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SERVQUAL REVISITED

Finding Service Gaps in

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the Age of e-Commerce

By A. PARASURAMAN
No

M
any companies today are tapping
into new technologies to cut costs
and collect huge amounts of data
from customers. With the rise of
social media and other online tools, firms are able
to track information exchanges like never before.
Do
long-term survival.
In the mid-1980s, my colleagues and I cre-
ated a system for measuring service quality,
called SERVQUAL. The framework has become
standard for companies in diverse sectors.
Although the business world has witnessed

However, most firms tend to collect custom-
er information and dump it into storage. Few
have developed a keen understanding of how
to extract useful information and then use it to
improve service and add value. It’s not surpris-
ing, then, that businesses continue to launch
services that don’t really reflect what their cus-
tomers want or need. This disconnect – between
what the customer expects and what a company
provides – can pose a real threat to a company’s
dramatic changes over the intervening de-
cades, I believe that the SERVQUAL framework
remains just as relevant, if not more so, today.
Many companies, awash with too much infor-
mation, are struggling to single out which ser-
vices they should launch or discontinue. Don’t
let the new technologies distract you: This
article revisits the long-standing SERVQUAL
framework in light of today’s challenges, show-
ing how this and other tried-and-tested assess-

30
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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce

ment tools can help to give your firm’s service
efforts much-needed direction and focus in this
age of big data.
t
os
of Retailing in 1988, my colleagues and I delved
further into probing customers’ service expec-
tations through extensive focus groups cover-
ing multiple sectors. What emerged was that

Back to Basics: SERVQUAL Scale
The SERVQUAL scale may be familiar to you: It
starts with a questionnaire that illuminates the
gaps between what customers expect and what
they actually perceive about a given company.
Gap scores are determined by subtracting cus-
tomers’ expectations ratings from their percep-
tions ratings on a 22-item scale (see Exhibit 1).
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customers’ service expectations exist at two
different levels:
DESIRED SERVICE. A blend of what customers be-
lieve can be and should be provided – that is, the
realistic ideal.
ADEQUATE SERVICE. The minimum level of service
that customers are willing to accept.
In between these two levels is a zone of toler-

yo
This serves to quantify the service expectation/
perception gap along five broad dimensions,
which are applicable to any industry:
TANGIBLES. The appearance of physical facilities,
equipment, personnel and communications
materials.
RELIABILITY. The ability to perform the promised
service dependably and accurately.
op
RESPONSIVENESS. The willingness of a company
and its employees to help customers and provide
prompt service.
ASSURANCE. The knowledge and courtesy dem-
onstrated by employees, and their ability to in-
spire trust and confidence.
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ance, reflecting a range of service expectations a
customer has. The zone of tolerance also repre-
sents the range of service performance the cus-
tomer would consider satisfactory.
Measuring Quality Online:
The e-SERVQUAL Framework
Since the mid-1990s, my research agenda has
shifted from service quality per se to the role
of technology in service delivery. My collabora-
tions relate to three interlinked, but distinct, re-
search streams relating to the role of technology
in service delivery: e-service quality; the tech-
nology readiness of customers and employees;

EMPATHY. The caring, individualized attention and network-based service systems.

that the firm provides its customers. The traditional approach to marketing and
After publishing SERVQUAL in the Journal service delivery is reflected by the Triangle
Model of Services Marketing proposed by mar-
keting specialist Philip Kotler, which is designed
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY to capture the complexities of marketing ser-
vices relative to marketing tangible goods. The
Thirty years after developing as well as the technology read- three vertices of the triangle are the company,
No

the well-known SERVQUAL
scale, the author revisits the
original framework in light of
the growing role of technology
in service delivery. As more
and more people turn to the
Internet to purchase goods and
services, he and his colleagues
have recognized the need to
Do
iness index to segment cus-
tomers. As many enterprises
move into new sales formats,
such as integrating online
and brick-and-mortar retail
services, they would do well to
find out what customers really
value. Many companies, the
author feels, are tapping into
its employees and its customers, with each side
representing:
EXTERNAL MARKETING. Connecting a company
with its customers, using the conventional
modes of marketing, such as the 4Ps of product,
price, place and promotion.
INTERNAL MARKETING. Connecting the company
with its employees, and emphasizing the need
to view employees – especially customer-facing

