" A STUDY ON MEASURING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF CAR

DEALERS IN ALLEPEY

BY

SACHIN S THOMAS

INTRODUCTION

Almost every business is having a goal to yield better profitability by using modern quality
concepts. Quality control is having a great thing to do with change in the structure of mind
and psychological behavior of service provider and specifically those employees who provide
services. Traditionally, many of the agents who provide services are having a feeling that
they know about the customers and their requirements. There must be a change in this selfsatisfied approach. It is believed that developing feedbacks is very much necessary for
improving quality.

The ranking level of automotive vehicles assemblers are fluctuating over the recent few
decades because of the inclusion inside the market by the new players and also by the
adoption of new strategies by the existing assemblers. Those leaders who had helped in
constructing this industry like Ford had lost the leadership for competitors, specially the
Asians. The factor that affects the place of an assembler within the market having the ranking
is being affected by various factors which involves effectiveness and efficiency.
However, customers perceptions are not only about product, but also about given services
that are the key aspects for a good positioning. Customer satisfaction is having great
importance. Some indications that are significant among others show that an improved and
better level of satisfaction could be linked with loyalty and impacts in profits.

Additionally, some people like Taylor and Cronin had identified that the result with customer
satisfaction has a great and create a higher level of significance on purchase intentions.
Studies reveal that there does exist a positive relation, which is statistical significant between
price and perceived quality and between brand and perceived quality.

For some others, waiting for customers complaints or to be based upon the amount in the
number of received complaints is an ingenuous attitude, so, it is considered that customers
perceptions are the basic backbone for quality of service and also satisfaction felt by
customers are the main focus for present study.

Customer can connect between the provided services of an assembler through its net of
concessionaires. This contact can happen in these two distinct moments, first the act of sales
and second is the usage of mechanical workshop services. In the first concept, the challenge
is that it offers the customer with an attendance that is beyond convincing acquiring the
offered product, and establishing a reliable relation for the need of getting customers loyalty.
The second one is related with aftersales services where the great challenge is proving that
the concessionaires offer the best cost benefit and thus keep customer even after the ending of
vehicle guarantee.

1.1 INDUSTRY PROFILE

Automobile sector play a major role within the economy of India. At present every individual
uses an automobile and they are expecting better service with their vehicle and better quality
in different aspects such as mileage, comfort, performance etc.
The no. of customers that will change with rising is totally depending on customer
satisfaction. Since there is a great competition in the present market strategy, customer
satisfaction must be maintained.

We are dealing with the feedback on satisfaction attained by the customer and the effect it
creates on automobile industries. Nowadays every industry tries to provide better services
and quality of product as well as some additional features in their product which give
additional benefits within the industry. Here we are discussing about the automobile service
industries in which there still exist some gaps in between the perceived and service that is
expected and the thing is directly affect the customer satisfaction, its market and brand value.

Customer satisfaction is an important and crucial term in industry. The expected situation
from the customers side is that in a less time the service centre provides the best service but
due to some gaps this things is not possible.

Automobile Sector in India

The Indian auto industry is one of the largest in the world. The industry accounts for 7.1
percent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of FY 2014-15, around 31
percent of small cars sold globally are manufactured in India.
The two wheelers segment with 81 percent market share is the leader of the Indian
automobile market owing to a growing middle class and a young population. Moreover, the
growing interest of the companies in exploring the rural markets further aided the growth of
the sector.
India is also a prominent auto exporter and has strong export growth expectations for the near
future. In April 2015- January 2016, exports of commercial vehicles registered a growth of
18.36 percent. In addition several initiatives by the government of India market are expected
to make India a leader in two wheelers and four wheeler market in the world by 2020.
The automobile industry has been emerged during the early time period as a warm whelming
sector in the Indian economy. There was an increase in the automobile production
considerably less when compared with the automobiles export volumes.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises has come up with Automotive
Mission Plan 2006-2016 that envisages the automobiles sector to be worth USD 145 billion
in 2016 contributing around 10% to the GDP, also by providing an additional employment of
25 million.
Quality is a strategic tool for obtaining operational efficiency and improved business
performance. Importance of quality towards the service firms have made a demonstration in
its positive relationship with set of profits made, the no: of increased market share, returns on
investment, satisfaction from the customer side, and for the future purchase intentions.
Service quality within different areas have been explained as a type of attitude, that is related
but that are not equivalent to satisfaction, which will results from the comparison between
expectations and performance.

Manufacturing facilities:
The majority of Indias car manufacturing industry is evenly divided into three clusters.
Around Chennai is the southernmost and largest, with a 35% revenue share, accounting for
60% of the countrys automotive exports and home of the India operations of Ford, Hyundai
etc
Market size:
The industry produced a total 14.25 million vehicles including PVs, commercial vehicles
(CVs), three wheelers and two wheelers in April- October 2015. The sales of PVs grew by
8.51 percent in April- October 2015 over the same period in the previous year. The overall
CVs segment registered a growth of 8.02 percent as compared to same period last year.
Future Technologies in automobile:
In our todays emerging technology world, the latest advancement will only be the next thing
coming into existence. The automobile industry is always trying to bring various new
technologies, for various areas like safety, entertainment, usefulness or simply for pure
innovation. Some of the upcoming technologies are as follows:

Vehicle to vehicle communication

Augmented Reality Dashboards

Airbags That Help Stop Cars

Energy-storing Body Panels

Vehicle to vehicle communication:

A developing technology called Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication, or V2V, is being
developed by automobile manufacturers like Ford for reducing the amount of accidents on
the road. V2V uses wireless electronic signals that is used to send information between

various cars about their location, speed and direction in which they travel. The information is
then transferred to the cars and will be processed around it in order to provide sufficient
information for keeping the vehicles at an average of safe distances within each other. A
study says that V2V is having the potential and ability to reduce 79% of accidents on the
road.

Augmented Reality Dashboards:

GPS and other displays within the car are used for obtaining from some points, and some
vehicles are also having displays on the windshield, but in future cars itself will identify
various external objects that are residing in front of the driver. This is such a kind.
BMW have been already made an implementation so that such a windshield display occurred
in some of their vehicles that are able to display basic information, and theyre also
developing the technique of augmented reality dashboards that will be able to identify that the
objects in front of a vehicle and will inform the driver that how long they are away from the
object.

Airbags That Help Stop Cars:

Presently airbags are being used for safety but in passive way. Companies like Mercedes are
always keep trying to implement some new methods to use the airbags that can move from a
passive safety measure to make it as an active safety system. Experiments are being done on
airbags which will deploy from below the car that will be able to help stop a vehicle before a
crash can occur. The bags are provided with a friction which is having a coating that helps to
slow down the car.

