Abstract
Providers of professional services have recently awakened to consumer challenges, competition and the realities of marketing. Looking at the expectations and experiences of providers and consumers can provide special insight into the services evaluation process and perceived service quality. By evaluating both professionals’ and consumers’ perspectives, differences in perceptions can be identified and characterized. Inconsistencies in perceptions between two parties to an exchange may result in dissatisfaction, while positive consistencies in these assessments aid in building on-going relationships.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berry, Leonard L., Valarie A. Zeithaml, and A. Parasuraman. 1985. “Quality Counts in Services, Too.”Business Horizons 28 (May/June): 44–52.
Brown, Stephen W. and Teresa A. Swartz. 1989. “A Gap Analysis of Professional Service Quality.”Journal of Marketing 53 (April).
Cadotte, Ernest R., Robert B. Woodruff, and Roger L. Jenkins. 1987. “Expectations and Norms in Models of Consumer Satisfaction.”Journal of Marketing Research 24 (August): 305–314.
Day, Ralph L. and Stephen Ash. 1979. “Comparison of Patterns of Satisfaction/dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior for Durables, Nondurables, and Services.”New Dimensions of Consumer Satisfaction and Complaining Behavior. Eds. Ralph L. Day and H. Keith Hunt. Bloomington: Indiana University: 190–195.
Dodds, William B. and Kent Monroe. 1985. “The Effect of Brand and Price Information on Subjective Product Evaluations.”Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. XII. Eds. Elizabeth Hirschman and Morris Holbrook. Provo, Utah: Association for Consumer Research: 85–90.
Folkes, Valerie S. 1988. “Recent Attribution Research in Consumer Behavior: A Review and New Directions.”Journal of Consumer Research 14 (March): 548–565.
Garvin, David A. 1984. “What Does ‘Product Quality’ Really Mean?”Sloan Management Review 26 (Fall): 25–43.
Gronhaug, Kjell and Johann Arndt. 1980. “Consumer Dissatisfaction and Complaint Behavior as Feedback: A Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Delivery Systems.”Advances in Consumer Research, vol. III. Ed. Jerry C. Olsen. Ann Arbor: Association for Consumer Research: 324–328.
Grönroos, Christian. 1983.Strategic Management and Marketing in the Service Sector. Boston: Marketing Science Institute.
Holbrook, Morris B. and Kim P. Corfman. 1985. “Quality and Value in the Consumption Experience: Phaedrus Rides Again.”Perceived Quality. Eds. Jacob Jacoby and Jerry C. Olson. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books: 31–57.
Jacoby, Jacob and Jerry C. Olson. Eds. 1985.Perceived Quality. Lexington, MA: Lexington, Books.
Lehtinen, Jarmo R. and Uolevi Lehtinen. 1982. “Service Quality: A Study of Quality Dimensions.” Unpublished working paper. Helsinki: Service Management Institute.
McConnell, J. Douglas. 1968. “Effects of Pricing on Perception of Product Quality.”Journal of Applied Psychology 52 (August): 300–304.
Oliver, Richard I. 1979. “Product Dissatisfaction as a Function of Prior Expectation and Subsequent Disconfirmation: New Evidence.”New Dimensions of Consumer Satisfaction and Complaining Behavior. Eds. Ralph L. Day and H. Keith Hunt. Bloomington: Indiana University: 66–71.
Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Leonard L. Berry. 1985. “A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research.”Journal of Marketing (Fall): 41–50.
Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry. 1988. “SERVQUAL: A Multi-item Scale for Measuring Customer Perceptions of Service Quality.”Journal of Retailing 64 (Spring): 12–40.
Quelch, John A. and Stephen B. Ash. 1981. “Consumer Satisfaction with Professional Services.”Marketing of Services. Eds. James H. Donnelly and William R. George. Chicago: American Marketing Association: 82–85.
Stafford, James E. and Ben M. Enis. 1969. “The Price-Quality Relationship: An Extension.”Journal of Marketing Research 6 (November): 456–458.
Valle, Valerie A. and Randi Koeske. 1977. “Elderly Consumer Problems: Actions, Sources of Information and Attributions of Blame,”Proceedings of Division 23 Ed. Clark Leavitt: 7–8.
— and Melanie Wallendorf. 1977. “Consumer Attributions of the Cause of Their Product Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction.”Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior Ed. Ralph L. Day. Bloomington: Indiana University: 26–30.
Wheatley, John J. and John S. Y. Chiu. 1977. “The Effects of Price, Store Image, and Product and Respondent Characteristics on Perceptions of Quality.”Journal of Marketing Research 14 (May): 181–186.
Woodruff, Robert B., Ernest R. Cadotte, and Roger L. Jenkins. 1983. “Modeling Consumer Satisfaction Process Using Experience-Based Norms.”Journal of Marketing Research 20 (August): 296–304.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Swartz, T.A., Brown, S.W. Consumer and provider expectations and experiences in evaluating professional service quality. JAMS 17, 189–195 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723377
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723377