This research proposal aims to investigate the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction at Auto Bavaria in Glenmarie, Malaysia using the SERVQUAL analysis tool. The researcher will examine how the five SERVQUAL dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) impact customer satisfaction. A survey will be distributed to 200 customers who have purchased products or services from Auto Bavaria to understand their perceptions. The results will help Auto Bavaria identify areas for improvement and determine which SERVQUAL dimensions most influence customer satisfaction.
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Servqueeal research proposal
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NAME: AKMAL SYALWANI BINTI IDRIS
MATRIX NO: 2010132513
DATE: 13TH SEPTEMBER 2013
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN AUTO
BAVARIA, GLENMARIE: AN EMPIRCAL STUDY THROUGH SERVQUAL
Abstract
This research aims to investigate the relationship between the service quality and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie by using SERVQUAL analysis. It also aims to examine
the influence and effect of applying quality service towards customer satisfaction and to
identify which of the five (5) dimensions of SERVQUAL has the greatest influence on
customers’ satisfaction. The five dimensions of SERVQUAL, which are tangibles, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, are the identified independent variables, while
customer satisfaction as the identified dependent variable. Each of the dimensions of
SERVQUAL was tested to determine and measure the relationship with customer satisfaction.
Besides that, this study also wants to concentrate on the customers’ perception and evaluation
toward service performance in Auto Bavaria. The questionnaires were filled by the customers
who already purchase products and engaging the service at Auto Bavaria and also customer
who come to Auto Bavaria’s showroom and intend to buy cars or motorcycles at Auto Bavaria.
A total of 200 respondents participated in the survey. The participating respondents represented
a return rate of __% after distribute the questionnaire directly to the respondents, email and
mail.
Key words: Service quality, SERVQUAL, Customer satisfaction, Auto Bavaria
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of Study
In this chapter, we will discuss the service quality concept, its importance for
practitioners especially the manager, retailer and the sales advisor in Auto Bavaria
itself. This research will discuss on how the concept is being measured and outline
various models of service quality and introduce the SERVQUAL model in particular.
Furthermore, at the same time this study will highlighting why it is of particular interest
to study the relation between service quality and customer satisfaction in Auto Bavaria
Glenmarie and why SERVQUAL model is apply in this research.
Service quality is an approach to manage a business processes in order to ensure full
satisfaction of the customers which will help to increase competitiveness and
effectiveness of the service industry especially in Auto Bavaria. Quality in service is
very important especially for the growth and development of service sector business
enterprises (Rahaman et al, 2011). It works as a factor of customer satisfaction (Ruyter
and Bloemer, 1995). With the increase of the importance of service sector in Malaysian
economy, the measurements of service quality become important. ISO standards are one
of the popular measurement tools of service quality, where quality is defined as the
totality of features and characteristics of a product, process or service (Islam & Ahmed,
2005). Auto Bavaria is consequently put into lot of pressures due towards increase in
global competition whether the competition among the other BMWs’ Malaysian dealer
itself and also other car brand manufacturers whether locally or internationally.
Different strategies are formulated to retain the customer and the key of it is to increase
the service quality level. Typically, in automotive sectors, customers perceive
difference cars’ service for different type of car brands. Parasuraman et. al (1985) and
Zeithaml et., al (1990) noted that the key strategy for the success and survival of any
business institution is the deliverance of quality services to customers. The quality of
services offered will determine customer satisfaction and long term loyalty (Naik et al.
2010).
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Figure 1
Based on the figure above, Parasuraman et al. (1985) has initially identified 97
attributes which were found to have an impact on service quality. These 97 attributes
were the important criteria to enhance the customers’ expectations and perceptions on
delivered service. However, all these attributes fit into ten dimensions and later being
condensed into five dimensions of service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1988) because of
the overlap across the ten criteria (Jannadi and Al-Saggaf, 2000). Finally, the best five
dimensions to measure the service quality are; tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance and empathy.
A SERVQUAL dimension is a good scale to measure the service quality performance in
various specific industries. In this regard, researcher uses this model because it takes
deep attention on customer’s expectation and perception of service provided at an
organization (Shahin, 2005, p.3). Parasuraman’s SERVQUAL model is widely used to
measure perceived service quality in various industry such as retailing, restaurants,
banking, telecommunication, services, airline, catering, hotels, hospitals, automotives,
education and so on (Ladhari, 2009).