Energy-storing Body Panels:

Majority of all newly invented and build cars coming after the production line will be
hybrids. However the problems with hybrids are that the batteries take up a lot of space and
are very heavy. In Europe, a group of nine auto manufacturers are researching and testing
body panels that can store energy and charge faster than conventional batteries of today. The
body panels that we are used for testing are made up of polymer fiber and carbon resin that
are strong enough to be used in vehicles. These panels could reduce a cars weight by up to
15 percent.

The automobile private and public sector is playing a key role in both the economies in India
and globally. The motor industry that is in the global market contributes 12.9 per cent to the
total manufacturing production value, 5 per cent to the total manufacturing employment, and
8.3 per cent towards the total industrial investment. The turnover that is annually calculated
from the local and private industry globally is about US$5.09 trillion, which makes them
equivalent to the sixth largest economy among the world.

Along with this, the industry is linked with several other public and private sectors in the
economy and hence its indirect contribution is much higher than this. Throughout the world it
has been treated as a leading economic sector for its extensive economic linkages.

There are two distinct sets of participants in the Indian auto industry: Automobile component
manufacturers and the vehicle manufacturers, which are also referred to as Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). While the automobile component manufactures set is
involved in manufacturing the vehicle parts, its components, bodies and chassis, the vehicle
manufactures is engaged in assembling of all these components into an automobile.

Nowadays the set of automobile industry is becoming one among the huge industries
throughout the world because day by day new models are arriving.

These industries are also tries to recreate their product in the design, development,
manufacturing and marketing. For marketing of the product the term named customer
satisfaction is being used.
It is identified as the key parameter to know the expectation from the customers side for a
particular product of brand. Customer satisfaction can also be known as the overall
percentage of total customers who are using the product and experience the quality of service
of their service centre and they feel happy or satisfy.

Car manufacturers in India

Manufacturing of cars in India first began in late 1940s. Earlier a couple of cars made by
foreign technology were manufactured in India. But now, cars made by the Indian car
manufacturers dominate the business. For India, the upcoming future of every car
manufacturing is bright. Knowing this, foreign car manufacturers such as Ford, Toyota,
Hyundai, Suzuki, Honda and Skoda are spreading their base within the country. Some of the
domestic car manufacturers have also contributed to the great growth of almost all the
automobile industry in our country during these recent times.

1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF STUDY

What is marketing?
Marketing is a strategy which creates an interaction directly with the customers. The
companies that are responsible for the production of new products will create an advertising
strategy for creating awareness in every customers mind. From a great amount of options
customers will be able to fix an appropriate product suitable for their needs.
Modern marketing involves a method of building a strong relationship with customers by
identifying their requirements and meeting their needs and maintaining a positive satisfaction
from the customer side.
A simple definition that we can give is that:
Marketing is a method of managing profitable customer relationships The two-fold
goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and
grow current customers by delivering satisfaction.
Sound marketing is critical to the success of every organization large or small, for
profit or not for profit, domestic or global.
Marketing is all around us. At home, at school, where we work, and where we play,
we see marketing in almost everything we do. Yet there is much more to marketing than
meets the consumers casual eye. Behind it all is a massive network of people and activities
competing for your attention and purchases.

Service marketing
For building up our basic understanding about service marketing, we should consider at least
three things defining services, defining service marketing, and recognizing the main
marketable service entities. Service is the way how a provider or producer acts by means of
its deeds, processes or performances so as to satisfy the expectations, deprivations,
motivations and unmet needs of the receivers of the outputs of such deeds, processes or
performances.
Ordinarily, service marketing can be linked to the overall approach adopted by a firm to
promote the service component of its offering no matter whether it is a core offering or
augmented one. The key functions related to marketing of services will include branding and
packaging of services, performing advertising and publicity about the services on offer, and
promoting the business partners that leverage marketing and promotion of services across the
markets, assessing the service impact and customer satisfaction, and so on as it applies to
marketing of tangible goods.
Service marketing refers to the overall approach of promoting the marketable service entities.

Marketing channels

Marketing channels determine how and where customers buy.

Key Functions Performed in Marketing Channels

Marketing Communications

Advertising the Product

Providing P-O-P Displays

Providing a sales force that offers information & service to customers

Inventory Management

Ordering appropriate merchandise assortment

Maintaining adequate stock to meet customer demand

Storing merchandise in an appropriate facility

Physical Distribution

Delivering products

Coordinating delivery schedules to meet customer expectations

Arranging for the return of defective merchandise

Market Feedback

Serving on manufacturer advisory boards

Informing other channel members of competitive activity

Participating in test market evaluations

Financial Risk

Offering credit

Managing risks related to product loss or deterioration

Managing risks related to product safety and liability

Types of Marketing Channels

Direct Channels

Indirect Channels

Single Marketing Channels

Multiple Marketing Channels

Vertical Marketing Systems

Companies using direct marketing channels

Companies using indirect marketing channels

Companies using vertical marketing channels

Service Quality is usually achieved by service towards the customers and it will reflect at
every service encounter.
It is meant to be an essential aspect for any service provider, and automobile service industry.
Here customers are much concerned about service after the sale.

Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction must be treated as a multi-dimensional construct just as service quality

meaning it can occur at multi levels in an organisation and that its operations must be carried
out along with many of the same factors on which quality of service is operationalized.

Service quality and the concept of customer satisfaction have mainly two dimensions:

Expectation

Perception

The way customer perceives services is related with their own expectations and when once
they become dynamic, the quality evaluation of a service varies throughout the time, from
person to person and between different cultures.
In service quality, expectations are important and the management of expectations is an
important aspect in the delivery of service quality.

Quality in Service Sector

The service sector among us is undergoing a drastic change, which is dramatically affecting
the way in which we are living and working. Some new services are likely to be launched to
satisfy existing and potential needs. There are various types of service organization that are in
different size.
On one side of the whole scale there are tremendous no: of international corporations that are
working in such industries like the airlines, banking area, insurance, telecommunications, and
various hotels.
And on the other side of the counted scale is a wide array of locally owned and operated
small businesses, including restaurants, automobile service centres, laundries, beauty parlours
and an amount of business-to-business services. The number in the size of the service sector
is increasing among almost all various economies around the world.

What is Service Quality?

