AN ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE FORMATION OF CONSUMERS PURCHASE INTENTIONS

Service quality and customer satisfaction are widely recognized as key influences in the formation of consumers' purchase intentions in service environments. However, a review of the existing literature suggests that the specific nature of the relationship between these important constructs in the determination of consumers' purchase intentions continues to elude marketing scholars (c.f. Bitner and Hubbert 1994; Bolton and Drew 1994; Gronroos 1993; Rust and Oliver 1994). The study reported here was designed to aid in the understanding of these relationships by empirically assessing the nature of the relationship between service quality and consumer satisfaction in the formation of consumers' purchase intentions across four unique service industries. The results of the current research, coupled with the weight of the evidence in the emerging services literature, suggest that consumer satisfaction is best described as moderating the service quality/purchase intention relationship. The managerial and research implications of the reported study are also discussed.