Service quality perceptions - An empirical study of service performance, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention in retail banking units

The purpose of the study was to determine the applicability of the SERVPERF model in the Indian Banking Sector and also determine, if any, the differences in the service quality perception of service performance, customer satisfaction and purchase intention between public and co-operative retail banking units. The findings confirm that the SERVPERF dimensions of Tangibility, Reliability and Responsiveness correlated well in the public sector bank while the Assurance dimension correlated in the co-operative sector bank. As a vital indication to the bankers the influence of the SERVPERF dimensions on customer satisfaction was very low in the co-operative retail banking unit, indicating the possibility of lower customer expectations. Customer satisfaction, appeared to be a more affluent construct for use in predicting and maneuvering customer purchase intentions than service quality itself.