Assessing The Role Of Service Quality On Customer Satisfaction In Ethio Telecom At South Region Case Hawassa City.Pdf

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯ
Abstract͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯ
CHAPTER ONE͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰ
1. INTRODUCTION͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰ
1.1 Background of the studyϰ
1.1.1 History of Ethio
telecom͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϳ
1.2 Statement of the problem
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϴ
1.3 Objectives͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϬ
1.3.1 General objective:͘ϭϬ
1.3.2 Specific objectivesϭϬ
1.4 Research questions͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϬ
1.5 Scope of the Study͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϭ
1.6 Limitation of the Studyϭϭ
1.7 Significance of the Study
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϭ
1.8 Organization of the thesis
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϮ
CHAPTER TWO͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϯ
2.LITERATURE REVIEW͘͘͘ϭϯ
2.1.Understanding Quality
Concept͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϯ
2.1.1Product Quality͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϰ
2.1.2Service quality
Concept͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϲ
2.2Customer Satisfaction
2.2.1.Definition of Customer
Satisfaction͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϭϴ
2.2.2.Customer
Satisfaction Measures͘͘͘͘ϭϵ
2.2.3. Factors that Affect
Customer Satisfaction͘͘͘͘ϮϬ
2.3 Relationship between
service quality and customer
satisfaction͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϮϮ
XVWRPHUV¶([SHFWDWLRQV
compared to Perceptions͘͘͘͘Ϯϰ
2.5. The Development and
Evolution of the SERVQUAL
Model͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘Ϯϱ
2.6 Service Quality ModelsϮϴ
2.7 Application of the
SERVQUAL Model in
Different Contexts͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϭ
2.8 For this study͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϰ
CHAPTER THREE͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϱ
3. METHODOLOGY OF THE
STUDY͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϱ
3.2 Research design͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϱ
3.3 Types and sources of data
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϲ
3.4 Population of the studyϯϲ
1

3.5 Sampling Design͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϯϳ
3.6.1 The Questionnaire͘͘͘͘͘ϯϵ
3.6.2 Administering of
questionnaires͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϬ
3.6.3 Measurement͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϬ
3.6.4 Reliability
Coefficient͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϭ
3.7 Methods of data analysis
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϭ
CHAPTER FOUR
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϯ
4. RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϯ
4.1 Demographic characteristics
of the respondents͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϰ
4.2 Expectations and
perceptions discussed͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϱ
4.3 SERVQUAL Results
Discussions͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϲ
4.3.1 RL- Reliability͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϲ
4.3.2 RS- Responsiveness͘͘ϰϳ
4.3.3 AS- Assurance͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϰϵ
4.3.4 EM- Empathy͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϬ
4.3.5 TA- Tangibility͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϭ
4.4 Overall Gap scores
analysis͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϮ
4.5 Description Statistics of
dimensions͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϮ
4.6 Overall importance of
service quality dimension:͘͘͘͘͘ϱϰ
5. CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϱ
5.1 Conclusions͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϱ
5.2 Recommendations͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϲ
REFERENCES͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘͘ϱϵ
2

Acknowledgement
First of all I would like to praise
almighty God who gave me
endurance and strength in all my
life. Next, my special and
sincere gratitude goes to my
major Advisor Dr.R.
Venkateshwar Rao for his
earnest and constructive
comments throughout the
analysis and preparation of the
manuscript.
My thanks also go to my co
advisor Mr. Admasu Abera for
his unreserved and timely
support in checking and giving
constructive suggestion.
I would also like to thank all
the people ± the managers, the
supervisors and staff of Ethio
Telecom, South Regional Office
for their cooperation during data
collection processes.
Finally, I would like to thank
my lovely wife, Fiyameta
Mamo and my family for their
support and encouragement.
Abstract
The primary purpose of this
research is assessing the Role of
Service Quality on Customer
Satisfaction in Ethio Telecom at
South Region: Case Hawassa
Cit. To achieve this objective
both primarily and secondary
data were collected. The
questionnaires were distributed
to 380 fixed line telephone
customers in Hawassa city. As a
way of trying to measure service
quality, researcher was
developed a methodology known
as SERVQUAL a perceived
service quality questionnaire
survey methodology.
SERVQUAL examines five
dimensions of service quality:
Reliability, Responsiveness,
Assurance, Empathy, and
Tangibility. The collected data
were analyzed and interpreted
by Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences in version 20.
From the results obtained, the
consumers perceive service
quality as poor in all
dimensions, indicating their
expectations was higher than
their perceptions for fixed line
telephone service at ethio
telecom. In this regard,
consumers were not satisfied
with any dimension of service
3

quality. All dimensions were
showing a negative gap score.
Ethio telecom need to make
improvements in all dimensions
in order to close gap and that
could lead to increased
customer satisfaction. Thus the
paper, enlighten the Company
to get insight about its services
TXDOLW DQG OHYHO RI FXVWRPHUV¶
satisfaction. Ethio teleocm need
to improve its service quality
provisions and helps customers
to get quality fixed line services
from ethio it by amending the
problem which was
recommended in this thesis.
Keywords-: Service Quality,
Customer Satisfaction,
SERVQUAL, fixed line
telephone, Ethio telecom
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
In service marketing literature,
service quality is generally
defined as the overall
assessment of a service by the
customers Eshghi et al (2008).
Parasuraman et al (1985) define
VHUYLFH TXDOLW DV ³7KH
discrepancy between
FRQVXPHUV¶ SHUFHSWLRQV RI
services offered by a particular
firm and their expectations
about firms offering such
VHUYLFHV´,IZKDWLVSHUFHLYHGLV
below expectation, consumer
judges quality as low and if
what is perceived is meets or
exceeds expectation then
consumer sees quality to be
high. Critical component of
service quality identified are;
FRQVXPHU¶VH[SHFWDWLRQZKLFKLV
seen as what they feel service
provider should offer and this is
influenced by his/her personal
4

needs, past experience, word-of-
PRXWK DQG VHUYLFH SURYLGHU¶V
communications Parasuraman et
al (1985). However, this
meaning of expectation is that
of service quality literature
which is different from
expectation in the customer
satisfaction literature which
defines expectation as
predictions made by consumer
about what is likely to happen
during an impending
WUDQVDFWLRQ RQVXPHUV¶
perception of performance is
what he/she experiences
Parasuraman et al (1988). In
addition, service quality is
mainly focused on meeting the
FXVWRPHU¶V QHHGV DQG DOVR KRZ
good the service offered meets
WKHFXVWRPHU¶VH[SHFWDWLRQRILW
It is however difficult according
to previous studies to measure
service quality because of its
intangible nature and also
because it deals with
expectations and perceptions of
consumers which is difficult as
well to determine due to the
complexity of human behavior.
According to Douglas
Connor (2003), Parasuraman et
al (1985) and Ladhari (2008) the
intangible elements of a service
(inseparability, heterogeneity
and perishability) are the critical
determinants influencing service
quality perceived by a
consumer.
Various studies that focused on
a link between satisfaction and
quality argued for different
views in terms of relationship.
Some think that quality leads to
satisfaction McDougall
Levesque (1996, 2000); Negi
(2009) and others support that
satisfaction leads to quality
Cronin Taylor (1992). Some
researcher propose that quality
and satisfaction are determined
by the same attributes like
Parasurman et al (1988) tried to
relate customer satisfaction to
service quality since what
SERVQUAL model struggles to
measure is attitude. They see
customer satisfaction as
transaction specific meaning
consumers get satisfied with a
specific aspect of service while
perceived service quality is a
global judgment or attitude to a
service. Negi (2009) clearly
points out that overall service
quality is significantly
5

associated with and contributes
to the overall satisfaction of
mobile subscribers. Customer
satisfaction is based on the level
of service quality delivered by
the service providers Saravanan
Rao (2007) which is
GHWHUPLQHG E WKH FRQVXPHU¶V
cumulative experiences at all of
the points of contact with
company Cicerone et al (2009).
This shows that there is some
link between service quality and
customer satisfaction which
highlights that importance of
customer satisfaction when
defining of quality Wicks
Roethlein (2009). These studies
all confirm a relationship
between service quality and
customer satisfaction but
according to Asubonteng et al
(1996). There is no agreement
on the exact kind of relationship
between the two constructs and
points of out that most
researchers agree that service
quality and customer
satisfaction have attributes that
are measurable. Service
organizations have begun
focusing on the customer
perceptions of service quality
because it helps in developing
strategies that lead to customer
satisfaction Saravanan Rao
(2007). According, to
Gummesson (1994) there has
been a shift from the focus on
goods without much emphasis
on services to a focus on
services though paying attention
on the goods. This stresses the
importance of service marketing
to most service industries. This
is why retailing, like most
services perceived service
quality has been of high interest
to researchers Magi Julander
(1996).
After carefully analyzing
various research studies
conducted so far using the
SERVQUAL model, the
researcher realize that many
research works have been
carried in different service
industries such as Retailer,
education, restaurants, banking,
health care, etc, but limited
empirical study has been
conducted using the
SERVQUAL model to assess
service quality in
telecommunication. We
consider ethio telecom as part of
the service industry because
6

