THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THE CASE OF EASTERN INDUSTRY ZONE ONE STOP SHOP SERVICES

Abstract

One stop shop services were launched in eastern industry zone first time as an investment attraction and it is now implemented in the new industry parks. This service is not satisfying some of the customers. The general objective of this research is to study the association of service quality and customer satisfaction in the eastern industry zone one stop shop service. Purposive sampling technique is applied to select the samples. Primary data is gathered from the customers of the one stop shop service in the park using self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire used the SERVPERF model with a 22 service quality performance statements and the degree of the customers’ agreement (perception) has been measured using five Likert Scale methods. Quantitative research approach is applied to analyze the data using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 20 and the data is presented in descriptive and inferential statistics. In the descriptive analysis of service quality performance measurement, tangibility scored highest mean value and responsiveness indicated least mean value relatively. The descriptive analysis for overall customer satisfaction level demonstrated that majority of customers are satisfied with the service delivered and some stayed neutral. The findings of correlation analysis indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between all service quality dimensions( tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) and customer satisfaction. The regression analysis exhibited, the service quality dimensions have significant influence on customer satisfaction and empathy has the highest influence on customer satisfaction. Furthermore, 40% of the variations in customer satisfaction is explained by service quality dimensions. It can be concluded from the analysis that customer satisfaction is positively and significantly influenced by all service quality dimensions. Based on the findings of this research it is recommended that the management of EIZ OSS should enhance empathy and reliability dimensions since both strongly and positively influence satisfaction and customers perceived second and fourth rank of the five dimensions