adapt the SERVQUAL frame-
work to the realities of the on-
line experience; specifically, to
measure the extent to which a
website facilitates efficient and
effective shopping, purchasing
and delivery, with the aim of
improving the service quality
of websites. This has led to the
development of e-SERVQUAL,
This document insight
IESEis authorized for educator review use only by ISHVINDER SINGH AHLUWALIA, ICFAI University until MayISSUE
new technologies only insofar
as to cut costs or collect huge
amounts of customer data,
which they tend to dump into
storage. This article shows how
tried-and-tested assessment
tools can help give your firm’s
service efforts much-needed
direction and focus in this age
of big data.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
employees – as internal customers, ensuring they
are satisfied and sold on the company.
INTERACTIVE MARKETING. Connecting employ-
ees with customers, and emphasizing the impor-
tance of ensuring that all customer interactions
with the company’s employees enhance rather
than detract from the company’s image in the
customers’ eyes.
Conspicuously missing from this model is
technology, which is increasingly mediating
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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce

t
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interactions among companies, employees and Of these four, customer assessments of ef-
customers. Consequently, I proposed a Pyramid ficiency and fulfillment appear to be the most
Model of Services Marketing, which recognizes critical and have the strongest influence not
technology’s growing role for traditional exter- only on overall quality perceptions but also on

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nal, internal and interactive marketing by plac-
ing technology at the pinnacle of the pyramid.
As more and more people turn to the In-
ternet to purchase goods and services, my col-
leagues and I recognized the need to adapt the
SERVQUAL framework to the realities of the
online experience; specifically, to measure the
extent to which a website facilitates efficient
perceived value and loyalty intentions. As such,
companies should place extra emphasis on web-
site attributes pertaining to these two dimen-
sions, particularly with regard to behind-the-
scenes infrastructure.
The system’s availability is also a critical
contributor to customer perceptions of overall
quality, value and loyalty intentions. Admit-

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and effective shopping, purchasing and delivery,
with the aim of improving the service quality of
websites.
We developed the e-service quality scale, or
e-SERVQUAL. It helps to quantify a website’s
service performance, as perceived by custom-
ers, on a 22-item scale, reflecting four dimen-
sions that mirror aspects of traditional service
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quality:
EFFICIENCY. The ease and speed of accessing and
using the site.
FULFILLMENT. The extent to which the site’s prom-
ises about order delivery and item availability are
fulfilled.
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tedly, it’s not always possible for companies to
have full control over this dimension, owing to
various factors at the customers’ end, such as
the type of computer or Internet connection
they have. However, companies should, at the
very least, be sensitive to overly sophisticated
design features that could have negative effects
on system availability. Also, they should be able
to identify aspects of system availability be-
yond their control and then proactively devise
appropriate scripts in anticipation of customer
complaints.
Privacy considerations vary according to
customers, with some frequent, heavy users

AVAILABILITY. The correct technical functioning regarding it as a less critical issue. Even so,
of the site. our findings from surveys of Amazon.com and
PRIVACY/SECURITY. The degree to which the site is Walmart.com customers showed that quality/
safe and protects customer information. value perceptions and loyalty intentions were
indeed influenced by privacy perceptions. Tak-
ing a few steps to mitigate security concerns and
ABOUT THE AUTHOR reassure customers – by providing design cues
and communications that signal the privacy/
No