they deal with providing service
to consumers. Magi Julander
(2009) carried a study on
grocery stores to find out the
relationship between perceived
service quality, customer
satisfaction and customer
loyalty. From this study, it was
proven that perceived service
quality had a positive
relationship with customer
satisfaction and we think this
supports our argument of
linking service quality and
customer satisfaction. They did
not use the SERVQUAL model
but rather the performance only
scale to assess service quality.
Thus, the study was tried to
measure service quality and
customer satisfaction using the
SERVQUAL model from the
FRQVXPHU¶VSHUVSHFWLYHLQRUGHU
to know their perceptions.
1.1.1 History of
Ethio telecom
Ethio telecom is the oldest
public telecommunication
operator was established a
century ago to support the
country financially and integrate
all cities together. The company
was under government control
during twentieth century, and
was then brought under the
control of the Ministry of Post
and Communications (1952).
Latter separated from the postal
administration, to fall the
Ministry of Transport and
Communications In 1994.The
first long-distance telephone
was established between Addis
Ababa and Harare then begin to
expand throughout the country.
After the end of Italy war
Ethiopia established the
Imperial Board of
Telecommunications That
aimed to provide and expand the
telecommunication services.
The Imperial
Telecommunication Board,
which became the Ethiopian
Telecommunication Authority
in 1981, was placed in charge of
both the operation and
regulation of telecommunication
services. In 1996, The
Government created a new
separate regulatory body by
Proclamation No. 49/1996,
establishing the Ethiopian
Telecommunication Agency
(ETA), which has the objective
of promoting the development
RI ³high quality, efficient,
7

reliable and affordable
telecommunication services´
The same year, by Regulation
No. 10/1996, the Council of
Ministers set up the Ethiopian
Telecommunication Corporation
(ETC), to which all the rights
and obligations of the former
Ethiopian Telecommunication
Authority were transferred.
Ethiopian Telecommunication
Corporation would operate as a
public enterprise under the
authority/supervision of the
ETA (Ethiopian
telecommunication agency)
with the principal duty of
maintaining and expanding
telecommunication services in
the country and providing
domestic and international
telephone, telex, tele-fax and
other communication services.
ETC (Ethiopian
Telecommunication
Corporation) was changed to
ethio telecom (ET) by the
regulation No.197/2010 in
November 29/2010. This
company aims to provide next
generation network service
based on the world class
standard of information
technology service and to build
competent next generation
network. Ethio-Telecom (ET) a
monopoly provider on all
telecom services including
fixed, mobile, internet and data
communications.
Ethio telecoms, at southern
region there are 800,000
customers of fixed line
telephone service currently. At
Hawassa city there are 7685
subscriber for fixed line
telephone service. (https://
www.ethiotelecom.et , retrieved
on the date of July 2014)
1.2 Statement of the
problem
Customer satisfaction is based
on the level of service quality
delivered by the service
providers Saravanan Rao
(2007). This shows that there is
some link between service
satisfaction which highlights
that importance of customer
satisfaction when defining of
quality Wicks Roethlein
(2009). Fixed line telephone is
among the telecom services
given by ethio telecom at
regional level. Customers are
8

also frequently complaining
about Over tariff payment, short
bill payment period, delay on re
connection, interruption on
installation, suspension on
location change, postponement
on name or owner change, delay
on maintenance, accessibility,
lack of confidentiality and poor
network coverage are those
problems which create customer
dissatisfaction. These problems
are also repeatedly observed in
the study area of Hawassa city.
And this initiated the researcher
to conduct the study to assess
the role of service quality on
customer satisfaction in
Hawassa city. After carefully
analyzing various research
studies conducted so far using
thed SERVQUAL model, the
study realize that many research
works have been carried in
different service industries such
as Retailer, education,
restaurants, banking, health
care, etc, but limited empirical
study has been conducted using
the SERVQUAL model to
assess service quality in
telecommunication. These
studies all confirm a
relationship between service
satisfaction but according to
Asubonteng et al (1996) there is
no agreement on the exact kind
of relationship between the two
constructs and points of out that
most researchers agree that
satisfaction have attributes that
are measurable. Magi Julander
(2009) carried a study on
grocery stores to find out the
relationship between perceived
satisfaction and customer
loyalty. From this study, it was
proven that perceived service
quality had a positive
relationship with customer
satisfaction and the researcher
think this supports the study
argument of linking service
satisfaction. They did not use
the SERVQUAL model but
rather the performance only
scale to assess service quality.
The researcher could get only
one research conducted in the
effect of quality services on the
customer satisfaction and
loyalty at Holland Car PLC and
MOENCO using Kano model
by Kindye Essa (2011) in
9

Ethiopia, and it is not enough to
generalize the effect of quality
service on customer satisfaction
using this model. Thus the
researcher was try to measure
the role of service quality on
customer satisfaction using the
SERVQUAL model from the
FRQVXPHU¶VSHUVSHFWLYHLQRUGHU
to know their perceptions in
ethio telecom at Hawassa city
for fixed line telephone .
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General objective:
The general objective of this
study is to investigate the role
service quality on customer
satisfaction in ethio telecom for
fixed line telephone at south
region specifically at Hawassa
city.
1.3.2 Specific objectives:
¾ To assess fixed
line telephone
service quality
in Ethio
telecom.
¾ To measure the
customer
satisfaction with
service quality
dimension.
¾ To identify the
dimensions of
service quality
that are
important to
customer of
fixed line at
Hawassa city.
1.4 Research questions
The main purpose of this study
is service to assess the role of
satisfaction using the
SERVQUAL model in etho
telecom. The study was
interested in the dimensions of
service quality from the
FRQVXPHU¶V SHUVSHFWLYH WKURXJK
assessing their expectations and
perceptions of service quality.
Thus the researcher likes to
answer the following questions
in the study.
¾ How consumers
perceive fixed line
telephone service
quality in Ethio
telecom?
¾ Are customers satisfied
with fixed line
10

telephone service
quality offered by ethio
telecom?
¾ Which dimensions of
service quality are
important to fixed line
telephone customers at
Hawassa city?
1.5 Scope of the Study
It is known that ethio telecom as
a Company provides various
services and operates
throughout the country. Thus,
the scope of this study is
confined to measuring the role
of service quality on customer
satisfaction, geographically at
south region specifically in
Hawassa city, from July 2014
up to December 2014 for fixed
line telephone customers.
1.6 Limitation of the
Study
The main limitation of these
studies is constraints of
resource, money and time. The
finance and material resource
needed for large sample size for
these studies is inadequate. It
also not likely the researcher
would have time and access to
every shop of ethio telecom to
distribute questionnaire.
1.7 Significance of the
Study
This study was assessing the
role of service quality on
customer satisfaction. Many
researchers they did not
conducted the study on telecom
fixed line telephone service. The
researcher initiated to conduct
the role of fixed line telephone
satisfaction. Therefore, the
results of the study may help the
Company to get insight about its
important services quality
dimenVLRQ DQG FXVWRPHUV¶
satisfaction. Additions to this,
the customers are also the
beneficiary of the study result.
Finally, the study may also
serve as an input for those who
are interested to do other
researches in related topics.
11

1.8 Organization of the
thesis
This thesis comprises of five
different chapters:
Chapter one: This Chapter
Deals with introduction and it
encompasses background of the
study, statement of the problem,
objectives of the study, research
questions, significance of the
study, scope and limitation of
the study were dealt under this
section.
Chapter two: This chapter
was exclusively devoted to the
review of related literature;
theoretical and empirical studies
also conceptual framework was
incorporated on the need to
identify critical growth factors.
Chapter three: This chapter
was deal with methodology of
the study; it comprises
description of the study,
research design, types and
sources of data, population of
the study, sampling design, data
collection methods and method
of data analysis.
Chapter four: This chapter
was discusses the data collected
from the field that would enable
us answer our research
questions. The data collected
was mainly based on
UHVSRQGHQWV¶ H[SHFWDWLRQV DQG
perceptions of the various items
under the SERVQUAL model.
Also, some demographic
description of the respondents
was collected. A general
GHVFULSWLRQ RI WKH FRQVXPHUV¶
the various dimensions was
done using descriptive statistics.
Also, gap score analysis was
carried based on the difference
between the expectations and
perceptions (P ± E) in order to
assess service quality and
customer satisfaction.
Chapter five: The last chapter
was presents the conclusions to
be drawn from the findings and
the recommendations to be
made to address the problems
uncovered and all the reference
materials to be used in the study
are listed under bibliography.
12

CHAPTER TWO
2.LITERATURE
REVIEW
In this chapter, the study review
relevant literature connected to
our topic. The study discusses
all the concepts that are
important to this study, such are
VDWLVIDFWLRQ FXVWRPHU¶V
expectations and perceptions are
discussed. Also, a proper
explanation of the SERVQUAL
model is outlined in this
chapter. The various dimensions
(tangibles, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance,
empathy) of the SERVQUAL
model are discussed. Models
measuring service quality and
customer satisfaction are
discussed as well. The study
tries to bring out the relationship
between service quality and
customer satisfaction. The main
reason for covering this chapter
is to enhance on understanding
of the main theories involved in
this study and to answer
research questions.
2.1.Understanding
Quality Concept
According to Hardie Walsh
(1993) and Sower and Fair
(2005) quality has many
different definitions and there is
no universally acceptable
definition of quality. They claim
it is because of the elusive
nature of the concept from
different perspectives and
orientations and the measures
applied in a particular context
by the person defining it. In our
study, quality must be well
defined in the context of grocery
stores and must focus on various
dimensions of both product and
service. This therefore means
the definition of quality varies
between manufacturing and
services industries and between
academicians and practitioners.
These variations are caused by
the intangible nature of its
components since it makes it
very difficult to evaluate quality
which cannot be assessed
physical implying other ways
must be outlined in order to
measure this quality. Quality
has been considered as being an
attribute of an entity (as in
13

