Exploring the Influence of SERVQUAL Dimensions of Reliability, Responsiveness and Assurance towards Consumers Loyalty: The Mediating Effect of Commitment-Trust Relationship Marketing Theory

Abstract

With the surged of mobile apps usage among businesses ever since the outbreak of Covid-19, studies relating to the usage of mobile apps become important. An understanding of it ensuring better services being provided and enhance competitiveness among the mobile apps delivery provider. As such, this study is crucial to gauge the underlying factors that influence the quality of services delivered by the company's mobile apps and determine the user's loyalty. This study specifically examine the impact of SERVQUAL dimensions that comprises of reliability, responsiveness and assurance on customer loyalty and the mediating role of customer trust in the mobile apps delivery in Selangor. Conventionally, SERVQUAL refers to the customer's overall evaluation of service firms' attributes by comparing their expectations and actual performance (Parasuraman et al., 1988). This is a quantitative research, whereby a simple random sampling will be used for selecting the participants from the state of Selangor, Malaysia. An online questionnaire with five-point Likert scale will be applied for data collecting purposes. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) will be used to analyse questions on the SERVQUAL dimension; reliability, responsiveness and assurance, and trust to customer loyalty. This study attempt to offer a comprehensive understanding of trust and customer loyalty in the Malaysian mobile apps delivery. Subsequently, it also provides an insight on the important dimensions necessary in developing quality mobile app delivery. Findings from this study may postulate a theoretical framework for measuring customer loyalty toward the mobile app delivery. In addition, it may aid mobile app delivery industry players plan for better quality mobile app services to retain their customers. This study may also pave ways for future studies such as incorporating other variables to the SERVQUAL model (e.g.: tangibility and empathy) and covering other scope of study.