An Assessment of the Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction A Case of a Public Passenger Road Transportation Company in Zambia
IntroductionTransport service industry comprises of several modes which range from air, water, railways, pipeline and road transports. Pipelines are used to transport items which are liquids and gaseous in nature while air, water and roads are used to transport goods and passengers. Bus transport has grown in Zambia and contributes an average of 4% to GDP (Phiri Mcwabe, 2013) The study is therefore focused only on long distance bus transport services (otherwise referred to as intercity travel) between the two Major cities of Kitwe and Lusaka in Zambia. An intercity bus carries passengers in significant distances between cities, towns or other populated areas, unlike a municipal bus, with frequent stops throughout a city or town. Intercity generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city or town and travels long distances of about 60 kilometers to 250 kilometers without stopping at all.Bus operations in Zambia are mainly controlled by the government agency known as Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) which issues road and carrier licenses for passenger transport operations specifying the routes and associated information (Road Transport and Safety Agency, 2010).Like other forms of transport, individual operators dominate passenger bus transport industry in Zambia. This is because after the liberalization of the economy and the privatization of the United Bus Company of Zambia (UBZ) in 1993 many individuals were encouraged to participate in bus transport services by removing impediments in the sector. The very nature of bus transport business makes the industry an ideal target for government and inter governmental regulations. As a result, the transport industry is amongst the highly regulated industries in the world (Fimbo, 2008) Consequently, companies counter the regulations by developing and maintaining competitive advantage through service differentiation.In transport service, customer service is determined by many various factors such as reliability, communication, consistency and convenience which in turn may lead to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is important to bus transport service providers as it increases customer value and customer loyalty (Fuentes, Servera, Berenguer, Saura, 2008).An Overview of Service Quality in TransportationIn this modern world many bus transport service providers face difficulties in areas of bus scheduling; many services are run to a specific time table giving specific times of departure and arrival at stations on the route. These often are difficult to maintain in the event of traffic congestion, breakdowns, on/off bus incidents or bad weather (Walter, 2016) hence service quality becomes a tool that could aid good service provision.Service quality is a comparison of expectations with performance. A business with high service quality will meet customer needs whilst remaining economically competitive. This aim may be achieved by understanding and improving operational processes, identifying problems quickly and measuring customer satisfaction and other performance outcomes. According to Agyapong (2011) from the business point of view service quality is an achievement in customer service. Customers form service expectations from past service experiences, word of mouth and advertisements. In general, customers compare perceived service with expected service; in which case if the former fall short of the latter the customers are disappointed. The subjective aspect of customer service depends on the conformity of the expected benefits with perceived results (Parasuraman, 2000).Gaps or shortfall may occur during service provision and the common service gaps that may exist during service provision between a firm and its customers is the gap between the company and the customer. According to Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry (1990) this gap occurs when managers do not know their customers' needs.