property and character), a
peculiar and essential character
of a product or a person (as in
nature and capacity), a degree of
excellence (as in grade) and as a
social status (as in rank and
aristocracy) and in order to
control and improve its
dimensions it must first be
defined and measured Ghylin et
al (2008).
According to Ghylin et al
(2008) since company managers
believe that the power of quality
guarantees high profits in
business, companies try to
understand how to keep the
quality level high at every point
within production,
manufacturing, and even
providing services. Thus, they
see the product-based, user-
based and manufacturing based
approaches have been the most
popular in reported research.
They was apply the user-based
approach because they are
interested in finding out what
dimensions of service quality in
grocery stores are customers
satisfied with and how they
perceive this service quality.
From the above discussion, they
can highlight two forms of
quality; product quality and
service quality which are have
to be discussed in order to
clearly get their differences.
2.1.1Product
Quality
Garvin (1987) suggested eight
dimensions of product quality
which are very important to
consumers since they lay much
emphasis on quality when
buying among many similar
products and they include;
Performance- primary operating
characteristics of a product,
Features- µEHOOVDQGZKLVWOHV¶RI
a product, Reliability-
probability of a product failing
within a specified period of
time; Durability- measure of a
product life; Conformance-
GHJUHH WKDW D SURGXFW¶V GHVLJQ
matches established standards;
Serviceability- speed and
competency of repair;
Aesthetics- subjective measure
of how a product looks, feels,
sounds, smells or tastes;
Perceived quality- subjective
measure of how the product
14

measures up against a similar
product. In the case of grocery
stores, these factors play a very
important role in knowing how
quality and therefore support in
the measurement of service
quality.
Technical quality refers to what
the customer receives as a result
of his/her interaction with the
service firm and functional
quality refers to how the
technical components are
delivered to the customer
Gronroos (1984).
The importance of focusing on
both technical and functional
aspects of quality are being
developed because there is no
longer a clear distinction
between a service and product
since both include each other in
their process according to
Wicks Roethlein (2009).
However, they were focusing on
both the functional dimension of
quality and the technical aspect
as well. However, the technical
or physical aspect of quality for
any service is hard to evaluate
by the customer according to
Asubonteng et al (1996) but
regard our study which focuses
on grocery stores, technical
quality is important since these
stores deal with tangibles which
are a core component in the
retailing activity. This therefore
means that, in order to know
how consumers perceive service
quality in grocery stores, we
must focus on both the technical
and functional aspects of
quality.
Wicks Roethlein (2009)
highlight that the definition of
quality is evolving, but that the
common factor throughout the
evolution process is a focus on
both the technical and
functional aspects of quality and
that in order to become world-
class, organizations need a user-
based definition that is more
important to the customer, and a
process-based definition that is
more important to the
manufacturer or service
provider.
For this study, the definition of
quality used is the user-based
definition because quality is
eventually evaluated by human
and it is the most appropriate
method to examine dimensions
15

of quality according to Ghylin et
al (2008). This definition of
quality considers quality as
subjective meaning it is
determined by the customer
through his/her perceptions.
This is also supported by the
view of Muffatto Panizzolo
(1995) who believe that the
most accepted definition of
quality is, defining quality as
the extent to which a product
and/or service meets and/or
H[FHHGVFXVWRPHU¶VH[SHFWDWLRQ
2.1.2Service
quality Concept
Service quality is considered an
important tool for a firP¶V
struggle to differentiate itself
from its competitors Ladhari
(2008). The relevance of service
quality to companies is
emphasized here especially the
fact that it offers a competitive
advantage to companies that
strive to improve it and hence
bring customer satisfaction.
Service quality has received a
great deal of attention from both
academicians and practitioners
Negi (2009) and services
marketing literature service
quality is defined as the overall
assessment of a service by the
customer Eshghi et al (2008).
Ghylin et al (2008) points out
that, by defining service quality,
companies were able to deliver
services with higher quality
level presumably resulting in
increased customer satisfaction.
Understanding service quality
must involve acknowledging the
characteristics of service which
are intangibility, heterogeneity
and inseparability Parasuraman
et al (1985). In that way, service
quality was easily measured.
In this study, service quality can
be defined as the difference
EHWZHHQFXVWRPHU¶VH[SHFWDWLRQ
for service performance prior to
the service encounter and their
perception of the service
UHFHLYHG XVWRPHU¶V
expectation serves as a
foundation for evaluating
service quality because, quality
is high when performance
exceeds expectation and quality
is low when performance does
not meet their expectation
Asubonteng (1996). Expectation
is viewed in service quality
literature as desires or wants of
consumer i.e., what they feel a
16

service provider should offer
rather than would offer
Parasuraman et al (1988).
Perceived service is the
RXWFRPHRIWKHFRQVXPHU¶VYLHZ
of the service dimensions,
which are both technical and
functional in nature Gronroos
(1984).
The custRPHU¶VWRWDOSHUFHSWLRQ
of a service is based on his/her
perception of the outcome and
the process; the outcome is
either value added or quality
and the process is the role
undertaken by the customer
Edvardsson, (1998).
Parasuraman et al (1988) define
perceived quality as a form of
attitude, related but not equal to
satisfaction, and results from a
consumption of expectations
with perceptions of
performance. Therefore, having
a better understanding of
FRQVXPHUV¶ DWWLWXGHV ZDV
helping know how they perceive
service quality in ethio telecom.
Negi (2009) suggests that
customer-perceived service
quality has been given increased
attention in recent years, due to
its specific contribution to
business competitiveness and
developing satisfied customers.
This makes service quality a
very important construct to
understand by firms by knowing
how to measure it and making
necessary improvements in its
dimensions where appropriate
especially in areas where gaps
between expectations and
perceptions are wide.
In the context of ethio telecom, I
am not only interested in
learning more about the factors
associated to service quality
perceived by customers and
how service quality is measured
but also provide a direction for
improvement of service quality
in order to bring customer
satisfaction. Douglas Connor
(2003) emphasis that the
consumer who has developed
heightened perception of quality
has become more demanding
and less tolerant of assumed
shortfalls in service or product
quality and identify the
intangible elements
(inseparability, heterogeneity
and perishability) of a service as
the critical determinants of
service quality perceived by a
customer. It is very vital to note
here that, service quality is not
17

only assessed as the end results
but also on how it is delivered
during service process and its
XOWLPDWH HIIHFW RQ FRQVXPHU¶V
perceptions Douglas Connor
(2003).
In ethio telecom, there is a need
WR XQGHUVWDQG FXVWRPHU¶V
expectation regarding service
quality. Different researchers
have developed models in order
to get a better understanding of
service quality.
2.2Customer
Satisfaction
2.2.1.Definition of
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is
conceptualized as been
transaction-specific meaning it
LV EDVHG RQ WKH FXVWRPHU¶V
experience on a particular
service encounter Cronin
Taylor (1992) and also some
think customer satisfaction is
cumulative based on the overall
evaluation of service experience
Jones Suh( 2000). These
highlight the fact that customer
satisfaction is based on
experience with service provider
and also the outcome of service.
Customer satisfaction is
considered an attitude, Yi
(1990). In the case of ethio
telecom, there is some
relationship between the
customer and the service
provider and customer
satisfaction will be based on the
evaluation of several
interactions between both
parties.
Giese Cote (2000) clearly
state that there is not generic
definition of customer
satisfaction and after carrying a
study on various definitions on
satisfaction they came up with
the following definition,
³customer satisfaction is
identified by a response
(cognitive or affective) that
pertains to a particular focus
(i.e. a purchase experience
and/or the associated product)
and occurs at a certain time (i.e.
post-purchase, post-
consumption)´ )URP WKLV
definition, is it clear that the
FRQVXPHU¶V VDWLVIDFWLRQ LV
determined for his/her perceived
experience in the ethio telecom
and this is supported by
Cicerone et al(2009) and
Sureshchander et al (2002) who
18

EHOLHYH FXVWRPHUV¶ OHYHO RI
satisfaction is determined by
their cumulative experiences at
all of their points of contact
with a supplier organization.
Fornell (1992) clearly defines
customer satisfaction as an
overall post-purchase evaluation
by the consumer and this is
similar to that of Tse Wilton
(1988) who defined customer
VDWLVIDFWLRQ DV WKH FRQVXPHU¶V
response to the evaluation of the
perceived discrepancy between
prior expectations and the actual
performance of the product or
service as perceived after its
consumption. These definitions
consider satisfaction as a post-
purchase response and in the
ethio telecom, perceived
experience is important in
evaluating customer
satisfaction.
According to Wicks
Roethlein (2009) customer
satisfaction can be formed
through an affective evaluation
process and this affective
evaluation is done following the
purchase experience by the
consumer.
Organizations that consistently
satisfy their customers enjoy
higher retention levels and
greater profitability due to
LQFUHDVHG FXVWRPHUV¶ ORDOW
Wicks Roethlein (2009). This
is why it is vital to keep
consumers satisfied and this can
be done in different ways and
one way is by trying to know
their expectations and
perceptions of services offered
by service providers. In this
way, service quality could be
assessed and thereby evaluating
In our study, we use customers
to evaluate service quality by
considering several important
quality attributes in ethio
telecom and i think companies
must take improvement actions
on the attributes that have a
lower satisfaction level. This
means customer satisfactions
were considered on specific
order to identify which aspects
customers are satisfied with.
2.2.2.Customer
Satisfaction Measures
Customer satisfaction
measurement involves the
19

collection of data that provides
information about how satisfied
or dissatisfied customers are
with a service. This information
can be collected and analyzed in
many different ways. Many
organizations regularly check
the levels of customer
satisfaction to monitor
performance over time and
measure the impact of service
improvement.
Henley center headlight vision
Anon (2007) states the research
carried out in the UK with
public sector organizations
suggests that there are five
themes that are likely to be
relevant to all organizations in
measuring customer
satisfaction.
Delivery of the service
(how problems were
handled, reliability,
RXWFRPHHWF«
Timeliness (waiting
times, number of times
contacted)
Information
(accuracy, enough
information, kept
informed)
Professionalism
(competent staff, fair
treatment)
Staff attitude
(friendly, polite,
sympathetic)
2.2.3. Factors that Affect
Customer Satisfaction
Satisfaction which is vaguely
defined as fulfilling the needs
for which a good or service was
made (Merriam websters
Dictionary), is viewed
differently in various industries,
over various demographic
backgrounds, as well as for
individuals and institutions
Center for the study of Social
Policy (2007). Moreover, it has
a totally different approach
when it comes to services and
products Center for the study of
Social Police (2007). All along
we have been trying to
understand quality of services,
quality of products, and
satisfaction both in the arena of
comfort and in terms of utility
that is, the product or service
fulfilling the actual purpose for
which it was made and bought.
This is however very important
but the fore mentioned
intricacies about satisfaction
cannot be under looked.
20