A. “Parsu” Parasuraman is the
James W. McLamore Chair in
Marketing and Director of PhD
Programs at the University of
Miami’s School of Business
Administration. He holds a
DBA in Marketing from Indiana
University, as well as an MBA
and a BTech from the Indian
Do
than 100 articles and served
as editor of the Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science
and the Journal of Service
Research. He has received
many distinguished awards,
including being named one of
the 10 Most Influential Figures
in Quality by The Quality
security of websites – will not go amiss.
When Things Go Wrong:
The Human Touch
None of the four basic e-SERVQUAL dimen-
sions calls for personal service. In fact, online
companies can deliver superior service with
little or no human contact mainly because most
customers who go online to purchase a product

Institute of Management-
Ahmedabad and the Indian
Institute of Technology-Madras,
respectively. He specializes
in services marketing, service
quality measurement and
improvement, and the role of
technology in marketing to and
serving customers.
He has published more
Review, being recognized
for his Career Contribution
to the Services Discipline
by the American Marketing
Association, and winning a
2012 Paul D. Converse Award
for his significant contribution
to marketing theory and the
advancement of science in
marketing.
are simply looking for fast, straightforward, rou-
tine transactions, which is why efficiency is so
important.
The exception is when things go wrong.
When there’s a problem, we have seen that cus-
tomers want help immediately and preferably
from a human being. Recognizing that website-
mediated interactions imply a distinct set of re-
covery-service dimensions for solving customer
problems, my colleagues and I created a second

32
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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce

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EXHIBIT 1
Mind the Gaps: The Classic SERVQUAL Scale

R ate separately on a scale of 1 (not at all essential or strongly

N ow please allocate

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disagree) to 7 (absolutely essential or strongly agree) the extent points according to how
to which you believe the firm will have (expectation) and has (percep- important each feature is to
tion) the following features. Any number between 1 and 7 shows the you, with more points indicating

EXPECTATION
PERCEPTION
strength of this feeling between these two poles. more importance, ensuring that
the five features add up to 100.
Tangibles
1. The firm will have/has modern-looking equipment. Tangibles
2. The physical facilities will be/are visually appealing. The appearance of the

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3. The employees will be/are neat-appearing. firm’s physical facilities,
4. The materials related to the service will be/are visually appealing. equipment, personnel
and communications
Reliability materials.
5. When this firm promises to do something by a certain time,
it will/does do so. Reliability
6. When customers have a problem, the firm will/does show sincere The ability of the firm to
interest in solving it. perform the promised
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7. The firm will/does perform the service right the first time. service dependably and
8. The firm will/does provide its services at the time it promises to do so. accurately.
9. The firm will/does insist on error-free records.
Responsiveness
Responsiveness The willingness of the
10.The firm will/does tell customers exactly when services will be firm to help customers
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performed. and provide prompt

11. The firm will/does give prompt service to customers. service.
12. The employees will always be/are always willing to help customers.
13. The employees will never be/are never too busy to respond to Assurance
customer requests. The knowledge and
courtesy of the firm’s
Assurance employees and their
14. The behavior of employees will/does instill confidence in customers. ability to convey trust
No

15. Customers will/do feel safe in their transactions. and confidence.

16. The employees will be/are consistently courteous with customers.
17. The employees will/do have the knowledge to answer customer Empathy
questions. The caring, individua-
lized attention the firm
Empathy provides its customers.
18. The firm will/does give individual attention.
19. The firm will/does have operating hours convenient to all its TOTAL POINTS: 100
customers.
Do

20. The firm will/does have employees who give customers personal
attention.
21. The firm will/does have its customers’ best interests at heart.
22. The employees will/do understand the specific needs of their
customers.

SOURCES: Parasuraman, A., V.A. Zeithaml and L.L. Berry. “SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service
Quality.” Journal of Retailing 64, no. 1 (Spring 1988): 12-40. Parasuraman, A., L.L. Berry and V.A. Zeithaml. “Refinement and Reassessment of
the SERVQUAL Scale.” Journal of Retailing 67, no. 4 (Winter 1991): 420-50.