Quality is an essential strategic tool for obtaining improved business performance and
operational efficiency. Importance of quality towards service firms have illustrated its
positive relationship with profits, returns on investment, increased market share ,customer
satisfaction and future purchase intentions.
Quality of service can been described which is a form of attitude, that is related with others
but not being that much equivalent to the satisfaction level and that may result from the result
of comparison obtained from expectations with its performance.
Service Quality is treated as an achievement in the field of customer service and reflects its
effects at each service encounter. Customers used to create an idea of service expectations
from some past experiences, words from others and advertisements that they observe. As a
whole we can say that, Customers generate a comparison between perceived service and
expected service in which if the perceived service is less than the expected service the
customers are disappointed.

The measurement results of service quality which have been obtained through consumer
surveys have become a widely used business performance measurement tool. This is because
service quality is connected to profitability, costs, customer satisfaction and retention. Only
when the service industry satisfies all of its customers with good quality service, they can
survive in this highly competitive environment.

Service quality is the service which is highly related with the customer expectations and
service industry by satisfying the sufficient needs of customers. In services the customer is
the one who defines the quality and human side of service is the key to deliver quality.

5 DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY

Initially 97 attributes where identified that was found to have an impact on service quality.
These 97 attributes is the criteria that are necessary in assessing customers expectations and
also about the perceptions on delivered service. These attributes were first categorized
basically into ten dimensions and later was subjected as the proposed 97 items for assessing
service quality through two stages for purifying the instruments and select those with
significant influences. The first stage before purification came up with following ten
dimensions:

Tangibles

Security

Reliability

Competence

Responsiveness

Courtesy

Communication

Understanding

Credibility

Knowing customers and access.

Next they went into the second purification stage and in this stage they concentrated on
condensing scale dimensionality and reliability. They further reduced the ten dimensions to
five which were;

1. Tangibility:
It includes the physical facilities, the required equipments, and overall
appearance of their personnel

2. Reliability:
It includes the abilities that will perform the promised service that is
possibly dependable and more accurately

3. Responsiveness:
It includes willingness to help all their customers and also by providing
prompt service

4. Assurance:
It includes knowledge of employees and also courtesy and their
internal ability to inspire more trust and confidence within themselves.

5. Empathy:
It includes the attention that the firm provides to individual customers

Reliability: This is the most important dimension of service quality. Dealers will
contact the customers giving the assurance that their vehicle will be ready for delivery within
specific time.

Assurance: Service advisers are the main source of assurance. Their knowledge and
how well they interact with the customers will create trust in the organization
They assure the quality for the product.

Tangibles: Tangibles that form the part among these ten dimensions include the
signage, parking and specific layout of the dealership itself.

Empathy: This dimension can be seen within the interactions that are occurred
between the organization and the customer, and the nature and behaviour of this interaction.

Responsiveness: It is related with the changes that we observed and marked during
service hours from working days including weekend and night services, due to the changes in
the needs of customers.

Figure: Measuring service quality using SERVQUAL model

Characteristics of service quality

Intangibility: the service cannot be touched or viewed so it is difficult for clients to

tell in advance what they will be getting.

Inseparability of production and consumption: the service is produced

simultaneously when the client is receiving it.

Perishability: it means that capacity that is not presently used cannot be preserved
for future use.

Heterogeneity (or variability): services involve people and people are all different.
There is a great possibility for the same enquiry that have encountered may be
different for different people.

SERVICE QUALITY MODEL

This is developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in (1985-1988). By using this

SERVQUAL model service quality for any service sector can be measured. This model
consists of 22 items helpful to know customer perceptions and expectations that are related to
the service quality. This model is based upon five service quality dimensions i.e.
Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance & Empathy
The service quality for SERVQUAL model can be calculated by using the following equation

SQ=jk (Pij-Eij)

Where;

SQ = overall service quality

Eij= Service quality expectation for attribute j that is relevant norm for stimulus i.
Pij= Performance perception of stimulus i with respect to attribute j
k = Total number of attributes

The following are the gaps that are identified for evaluating the service quality and customer
satisfaction.

Word of mouth
communications

Past
experience

Personal needs

Expected service
CUSTOMER
GAP5
Perceived service

GAP1
Service
delivery

COMPANY

GAP4

External
communication
to consumers

GAP3
Translation of
perception into
service quality
specifications
GAP2
Management
perceptions of
customer expectations

Gap 1: Between consumer expectation and management perception.

Gap 2: Between every management perception and the service quality specification.
Gap 3: Between the service quality specification and service delivery.
Gap 4: Between service delivery and external communications.
Gap 5: Between the expected service and perceived service.

The top level of the model indicates the phenomena that are related to customers whereas the
bottom part shows phenomena that are related to the service providers. It is shown in the
above model that the service expected is a function of the customers past experience and
personal needs and oral communication and it is also influenced by the market
communication activities of the firm.
This basic model depicts the steps during analysing and planning of service quality. The five
dimensions i.e. the gaps between the various elements of the structure are a result of
inconsistencies in the quality management process. The first four gaps contribute to gap five
i.e. the gap between customer expectations and customer perceptions of service received.

What is SERVQUAL?

SERVQUAL is a quality management framework. It was first developed by Valarie

Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman and Leonard Berry to measure quality in the service sector.
It is used for identifying the important components of service with high quality
A business uses SERVQUAL to be measured and to manage the service quality involves a
questionnaire type that measures both the expectations of the customers for the service
quality in terms of its five dimensions and their perceptions of the service they receive. When
customer expectation is more than customer perception service quality will be considered as
low.

SERVQUAL can be used as a measuring model as well as a management model.

It is a well-tested survey method for measuring service quality which focuses on five service
quality dimensions. SERVQUAL surveys usually include 22 service areas distributed
throughout the five service quality dimensions. The survey often asks the customers to
provide two different ratings on each attribute- one reflecting the level of service they would
expect from excellent companies in a given sector and the other reflecting their perception of
the service delivered by a specific company within a sector.

The difference between the expectation and perception rating constitutes a qualified measure
of service quality.

Functioning of SERVQUAL

It represents various service qualities that are offered between many types of expectations
and perceptions that are received for answering many questions. The difference between
expectations and perceptions is called the gap which is the determinant of customers
perception of service quality
The expectations of customers are subject to external factors which are under the control of
the service provider.
Scope of SERVQUAL survey

The concept of measuring the difference between expectations and perceptions in the form of
the SERVQUAL gap score proved very useful for assessing levels of service quality.
Parasuraman argued that, with minor modification, SERVQUAL can be adapted to any
service organization. Information on service quality gaps can help managers diagnose where
performance improvement can best be targeted.

The largest negative gap, combined with assessment of where expectations are highest,
facilitates prioritization of performance improvement. Equally, if gap scores in some aspects
of service do turn out to be positive, implying expectations are actually not just being met but
exceeded, then this allows managers to review whether they may be "over-supplying" this
particular feature of the service and whether there is potential for re-deployment of resources
into features which are underperforming.

