Employee perceptions of 'profiled' customers' expectations

There has been an increasing interest in the issues of quality in service delivery. The SERVQUAL theory addresses these issues and identifies the causes of service quality problems. The practical, managerial implications of the SERVQUAL theory and model are currently being addressed (Reidenbach and Sandifer-Smallwood, 1990; Woodside, Frey and Daly, 1989; Mangold and Babakus, 1991; Webster, 1989; Day, 1992). A handful of these articles have specifically addressed the managerial implications of the SERVQUAL Gap 1 analysis: the identification of employee and management perceptions of consumer expectations (Mangold and Babakus, 1991; Headley and Choi, 1992; Bebko, 1994). Previously, none of the research had mentioned the potential problems inherent in Gap 1 analysis when the organization is faced with several "types" of customers, each with possibly different expectations. Consequently, the results of the GAP 1 analysis may not represent the true picture of employee perceptions of consumer expectations. This would have implications for the validity of the SERVQUAL instrument in assessing a service's ability to deliver quality to consumers.