Gaps model of service quality
A model that explains service quality as the distance between what customers expect and what they perceive, and looks inside the organization for where it arises.
What problem it addresses
Helps look for the cause of poor service within the organization, not only at the moment of service.
Components
Gap 1
What customers expect versus what management thinks they expect.
Gap 2
What management understands versus the service standards it sets.
Gap 3
The standards versus the service actually delivered.
Gap 4
The service delivered versus what is promised externally.
Gap 5
The expected service versus the one the customer perceives. This is the one they experience and judge.
How it works
Customer expectations set the bar.
Four gaps appear when understanding, specifying, delivering and communicating the service.
The fifth is the one the customer experiences.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Combine it with a service blueprint to diagnose a service that falls short.
Avoid
Measuring only satisfaction without asking what the person expected.
Don’t fall for it
A campaign that promises more than the service delivers opens gap 4.
Connections
Authors and works
- 1985
A. Parasuraman, Valarie A. Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry
Proposed the model based on interviews with executives and focus groups with customers of four types of services.
Sources
Original sources
- Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41–50. View source: Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985)
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