Service quality and it consequences has become controversial topic in services marketing literature that have researched in academic studies for over three decades. In this paper, the dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL scale will be explained within the Nigerian automobile repair services sector. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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Introduction
Service quality and it consequences has become controversial topic in
services marketing literature that have researched in academic studies for
over three decades. In this paper, the dimensional structure of the
SERVQUAL scale will be explained within the Nigerian automobile repair
services sector. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the impact of service
quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Analysis
The objectives of the paper and research methodology
The paper comprises three main points in order to indicate the relation of
service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in automobile repair services
sector. Firstly, the SERVQUAL model is explained to cite its role in service
quality management as well as the argument of previous studies about this
model. Moreover, the relation of service quality, customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty will be presented in this paper. Secondly, the research
methodology is also described and the analysis of results from the practical
surveys. Finally, the discussion relating to those outcomes provides the
conclusion and limitations for the further research.
The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensional structure of
the SERVQUAL model within the Nigerian automobile repair services sector.
Othman and Owen (2001) demonstrate that the SERVQUAL model consist of
22 item scale that measure service quality and accompany with five factors
which establish the cornerstone on other research about service quality. The
outcome of this model will support the company in determining whether the
customer’s expectations are exceeded or not. Furthermore, the results
indicate which components of a service in the company need to be improved.
It can also be used to assess service quality overtime, compare performance
with rivals as well as analyze the customer satisfaction in a particular service
industry.
The other main purpose is that identifying the impact of service quality
dimensions on customer satisfaction and loyalty. The author state that it is

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important to identify the significant impact of service quality on customer
satisfaction, in which it help the manager determine which areas need to be
improved. In addition, the previous studies indicate that there is a strong
positive link between service quality dimensions, customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty.
Research methodology
The survey is conducted in the general area of Abakaliki urban, a
southeastern Nigerian city where the author focus on the mechanic village
because it will create a large pool of respondents in a short time. Moreover,
the main measuring instrument which is used in collecting the data for this
research is the questionnaire, in which the three topics of service quality,
customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are allocated into 32 scale items.
In those scale items, 22 items are used to assess service quality through
performance only approach, five items evaluated customer satisfaction and
other five items measured customer loyalty. To achieve the objectives of this
paper, the author adopted and modified the existing scales into all measures.
Main findings of the paper
From the outcome of the survey, it can be considered that the dimensional
structure of the SERVQUAL scale within the automobile services sector does
not match the results of previous studies. There is a new different dimension
which is found in this research and there are also the differences between the
items throughout the five dimensions including empathy, tangibles,
responsiveness, reliability and commitment. Another unique outcome is
recognized in this research is that both customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty items loaded as a single factors.
Gaps, Limitations and Weaknesses
The findings of this paper are not considered as the results of past research
are contrasted above outcomes. For example, Aga and Safakli (2007) pointed
out that only empathy component of SERVQUAL model was crucial factor
affect customer satisfaction. In the hotel industry, Fah and Kandasamy (2011)
stated that all five dimensions of SERVQUAL model are related particularly to

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customer satisfaction in Malaysia and tangibility is assessed as the most
important dimension towards customer satisfaction. The other limitation of this
paper is that the different outcomes are released without the modification of
dimensional structure to find out new factors which influence customer
satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, the sample response is small along with
the reduction of participants in survey process could be a weakness of this
paper, which can cause the reliability of the paper’s outcomes. The
comparison with other areas in research process could be an omission.
Implications
In the field of quality management, the dimensional structural of SERVQUAL
model is not only a new concept of service quality management, but also a
new idea for developing a valuable scale in quality management for
commodity manufacturing. In fact, the trend of most companies in the
contemporary business is the sustainable development and customer
satisfactory and customer loyalty hold vital role in building the sustainability.
Therefore, designing quality measures as SERVQUAL model for
manufacturing as well as other industry is necessary to create a new
competitive advantage.
To industry practitioners, the SERVQUAL model is a suitable and
dependable scale for evaluating automobile service quality and it can be
useful in the first steps of scale formation. The paper indicates that a distinct
effort to measure customer satisfaction and customer loyalty within
automobile repair context is less effective. Therefore, there is a relation
between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In particularly,
automobile repair services companies will perform better in building customer
loyalty if they improve the customer’s satisfaction through high service quality
actions. Moreover, to ensure the long-run success, marketers of automobile
repair services should consider enhancing the tangibles, responsiveness,
empathy, reliability and commitment dimensions. On the other hand, service
quality dimensions are valuable predictors of customer satisfaction and loyalty
but the impact of each dimension change across sectors and contexts which
the managers should have considerations in implementation.

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This paper also provides the insight and implications for policy makers. The
government should introduce the policy which apply the dimensional structure
of SERVQUAL model to assess the services quality of public services such as
transportation, medical services and construction plans. The modification of
the model will help the government observe the quality of public services
overtime and improve the social welfare in the long-term.
Conclusion
The main insight can absorb from the paper is that the dimensional structure
of SERVQUAL model and the role of the commitment dimension of service
quality as the most significant predictor of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The research also indicates that customer satisfaction would lead to be loyal
since an implementation with distinction of satisfaction and loyalty was found
to be less useful. Moreover, the implementation of this model will help the
quality manager find out the issues in quality management process, which
boost the customer satisfaction and build the customer loyalty.

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REFERENCE
Izogo, E & Ogba, I 2015, ‘Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in
automobile repair services sector’, International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 250-269.