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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce

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EXHIBIT 2
The Tech Twist: e-SERVQUAL & e-Recovery SERVQUAL

O nline companies can best use these scales in tandem, with the second scale being administered only to cus-

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tomers who have had problems or questions, to track over time, and across competing websites, customers’
overall e-service quality perceptions. Further tracking studies will help identify websites’ strengths and weaknesses,
and suggest ideas for improvement. These may have to be supplemented with more specific studies to pinpoint the
reasons for deficiencies on a particular dimension or perceptual attribute, or to evaluate customer reactions to a new
website feature.

e-SERVQUAL e-Recovery SERVQUAL

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Rate the website’s performance on a scale of Rate the website’s performance on a scale of
1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)

Efficiency Responsiveness
1. This site makes it easy to find what I need. Effective handling of problems and returns
2. It makes it easy to get anywhere on the site. through the site
3. It enables me to complete a transaction quickly. 1. It provides me with convenient options for
4. Information at this site is well organized. returning items.
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5. It loads its pages fast. 2. This site handles product returns well.
6. This site is simple to use. 3. This site offers a meaningful guarantee.
7. This site enables me to get on to it quickly. 4. It tells me what to do if my transaction is not
8. This site is well organized. processed.
5. It takes care of problems promptly.
Availability
9. This site is always available for business. Compensation
10. This site launches and runs right away. The degree to which the site compensates
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11. This site does not crash. customers for problems

12. Pages at this site do not freeze after I enter my 6. This site compensates me for problems it
order information. creates.
7. It compensates me when what I ordered
Fulfillment doesn’t arrive on time.
13. It delivers orders when promised.
8. It picks up items I want to return from my home
14. This site makes items available for
or business.
delivery within a suitable time frame.
No

15. It quickly delivers what I order. Contact

16. It sends out the items ordered. The availability of assistance through
17. It has in stock the items the company telephone or online representatives
claims to have. 9. This site provides a telephone number to reach
18. It is truthful about its offerings. the company.
19. It makes accurate promises about delivery of 10. This site has customer service representatives
products. available online.
11. It offers the ability to speak to a live person
Privacy/Security if there is a problem.
Do

20.It protects information about my web-shopping

behavior.
21. It does not share my personal information with
other sites.
22. This site protects information about my credit
card.

SOURCE: Parasuraman, A., V.A. Zeithaml and A. Malhotra. “E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality.”
Journal of Service Research 7 (2005): 1-21.

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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce
Paradoxically, if you go to many websites today, you
can see that some companies actually discourage
customers from contacting them by phone. In my
view, this is a critical mistake.
scale, e-Recovery SERVQUAL, that highlights the
importance of the human touch in situations
that require some type of recovery or redress
yo
for the trouble that the customer is experienc-
ing (see Exhibit 2).
Paradoxically, if you go to many websites to-
day, you can see that some companies actually
discourage customers from contacting them by
phone. Sometimes you have to be a detective to
figure out how to speak to someone. Then, when
you actually do find the telephone number and
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call the company, you get an automated system.
In my view, this is a critical mistake. While
companies may believe this approach increases
efficiency and saves money, in reality it turns
many customers off. Even for customers who
are looking first and foremost for efficiency
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when buying online – such as booking tickets or
carrying out bank transactions – there is still a
place for personal, high-touch service.
You also need to judge the nature of the ser-
vice. If a website’s value proposition is to deliver
emotional satisfaction for customers, then effi-
ciency will not be as critical as having a creative
site that engages the customer. A gaming site
No
attracts people precisely because they are look-
ing to have a good time. In such cases, efficiency
may need to take a backseat to high-touch, emo-
tional connections online. Striking this balance
involves understanding the preferences of your
customers, as well as employees.
Technology Readiness Index
My other stream of research, technology readi-
Do
ness, helps companies do just this. Technol-
ogy readiness (TR) refers to the propensity for
people to embrace technology-based products
and systems.
Our findings suggest people fall into five
segments: 15-20 percent of the population are
explorers, 20-25 percent are pioneers, and the
rest are skeptics, paranoids or laggards.
Interestingly, our studies indicate that these
categories remain stable across all ages and all
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levels of education and income. It appears that
people are “hardwired” in terms of their readi-
ness to embrace new technology. This is rele-
vant when we consider the accelerating pace at
which technology is evolving today.
For instance, it should not be assumed that
all of your customers are naturally growing
more comfortable with each and every new
technological advance. Those who are wary
about the benefits of technology and have seri-
ous doubts about its effectiveness are not nec-
essarily moving across the spectrum and fast
turning into those who always have to be the
first to have the latest gadget.
Instead, companies need to be mindful of
the fact that even among their customer base
of young Digital Natives – for whom using the
Internet comes as naturally as brushing their
teeth – there will still be segments of skeptics,
paranoids or laggards who will have to continue
to adapt to new technology throughout their
lives.
On a superficial level, these segments would
appear to resemble the customer segments re-
lated to the adoption and diffusion of innova-
tion in general.
However, a critical difference is that TR-
based adoption drivers are a priori customer-
specific traits, independent of the technology
being introduced, rather than segmenting peo-
ple according to how useful they perceive and
how easily they adopt a specific innovation that
is being introduced to them. In this sense, TR
scores can help to predict the probability and
timing of customers’ adoption of new technol-
ogy-based services.
The technology readiness index measures
people in four key areas. The first two are con-
tributors to a person’s TR, while the latter two
are inhibitors of it:
OPTIMISM. A positive view of technology and a
belief that it offers increased control, flexibility
and efficiency.
INNOVATIVENESS. A tendency to be a technology
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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce

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EXHIBIT 3
Service Frameworks Old & New
THIRTY YEARS AFTER SERVQUAL WAS DEVELOPED, THE ADAPTED E-SERVQUAL MODEL CAN
HELP COMPANIES IDENTIFY SERVICE GAPS ALONG FIVE BROADLY SIMILAR DIMENSIONS.

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SERVQUAL TA N G I B L E S RELIABILITY R E S P O N S I V E N E SS ASSURANCE E M PAT H Y
TRADITIONAL Firm appears Goods always Staff are polite, Customers Customers feel
CUSTOMER neat, clean and delivered on time friendly & helpful trust you understood and
SERVICE inviting treated on their
EXPERIENCE own terms
e.g., bank,
department store, Firm appears Products Staff act as Betraying Firm imposes
car dealership dirty and cluttered, don’t live up to if they can’t be customers by a one-size-fits-

yo
and does not inspire the company’s bothered to wait making false all approach or a
confidence in the promises on you promises or ripping sense of cultural
service being offered them off imperialism

E- SERVQUAL EFFICIENCY FULFILLMENT AVA I L A B I L I T Y PRIVACY/SECURITY HUMAN TOUCH

DIGITAL Fast, Actual product Website is Website gives Real person im-
CUSTOMER straightforward, reflects what always accessible the impression of mediately available
SERVICE functional online appeared or was and fully being highly secure by phone or other
op
EXPERIENCE presence & service promised online functioning means when a
e.g., websites problem arises
offering a variety of
products (apparel, Too automated; Product quality Website Website No way of
books, CDs, lengthy online is inferior to what is sometimes features no reaching a service
computers, forms requiring was promised unavailable or messages or representative
electronics, inputs from online crashes during a assurances about when a problem
flowers, groceries, customers transaction data security arises
toys)
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pioneer and thought leader. devices, there are also many people who don’t
DISCOMFORT. A perceived lack of control like them and think they lead to addictive be-
over technology and a feeling of being over- havior such as constantly checking your e-
whelmed by it. mails or Facebook updates. Even people who
No

INSECURITY. A distrust of technology and skep-
ticism about it working properly.
Once you’ve segmented your custom-
ers according to their technology readiness,
you can make more effective decisions about
whether to take a high-tech or high-touch ap-
proach in different situations.
Overall, many companies believe that you
can thrust a lot of technology on people – both
Do
are heavy users of technology are sometimes
bothered by this.
Companies should keep these segments in
mind when they try to identify new services
that will best satisfy their customers. They
might consider adapting their messages to ad-
dress the concerns and needs of all segments,
in order to broaden their customer service po-
tential. Or they might need to address secu-

customers and employees – to save money,
as long as you train them to use it. But a lot
of people will not enthusiastically embrace
these kinds of mandated systems. What this
means for companies is that if you switch
overnight to a new type of communication
system, you may be in for some unpleasant
surprises.
Take smartphones: While it may seem
that most people are wedded to their digital
rity concerns or provide more evidence about
how something will add value for certain
customers.
Few companies have developed a deep
understanding of how to extract useful in-
formation and then use it to improve service.
As many enterprises move into new sales for-
mats, such as integrating online and brick-
and-mortar retail services, they would do well
to find out what customers really value.

36
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 Finding Service Gaps in the Age of e-Commerce
Network-Based Service Systems:
Future Challenges
Over the past decade, my third research stream
has focused on network-based customer-ser-
vice systems. Broadly speaking, this refers to a
wired or wireless system that delivers a service
to a customer either directly – via a browser or
smartphone – or indirectly – via a service repre-
sentative or consultant. One stream of this re-
search focuses on the design and functionality
of websites – arguably the most ubiquitous tech-
nology-based interface between customers and
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organizations today – in terms of meeting user
needs. Although much work is ongoing, this
area of research has yielded several new insights
at the intersection of information systems and
marketing.
DATA COMPLETENESS. Data completeness per-
tains to a company’s comprehensiveness in
collecting data from and about customers, and
op
its effectiveness in integrating and synthesiz-
ing that data to serve the needs and meet the
expectations of distinct segments of custom-
ers. The different types and levels of data in-
completeness that exist in companies leads to
corresponding shortfalls in customer service.
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PROCESS COMPLETENESS. This companion con-
struct refers to whether, and the extent to
which, a company’s and its partners’ internal
processes associated with service delivery are
aligned to match the breadth and depth of cus-
tomer needs/expectations across different con-
texts and customer segments.
As might be expected, the different types
No
and levels of misalignment that exist within
companies require that companies come up
with new strategies for achieving better align-
ment between internal processes and custom-
ers’ service expectations.
CUSTOMER-MANAGED INTERACTIONS (CMI). Tra-
ditional customer relationship management
(CRM) strategies are firm-centric, in the sense
that they involve the firms themselves, based
Do
on their understanding of customers and their
past behaviors, undertaking initiatives to
strengthen relationships with select customer
groups.
Given the deficiencies in firms relating to
data and process completeness, and given the
growing power of customers and their ability to
access and store data facilitated by technology,
we predict that new forms of customer-centric
and customer-controlled interactions – CMI –
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will emerge and coexist alongside traditional
customer relationship management.
In CMI, customers retain complete control
over data about their past transactions and fu-
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ture needs, and share this information when
appropriate with a chosen group of firms with
which they are interested in doing business.
Thirty years after SERVQUAL was devel-
oped, I still believe it can help companies im-
prove service in a tangible way by identifying
gaps between what customers want and what
they receive (see Exhibit 3). The strong, posi-
tive reactions we continue to receive from
managers in a variety of companies and sectors
affirm this.
SERVQUAL is not without its critics, but
this has stimulated fruitful debate, leading
us to make further refinements and improve-
ments to the scale. If anything, the newer e-
SERVQUAL and TR tools reiterate the robust-
ness of core facets of our original SERVQUAL
framework across diverse sectors, demonstrat-
ing the practical, diagnostic value of the data it
generates. More than cost-cutting and data col-
lection, organizations can now put this infor-
mation to productive use for new-generation
technologies.
TO KNOW MORE
Q Parasuraman, A. “My Service Research Journey:
Three Decades Long and Still Chugging Along.”
Paper Presented at the 18th Paul D. Converse
Marketing Symposium at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 2012, and
published in the Symposium’s Proceedings.
Q Parasuraman, A. and C.L. Colby. Techno-Ready
Marketing: How and Why Your Customers Adopt
Technology. The Free Press, 2001.
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