Sahim et al (2006) in an effort
to find out whether customers
were satisfied with the food
services in the military hospital
in Turkey realized that specific
demographic characteristics
were not of significance in
determining the satisfaction of
the patients but the appearance
and taste of food. Their
emphasis on demographic
characteristics gives the reader
the impression that they thought
it was going to be an important
factor.
Another study in Jiangsu
province, China seeking to find
out the differences in food
preferences between students of
different socio-demographic
backgrounds and characteristics
stated in their literature that
societal and cultural factors as
well as environmental and
indigenous factors shape
FKLOGUHQ¶V IRRG FKRLFHV 6KL HW
al (2005). This makes them
appreciate food quality
differently and often because
they are not used to it, or they
do not like it at all or because of
some traditional beliefs
associated with the different
demographic characteristics. It
is however a little contradiction
but it is a depiction of the
complexities in the concept of
satisfaction that some
researchers seek to explain.
Bailey et al (1983) identified 38
factors that affected the
satisfaction of consumers of
computers which are
customized for computer users
some of which were quality of
the product, flexibility,
reliability, priorities
determination, security and
expectations. In online
education structure,
transparency and
communication potentials
influence the satisfaction of
students and enhance the
learning process Karen (2001).
It has however been identified
that human needs, quality of
services and products, the user
friendly nature of product and
services, and comfort assurance
Bailey et al ( 1983); Karen
(2001) are some of the
important determinants of
customer satisfaction. Even
though different customers will
require different levels and
combinations of these variables,
21

they generally are important
factors that affect customer
satisfaction.
Matzler et al (2002) went a step
forward to classify factors that
DIIHFW FXVWRPHUV¶ VDWLVIDFWLRQ
into three factor structures;
1. Basic factors: these are the
minimum requirements that are
required in a product to prevent
the customer from being
dissatisfied. They do not
necessarily cause satisfaction
but lead to dissatisfaction if
absent. These are those factors
that lead to the fulfillment of the
basic requirement for which the
product is produced. These
constitute the basic attributes of
the product or service. They
thus have a low impact on
satisfaction even though they
are a prerequisite for
satisfaction. In a nutshell
competence and accessibility
2. Performance factors: these
are the factors that lead to
satisfaction if fulfilled and can
lead to dissatisfaction if not
fulfilled. These include
reliability and friendliness.
3. Excitement factors: these are
IDFWRUV WKDWLQFUHDVH FXVWRPHUV¶
satisfaction if fulfilled but does
not cause dissatisfaction if not
fulfilled which include project
management.
2.3 Relationship between
satisfaction
According to Sureshchandar et
al (2002) customer satisfaction
should be seen as a multi-
dimensional construct just as
service quality meaning it can
occur at multi levels in an
organization and that it should
be operationalized along the
same factors on which service
quality is operationalized.
Parasuraman et al (1985)
suggested that when perceived
service quality is high, then it
will lead to increase in customer
satisfaction. He supports that
fact that service quality leads to
customer satisfaction and this is
in line with Saravana Rao
(2007) and Lee et al (2000) who
acknowledge that customer
satisfaction is based upon the
level of service quality provided
by the service provider.
22

According to Negi (2009) the
idea of linking service quality
and customer satisfaction has
existed for a long time. He
carried a study to investigate the
relevance of customer-perceived
service quality in determining
customer overall satisfaction in
the context of mobile services
(telecommunication) and he
found out that reliability and
network quality (an additional
factor) are the key factors in
evaluating overall service
quality but also highlighted that
tangibles, empathy and
assurance should not be
neglected when evaluating
perceived service quality and
customer satisfaction. This
study was based only on a
specific service industry (mobile
service) and we think it is very
important to identify and
evaluate those factors which
contribute significantly to
determination of customer-
perceived service quality and
overall satisfaction.
Fen Lian (2005) found that
both service quality and
customer satisfaction have a
SRVLWLYHHIIHFWRQFXVWRPHU¶VUH-
patronage intentions showing
that both service quality and
customer satisfaction have a
crucial role to play in the
success and survival of any
business in the competitive
market. This study proved a
close link between service
satisfaction.
Su et al (2002) carried a study to
find out the link between service
satisfaction, from their study,
they came up with the
conclusion that, there exist a
great dependency between both
constructs and that an increase
in one is likely to lead to an
increase in another. Also, they
pointed out that service quality
is more abstract than customer
satisfaction because, customer
satisfaction reflects the
FXVWRPHU¶VIHHOLQJVDERXWPDQ
encounters and experiences with
service firm while service
quality may be affected by
perceptions of value (benefit
relative to cost) or by the
experiences of others that may
not be as good.
23

XVWRPHUV¶
Expectations compared
to Perceptions
Gronroos (1982) and
Parasuraman et al (1985) have
proposed that customeU¶V
perception of service quality is
based on the comparison of their
expectations (what they feel
service providers should offer)
with their perceptions of the
performance of the service
provider.
Parasuraman et al (1988) point
out that expectation is viewed
differently in both satisfaction
literature and service quality
literature. In satisfaction
literature, expectations are
FRQVLGHUHG DV µSUHGLFWLRQV¶ E
customers about what is likely
to happen during a particular
transaction while in service
quality literature, they are
viewed as desires or wants of
consumers, that is, what they
IHHOVDVHUYLFHSURYLGHUµVKRXOG¶
RIIHU UDWKHU WKDQ µZRXOG¶ RIIHU
For this study, define
expectations as desires or wants
of customers because this
allows us to know exactly what
service providers show offer
and this is based on based past
experience and information
received Douglas Connor
(2003). It is important to
understand and measure
FXVWRPHU¶VH[SHFWDWLRQVLQRUGHU
to identify any gaps in
delivering services with quality
that could ensure satisfaction
Negi (2009).
Perceptions of customers are
based solely on what they
receive from the service
encounter Douglas Connor
(2003).
identified 10 determinants used
in evaluating service quality;
reliability, responsiveness,
competence, access, courtesy,
communication, credibility,
security, understanding the
customer, and tangibles. Most
of these determinants of service
quality require the consumer to
have had some experience in
order to evaluate their level of
service quality ranging from
ideal quality to completely
unacceptable quality. They
further linked service quality to
satisfaction by pointing out that
when expected service is greater
than perceive service, perceived
24

quality is less than satisfactory
and will tend towards totally
unacceptable quality; when
expected service equals
perceived service, perceived
quality is satisfactory; when
expected service is less than
perceived service, perceived
quality is more than satisfactory
and were tend towards ideal
quality Parasuraman et al
(1985).
2.5. The Development
and Evolution of the
SERVQUAL Model
identified 97 attributes which
were found to have an impact
on service quality. These 97
attributes were the criteria that
are important in assessing
FXVWRPHU¶V H[SHFWDWLRQV DQG
perceptions on delivered service
Kumar et al (2009). These
attributes were categorized into
ten dimensions Parasuraman et
al (1985) and later subjected the
proposed 97 item instruments
for assessing service quality
through two stages in order to
purify the instruments and select
those with significant
influences. The first purification
stage came up with ten
dimensions for assessing service
quality which were; tangibles,
reliability, responsiveness,
security, competence, courtesy,
understanding, knowing,
customers, and access. They
went into the second
purification stage and in this
stage they concentrated on
condensing scale dimensionality
and reliability. They further
reduced the ten dimensions to
five which were;
Tangibility: physical facilities,
equipment, and appearance of
personnel
Reliability: ability to perform
the promised service
dependably and accurately
Responsiveness: willingness to
help customers and provide
prompt service
Assurance: knowledge and
courtesy of employees and their
ability to inspire trust and
confidence
25

Empathy: caring individualized
attention the firm provides to its
customers
Assurance and empathy involve
some of the dimensions that
have been done away with like
security, competence, courtesy,
understanding/knowing
customers and access. This is
because these variables did not
remain distinct after the two
stages of scale purification,
Parasuraman et al (1988). These
original five dimensions are
subject to 22 statements derived
from Parasuraman et al (1988).
This scale was further tested for
reliability with the use of five
independent samples in five
different service industries.
These are the same as the ones
used in the purification stages.
The variables proved to be very
reliable and displayed very low
levels of correlation between
each other in the five
independent samples. This
qualified them as independent
or linear factors that can be used
to assess service quality
Further a validity test was
carried out on this scale and
using the same samples.
Normally reliability is a first
criterion for validity. To be able
to determine content validity
they analyzed the thoroughness
with which the construct to be
scaled were explicated and then
the extent to which the scales
items represent the construct
domain. However the
procedures used in developing
the SERVQUAL satisfied these
conditions assuring the content
validity Parasuraman et al
(1988). In order to assess the
scale validity they did an
empirical assessment by
examining the convergent
validity. This was by looking at
the association of the
SERVQUAL scores and the
question that was asked to
respondents to provide to
provide an overall quality rating
for the companies they were
evaluating which was valid
Primarily the SERVQUAL
model was developed for
service and retail businesses and
its objective is to know how
customers of a business rate the
services offered to them
Parasuraman et al (1988). This
26

