The structure and measures of service quality perceptions for multiple-encounter services: a study of hospitals in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper examines a complex multiple-encounter service environment – hospitals in a developing country – and suggests that service quality measures ought to be tied to key actors’ performance metrics. Based on face-to-face surveys of 400 hospital patients in Bangladesh and using structural equations modeling, our findings show that for multiple-encounter services, the three dimensions of service quality that emerged reflect key actors’ performance. We also corroborate, as a validation of our model, that there is a positive link between service quality and satisfaction, as well as between satisfaction and loyalty, reflecting a mediating role of patient satisfaction.