Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the SERVQUAL (service
quality) model by examining its effect ofsupermarkets on customer satisfaction and store
loyalty. Service quality is studied within a range of different dimensions. An effort is also
made to find out which service quality dimensions may enhance customer satisfaction and
store loyalty in a better way.
Methodology & Design
The method used for this research is quantitative while some of the respondents did not
respond while some were unengaged in their response so the sample size for this study is
300 out of which 256 responded. Survey questionnaires were distributed among various
customers in selected supermarkets. Descriptive statistics, Reliability analysis and path
coefficients are used to analyze the data.
Findings
Findings indicate that three dimensions of service quality has significant and positive
association with customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction mediates a significant
relation between tangibles, assurance, responsiveness and store loyalty as the statistical
result shows that, the Sig. P value is less than 0.05.
Limitations
The research is limited to the supermarket sector of Karachi. Although there are various
super stores in other region of Pakistan, due to time and budget constraints the research is
only been carried out into Sindh region. This research has explored few supermarkets of
Karachi such as Imtiaz supermarket, Naheed supermarket, Chaseup, Hyperstar and Ami’s
supermarket. In spite of this, other retail sectors may have been found that can influence
the buying behavior of customers.