is very crucial for growth and
profitability. Parasuraman et al
(1988)., propose that this model
be used on a company three to
four times a year to measure the
quality of its service over
different times, to know the
discrepancies between
perceived and actual services so
as to know what reaction is
possible. They also recommend
that the model should be used in
conjuncture with other models
like in a retail business another
model could be used to rate the
perception of service quality by
the employees, and try to find
out from these employees what
they recommend to improve on
the quality of their services.
They equally require that in
applying the model we should
try to measure the relative
importance of each dimension.
This can be considered as
weighted SERVQUAL model
Cronin Taylor (1992). The
SERVQUAL model is
important in grouping customers
of a company into different
quality ranks by determining
their SERVQUAL score which
is of course very important to
know how to target the various
ranks. Parasuraman et al (1988).
This is very crucial for growth
and profitability. The Propose
that this model be used on a
company three to four times a
year to measure the quality of
its service over different times,
to know the discrepancies
between perceived and actual
services so as to know what
reaction is possible. They also
recommend that the model
should be used in conjuncture
with other models like in a retail
business another model could be
used to rate the perception of
service quality by the
employees, and try to find out
from these employees what they
recommend to improve on the
quality of their services. They
equally require that in applying
the model we should try to
measure the relative importance
of each dimension. This can be
considered as weighted
SERVQUAL model Cronin
Taylor (1992). The
SERVQUAL model is
important in grouping customers
of a company into different
quality ranks by determining
their SERVQUAL score which
is of course very important to
27

know how to target the various
ranks.
2.6 Service Quality
Models
As stated earlier service quality
has been defined differently by
different people and there is no
consensus as to what the actual
definition is. We have adopted
the definition by Parasuraman et
al (1988), which defines service
quality as the discrepancy
EHWZHHQ D FXVWRPHUV¶
expectation of a service and the
FXVWRPHUV¶ SHUFHSWLRQ RI WKH
service offering. Measuring
service quality has been one of
the most recurrent topics in
management developed a
conceptual model of service
quality where they identified
five gaps that could impact the
FRQVXPHU¶V HYDOXDWLRQ RI
service quality in four different
industries (retail banking, credit
card, securities brokerage and
product repair and
maintenance). These gaps were;
Gap 1: Consumer expectation
- management perception gap
Service firms may not always
understand what features a
service must have in order to
meet consumer needs and what
levels of performance on those
features are needed to bring
deliver high quality service.
This results to affecting the way
consumers evaluate service
quality.
Gap 2: Management
perception - service quality
specification gap
This gap arises when the
company identifies want the
consumers want but the means
to deliver to expectation does
not exist. Some factors that
affect this gap could be resource
constraints, market conditions
and management indifference.
These could affect service
quality perception of the
consumer.
Gap 3: Service quality
specifications ± service
delivery gap
Companies could have
guidelines for performing
service well and treating
consumers correctly but these
do not mean high service quality
28

performance is assured.
Employees play an important
role in assuring good service
quality perception and their
performance cannot be
standardized. This affects the
delivery of service which has an
impact on the way consumers
perceive service quality.
Gap 4: Service delivery ±
external communications gap
External communications can
affect not only consumer
expectations of service but also
consumer perceptions of the
delivered service. Companies
can neglect to inform consumers
of special efforts to assure
quality that are not visible to
them and this could influence
service quality perceptions by
consumers.
Gap 5: Expected Service ±
perceived service gap
From their study, it showed that
the key to ensuring good service
quality is meeting or exceeding
what consumers expect from the
service and that judgment of
high and low service quality
depend on how consumers
perceive the actual performance
in the context of what they
expected.
Parasuraman et al (1988), later
developed the SERVQUAL
model which is a multi-item
scale developed to assess
customer perceptions of service
quality in service and retail
businesses. The scale
decomposes the notion of
service quality into five
constructs as follows:
Tangibles, Reliability,
Responsiveness, Assurance and
empathy. It bases on capturing
WKH JDS EHWZHHQ FXVWRPHUV¶
expectations and experience
which could be negative or
positive if the expectation is
higher than experience or
expectation is less than or equal
to experience respectively.
The SERVPERF model
developed by Cronin Taylor
(1992) was derived from the
SERVQUAL model by
dropping the expectations and
measuring service quality
perceptions just by evaluating
WKH FXVWRPHU¶V WKH RYHUDOO
feeling towards the service. In
their study, they identified four
important equations:
29

SERVQUAL =Performance ±
Expectations
Weighted SERVQUAL =
importance x (performance ±
expectations)
SERVPERF = performance
Weighted SERFPERF =
importance x (performance)
Implicitly the SERVPERF
model assesses customers
experience based on the same
attributes as the SERVQUAL
and conforms more closely on
the implications of satisfaction
and attitude literature, Cronin et
al (1992).
Later, Teas (1993) developed
the evaluated performance
model (EP) in order to
overcome some of the problems
associated with the gap in
conceptualization of service
quality Parasuraman et al
(1988). This model measures
the gap between perceived
performance and the ideal
amount of a feature not
customers expectation. He
argues that an examination
indicates that the P-E
(perception ± expectation)
framework is of questionable
validity because of conceptual
and definitional problems
involving the conceptual
definition of expectations,
theoretical justification of the
expectations component of the
P-E framework, and
measurement validity of the
expectation. He then revised
expectation measures specified
in the published service quality
literature to ideal amounts of the
service attributes.
Brady Cronin (2001)
proposed a multidimensional
and hierarchical construct, in
which service quality is
explained by three primary
dimensions; interaction quality,
physical environment quality
and outcome quality.
Saravanan Rao (2007)
outlined six critical factors that
customer-perceived service
quality is measured from after
extensively reviewing literature
and they include;
(1) Human aspects of service
delivery (reliability,
responsiveness, assurance,
empathy)
30

(2) Core service (content,
features)
(3) Social responsibility
(improving corporate image)
(4) Systematization of service
delivery (processes, procedures,
systems and technology)
(5) Tangibles of service
(equipments, machinery,
signage, employee appearance)
(6) Service marketing
From their study, they found out
that these factors all lead to
improved perceived service
quality, customer satisfaction
DQGORDOWIURPWKHFXVWRPHU¶V
perspective.
0LWWDO DQG /DVVDU¶V
SERVQUAL-P model reduces
the original five dimensions
down to four; Reliability,
Responsiveness, Personalization
and Tangibles. Importantly,
SERVQUAL-P includes the
Personalization dimension,
which refers to the social
content of interaction between
service employees and their
customers Bougoure Lee (
2009)
2.7 Application of the
SERVQUAL Model in
Different Contexts
Kumar et al (2009) used the
SERVQUAL model in a
research to determine the
relative importance of critical
factors in delivering service
quality of banks in Malaysia
Kumar et al (2009). In this
article they modified the
SERVQUAL model and
considered six dimensions;
tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance
empathy and convenience and
these consist of 26 statements.
They considered convenience
because it is an important
determinant of satisfaction for
banking customers in Malaysia
and contributes very highly in
WKHFXVWRPHUV¶DSSUHFLDWLRQRI
the quality of services offered
by the bank Kumar et al (2009).
The respondents are asked
questions based on the 26
statements and they seek to
know about their expectations
and experience. They carried
this study on banking customers
regardless neither of which bank
you use nor how you do your
31

transactions, could be
domestically, internationally
among others.
After they carried out their
study they realized that there are
four critical factors; tangibility,
reliability, convenience and
competence. These variables
had significant differences
between expectations and
perceptions with tangibility
having the smallest gap and
convenience has the largest gap.
They end up with the
recommendation that banks
need to be more competent in
delivering their services and
fulfilling the assurance of
customers and providing the
banking services more
conveniently Kumar et al
(2009).
Curry et al (2002) in an attempt
to assess the quality of
physiotherapy services used the
SERVQUAL model and three
physiotherapy services in
Dundee, Scotland. They
considered the ten original
criteria for evaluation and
combined them into five;
tangibles, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance
(including competence,
courtesy, credibility, and
security) and empathy
(including access,
communication, and
understanding). The quality gap
is measured with these five
dimensions with the application
of an adaptable 22 item survey
instruments. The survey
involves questions relating to
FXVWRPHUV¶H[SHFWDWLRQVDQG
perceptions. They sought to
measure five gaps developed by
They found out that the services
were highly appreciated by
customers even though they
realized that the perception gaps
were slightly negative and the
services could be improved.
Their studies proved that
assurance and empathy were
very important in their research.
In spite of the criticisms of the
SERVQUAL model they
confirm its potential
applicability in measuring
service quality in the public
sector to determine consumer
priorities and measure
performance.
32

Badri et al (2003) made an
assessment and application of
the SERVQUAL model in
measuring service quality in
information technology center.
For their research gap they used
a larger sample which also
differs from other studies that
addressed the dimensionality
problem of the IT center-
adapted SERVQUAL
instruments. The second gap
was to identify the gaps in
service quality in the IT centers
in the three institutions of higher
education in the United Arab
Emirates. Their findings showed
that there was an inadequacy of
dimensions for a perfect fit. On
the other hand, based on their
feedback, respondents felt that
SERVQUAL is a useful
indicator for IT center service
quality in institutions of higher
education. SERVQUAL
identified gaps in service quality
for the three institutions.
Empirical results of
SERVQUAL scores for the IT
centers in the three institutions
are also presented.
Negi (2009) used the model to
determine customer satisfaction
through perceived quality in the
Telecommunication industry
and found out that reliability,
empathy and network quality
proved to significantly effective
in contributing to overall service
quality and overall customer
satisfaction with mobile
services.
Akan (1995) used the
SERVQUAL model in the four
stars hotels and found out that
competence and courtesy
combined with assurance where
most important attributes
influencing the perception of
quality.
In a nutshell, we try to apply
this instrument in the context of
grocery stores and find if its
dimensions do measure service
satisfaction, hence are adequate
for a perfect measure of the
constructs. This was also
enabling the study to identify
gaps in service quality and find
out what dimensions consumers
are satisfied with. In a nutshell,
the study was apply this
instrument in the context of
ethio telecom and find if its
dimensions do measure service
33

satisfaction, hence are adequate
for a perfect measure of the
constructs.
2.8 For this study
In spite of the criticisms in the
applicability of the
SERVQUAL model by some
researchers Buttle (1994);
Cronin Taylor (1992) for this
study it is good in assessing the
role of service quality on
customer satisfaction in ethio
telecom for fixed line telephone,
even though it has its
weaknesses due to the abstract
and elusive nature of service
quality concept which is
resultant from the fact that
services are intangible,
heterogeneous and inseparable
from production and
consumption Parasuraman et al
( 1988). Buttle (1994) and
Cronin Taylor (1992)
however support the fact that
this model is good for retailers
to understand the service
customers and make
improvements because of its
good reliability and validity.
The researcher believes that
customer satisfaction and
service quality can be measured
along the same dimensions as
proposed by Parasuraman et al
(1988).
Thus for this study, the
researcher was adapted a
SERVQUAL model with five
dimensions: Tangibles,
Assurance, empathy. The
service quality gap is going to
be measured with these five
dimensions with the application
of an adaptable 22 item survey
instruments statements (see
appendix 1).

