BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In any service industry, one of a
manager’s crucial decision for success is to determine the suitable level of
service quality. When customers are not satisfied with a service, they not only
quit the service but also relate their unfavourable service experience to
others which then results in decreased current and potential sales (Bolton
1998, Keaveney 1995 and Richins 1983).
To acquire new customers and retain
existing customers, firms invest huge resources to improve service quality.
However, pursuing the highest level of service quality often costs too much.
Anderson, Fornell and Rust (1997) have shown that the relationship between
customer’s satisfaction and a firm’s profitability tends to be negative in
service industries.
For managers, it is essential to
understand the effects of improving the level of service quality on current and
potential customer relationship. In the past, most advertising and promotional
efforts were developed to acquire new customers. But today, more and more
advertising as well as promotional efforts are designed to retain current
customers and to increase the amount of money they spend with the company.
Consumers see so much advertising that they have learned to ignore much of it.
As a result, it has become more difficult to attract new customers.
Servicing existing customers,
however, is easier and less expensive. In fact, it is estimated that acquiring
a new customer cost five to eight times as much as keeping an existing one. To
retain current customers, some companies develop loyalty programs such as the
frequent flyer programs used by many companies –airlines etc. A marketer may
also seek to retain customers by learning a customer’s individual interests and
then tailoring service to meet them.
Amazon.com, for example, keeps a
database of the types of books customers have ordered in the past and then
recommends new books to them based on their past selections. Such programs help
companies to retain customers, not only by providing useful services, but also
by making customers feel appreciated. This is known as relationship building.
Zenith Bank Plc will be used as a
case study and a brief history of Zenith Bank Plc can be read thus. Zenith Bank
was established in May 1990. It became a public limited company in July, 2004
and had an initial public offering on the Nigerian stock exchange (NSE) on
October 21 of the same year. When the bank’s shares where listed on the
Nigerian Stock Exchange on 21 October, 2004 and following a very high successful
initial public offer (IPO), over 700,000 Nigerian individuals and institutions
currently own the bank.
Over the years, the Zenith Bank has
become synonymous with the use of information and communication technology
(ICT) in banking and general innovation in the Nigerian banking industry. The
group’s main service delivery channels remain its local and foreign
subsidiaries and its business offices (branches and cash offices), which
currently stand at over 315 while offering electronic banking services, such as
internet banking, bills payment and telephone banking services amongst others.
Its business offices are located in prime business and commercial cities in
each state of the federation and they are easily accessible to all the Central
Bank of Nigeria’s clearing zones allover Nigeria.
Within the first decade of
commencing operations, the bank made its mark in profitability and all other
performance indices in Nigeria and has maintained this prime position to date.
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
As it is already referred, research
in customer satisfaction is often associated with service quality dimensions.
Bitner and Hubbert (1994) defined service quality as the customer’s overall
impression about perceived superiority of a company and its product/services
while satisfaction is defined as the feeling of customer after the usage and
the purchase of a product or service. Many authors have argued about the
relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality. Some of them
like Tayor and Banker (1994) considered them as totally different elements that
should be treated as equivalents in models of customer decision-making.
Levesque and Mc Dougal (1996) stated that there are two overriding dimensions
of service quality. The first concerns the core aspects of service (e.g.
reliability) and the second concerns the process aspects of the service (e.g.
responsiveness, assurance). Banking services are intangible and due to this, it
is very difficult for the customers to assess service quality. This is why
(Bitner 1990) stated that the customers make conclusion about service quality
based on tangible things like the premises and physical layouts which surrounds
the service environments. Smith (2000) examined the dimensionality of the
service quality construct and distinguish three dimensions. Access-
convenience, human elements and tangibles.
Access
and Convenience are considered as very important for the ease of the customers.
In a service provider like a bank, the Human Resources are the main assets of
the organization. The skills and the attitude of the personnel offer
competitive advantages and differentiates one bank from the other. Tangible
issues like the architectural design or the functionality of the procedures
reinforce the perceived holistic image of the organization. Cronin and Taylor
(1992) undertook an empirical test of the reciprocity between satisfaction and
quality across several service industries. Using structural equation modeling,
they found that service quality can be seen as an determinant of satisfaction
which in turn influences purchase intentions. Lately, however, it has been
suggested that, in addition to service quality and satisfaction, image is also
an important determinant of customer patronage. It has been observed that financial
services firms often lose customers due to poor service rather than poor
products (Borren and Hedges 1993). Based on customer feedback on various
products and services offered in the financial services sector, factors were
identified by Krishnan (1999), which affect customer satisfaction. Bloemer et al. (1998) argued that there is
literature confusion about the relationship of customer satisfaction and
service quality. They found that service quality can be taken as a determinant
of customer satisfaction. The bank customers have certain expectations prior to
their contact with the bank. They develop perceptions during their service from
the bank and they compare these perceptions with their expectations