Customer Satisfaction & The Irish Service Industry
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Authors
Moyles, Damien
Issue Date
2001
Degree
MA of Business Studies
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
In recent years there has been a radical shift by management in Ireland towards importance attributed to the services and more significantly how to satisfaction of customers with this industry. However, limited evidence exists as to the levels of customer satisfaction achieved. With this in mind this Thesis set out to research existing customer satisfaction material, from the United States, Europe and Ireland, and to further conduct primary research specifically related to the satisfaction levels in the Irish service industry. Moreover, it set out to establish is a substantial variance existed between Irish service companies perception of the level of customer satisfaction they provide and that which is perceived by consumers. To achieve goal this primary research was conducted with both groups. On the company side six senior managers were interview from six diverse service sectors, which were: Financial Services, Automobile and Transport, Recreation and Leisure, Hotel and Catering, Grocery and Retail, and the Construction Industry. While on the consumer side a questionnaire and focus group was undertaken. The results show that a negative variance exists, but was found to minor at only 13.19, percent, hardly substantial, with wider variances found within the various service industry sectors reviewed. However, it was found that a substantial variance does exist in areas such as complaint handling and customer listening systems, as companies perceived themselves to be more competent in these areas than rating granted by consumers.