34

CHAPTER THREE
3. METHODOLOGY
OF THE STUDY
This chapter was deal with
methodology of the study; it
comprise description of the
study, research design, types
and sources of data, population
of the study, sampling design,
data collection methods and
method of data analysis.
3.1 Description of study
area
Hawassa is located in the
VRXWKHUQ QDWLRQ¶V QDWLRQDOLWLHV
and peoples Region on the
shores of Lake Hawassa in the
Great Rift Valley; 273 km south
of Addis Ababa via Debre Zeit.
Hawassa is served as the Capital
of the southern Nations
Nationalities peoples Region
and the Sidama zone.
The city has total area of 157.2
sq.km Deviated in to Eight (8)
sub cities and each sub cities
divided in to 32 Kebeles.
According to the result of
Housing and Population Census
of May, 2008, The Hawassa city
administration has a Population
of 259,803 people, out of which
133,637 are male and 126,166
are female.
Ethio telecom has nine regional
offices throughout the country.
Out of this south region is the
one, and the largest
geographical coverage. Under
southern region, there are 33
shops. Hawassa shop is the one
in which I was conducted my
study. The shop offered various
products like mobile, internet
and fixed telephone. Source,
https://www.ethiotelecom.et.
Thus, my study was conducted
on the role of service quality on
customer satisfaction in
Hawassa city, for fixed line
telephone.
3.2 Research design
A research design provides a
framework for the collection
and analysis of data. A choice of
research design reflects
decisions about the priority
being given to the following;
expressing causal connections
between variables, generalizing
to larger groups of individuals
35

than those actually forming part
of the investigation,
understanding behavior and
meaning of that behavior in its
specific social context and
having a temporal (i.e. over
time) appreciation of social
phenomena and their
interconnections Bryman Bell
(2007).
The researcher used descriptive
research design. This design it
enables us to be able to identify
and categorize our variables
which ease our design of
questionnaires such that they
can capture all the data we need
from the respondents. The
study was approach the
respondents to find out their
based on the dimensions of the
SERVQUAL model.
3.3 Types and sources of
data
The research methods which
are used in this study are both
quantitative and qualitative
data. Both primary and
secondary data are used to
collect the required
information. Structured
questionnaires are distributed
to collect the primary data,
while secondary sources like
past studies and archives
were accessed from various
databases like company
policy, procedure and process
regarding to the provision of
quality service.
3.4 Population of the
study
The population of this study was
consisted of fixed line telephone
customers in Hawassa city. A
list of the population formally
registered in south region ethio
telecom Fixed access network
section until July 2014.
Accordingly, the formally
registered total population of the
study is 7685.
There are four categories of
fixed line telephone users:
residential customers,
government organizations,
private organizations and non-
governmental organizations
(NGOs) sample strata looks like
table below:
36

3.5 Sampling Design
Stratified random sampling was
employed to collect information
from different sizes of the ethio
telecom customers. This
technique was preferred because
it is used to assist in minimizing
bias when dealing with the
population those which are
heterogeneous in nature. With
this technique, the sampling
frame can be organized into
relatively strata before selecting
elements for the sample.
According to Janet (2006), this
technique increases the
probability that the final sample
will be representative in terms
of the stratified groups. The
VWUDWD¶V DUH VHFWRUV LQFOXGLQJ
four categories of users:
residential customers,
government organizations,
private organizations and non-
(NGOs).
According to Catherine
Dawson (2009), the right
sample size in a study is
dependent on the nature of the
population and the purpose of
the study. In addition to the
purpose of the study and
population size, three criteria
usually was need to be specified
to determine the appropriate
sample size: the level of
precision, the level of
confidence or risk, and the
degree of variability in the
attributes being measured
(Miaoulis and Michener, 1976)
Even though there are no
general rules, the sample size
usually relies on the population
to be sampled. In this study to
select sample size, a list of the
population formally registered
in south region ethio telecom
Fixed access network section
until July 2014.
Accordingly, the formally
registered total population of the
study is 7685. Finally, a sample
size determination equation by
Yamane (1967:886) was used to
arrive at a sample size of 380
customers with a 95 percent
confidence level and 5 percent
level of precision since it was
relevant to studies.
The equation was showed
below:
37

=

ሺሻ

=380
responde
nts
Where, n=sample size
N=Population Size
e =the level of precision or
sampling error
After having the sample size for
the whole population, further
calculation was needed to
decide the number of customers
to be taken from each stratum
using proportional allocation.
Thus, the customers were
grouped into four strata and to
choose respondents from their
respective strata. After
determining the number of
respondent within a stratum,
simple random sampling was
used to select them.
The reliability and efficiency of
stratified random samples
depends upon the allocation of
sample size to strata. In this
study proportional allocation
was used so that each stratum
contributes to the sample a
number that is proportional to
its size in the population. Thus,
to determine the sample size by
strata from each stratum the
following formula was used.
௞ ൌሺሻ ܰk
Where, nk= the sample size
for kth strata
Nk= percentage of total sample
size to be selected (Nk
1st
=4127/7685= 54%, Nk
2nd
=2300/7685=30%,
Nk3rd
=873/7685=11% and Nk
4th
=385/7685=5%),
n=the total sample size =380
The sample size was selected
here is considered as
representative of residential
customers, government
2
1 e
N
N
n

38

organizations, private
organizations and non-
(NGOs) as follows:
3.6 Data Collection
methods
As a way of trying to measure
service quality, researchers have
developed a methodology
known as SERVQUAL ± a
perceived service quality
questionnaire survey
methodology. It examines five
dimensions of service quality:
Reliability, Responsiveness
Assurance; Empathy, and
Tangible. These questionnaires
were having two sections:
The first part intended to
acquire the demographic profile
of the respondents, and the other
section comprised a dimension
of service quality and customer
satisfaction measurement (P-E).
3.6.1 The
Questionnaire
We used the SERVQUAL 5
dimensions (Tangibles,
Assurance, and Empathy) which
are subdivided into 22
statements, which were directed
to measuring service quality in
ethio telecom in our case. As
stipulated by the SERVQUAL
model, the statements are
divided into two parts, the first
part seeks to measure the
expectations of customers and
the second part seeks to measure
their perceptions. There is also a
demographic part that provides
general information about
respondents on age, gender,
education, average, monthly
income and average monthly
expenditures. This is to enable
us get a better understanding of
the type respondents and relate
it to how they perceive service
quality in ethio telecom. We
used the SERVQUAL model as
the basis for the structured
questionnaire because it
provides information on our
research questions in which we
are trying to know how
39

quality in ethio telecom by
assessing the difference between
the expectation and perception
of services experienced by
consumers in the company. This
was know over perceived
service quality by customers
and identity what items of the
SERVQUAL dimensions
consumers are satisfied with.
3.6.2 Administering of
questionnaires
As mentioned earlier in this
study, the study using a
convenience sampling
technique. It was a little
challenging experience but it
was fun all the same. We had
380 questionnaires to administer
and it took us 2 weeks to
administer these 380
questionnaires and fortunately
we received 380 questionnaires
that were complete. This is
because of the researcher are the
employee of the company and
they distributed the questioner
during the bill payment period,
when the customer came to the
company to settle their bill. The
researcher located in front of
the sales person at Hawassa
shop, of ethio telecom to
collected t
3.6.3 Measurement
The SERVQUAL model is used
WR DVVHVV FRQVXPHUV¶
expectations and perceptions
regarding service quality in
ethio telecom. Both
expectations and perceptions are
measured using a 7-point scale
to rate their level of agreement
or disagreement (1strongly
disagree and 7- strongly agree),
on which the higher numbers
indicate higher level of
expectation or perceptions.
Perceptions are based on the
actual service they receive in
ethio telecom while
expectations are based on past
experiences and information
received about the company
service. Service quality scores
are the difference between the
perception and expectation
scores (P-E) with a possible
range of values from -6 to +6 (-
6 stands for very dissatisfied
and +6 means very satisfied).
The quality score measures the
service gap or the degree to
40