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Parasuraman et al. (1985) also found that the customer’s perception of service quality
depends on the range of gap distance between the customer expects before receive a
service in a service centre and what he or she actually perceive after see and use the
service by their own. Thus, service quality is in fact defined as the gap between
customers’ expectation of service and their perception of the service experience. A
service quality gap exists when there are shortfall occur in which the service provider
would like to close (Lewis et al., 1994). For examples, insufficient of sales, planning
procedures and marketing research, organization do not focus on the demand quality,
unsystematic service development service, lack of personnel training and so forth. This
gap model is one of the best-received discoveries, a practice of problem solving and
most heuristically valuable contributions to the service literature according to Brown
and Bond (1995).
1.1 Background of Company
1.1.1 Auto Bavaria
Auto Bavaria is the largest retail and service organization of BMW, MINI Cooper and
Motorrad (Motorcycle, Scooter & Superbike) in Malaysia. This is one of the famous
brands of Sime Darby Motor Division Sdn Bhd. Establish in 1988; Auto Bavaria’s
organization comprises of fully trained technicians and employees and has a wide range
of parts and accessories together with a comprehensive range of equipment that only an
authorized BMW dealer can provide. In order to give a good performance whether
among the staff or the customer, Auto Bavaria use centralized online system at all Auto
Bavaria branches, thus it helps to link online the customer’s service history with more
efficient.
Over the years, Auto Bavaria has successfully built BMW into one of the most desirable
luxury automotive brands in the country. Today, Auto Bavaria’s nationwide network
infrastructure comprises five branches, namely Glenmarie, Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur,
Penang and Johor Bahru. Auto Bavaria Glenmarie and Penang also houses the BMW
Motorrad and MINI Cooper showroom. In addition, our BMW Premium Selection
centre is in Glenmarie and Kuala Lumpur. Auto Bavaria has the competitive advantage
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among the others competitors dealer in Malaysia such as Ingress, Quill, Pendragon,
Wearness Autohous, Regas and Tian Siang. It is because Auto Bavaria contributes
majority of shares in BMW Malaysia.
Every Auto Bavaria branch is staffed with passionate professionals dedicated to
providing world class sales and aftersales service that beyond the customer’s
expectations. In benchmarking Auto Bavaria against the best BMW dealers in the
world, they make customer satisfaction as the top priority at Auto Bavaria. They record
possibly the highest man hours in training annually in the local automotive industry to
keep our staff on top of the latest innovations and technologies and constantly review
processes to improve efficiency. At Auto Bavaria, they are committed to making the
customer‘s BMW experience extend beyond their purchase.
Auto Bavaria products includes BMW cars (1 series, 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, 7 series,
x series, z4, m series, and hybrid cars) BMW Bikes and also known as Motorrad (Sport,
Tour, Roadster, Enduro, and Urban mobility), MINI Cooper (MINI, MINI Coupe, MINI
Cabrio, MINI Clubman, MINI Countryman, MINI Paceman, MINI John Cooper, MINI
Bayswater, and MINI Baker Street).
Besides providing new car from the factory, Auto Bavaria also offer used car for the
customer. This package is known as BMW Premium Selection (BPS) since 2008. Even
the customer owned used car from the BMW products especially at Auto Bavaria, they
will get full advantage of buying this type of car same with the customer who buy a new
car. It is because, Auto Bavaria only offer recent BMW models with low mileage and
complete service history will be considered. To make the cut, all vehicles then undergo
a thorough car services includes systems, mechanisms and safety components. Used car
prices with the new car security and warranty, which is the promise.
On the other hand, Auto Bavaria offers the customer opportunity to trade in their old
BMW car to a new one. Based on the terms and technical appraisals, Auto Bavaria will
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be able to provide the customer with a fair trade in price for the customers to own a new
car.
In short, whether the customer are looking to buy or trade in, rest assured that Auto
Bavaria’s team of experts will personally help the customer browse for a car to suit their
finance and lifestyle. The customers’ trust and confidence in Auto Bavaria’s team
become the first priority and also committed in helping the customer enjoy the sheer
driving pleasure with BMW.
