Assessing Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Using SERVQUAL Model: An Empirical Study of Palestinian Conventional Banks

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Date
2018-02-15
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An-Najah National University
Abstract
The banking sector is one of the most influencing sectors in the Palestinian economy. But this sector lacks to quality services offered to the customers. Therefore the purpose of this research is to assess service quality and customers’ satisfaction levels of offered services in the Palestinian convectional banks. While customers’ satisfaction plays an important role in the banking sector. This research seeks to understand how service quality is being implemented in the Palestinian conventional banks and the implication of this on the local market. This research is considered as one of the first researches that asses customers’ satisfaction level in the Palestinian conventional banks. The researcher used a mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. SERVQUAL model was used to create the research questionnaire as a quantitative data collection tool for this research. The researcher distributed 450 self-administrated questionnaires. The data was collected from 397 complete questionnaires, and were analyzed using SPSS software. The researcher used nonparametric methods such as: Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann Whitney to get accurate results, while the collected data was not normally distributed. On the other hand, the researcher supported the quantitative results by performing qualitative data analysis. Therefore, the researcher performed eight semi-structured interviews, and analyzed data using codifying common sense approach. The researcher analyzed the five domains of SERVQUAL model, and the results showed that empathy domain was the weakest domain between all of them, while this domain has the biggest gap between customers’ expectations and perceptions. This domain followed by assurance, reliability and responsiveness. And the smallest gap was detected in tangibles domain. In addition, the researcher tested the effect of three independent variables on service quality. The results showed that only respondents’ gender affects service quality, while number of years dealing with the bank, and bank size variables didn’t have any effect on service quality. In the light of this research results, the researcher developed a managerial model that can helps service quality managers in the Palestinian conventional banks to enhance their customers’ satisfaction toward offered services, by improving banks’ service quality. Keywords: Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, SERVQUAL model, Semi-Structure Interviews, Conventional Banks, Palestine.
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