which expectations exceed
perceptions. The more positive
the P-E scores, the higher the
level of service quality leading
to a higher level of customer
satisfaction. Satisfaction and
service quality are both treated
together as functions of a
FXVWRPHU¶V SHUFHSWLRQV DQG
expectations. In most cases,
when expectation and
perception are equal, service
quality is satisfactory.
3.6.4 Reliability
Coefficient
URQEDFK¶V DOSKD UHOLDELOLW
coefficient normally ranges
between 0 and 1. However,
there is actually no lower limit
to the coefficient. The closer
URQEDFK¶V DOSKD FRHIILFLHQW LV
to 1.0 the greater the internal
consistency of the items in the
scale. George and Mallery
(2003) provide the following
UXOHV RI WKXPE ³B ! ±
Excellent, _ .8 ± Good, _ .7
± Acceptable, _ .6 ±
Questionable, _ .5 ± Poor and
_ .5 ± Unacceptab
As per table 3.3, the reliability
coefficients of all five
dimensions on table 5 have
good internal consistency of the
items in the scale, Reliability
(0.816), Responsiveness
(0.806), Assurance (0.816),
Empathy (0.814) and Tangibles
(0.827). The total cronbach
alpha shows good reliability
coefficient, 0.82, this is an
indication that the items of the
five dimensions of SERVQUAL
model are accepted for analysis
and true measure of the role of
satisfaction in ethio telecom for
fixed line telephone.
3.7 Methods of data
analysis
The analysis of qualitative and
quantitative data collected from
sample respondents using
structured questioner were
noticed in descriptive statistics
analysis. The analysis of
quantitative data collected from
sample customers were
computed from the result of
Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) software of
version 20. To describe the
41

sample characteristics in the
data analysis report,
UHVSRQGHQW¶VSURILOHVXFKDVDJH
gender; educational background
and income were analyzed in
the form of table, and bar chart (
in percentage and frequency) .
Survey on customers
expectation and perception were
described in Gap 5 score
analysis (P-E), finally, the
researcher was interpreted each
service quality dimensions
based on the gap score analysis.
42

CHAPTER FOUR
4. RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION
This chapter presents
characteristics of the studied
population, analysis and
interpretation of the data
collected. Out of sample size of
380 fixed line telephones
service customers at Hawassa
city. All of respondents were
responded full data. Before
going directly to discussion of
the result, it would be better to
introduce the respondents,
because having an
understanding about the
respondents may help to
estimate the accuracy of the
information provided by them.
In addition, it may give an idea
about how many respondents
abled to answer the questions
forwarded with the acceptable
degree of reliability and it helps
for all other decisions related to
customers.
The objective of the analysis of
primary data collected from
survey as presented in the
previous chapter is to answer
our research questions which
include finding out how
quality in ethio telecom and
whether they are satisfied with
service quality in ethio telecom.
This will enable us attain the
objectives of our study which
are mainly describing empirical
phenomena which are service
satisfaction.
Data analysis for this study was
done in two steps, the
preliminary analysis and the
main analysis. For preliminary
analysis which involves mainly
descriptive statistics to
summarize data, the
demographic characteristics of
the respondents were outlined in
order to simplify the
understanding of the data.
The main analysis involved
factor analysis whose purpose to
find out if the SERVQUAL is
applicable in the context of
ethio telecom and the gap score
analysis whereby descriptive
statistics were applied to
summarize means of
perceptions and expectations of
43

consumers. We calculate the
perception minus expectation
scores for each item and
dimension in order to identify
the service quality gaps.
4.1 Demographic
characteristics of the
respondents
7KH SDUWLFLSDQWV¶ GHPRJUDSKLF
profile was assessed in terms of
gender, age, Occupations,
education level, Monthly
income and Expenditure.
Source: From Demographic
questionnaire analysis result by
SPSS (September 2014)
demographic profile of the
respondents is described as
follows; males were 56.6%
while females were 43.4%
slightly lower than males. This
farther implies that there was a
good representation of gender in
the sample and the majority of
fixed line telephone subscribers
were the male.
PDMRULW RI WKH UHVSRQGHQWV¶
age were from 20-40, 75.3%,
this indicated that most of them
are young adult age and
economically active group.
Those Followed by from 40-50,
24.7%. Thus most of the users
of fixed line telephone were
economically active groups.
fixed line service users were
civil servants, 62.4% followed
by private employee 12.9%
lastly students and business
man/woman were covered
24.7%. This indicated the
students were mostly they didn`t
the customer of fixed line
telephone.
Bachelor degree undergraduate
customers forming 62.6%,this
indicate middle income group in
Ethiopian context ,followed by
Diploma, 12.6% and other
levels formed 24.8%.
44

most of the respondents 74.5%
were gets income above
3000.00 birr, this indicate
middle income group and most
of Bachelor degree employee
earning group in context of
Ethiopia and 25.5 % were gets
from 2000.00-3000.00 birr.
PRVW RI WKH UHVSRQGHQWV¶ LH
62.9% they spend below 100
birr for fixed line telephone
service, followed by 37.1 %
who spend between 100 to 500
birr. This indicated most of the
user of the service is residential,
those who spend low
expenditure for the service.
Summery of means of
customer' expectations and gap
scoresSource: From Costumers
SPSS (October 2014)
4.2 Expectations and
perceptions discussed
Expectations and perceptions
were both measured by the 7-
point likert scale whereby the
higher numbers indicate higher
level of expectation or
perception. In general,
consumer expectation exceeded
the perceived level of service
shown by the perception scores.
This resulted in a negative gap
score (Perception ±
Expectation). According to
Parasuraman et al., (1988, p.30)
it is however common for
FRQVXPHU¶V H[SHFWDWLRQ WR
exceed the actual service
perceived and this signifies that
there is always need for
improvement.
The gap scores are the
difference between the
perception and expectation
scores with a range of values
from -6 to +6 and these gap
scores measure service quality
and customer satisfaction. The
more perceptions are close to
expectations, the higher the
perceived level of quality. As
per table 4.1 of above, all
expectation of service quality
dimension were higher than
perceptions. This resulted in
negative gap score. The
customer of ethio telecom
ZHUHQ¶W JRW ZKDW WKH H[SHFW
45

from fixed line telephone
service. In other words ethio
telecom they did not delivered
the quality service for fixed
telephone by all dimensions.
This crated customer
dissatisfaction. Customer were
highly expected on assurance
dimension, but get less
perceived and the gap score
shows the highest negative of
Assurance (-1.9271) and
followed by Reliability (-
1.551), Responsiveness (-
1.5271), empathy (-1.2014) and
Tangibility (-0.9372)
respectively. The overall
average gap score were showed
as Ǧ1.4287 for all five
dimensions. It indicated that
there was a poor service quality
of fixed line telephone and
customer dissatisfaction against
the service. Customers expected
more, but they perceived less
from ethio telecom fixed line
service. This was showed by a
negative gap score as per table 4
above.
4.3 SERVQUAL
Results Discussions
4.3.1 RL- Reliability
The Reliability dimension of the
SERVQUAL instrument is
comprised of questions 7-11,
which assess ethio telecom
fixed line service quality on the
reliability aspects (Ethio
telecom provides timely
installation, reconnection,
location change, owner change
and maintenance on fixed
telephone service, Ethio telecom
performing telephone service
right the first time, handle yours
complain in consistent
especially on bill clarity, Ethio
telecom maintains your network
on error free records and
truthful or keeping to promises
in fixed line telephone network
to you. ) When looking at
each of the five factors making
up the reliability dimension of
customer satisfaction, the
expectations of ethio telecom
customer on fixed line
telephone exceed their
perceptions in all five areas:
this indicated ethio telecom they
did not proved timely
46

installation, reconnection,
location change, owner change
and maintenance on fixed
telephone service (gap score , P-
E = -2.1325) , performing
telephone service right the first
time (gap score : P-E = -
1.7748), Ethio telecom is handle
yours complain in consistent
especially on bill clarity (gap
score P-E = -1.0331), providing
service at the promised time
(gap score , P-E = -1.9404), and
insistence on error free records
(gap score ,P-E = -0.8742).
The average unweighted gap
score (P-E) for the reliability
dimension of customer
satisfaction is -1.551. When
applied the reliability weight
score of 36 to the gap score the
gap score jumps to -55.836. In
both cases, the survey results
shows that the perception of the
customers on fixed line
telephone fall below their
expectations of the reliability
aspects in ethio telecom.
A summary of the survey results
for the reliability dimension of
service quality on fixed line
telephone are summarized in the
Source: From Costumers
SPSS (October 2014)
SPSS (October 2014) the
reliability dimensions weight is
36, average unweight reliability
gap score is -1.551 and
weighted reliability gap score is
-55.836. The results show that
the perception of the customers
on fixed line telephone fall
below to their expectations of
the reliability aspects in ethio
telecom.
4.3.2 RS- Responsiveness
The Responsiveness dimension
of the SERVQUAL instrument
is comprised of questions 12-16,
responsiveness aspects (Tells to
you exactly when service will
be performed ,Ethio telecom is
prompts service and attends
yours needs or problems on
fixed line telephone, employees
have willing to help customers
in emergence situation,
employees at help desk are
approachable and easy to
47

contact to customer request and
employees of call center like
994 have ability to
communicate clearly with you. )
When looking at each of the
five factors making up the
responsiveness dimension, the
average expectations of ethio
telecom fixed line telephone
customer exceed their
perceptions in all five areas; this
indicated ethio telecom tells to
you exactly when service will
be performed (gap score P-E = -
1.1655), Ethio telecom is
prompts service and attends
yours needs or problems on
fixed line telephone (gap score
P-E = -0.8808), employees have
willing to help customers in
emergence situation (gap score
P-E = -1.649), employees at
help desk are approachable and
easy to contact to customer
request (gap score P-E -1.9603),
employees of call center like
994 have ability to
communicate clearly with you.
(Gap score P-E = -1.9801)
score (P-E) for the
Responsiveness dimension of
customer satisfaction is = -
1.5271. When applying the
reliability weight score of 20 to
the gap score the gap score
jumps to -30.542. In both cases,
the survey results show that the
perception of the customers on
fixed line telephone fall below
to their expectations of the
responsiveness aspects in ethio
telecom.
A summary of the survey results
for the responsiveness
dimension of service quality on
fixed line telephone are
summarized in the table 4.3 that
appear below.
SPSS (October 2014)
the responsiveness dimensions
weight is 20, average unweight
responsiveness gap score is -
1.5271 and weighted
responsiveness gap score is -
30.542. The results show that
the responsiveness aspects in
ethio telecom.
48