Customer satisfaction

"Satisfaction is the consumer's response after fulfilling their needs. It is a feeling that is made
by the customer that they get as a pleasurable level of fulfillment after buying or using a
product or service feature and or using product itself.
It is a term that is frequently being used in overall marketing strategy. It is a measurement
process of exactly how various products and services that are supplied by a company will
meet the average level of customers expectation. Customer satisfaction can be also defined
as the no: of customers or the total percentage of all customers who have reported with a
satisfied response greater than the level they expected by using the product of the
organization or services.

Reasons for importance of customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction also increases the value of the customer throughout their life.
Customer satisfaction allows generating a point of differentiation.
It also helps to reduce the negative oral communication.
It shows the loyalty and repurchases intentions of the customer.
For reducing customer churn customer satisfaction is important.

1.3 IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC

Service quality is being considered as an important concept in every field. When we are
considering the case of car dealers, the customers that are involving in any of the buying or
selling process requires the quality of the product that they are dealing with. Quality
improvement is treated as a central to the modern concept of marketing of services.
Some important concepts are:

Modern quality concepts results in better and wider profitability, which becomes the main
goal of all the business nowadays. We need to know how this fundamental change in attitude
can be brought about. Traditionally, most service providers have felt that they know about the
customers and their requirements. This self -satisfied approach must be changed.
Development of feedback systems is very essential part of the quality of improvement.
Setting the goal and adherence towards the goal are both important factors that are used to
ensure improvement in the quality standard continuously.

1.4 NEED TO STUDY THE TOPIC

Service quality is one of the most important concepts that everyone should look on. Many
organisations is focusing on service quality because it builds new strategies that will lead to
customer satisfaction. Here customers are much concerned about service after sales.
Here we look into the service quality provided by the car dealers so that it can reduce gaps
between customers expectation and perception.
Quality of a product is not only essential when they are delivering the products. Every
customer also expects a service even after the product delivery. Therefore maintaining quality
and meeting the level of customer satisfaction is more important.
Service quality that an organization has rendered will increase customers satisfaction that
will decide whether they will continue with it or not.

2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND GAPS

Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) emphatically pointed out that the concept of quality
prevalent in the goods sector is not extendable to the services sector. Being inherently and
essentially intangible, heterogeneous, perishable, and entailing simultaneity and
inseparability of production and consumption, services require a distinct framework for
quality explication and measurement. As against the goods sector where tangible cues exist to
enable consumers to evaluate product quality, quality in the service context is explicated in
terms of parameters that largely come under the domain of 'experience' and 'credence'
properties and are as such difficult to measure and evaluate the service quality.

The study indicates that the key dimensions of ecommerce service quality are website
usability, information quality, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and personalization.
Secondly customer satisfaction is influenced mostly with the perception of reliability, while
customer loyalty is affected by the perception of assurance and customer retention is
predicted by the customer satisfaction index.

One major contribution of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) was to provide a these
definition of service quality. They defined service quality as 'a global judgment, or attitude,
relating to the superiority of the service', and explicated it as involving evaluations of the
outcome (i.e., what the customer actually receives from service) and process of service act
(i.e., the manner in which service is delivered). In line with the propositions put forward by
Gronroos (1982), Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, 1988) posited and operationalized
service quality as a difference between consumer expectations of 'what they want' and their
perceptions of 'what they get.' Based on this conceptualization and operationalization, they
proposed a service quality measurement scale called 'SERVQUAL.' The SERVQUAL scale
constitutes an important landmark in the service quality literature and has been extensively
applied in different service settings.

Lowndes and Dawes (2001) have found that Service quality is commonly thought to
comprise of five generic dimensions - responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, empathy and
reliability. These dimensions form the basis for service measurement tool SERVQUAL. This

tool predominantly focused on customer perceptions and expectations of quality and helps the
organizations to improve upon their service quality resulting in greater customer retention.

Jain and Gupta (2004) have done a comparative analysis of two major service quality
measurement scales: SERVQUAL and SERVPERF. An ideal service quality scale is one that
is not only psychometrically sound but is also diagnostically robust enough to provide
insights to the managers for corrective actions in the event of quality shortfalls. This study
assesses the diagnostic power of the two service quality scales. Using data collected through
a survey of consumers of fast food restaurants in Delhi, the study finds the SERVPERF scale
to be providing a more convergent and discriminate valid explanation of service quality
construct. However, the scale is found deficient in its diagnostic power. One should employ
the SERVPERF scale should also be the preferred research instrument when one is interested
in undertaking service quality comparisons across service industries.

Salime Mehtap (2005) has analysed and compared service quality in the commercial banking
sector of a small island economy - Cyprus. The author with others investigated the
relationship between overall bank customer satisfaction in the Turkish- and Greek-speaking
areas of Cyprus and positive word-of-mouth about their banks. There is disparity in the
banking sector of a divided Cyprus, where banks in the South have undergone significant
restructuring before EU accession and banks in the North are affected by the economic crisis
and need to restructure if they want to join the EU. After descriptive and factor analysis,
multivariate regression was used to estimate the impact of service quality dimensions on
overall customer satisfaction and word of mouth.

Katarne et al (2010) measured current service quality level of a typical automobile dealership
in an Indian city. The study was conducted using a representative survey of respondents,
owners of one of the popular brand vehicles. In this paper, satisfaction/dissatisfaction of the
customer has been measured using standard statistical tools, and an attempt has been made to
find out reason(s) of dissatisfaction by applying root cause analysis.
Current performance of the service centre was not found up to the mark and results of the
study show that delay in delivery is the most critical reason responsible for dissatisfaction or
poor service quality level.

Asadollahi, A. et al. (2011) studied service quality and customer satisfaction in automobile
after sales services in two Indian companies and one foreign company. The research
methodology defined in this study is performed in two phases. In the first phase customer
satisfaction is determined form after sales service and in second phase comparative research
methodology is used. The results of the rate of customer satisfaction of after sales service for
three companies in every five dimensions were analysed separately. The two Indian
companies have no significant difference in all the dimensions but showed a meaningful
significant difference with other foreign company in all the dimensions.
Shuqin, W. and Gang, L. (2012) conducted an empirical study on the relationship between
after sales service qualities in China Automobile sector and they found that fairness,
empathy, reliability and convenience have significant positive impact on customer
satisfaction while responsiveness doesnt have a significant impact on customer satisfaction
and at the same time satisfaction has a significant positive impact on trust and trust has a
significant positive impact on commitment. They also found satisfaction and commitment
both have a significant positive impact on relationship value but trust cannot impact
relationship value directly.