1.2 Problem Statement
In this globalization era, customers are exposed with varieties of quality car whether by
locally or internationally. Even the well known Malaysian car manufacturer, Proton also
generates a lot of innovative ideas in producing new car accordance with the science
and technologies development and also the demands from the customer. For examples,
the latest production from Proton are Proton Preve and Proton Suprema S. Both cars are
complete with the modern technologies and gadget application for the drivers’ facilities.
Nowadays, Malaysian consumers are more interested with the car that manufactured by
Korea and Japan companies such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Nissan,
Subaru, Mazda, Lexus, Kia and Suzuki. Product from the east countries especially these
two countries become the consumer current choice instead of buying the Europe car. It
is because the qualities offered by them are very good indeed and they also have loyalty
program for their customers.
Besides that, Auto Bavaria also competes with other BMW Malaysia car dealer such as
Ingress, Quill, Wearness Autohous, Regas and so on. The competition between the
BMW (Malaysia) car dealers mainly based on service pattern, service quality, and
customers’ expectation. Even though they sell the same product as Auto Bavaria, being
different and perform quality in terms of customer service compared to the other dealer
is also can be one of the strategies to promote the consumers to prefer Auto Bavaria.
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Auto Bavaria need to do something or doing research on competitors out there
especially in Malaysian market. In addition, the Malaysian government has announced
that the pricing of regulated RON 95 increased by 20 cent per litre starting on 3rd
September 2013. According to White (2013), the author of Los Angeles Times, when
the gasoline prices increase, consumers preferably would like to buy the small economy
car.
By offering quality and effective customer service plus with the product quality itself, it
can make Auto Bavaria different from the other car dealer. Even when Malaysia’s
gasoline price increase, the customer will think that buying a car at Auto Bavaria is not
a regret infact it was an investment of buying car at Auto Bavaria. Actually, when
customer service meets or exceeds the customer expectations, the customer start to put
confident and trust towards the company’s abilities and thus inclined and willing to
spend more money to purchase the company’s products or services. So, in this research,
there are a lot of question can be roll out in order to maintain the service quality such as
what are the key measurements of service quality in Auto Bavaria? Does Auto Bavaria
know how customer evaluates their service quality? Does Auto Bavaria need any
improvement regarding to maintain or enhance their best quality service to customers?
What are the different between Auto Bavaria and the other dealer?
1.3 Research Questions
In this study, there are few questions have been generate to answer the following
questions about the service quality dimension (SERVQUAL) and customer satisfaction.
The research study will be guided by the following research question for the
investigations as follows:
What is the relationship between the service tangibility and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria?
What is the relationship between the service reliability and customer satisfaction
in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie?
What is the relationship between the service responsiveness and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie?
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What is the relationship between the service assurance and customer satisfaction
in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie?
What is the relationship between the service empathy and customer satisfaction
in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie?
Which dimensions are the best predictors of overall service quality perceived by
the customers in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie?
1.4 Research Objectives
This study is undertaken to investigate the relationship between the service quality and
its impact on customer satisfaction. It will focus on the relationship of the four (5)
independent variables of SERVQUAL model (Spreitzer, 1995) which are tangibles,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy with the identified dependent
variable; customer satisfaction.
The objectives of the study are:
To determine the relationship between service tangibility and the customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria.
To determine the relationship between service reliability and the customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria.
To know the relationship between service responsiveness and the customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria.
To explore the relationship between service assurance and the customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria.
To find out the relationship between service empathy and the customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria.
To identify which is the best SERVQUAL dimension perceived by the customer
in Auto Bavaria.
1.5 Hypotheses of the Study
This study will test the following hypotheses:-
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H1: There is a significant correlation between service tangibility and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
H2: There is a significant correlation between service reliability and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
H3: There is a significant correlation between service responsiveness and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
H4: There is a significant correlation between service assurance and customer
satisfaction in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
H6: There is a significant correlation between service empathy and customer satisfaction
in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
1.6 Theoretical Framework
A theoretical framework consists of concepts, variables, definitions, and existing
theories that are used by researcher for particular study. According to Dr Norzaidi
(2013), the selection of variables in a study must have the characteristics that can be
measured and it is important especially when creating and designing a questionnaire.
Theoretical framework must demonstrate an understanding of theories and concepts that
are relevant to the topic of research paper.
Theoretical framework is not something that can be found readily in a literature.