4.3.3 AS- Assurance
The assurance dimension of the
assurance aspects (provides
variety of value added service
like call forward, call
waiting...on fixed telephone
service to you, honesty and
patience in solving of customer
complain or problems,
HPSORHHV¶ EHKDYLRUV DUH LQ
instilling confidence in
customers and employees
including, help desk (994) have
required skill and knowledge to
answer customer questions. )
When looking at each of the
four factors making up the
assurance dimension, the
perceptions in all four this
indicated; areas provides variety
of value added service like call
forward, call waiting...on fixed
telephone service to you (gap
score P-E , -2.6887), honesty
and patience in solving of
customer complain or problems
(gap score P-E = -1.2582),
HPSORHHV¶ EHKDYLRUV DUH LQ
instilling confidence in
customers (gap score P-E = -
1.6954), employees including,
help desk (994) have required
skill and knowledge to answer
customer questions (gap score
P-E -2.0662)
score (P-E) for the assurance
satisfaction is = -1.9271. When
applying the reliability weight
show that the perception of the
expectations of the assurance
SPSS (October 2014)
weighted assurance gap score
is -34.688. The results show that
the assurance aspects in ethio
telecom.
49

4.3.4 EM- Empathy
The empathy dimension of the
empathy dimension aspects;
(Ethio telecom is gives you free
call time and individual
attention on fixed line service,
have operating hours convenient
to all customers, having sound
loyalty programme to recognize
you as frequent customer,
having the customer best
interest at heart and employees
giving individual customer
attention.) When looking at
each of the five factors making
up the empathy dimension, the
perceptions in all five empathy
factors, this indicated of Ethio
telecom is gives you free call
time and individual attention on
fixed line service (gap score P-E
, -0.7291), have operating hours
convenient to all customers (gap
score P-E = -1.649), having
sound loyalty programme to
recognize you as frequent
customer (gap score P-E = -
0.9603), having the customer
best interest at heart (gap score
P-E -0.9801) and employees
giving individual customer
attention (gap score P-E -
1.6887)
score (P-E) for the empathy
expectations of the empathy
SPSS (October 2014)
the empathy dimensions weight
is 14, average unweight
empathy gap score is -1.2014
and weighted empathy gap
score is -16.820. The results
telephone fall below to their
50

expectations of the empathy
4.3.5 TA- Tangibility
The tangibility dimension of the
tangibility dimension aspects;
(Ethio telecom is delivers
modern apparatus to you,
provision of visual attractive,
office, equipment and material
to maintain fixed telephone
service, Ethio telecom should
providing adequate network
coverage and Ethio telecom is
replaced the old cable, pole and
other outdated material with
modern equipment and
materials.) When looking at
each of the four factors making
up the tangibility dimension, the
perceptions in all four
dimension of tan tangibility ,this
indicated of Ethio telecom is
delivers modern apparatus to
you (gap score P-E , -1.2582),
provision of visual attractive,
office, equipment and material
to maintain fixed telephone
service (gap score P-E = -
0.6954), Ethio telecom should
providing adequate network
coverage (gap score P-E = -
1.0662) and Ethio telecom is
replaced the old cable, pole and
other outdated material with
modern equipment and
materials (gap score P-E -
0.7291)
The average un weighted gap
score (P-E) for the tangibility
expectations of the tangibility
SPSS (October 2014)
51

The tangibility dimensions
weight is 12, average unweight
tangibility gap score is -.09372
and weighted tangibility gap
score is -11.246. The results
telephone fall below to their
expectations of the tangibility
4.4 Overall Gap scores
analysis
The gap score analysis is enable
us to find out how consumers
perceive service quality in ethio
telecom and tries to identify
what dimensions of service
quality they are satisfied with.
According to Parasuraman et al
(1985) the higher (more
positive) the perception (P)
minus expectation (E) score, the
higher the perceived service
quality and thereby leading to a
higher level of customer
satisfaction. In this regard, the
gap scores were calculated
based on the difference between
WKH FRQVXPHUV¶ SHUFHSWLRQV DQG
expectations of services offered
by ethio telecom. In general, it
ZDV IRXQG WKDW FXVWRPHUV¶
offered by ethio telecom did not
meet their expectations (all gaps
scores the dimensions are
negative). Dimensions that
reported larger mean gaps were
the gap score shows the highest
negative of assurance (-1.9271)
and followed by Reliability (-
1.551), Responsiveness (-
1.5271), empathy (-1.2014) and
Tangibility (-0.9372)
respectively. These values show
that the perception of
performance in ethio telecom is
less than the expected level of
service quality.
SPSS (October 2014)
4.5 Description Statistics of
dimensions
Reliability
The mean is -1.551 which
means that respondents are not
satisfied with the quality of
services as depicted by the
reliability dimension. The
standard deviation is 0.701
which means that the gaps are
spread away from the mean.
The modal gap is however
different from the mean and it is
52

-0.420 and the median gap is -
0.550. The distribution is
positively skewed with a value
of -1.207 indicating the gaps are
deviated to the right of the mean
and the gaps are clustered away
from the mean with a kurtosis
value of 0.146.
Responsiveness
Averagely fixed line telephone
customers are unsatisfied with
the level of services offered by
ethio telecom at Hawassa city as
they have a gap of -1.5271 for
this dimension. The median and
the mode are higher than the
mean with gaps of -0.450 and -
0.250 respectively. The standard
deviation of the responsiveness
dimension is 0.702 which
indicates that the gaps are not
very widely deviated from the
mean. The deviation is to the
right with a positive skewness
of -1.135. The gaps are also
clustered at a point different
from the mean of the
distribution because the kurtosis
value is 0.982.
Assurance
they have a gap of -1.9271for
this dimension. The median and
the mode are higher than the
mean with gaps of -0.440 and -
0.20 respectively. The standard
deviation of the Assurance
dimension is 0.685 which
indicates that the gaps are not
very widely deviated from the
mean. The deviation is to the
right with a positive skewness
of -1.153. The gaps are also
clustered at a point different
from the mean of the
distribution because the kurtosis
value is 1.072.
Empathy
The average gap score for the
empathy dimension is -1.2014.
The median gap for this
distribution is -0.25 and the
modal gap is - 0.15. It has a
standard deviation of 1.088
which means that the gaps are
deviated from the mean but not
very much.
They are deviated to the right
because the distribution is
positively skewed with a value
of -1.106 and clustered at a
53

value away from the mean with
a kurtosis value of 1.028.
Tangibility
they have a gap of -0.9372and
the median gap is -0.56. The
model score is -0.43. The
standard deviation is 1.108
indicating the spread of gaps
away from the mean. The
distribution is positively skewed
with a skewness of -0.454
which indicates that the figures
are deviated more to the right.
The kurtosis value is 0.817
which mean that there is
clustering somewhere away
from the mean.
4.6 Overall importance of
service quality dimension:
Overall importance of service
quality dimensions shows from
the questions number 32-36
.Extensive research conducted
by the SERVQUAL developers
and that all five have been
found to be important to
customers, they have also
concluded that the customer
base assign different levels of
importance to each dimension.
(Zeithaml, Parasuraman,
Berry, Delivering Quality
Service - Balancing Customer
Perceptions and Expectations,
1990) Based on the
UHVSRQGHQW¶V UHVSRQVH WKH
researcher was divided 100
points between the five
dimensions based upon their
perception of importance.
The importance ranking of the
SERVQUAL dimensions for
ethio telecom fixed line
telephone service from most
important to least important
were listed as follows:
1. Reliability
2. Responsiveness
3. Assurance
4. Empathy
5. Tangibility
Reliability (36%) is the most
important dimension to measure
service quality of fixed line
telephone and followed by
Responsiveness (20%),
assurance (18%), empathy
(14%) and Tangibility (12%)
respectively in ethio telecom.
54

CHAPTER FIVE
5. CONCLUSIONS
AND
RECOMMENDATIO
NS
5.1 Conclusions
In this chapter, answers to
research questions are presented
by summarizing findings from
the analysis and discussion
chapter. This chapter also
covers the recommendations
for further research.
From the results obtained, the
quality as poor in all
dimensions, meaning their
expectations is higher than their
experience for fixed line
telephone service in ethio
telecom. In this regard,
consumers are not satisfied with
any dimension of service
quality. All the dimensions
show a gap between expected
service and perceived service
and this indicating that, the
ethio telecom need to make
improvements in all dimensions
in order to close gap which
could lead to increased
From the gap score analysis, it
was found that, the overall
service quality is low as
perceived by consumers in ethio
telecom on fixed line telephone
and no customer satisfaction.
Consumers have higher
expectations than what they
actually receive from ethio
telecom fixed telephone service.
To answer our second research
questions which is; Are
customers satisfied with service
quality dimension for fixed line
telephone in ethio telecom, the
gap scores analysis provided
answers to these questions. The
overall perceived service quality
is low as expectations exceed
perceptions meaning consumers
desired more than what was
offered to them. As a result of
this gap, it is clear that
consumers are not satisfied.
Evidence from the study show
that, ethio telecom have to
improve performance on all the
order to increase customer
satisfaction since consumers
55

Assessing The Role Of Service Quality On Customer Satisfaction In Ethio Telecom At South Region Case Hawassa City.Pdf

Assessing The Role Of Service Quality On Customer Satisfaction In Ethio Telecom At South Region Case Hawassa City.Pdf

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Assessing The Role Of Service Quality On Customer Satisfaction In Ethio Telecom At South Region Case Hawassa City.Pdf