Vijaykanth Urs, M.C. et al. (2014) stated that the Indian automotive customer today is well
tuned to global markets and expect the same levels of quality in products and services. The
wide range of models and variants on offer, with little differentiation among products within
the same price band, also encourages customers to switch from one brand to another easily.
As a result, retaining customer loyalty is a key concern for manufacturers in India. In this
scenario, providing effective after sales service for vehicles has assumed increased
importance for service centre. They studied the gap between expected and perceived quality
measured through SERVQUAL method to know the current situation of automobile service
in Karnataka. Two independent samples of personal vehicle users and Fleet vehicle users are
selected for comparative analysis and they find that there is considerable gap found in
Expected and Perceived quality for the factors like Reliability, Responsiveness and Empathy.

Al-Shammari, M. and Samer Kanina, A. (2014) examined service quality in Saudi

Automotive Company. A questionnaire was distributed to 120 customers selected randomly
from three service locations of a Saudi Automotive Company (SAC) from three geographic
locations in Saudi Arabia and they concluded that the most important quality dimensions

from customers viewpoint was the reliability and assurance followed by tangibility and
responsiveness while the empathy dimension was the least important.

GAPS MODEL
Parasuraman et al. (1985: pp.41-50) devise the Gap model of service quality which is an
extension of the model shown in figure 2.2. The basic idea behind the model is that
customers perception of service quality is affected by four gaps which occur on the service
providers side. Therefore, marketing and operations managers should focus on these critical
gaps in order to control gap 5 (overall service quality gap) which is the focal point of the
model. These gaps are (Zeithaml et al., 1990: p.46):

Gap 1:
The discrepancy between customers expectations and managements perceptions of these
expectations Consumer expectation-management perception gap, which is the gap between
consumer expectations of service quality and management perceptions of these expectations

Gap 2:
The discrepancy between managements perceptions of customers expectations and servicequality specifications Management perception-service quality perception gap, that is, the gap
between management perceptions of consumer expectations and the firm's service quality
specifications

Gap 3:
The discrepancy between service-quality specifications and actual service delivery Service
quality specifications-service delivery gap, the gap between service quality specifications and
actual service quality

Gap 4:
The discrepancy between actual service delivery and what is communicated to customers
about it. Service delivery-external communications gap or the gap between actual service
delivery and external communications about the service

Gap 5:
The discrepancy between customers expected services and service delivered.
Expected service-perceived service gap, which is the gap between expected service and
perceived service.

Applications of the SERVQUAL scale have been made to measure service quality in
hospitals, hotels, travel and tourism, telecom companies, insurance companies and banks,
business school placement centre, retail stores and acute care hospital physicians, dentists,
attorney, financial and banking institutions, laundry/dry cleaning and automobile companies.

2.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Service quality has become the perception of the customer. Customers often form opinions
and decisions about service quality not just by referring to one place but also from a large set
of contributing factors. Service marketers are supposed to understand every dimensions used
by customer to evaluate service quality. Todays world, more than manufacturing industry,
service industry is being ruled at large. Consumers are paying lots of money from their
pocket only to get the best and perfect product and services from the market. In such scenario
when the services supplied by the company lapse to attention perfection in their delivery it
brings a huge amount of dissatisfaction among the consumers. Consumers today are

extremely aware and are ready to accept nothing but excellent service quality. Therefore, this
study has been planned to analyze the service quality of car dealers at Alleppey, Kerala.

2.3 SCOPE OF STUDY

Scope of the study provides information about the sales and service adopted by car
dealers in Alleppey. Customers are the king of the company. So their satisfaction is must for
the day-to-day operations of respective car dealers.
This study will help the management to understand whether the customers are able to
be satisfied or not with their sales and service activities and to take corrective actions if
necessary in satisfactory measures and to help the management to know the satisfaction level
of customers about the sales and service provided by car dealers.

The major findings of the study provide valuable information to the management.
This helps management to identify the required area of improvement.

2.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To measure the quality of services provided by car dealers using SERVQUAL.
2. To study the customer satisfaction towards the service quality of car dealers.
3. To provide suggestions based on the study.

2.5 SAMPLING

Sampling method adopted for this study is convenience sampling.

Sample size
The sample size taken for this study is 100 customers from different car dealers.

Tools for data collection

The origin of data for this research falls under two categories:
Primary data
Secondary data

Primary data
The primary data was collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires personal visit
to obtain the necessary information.
Secondary data
Secondary data was obtained from magazines, company records, annual report, personal
websites etc.
Data Collection Instrument
The only one instrument used was a structured questionnaire for the study. Questions are
prepared on the basis of objective of the study. The questionnaire was related and then certain
modifications were made necessary to suit the research objectives. The questionnaire was
given to each employee for the collection of data.

Tools for Analysis of Data

After the collection of data from respondents, each question was classified and tabulated
using SPSS Software 16.0 analysis. The data obtained were analysis in the percentage
analysis.
Percentage Analysis
Percentage is obtained when ratios are multiplied by 100. The percentage of employees
coming under same category was found out as it helps to know the response by them.
Bar diagram
It is a king of chart having rectangular bars whose lengths are proportional towards the
original values that they are representing. The bars are usually used to plot either in a vertical
or horizontal manner. It can be used for the purpose of plotting discrete (or discontinuous)
data i.e. data which is having discrete values and is not continuous.

2.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. The authenticity of the responses was to a great extent given in reluctance

2. The respondents were hesitant to fill up the questionnaire.
3. The customers of many, who I contacted, are the drivers of the vehicle owners.
4. Therefore the view of the driver is considered as the view of the vehicle owner.

3.1 PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION

Here we discuss about three main car dealers in Alappuzha. Each car dealer is dealing with
different brand of cars. They are as follows:

Geeyem Motors Pvt Ltd

Hercules Automobiles Intl (P) Ltd

Popular Hyundai

GEEYEM MOTORS PVT LTD

Geeyem motors are the most important retailer of the general motors in India which was
evolved in 1997. In our country Chevrolet dealership has been the biggest and the finest at
present.
Geeyem motors corporate office is at Nettoor, Cochin and they have 12 other customer touch
points spread across different places in Kerala. The company provides a world class
customer experience and facilities by using the latest diagnostic equipment and quality
imported tools to service Chevrolet cars. They are having employees that are having high
skills and professionally qualified and talented manpower to organize and sustain their
business.
Geeyem motors are having over 25,000 customers and have the highest customer satisfaction
scores among all Chevrolet dealers within the country. Geeyem motors Dealership has ranked
as the first position in the area of customer satisfaction among all automobile brands in India.
Their philosophy is to Create Customers for life.