Researcher must review course readings and pertinent literature such as journals and
articles in order to search related theories and analytic models that are relevant to
SERVQUAL model. Selection of a theory should depend on its appropriateness, ease of
application, and the explanation itself (Trochim, 2006).
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Figure 2: The theoretical framework of correlation between the dimension of
SERVQUAL and the satisfaction of customer’s in Auto Bavaria
The framework above shows proposed framework to serve as foundation of this study.
It is modified from the Zeithaml et al (1985) gap model theory. Purpose of this study is
to examine the how tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy of
service which are the independent variables can bring impact on the dependent
variables, customer satisfaction towards the service quality at Auto Bavaria.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the overview of current literature in the frame of the presented
research problem. Each of the bodies of literature is discussed which is focus on the
specific nature of the relevant literatures that relates to this study.
A literature review is a step-by-step process that involves the identification of published
and unpublished work from secondary data sources on the topic interest, the evaluation
of this work in relation to the problem and the documentation of this work (Sekaran &
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Bougie, 2009, p.38). Therefore, in this study, each independent variables and a
dependent variable will be reviewed on previous studies that are related to this topic.
2.1 Review of literature
2.1.1 Service
It is important to distinguish between service and goods. Goods are most tangible which
can be refer as an object that the customer can see, touch or taste while services based
on the business perspectives are more of a valuable action, a deed, performance or an
effort to satisfy a need and fulfil the demand from the customer (Rouse,2012). There are
many definitions of services in the literature may depend on the scholars and focus on a
specific research (Groonros, 2001). However, one of the most important and unique
characteristics of services is that services are processes, not things, which mean that a
service firm has no product or does not produce a tangible commodity and only an
interactive process. Groonros (2001) offer a comprehensive definition of services where
services is "an activity or series of activities of a more or less intangible nature than
normal, but not necessarily, take place in the interaction between the customer and the
service employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service
provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems".
2.1.2 Quality
There are many definitions of quality derived from uncountable philosophies. One of
them is a Romanian engineer, Joseph M. Juran also have his own point of view
regarding to the quality meaning. Juran (1988), in the business perspective state that
qualities are those features of products which meet customer needs and thereby provide
customer satisfaction. The purpose of such higher quality is to provide greater customer
satisfaction. However, providing more or better quality features usually requires an
investment and hence usually involves increases in costs.
Deming (1970) on the other hand states that good quality means a predictable degree of
uniformity and dependability with a quality standard suited to the customer. Besides
that, according to Deming the customer's definition of quality is the only definition that
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matters. However, from reviewing articles on quality, it has been found that early
research has been focusing on defining and measuring the quality of tangible goods and
products (Garvin, 1988, Juran 1988) while the more challenging service sector was
disregarded.
Crosby (1979) defined quality of goods as "conformance to requirements"; Garvin
(1988) identified internal (those observed before a product left a factory) and external
(those incurred in the field after a product had been delivered and installed) failures and
measured quality by counting the malfunctions. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry
(1985) stated that it may inappropriate to use a product-based definition of quality when
studying the service sector and therefore developed the expression of "service quality".
For this particular study, only one definition was chosen and used for it to fit the
purpose. Considering the research questions and branch studied, Parasuraman et
al.,(1985) definition of quality has been used.
2.1.3 SERVQUAL Dimensions
SERVQUAL is a multi item scale developed to assess customer perceptions of service
quality in service and retail businesses. Originally developed from the GAP model,
SERVQUAL took shape and was developed during the 80's by Parasuraman, Zeithaml
and Berry. These dimensions mainly focus on the human aspects of service delivery
(responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy) and the tangibles of service.
Tangibility of a service is a scale that measures how dependable a customer views a
service provider to be based upon the quality of its most visible attributes. Tangibles can
be includes physical facilities, equipments, and staff appearance etc. The showroom cleanliness
in Auto Bavaria also can be an example of tangibles service quality. Jarmo Lehtinen views
service quality in terms of physical quality (corporate image), quality and interactive
quality. Physical quality refers to the tangible aspects of the service. Corporate quality
refers to how current and potential customers, as well as other publics, views (image) of
the service provider. Interactive quality concerns the interactive nature of the service
and refers to a two-way flow that occurs between service provider and the customer, or
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his/her representative, including both animated and automated interactions (Lehtinen &
Lehtinen, 1982).
Reliability of a service can be defined as the ability of service provider to perform the
promised service dependably and accurately. For example, the customers who come to
Auto Bavaria in order to service their car which those that still under the warranty, the
company promised that the cars’ service only takes an hour, so the company need to
keep the promise and cannot make the customer to wait long for their cars.
Responsiveness are reflects of the willingness to help customers and provide prompt
service. In this Auto Bavaria’s case, the company must avoid keeping customers
waiting for no apparent reason especially when come to the luxury items and products.
There are no excuses given for the luxury price to any late service.
Besides that, assurance quality is a knowledge and courtesy of employees and their
ability to inspire trust and convey confidence among customers. For examples, the
customer service representatives at Auto Bavaria can show respect for any customer
who come to the store and being polite to them.
Empathy quality which is the last dimension on SERVQUAL Model is a caring, ability
to be approachable, and giving individual attention that the company can provides to the
customers. For examples in Auto Bavaria, the sales representatives can be a good
listener to what customers’ want and need.
2.1.4 Customer Satisfaction
According to Rouse (2008), customer satisfaction is a degree of satisfaction provided by the
goods or services of a company as measured by the number of repeat customers or how service
meets the customer’s expectation. Triplett (2007) further suggests that service quality has
become an important topic because of its apparent relationship to costs, profitability, customer
satisfaction, customer retention and positive word of mouth and it is widely considered as a
driver of corporate marketing and financial performance. In our study, we are more interested in
service quality and customer satisfaction by using the SERVQUAL model to assess them the
service quality in Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.
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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter is focused on the approach of the study. Chapter Three will have discussion on
research design, data and information collection methods, the design of the questionnaire,
sampling design and so forth. On the other hand, the methods of data analysis which
consists of factor analysis, reliability test, descriptive statistics, mean aid on development of
hypotheses for this study.
Research Design
Research design is the important step to gather and analyze the imperative data and assist to
find the location of the study, sample size, population and so on. (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009,
p.102). It also includes the identifications of the five independent variables in this research
namely as tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.
Quantitative Design
Quantitative research will be applied based on the nature of study to gather a representative
data from the targeted respondents. To better understand the impact of service quality on
customer satisfaction through a SERVQUAL analysis, researchers have often focused on
quantitative approaches by (Turley and Milliman, 2000). It is used to quantify attitudes,
behaviours of the customers that consume service in Auto Bavaria. The advantage of using
quantitative research is that it produces reliable data that are usually qualified to some large
population. In this study, online and paper survey are used to collect the data from the
respondents (Wyse, 2011).
Descriptive Research
Descriptive research involves transformation of raw data into a form that would provide
information to describe a set of factors in a situation. Descriptive study requires a sample of
hundreds or thousands of subjects to generate an accurate relationship between selected
variables. Descriptive research is more efficient and able to obtain information with
reference to test for hypotheses. Descriptive research studies the frequencies, average,
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central of tendency, dispersion and other statistical calculations. By using descriptive data,
researchers can know a substantial amount about the research problem and able to clearly
define what should be measured on this research.
Data Collection Methods
In this study, there are two ways in gathering data which is through primary and secondary
data.
1. Primary Data
According to Naresh (2010, p. 132), primary data will be organized for the specific purpose
of addressing the problem on hand. The primary data that will be used is questionnaire
survey whether by online or paper. While distribute the questionnaire, the researcher need
cooperation and clarification from the respondents. Besides that, primary data refer as first
hand information or data obtained originally by the researcher on the variables of interest
for the specific purpose of the study (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009, p.180). The questionnaires
were distributed to the respondents whom their respond and answers may differentiate on
specific issues regarding to the topic. Questionnaires can be efficient data collection
mechanism of what and how to measure the selected variables. Those questionnaires were
administered personally to the respondents.
2. Secondary Data
According to Sekaran & Bougie, (2009, p.184), secondary data refer to information
gathered by other party that already conduct a previous study. It helps researchers to get
better understand and define the problems. To obtain secondary data, the previous
researchers’ study can be obtained through online journal databases such as ProQuest,
EBSCOhost, Emerald Journal and other available databases which are available in
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) online databases. Furthermore, the relevant articles
and other sources through internet and online library are aiding in the research. It requires
inexpensive cost, time consuming and energy to the researcher. The advance of technology
helps a lot in finding resources especially the Internet.
