"Zoning-in" on information systems service quality: Continuous refinement of the SERVQUAL measurement

Considerable debate in marketing has challenged the conceptual and psychometric properties of the SERVQUAL measure of service quality and drawn into question the instrument's practical value. One of the most noticeable outcomes of this debate has been the development and testing of an improved SERVQUAL instrument by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1994b). This new scale, SERVQUAL+, demonstrates improved validity and addresses many of the critics' concerns related to the original SERVQUAL. The new scales are reported to clarify the relationships among different standards of expectations and perceived service quality. The underlying model of SERVQUAL+ posits that service expectations exist at two levels which customers use as standards in assessing service quality: (1) desired service: the level of service representing a blend of what customers believe "can be" and "should be" provided, and (2) adequate service: the minimum level of service customers are willing to accept. Separating these two levels is a "zone of tolerance" that represents the range of service performance a customer would consider satisfactory. This study will adapt the SERVQUAL+ measurement to the IS setting, confirm its psychometric validity and evaluate the practical value of its "zone of tolerance" concept.