Chevrolet Cars in India:

According to concept of Global market of vehicles Chevrolet has become the most
trustworthy, dependable and luxurious brand. A huge amount of Chevrolet cars were
imported to our country. The First head office of Chevrolet company was initiated at Mumbai
and its assembly plant was in Sewree. The first formed assembly plant in India was General
Motors, the parent company of Chevrolet. It has become one among the top and newest
brands in India that was launched by General Motors Indian operations. Chevrolet was
introduced to India on 6th June 2003. Since then, they started selling the Chevrolet brands
like Optra, Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Tavera, Chevrolet SRV and Chevrolet Spark. The
latest and trending brand of Chevrolet is Captiva SUV. For the formula racing cars Chevrolet
is also the sole Engine supplier.

HERCULES AUTOMOBILE INTL (P) LTD

It was emerged in 2006; Hercules automobile international private limited marks the official
entry of the Hercules Group of Companies into the industry of automobiles in India. HAIPL
mainly deals with Maruthi Suzuki brand.
A group that has an attractive reputation, hard-earned over a period of 30 years both in the
GCC as well as the southern part of India Their main aim about the company is to make use
of their reputation with pride, nurturing the same with care.
The company is having dealerships in Kerala and other different states; In Kerala they have
districts of Trivandrum and Alleppey.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd: The Company established in December 1983, Maruti Suzuki
India Ltd. has made a revolution even within the Indian car industry. This car is mainly used
for an average person who is affordable with the price. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is the
collaboration of Maruti with Suzuki of Japan based company. From this Maruti had taken
over. The company has made a mark or made a milestone for being the first and foremost
company during the period of March 1994, just by manufacturing a sum total of one million
vehicles. It is well known for its mass-production and selling over millions of cars.
During 1993 Sales figure has grown to an amount of 1, 96,820. Maruti is appearing in a wide
range of models and designs in the 800 segment. The operation of the car is based on
technology adapted by Japanese, easily influenced to Indian conditions and Indian car users.
By the year 1998-99, it has made changes and modernized the facilities that were already
existing and technologies and expanded its capacity by 1, 00,000 units.
The upcoming of every year, the overall production of the company will exceed by 4, 00,000
vehicles. In the small car segment the company produces the Maruti 800 and the Zen cars.
The big car segment has many other cars like, the Maruti Esteem and the Maruti 1000. Along
with them, the company turned into new segment of car manufactures like Maruti Omni.
Other models include Wagon R and the Baleno. The Headquarter of maruthi is in Gurgaon.
On 17th September 2007; the company renamed the Maruti Udyog to new Maruti Suzuki
India Limited. Thus Maruti has announced as the leading automobile manufacturers in India.

POPULAR HYUNDAI

It was started in 1967 like a subdivision of the Hyundai Engineering & Construction
Company. The company was initiated by assembling the ford companies cars and various
trucks in their car factory. In 1975, Hyundai Cortina was considered as the first car produced
with a partnership along with Ford Motor Company. This company becomes the 13th largest
automaker over the world with 2% share all around the world retail market within the next 2
years.
In 1975, the company has decided to build their own car which it would sell under the brand
name Hyundai. The company hired five from the best car engineers from Britain who
designed their first car, Hyundai Pony. The car got clicked as the top most selling car in
South Korea because of its small size and affordable pricing.
In 1986, the company entered in the area of U.S market with their new car Hyundai Excel.
This car also got attracted and became to be a best seller because of its quality and low
pricing. Now Hyundai had been established itself as one among the top competitors in the
world automobile industry. Their next car model was the midsize Sonata in the year 1988.
The model did not strike in the U.S market but before that Hyundai already produced
4,000,000 units per year.
Hyundai focused them by investing heavily in the quality of car, different designs, research
and manufacturing of its vehicles. As a result they introduced the first proprietary gasoline
engine with its own transmission including the four-cylinder alpha. The company started a
new strategy of 10 year or 10000 mile warranty for all their cars which was sold in the U.S.
This has improved their business and prompted more and more customers to choose a
Hyundai car over other brands.

History
This Hyundais first car was Hyundai Santro. It was launched in 23 September 1998 and was
a big success. Within months of its establishment it had become the second largest and widest
automobile manufacturer and the largest automobile exporter all over in India. Hyundai
Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a fully owned subdivision part of Hyundai Motor Company
(HMC), in the place of South Korea and it is the one among the largest and biggest car
exporter for passengers and also the second largest car manufacturer in India. HMILs the
most advanced production manufacturing plant is at Chennai, its mainly to have, quality and
variety of testing capabilities within the country.

Hyundai Motors:

The Hyundai motors were emerged during the year 1996; Hyundai Motor India Ltd. has a
sub division of the giant South Korean multinational, the Hyundai Motor Company. Hyundai
Motor India Ltd is Korea's top automobile manufacturer, capturing the Indian market and
giving a strong competition to its rivals in the same segment. The companys success is
depending up on the profitable Indian. Over the time period of 1997, the sales revenue was
8.24 billion.

The Hyundai Santro is giving tough competition to other cars within the market field and has
a great design inside India at its integrated auto-manufacturing unit at Irrungattukatoi near
Chennai. This unit can produce more than a lakh of cars, and also various types of engines
and transmission systems annually. It is equipped with latest technology, machinery,
internationally qualified press, and body and paint shops all across the world; the company
has set more than 70 dealer workshops. The company has incorporated state-of-the-art
manufacturing plant at Chennai. It tells about some newly developed production, generated
quality and their testing potentials inside the country.

The company release says that, the rise in production will help the company increase its
export destinations to 95 countries by the end of this year. To satisfy the differing and
growing needs of the market, company hopes to have an increment its presence in the Indian
market with some new models.

Comparison between cars of Chevrolet and Hyundai

Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Cruze

FEATURES

HYUNDAI ELANTRA

CHEVROLET CRUZE

Length

4530mm

4597mm

Seating Capacity

Displacement

1797

1998

Fuel Type

Petrol

Diesel

Power Windows

Front & Rear

Front & Rear

Central Locking

Remote

Remote

Anti-Lock Breaking system

Yes

Yes

Airbags

Boot space

420

470

Steering type

Power assisted(Electric)

Power assisted(Hydraulic)

Wheels

Alloy

Alloy

Air Conditioner

Automatic Climate Control

Automatic Climate Control

Steering Adjustment

Tilt & Telescopic

Tilt & Telescopic

Interiors

Dual Tone

Single Tone

Rear Armrest

With Audio controls & Cup

With cup holder

holder

(Source : www.chevrolet.co.in)

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Chevrolet Enjoy

FEATURES

MARUTHI SUZUKI ERTIGA CHEVROLET ENJOY

Length

4265

4305

Seating Capacity

Fuel type

Petrol

Petrol

No: of gears

Drivetrain

Front wheel Drive

Rear wheel Drive

Central Locking

No

Yes

Steering type

Power assisted(Electric)

Power assisted(Electric)

Interiors

Single Tone

Dual Tone

Warranty

Airbags

Air Conditioner

Manual

Manual

Steering adjustment

Tilt

----

(Source : www.marutisuzuki.com)

Frequency Table 4.1:

Analysis on the basis of Age distribution collected from the respondents

V1 = Age
Frequency Percent

Valid

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

below 20yrs

38

38.0

38.0

38.0

25-35yrs
35 -45 yrs
45 -55 yrs
Above 55
yrs

32
19
10

32.0
19.0
10.0

32.0
19.0
10.0

70.0
89.0
99.0

1.0

1.0

100.0

100

100.0

100.0

Total

Inference
From the above table , 38 % belongs to below 20 yrs of age , 32 % of age between 25 -35
yrs , 19 % of age between 35 - 45 yrs , 10% of age between 45 - 55yrs , 1 % above 55 yrs

Analysis on the basis of Age distribution using Bar diagram

Frequency Table 4.2 :

Analysis on the basis of gender

V2= Gender

Valid

male
female
Total

Frequenc Percent
y
82
82.0
18
18.0
100
100.0

Valid
Percent
82.0
18.0
100.0

Cumulative
Percent
82.0
100.0

Inference
From the above table 82 % respondents are males and rest 18 % are females.

Analysis on the basis of gender using bar diagram

Frequency Table 4.3:

Analysis on the basis of occupation

V3= Occupation
Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Valid

Employee
Businessmen
house wife
Professional
Student
Others
Total

52
26
3
10
5
4
100

52.0
26.0
3.0
10.0
5.0
4.0
100.0

52.0
26.0
3.0
10.0
5.0
4.0

Cumulative
Percent
52.0
78.0
81.0
91.0
96.0
100.0

100.0

Inference
from the above table occupation of respondents have been analyzed - 52 % are of
employees , 26 % are of business men , 3 % are of house wife , 10 are of professionals , 5 %
are of students , 4 % are of others .

Analysis on the basis of occupation using bar diagram

Frequency Table 4.4:

Analysis on the basis of monthly income

V4= Monthly Income

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Valid

Below 25000
25000-50000
50000-75000
75000and Above
Total

72
18
7
3
100

72.0
18.0
7.0
3.0
100.0

72.0
18.0
7.0
3.0
100.0

Cumulative
Percent
72.0
90.0
97.0
100.0

Inference
from the above table monthly income of the respondents have been calculated in that 72 %
are of below 25000 monthly income , 18% are of 25000- 50000 monthly income , and 7%
are of 50000-75000 monthly income , 3 % are having 75000 and above

Analysis on the basis of monthly income of bar diagram

Frequency Table 4.5:

Analysis on the basis of respondents cars they own

V5= Car name

Frequency

Valid

Hyundai
Chevrolet
maruti
others
Total

43
28
23
6
100

Percent
43.0
28.0
23.0
6.0
100.0

Valid Percent
43.0
28.0
23.0
6.0
100.0

Cumulative
Percent
43.0
71.0
94.0
100.0

Inference
From the above table 43 % respondents own Hyundai cars, 28 % own Chevrolet cars, Maruti
cars are owned only 23 %.

Analysis on the basis of respondents brand they own using bar diagram

Frequency Table 4.6 :

Analysis on the basis of dealers name

V6= Dealer name

Frequency

Valid

Geeyem
Hercules
Popular
Others
Total

24
26
43
7
100

Percent
24.0
26.0
43.0
7.0
100.0

Valid Percent
24.0
26.0
43.0
7.0
100.0

Cumulative
Percent
24.0
50.0
93.0
100.0

Inference
From the above table geeyem dealers are of 24 %. Hercules of 26 %, popular dealers of 43 %,
and others of 7% dealers

Analysis on the basis of dealers name using bar diagram

Table 4.7 :
Descriptive Statistics

Consumer perception on dealer service quality

N
Modern Looking
Equipments
Physical features appealing

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Std.
Deviation

100

3.41

1.349

100

3.28

1.256

Reception neat appearance

Pamphlets visually
appealing
Promises by certain time

100

3.21

1.395

100

3.40

.921

100

3.00

.778

Dealers show sincere interest

100

3.39

1.246

service right first time

100

3.47

1.314

Service at time it promises

100

3.66

1.191

Insist on error free records

100

3.52

1.267

Inform services performed

100

3.17

.753

Car dealer prompt service

100

3.52

1.096

Always willing to help

100

3.28

1.256

Never too busy to respond

100

3.40

1.163

Dealer instills confidence

100

3.35

1.192

Consistently courteous

100

3.04

.816

Knowledge to answer

100

3.33

1.311

Gives individual attention

100

3.13

.800

Operating hours convenient

100

3.21

1.282

Personal attention

100

3.56

1.274

Best interest at heart

100

3.52

1.322

Understand specific needs

100

3.23

1.238

Inference
Descriptive Analysis of all the variables of service quality i.e., mean scores and standard
deviations has been computed. From the above table, it is noted that the mean value for all
the variables are above 3, that means to say that service quality perception is positive about
the dealers. The dealers provide sufficient and satisfied features to the respondents .The
highest mean value shown here is the dealers providing service at the time it is promised, the
mean score is 3.66. The second highest mean score is the dealers provide personal attention
to the respondent and the mean calculated is 3.56 .Whereas the lowest score is promises by
certain time the and the lowest mean value is 3.The second lowest mean value is consistently
courteous with 3. 04 mean value.

