Service quality and satisfaction: an international comparison of professional services perceptions

Purpose - This study aims to examine the applicability of key measures of service quality and customer satisfaction in a cross-cultural setting, first establishing measurement equivalence and then investigating the impact of culture on these measures.Design methodology approach - Using scenarios involving a visit to the dentist's office, respondents from Germany, Japan, and the USA participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment in which the authors manipulated both expectations (low high) and service performance (low high).Findings - Regardless of expectations, when performance was low, the low-context respondents (USA and Germany) perceived lower quality than did the respondents from the high-context country (Japan), but gave higher quality ratings than did the Japanese respondents when the performance was high.Practical implications - The findings of this study highlight the necessity of considering culture when interpreting customer satisfaction ratings.Originality value - This research adds credence to the paramount role culture plays in consumers' ratings of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction.