service quality dimensions in empathy and tangibility must be properly cared to ensure Customer Satisfaction.
5.3 Conclusions
The research ends with the brief discussion and the summary of the chapters that have been described in the research. The research has dealt with the impact of service quality on the customer satisfaction. The research has helped the organization to clear the air on how to make the organization friendlier for the customers. The research further strengthens the fact about customer satisfaction to be one of the most important aspects of modern business. The findings in the research have mainly identified the reasons behind the problems existing in the company.
The gaps between the relationships of the two aspects have been identified and addressed accordingly. The research has dealt with both service quality and customer satisfaction and thus has been able to identify the main problems that create the gap in between these two elements. The main findings of this particular research have been the importance of serving the customers in a proper and efficient manner. Serving the customers in the best possible way will automatically ensure a high degree of customer satisfaction. The presence of a good customer relationship in between the customer and the organization thus helps in the delivery of a better performance of the company.
Based on the above research three main conclusions can be scripted out. This includes any of the five different variables that may predict the satisfaction levels of the customer over the business. The following results clearly show that the customers do not have a definitive discrimination to determine the fact on whether they are satisfied with the service of Surf Shack and IT Solutions Limited. Satisfaction in these regards has pointed out the impact on the service quality of the business. There is a direct impact of satisfaction on each of the variables.
Therefore the basic or primary aims of the business organization will be to ensure the maintenance of an efficient quality of service by the management. All of these results are of immense importance as because it can help shape the future of the organization. According to the research hypothesis it is seen that the company can increase its sustainability by means of providing importance to tangibility and empathy. Therefore the hypothesis selected in this research is all negative except the positive impact of empathy and tangibility on customer satisfaction. The management of the company must have a proper balance on both of these dimensions to ensure success for the company.
Therefore it can be said that the research has been able to identify and assess the ways to measure and implement customer satisfaction in the business. The objectives of the business to identify the impact of the different variables of customer satisfaction in the business have also been clearly identified.
5.4 Further Research
The selection of five different variables and testing their impact over customer satisfaction is surely one of the most amazing works in recent times. The following research has used both primary as well as the secondary research sources to determine the results and arrive at the conclusion. Thus the future researchers aiming to research on the above said topic can get large help from the following research in the near future.
The following research can thus be one of the most important researches in the following field. Furthermore the future researches on the said topic can consider other important variables like cost, features, price, loyalty and many other features which are equally important as the service quality variables in the following regards. The consideration of these variables can help to unearth more new information regarding customer satisfaction in the organization.
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