.
Reception neat appearance

3.4
3.28 3.35

Understand specific needs

3.52

Best interest at heart

Personal attention

Operating hours convenient

Gives individual attention

Knowledge to answer

Consistently courteous

Dealer instills confidence

3.17

Never too busy to respond

3.66
3.47 3.52
3.39

Always willing to help

Car dealer prompt service

Inform services performed

Insist on error free records

Service at time it promises

3.41
3.4
3.283.21

service right first time

Dealers show sincere interest

Promises by certain time

Pamphlets visually appealing

3.5

Physical features appealing

Modern Looking Equipments

Mean Scores

3.563.52

3.33
3.21
3.13
3.04

3.23

2.5

1.5

1
Mean Scores

0.5

TABLE NO: 4.8

DEALERS SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS
Dimension wise analysis has been done by using 5 dimensions
DIMENSIONS
TANGIBILITY

RELIABILITY

RESPONSIVENESS

ASSURANCE

EMPATHY

MEAN
Modern Looking Equipments

3.41

Physical features appealing

3.28

Reception neat appearance

3.21

Pamphlets visually appealing

3.40

Dealers show sincere interest

3.39

Promises by certain time

3.00

service right first time

3.47

Service at time it promises

3.66

Insist on error free records

3.52

Inform services performed

3.17

Car dealer prompt service

3.52

Always willing to help

3.28

Never too busy to respond

3.40

Dealer instils confidence

3.35

Consistently courteous

3.04

Knowledge to answer

3.33

Gives individual attention

3.13

Operating hours convenient

3.21

Personal attention

3.56

Best interest at heart

3.52

Understand specific needs

3.23

3.32

3.38

3.37

3.28

3.33

LINE GRAPH

Series 1
3.4
3.38
3.36
3.34
3.32
3.3
3.28

Series 1

3.26
3.24
3.22

Inference
From the above table, dimension wise analysis has been done by using 5 dimensions.
in tangibility the mean scores is 3.32 , reliability mean score is 3.38 , responsiveness mean
score is 3.37, assurance mean score is less compared to other dimensions which is 3.28 ,
empathy mean score comes under 3.33. In perception wise analysis the highest mean score is
in reliability and responsiveness, while the lowest mean score is for assurance.

TABLE NO: 4.9

HYPOTHESIS TESTING

To test whether the service quality perception is dependent on monthly income of the
respondents, one way anova was used. The results are shown below

NULL HYPOTHESIS: Ho: there is no significant association between service quality

perception and income groups.

Alternate hypothesis: Ha: there is significant association between service quality perception
and income groups.

ANOVA
Sum of
df
Squares
Between
Groups
Tangible
Within Groups
Total
Between
Groups
Reliability
Within Groups
Total
Between
Responsivene Groups
ss
Within Groups
Total
Between
Groups
Assurance
Within Groups
Total
Between
Groups
Empathy
Within Groups
Total

Mean
Square

1.416

.472

31.271
32.688

96
99

.326

5.725

1.908

22.585
28.310

96
99

.235

1.354

.451

26.333
27.687

96
99

.274

1.720

.573

24.565
26.285

96
99

.256

2.451

.817

26.379
28.830

96
99

.275

Sig.

1.449

.233

8.111

.000

1.645

.184

2.241

.088

2.974

.036

Inference

From the above table it is noticed that there is no significant features income groups across
dimensions except for reliability and empathy at 5% level of significance ( alpha).therefore
null hypothesis accepted and it can inferred that perception of service quality dimension is
not dependent on income levels.

TABLE NO : 4.10

To test whether the service quality perception is dependent on dealers name of the respondents ,
One way anova was used. the results are shown below

NULL HYPOTHESIS: Ho: there is no significant association between service quality

perception and dealer groups.

Alternate hypothesis: Ha : : there is significant association between service quality perception

and dealers groups .
ANOVA
Sum of
Squares
Between
Groups
Tangible

df

Mean
Square

.951

.317

Within Groups

31.736

96

.331

Total

32.688

99

.182

.061

28.128
28.310

96
99

.293

.830

.277

26.857
27.687

96
99

.280

1.738

.579

24.547
26.285

96
99

.256

.585

.195

28.245

96

.294

28.830

99

Between
Groups
Reliability
Within Groups
Total
Between
Responsivene Groups
Within Groups
ss
Total
Between
Groups
Assurance
Within Groups
Total
Between
Groups
Empathy
Within Groups
Total

Sig.

.959

.415

.207

.891

.989

.402

2.266

.086

.663

.577

Inference

From the above table it is noticed that there is no significant features dealer groups across
dimensions except for reliability and empathy at 5% level of significance ( alpha).therefore
null hypothesis accepted and it can inferred that perception of service quality dimension is
not dependent on dealer group levels.

FINDINGS
1. Majority of the respondents belongs to age group below 25 yrs. i.e., 38%.
2. 82 % of the respondents are males 82 %, while females are only 18 %.
3. Most of the respondents are employees i.e., 52 %.
4. 72% of respondents are having monthly house hold income below Rs. 25000.
5. Majority of the respondents own Hyundai cars i.e., 48 %.
6. Most of the respondents have purchased from popular dealer in Allepy ie, 43 %.
7. Service quality Perception analysis showed that the mean values for all the
variables (21 items) having score above 3. That means to say the perceptions are
moderately satisfactory.
8. 'Providing service at the time to do' has highest mean score, mean score 3.66. The
second highest mean score was for 'personal attention' for the respondents.
9. The lowest mean score was for ' promises to do something by a certain time' with
mean score 3.00 and the second lowest mean score is for 'consistently courteous'
at 3. 04 mean score.
10. In terms of service quality dimensions, Responsiveness and Reliability are having
highest mean values. The lowest mean score is for Assurance i.e., 3.28.
11. Service quality perception was further found to be not associated with Income
groups except for Reliability and Empathy.
12. Also, Service quality perception was found to be not associated with dealer
groups.

SUGGESTIONS

1. The study shows that service quality perception across 21 items was satisfied , however
mean value are found around therefore there is a scope for further improvements across all
the variables
2. Perception towards ' promises to do something by certain time shows least scores
indicating lower satisfaction. Therefore immediate care should be taken to maintain the
deadlines and time schedules while providing services.
3. Similarly ' consistently courteous staff shows least score indicating negative perception.
Therefore dealers need to take immediate measures in term of appropriate recruitment and
training policies for the staff.

CONCLUSION

Quality is a strategic tool for attaining operational efficiency and improved business
performance. Importance of quality to service firms have demonstrated its positive
relationship with profits, increased market share, returns on investment, customer
satisfaction, and future purchase intentions. Further the importance of service quality in the
automobile industry is overwhelming and overstated. A detailed study was conducted on
three car dealers comprising Geeyem , Hercules and Popular in Allepey. The findings show
that consumer perception across all variables is moderately high. However, there is
significant scope for improvement in all the aspects. Particularly, car dealers need to improve
in terms of Assurance dimension which mainly concerned with employee knowledge,
willingness to help and instill confidence in the mind of consumers. Therefore, care must be
taken while recruiting staff. Additionally periodic training in terms of how to behave
courteously with consumers will be an advantage. With these strategies in place four wheeler
automobile service industries will be better equipped to take decisions on the right
investments to improve on quality of service and eventually on customer satisfaction.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERVQUAL
2. www.iosrjournals.org
3. Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml , and Leonard L. Berry (1985), A Conceptual
Model of Service Quality in its Implications for Future Research, Journal of
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