3. Sampling Design
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There are five steps under sampling design which are determining the target population,
setting sampling frame and location, deciding the sampling elements, selecting sampling
techniques and determining the sampling size of respondents.
3.1 Target Population
Target population is the group of people where researcher is interested in analyzing to get
relevant information for research purpose. The population refers to the entire group of
people, events, or things of interest that the researcher wishes to investigate. (Sekaran &
Bougie, 2009, p.262). On the other hand, simple random sampling has been chosen in order
to select the customer in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie which is the respondents in this study.
Simple random sampling is one of the probability sampling which is randomly selected
sample from a larger sample or population. The sample has been selected because each
individual in the population has an equal likelihood or chance to be chosen.
3.2 Sampling Frame and Sampling Location
According to Sekaran & Bougie, (2009, p.267), the sampling frame is a (physical)
representation of all elements in the population from which the sample drawn. In this study,
the sampling frame will be the customers that are already made any purchase or the
potential customer at Auto Bavaria Glenmarie. In fact, the sampling location for the survey
is the various sales area in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie such as the sales and service area of
BMW cars, Motorrad (Motorcycle, bike, & scooter), MINI Cooper cars and after sales
areas, parts, accessories and gift areas, customer services department, car’s service and so
on . Auto Bavaria Glenmarie, which is a headquarter branch was selected as the
representative of all Auto Bavaria’s branches (Sg. Besi, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru,
Penang) in Malaysia. The store is located at Auto Bavaria, Sime Darby Motor Division Sdn
Bhd, 3A, Persiaran Kerjaya, Section U1, Glenmarie, 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor.
3.3 Sampling Elements
The respondents in this study referred to customers who perceived the service at Auto
Bavaria Glenmarie Branch. . Total of 200 populations range from 20 to 70 years old were
selected for this study. Besides that, it also includes foreign respondents since Auto
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Bavaria’s market are wide and international. The reason to choose these sampling elements
are because they are the main subject in this research since the research topic is about the
service satisfaction received by the customer and there are only few obstacle in language
issues since most of the customers understand and using English very well.
3.4 Sampling Technique
In this study, simple random sampling technique was selected. To assess customer's
perceptions on quality of service at Auto Bavaria, researcher has to get organized sampling
frame. To accomplish this, researcher will go through company’s customer records and
history to identify the customers’ information such as email, home or office address.
Then, researcher has to draw the sample. Decide on the number of respondents researcher
would like to have in the final sample. In this research, researcher want to select 200
respondents to survey and that there were thousands customers over the past 12 months.
Now, to draw the sample, researcher has several options. A mechanical procedure is very
feasible, effective and with the development of inexpensive computers there is a much
easier way. Here is a simple procedure that is especially useful because researcher already
have the customer’s information on the computer. Many computer programs can generate a
series of random numbers. It can be done through EXCEL spreadsheet. Researcher can use
the function =RAND() in formula text box which is EXCEL's way selecting random
sample. Simple random sampling is simple to accomplish and is easy and a fair way to
select a sample, it is reasonable to generalize the results from the sample back to the
population.
3.5 Sampling size
Before distributing the real questionnaire to the selected respondents, researcher need to
pre-test the questionnaires to the other people such as friends and family members. It is
important to ensure the respondents understand the questionnaires and to avoid
misunderstanding occur in the future. Researcher distributes 5 questionnaires for this pre-
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test. Any misunderstanding about the questions, then researcher need to redo the
questionnaire until it suits with the purposes of the study.
A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed and ___ questionnaires were collected. Out
of that, ____ sets of questionnaires were considered unusable because there were not
completed. Israel (2009) clarified that factors such as cost are critical in determining sample
size. Thus, the study will only conducted 200 questionnaires because of the limited budget
and also problem of the time constraint.
4. Research Instrument
Questionnaire survey has been used in this study. Questionnaires are defined as the series of
questions aim to gather prompt and accurate information from respondents. Thus, in order
to perform a good research, a good questionnaire must be designed. Hair, Babin, Money,
and Samouel (2003) mentioned that effectiveness and high response rate are the reasons for
researchers use questionnaire widely to collect primary data if the population of
respondents is well-educated.
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