The service performance gap: testing the redeveloped causal model

Abstract

Focuses on the service performance gap, which occurs when service is not performed according to the standards set. It attempts to define the antecedents of the gap. The research is set in the European airline industry with a theoretical framework based on service quality and the trust‐commitment theory of relationship marketing. With support from a literature review on exchange theory, equity theory, role theory and the trust‐commitment theory of relationship marketing, 18 hypotheses are advanced to develop and test an alternative to the original model by Parasuraman et al. Data were collected from two European airlines. A postal survey of 600 customer contact employees produced 193 respondents, an overall response rate of 32 per cent. The empirical investigation involved the use of structural equation modelling to estimate the proposed model. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement instrument. The study offers some support to the work of Parasuraman et al., in another industrial context. It extends their findings by proposing an alternative model, which shows that the service performance gap is influenced both directly and indirectly by a significant number of critical factors including trust, commitment and co‐operation.

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