The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in Jimma

University: The Case of Registrar Services

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Jimma University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Public Management (MPM)

BY:
BEHAILU CHIMDESSA

JIMMA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
MPM PROGRAM

NOVEMBER, 2021

JIMMA, ETHIOPIA
 The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in Jimma
University: The Case of Registrar Services

BY:
BEHAILU CHIMDESSA CHALA
Under The Guidance of
Main Advisor: Kedir Abrahim (Ass. Professor.)
And
Co-Advisor: Selamawit Melaku (MBA)

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Jimma University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Public Management (MPM)

JIMMA UNIVERSITY
MPM PROGRAM

NOVEMBER, 2021

JIMMA, ETHIOPIA
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the thesis entitles “The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in
Jimma University: The Case of Registrar Services”, submitted to Jimma University for the award of the
Degree of Master of Public Management (MPM) and is a record of confide research work carried out by
Mr. Behailu Chimdessa Chala, under our guidance and supervision.

Therefore, we hereby declare that no part of this thesis has been submitted to any other university or
institutions for the award of any degree or diploma.

Main Advisor’s Name Date Signature

___________________ __________________ _________________

Co-Advisor’s Name Date Signature
____________________ ____________________ _________________

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 JIMMA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
MPM PROGRAM
Board of Thesis Examination
Approval Sheet
Members of the Board of Examiners
External Examiner Signature Date

Dr. Habtamu D ________ _______

Internal Examiner Signature Date
Dr. Zerihun A _________ _______

Main Advisor Signature Date

Mr. Kedir A _________ _______
Co-Advisor Signature Date
Miss. Selamawit M ____________ ___________

ii
 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis entitled “The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in
Jimma University: the Case of Registrar Services”, has been carried out by me under the guidance and
supervision of Mr.Kedir Abrahim and Miss Selamawit Melaku

The thesis is original and has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma to any
university or institutions.

Researcher‟s Name Date Signature

Behailu Chimdessa Chala ______________ ____________

iii
 Abstract
Recently higher institutions are widely expanding in Ethiopia to contribute towards the holistic
development of the country. Office of the registrar of higher institution is the initial entrance to
the services provided by the institution in the teaching-learning processes. The services that the
office of registrar provides to the students and the employees need to be to the standard
acceptable to service takers. The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of service
quality on customer satisfaction in Jimma University the case of registrar services. Hence, cross
sectional study was conducted and a stratified simple random sampling technique was employed
to enable select the respondents from the eight strata (College) of Jimma University. Close
ended questionnaire were used to collect data from respondents selected from students, and from
academic staffs. Three hundred and fifty nine 359, participants were selected through
convenience sampling technique. The SPSS statistical packages were used to analyze data.
Multiple linear regression models were used to determine how well the service quality,
dimensions such as the tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy
significantly predict the variance in the CSa of the registrar. The assumptions for linear
regression model analysis were met. The finding of this study also indicates that customers were
most satisfied with the assurance dimensions of service quality. On the contrary, customers were
less satisfied with tangibility dimensions of service quality. The study concluded that, the
correlation between the CSa and the dimensions were positive and statistically significant. Based
on the results of this study, it is recommended that the Office of the Registrar should prioritize
the SQ dimensions to provide quality service on customer satisfaction.

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; SQ dimensions; SERVQUAL; Registrar; Jimma University.

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 Acknowledgments
It is the grace and mercy of God, the Father, that made me achieve this success and to go through
all the difficult time and give me this opportunity to develop my career and faithfully helped me
throughout the course of the study.

I take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude, respect and appreciation for my advisor
Mr. Kedir Abrahim (Assistant Professor) with true respect for learning, for this his proper
guidance and encouragement for this study up to this stage of my study.

My deepest appreciation goes to my Co-advisor Miss. Selamawit Melaku (MBA) for her
continuous guidance and encouragement throughout this thesis writing.

Finally, my greatest gratitude goes to my beloved families, Dr Eng Fikadu Fufa (Associate
Professor) and Mr. Begna Abera (MA) for their unreserved support and encouragement
throughout the research development. Thank you very much and God bless you all!!

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 Table of Contents
CONTENTS PAGE

CERTIFICATE ................................................................................................................................ i
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................... iii
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... v
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x
ACRONYMS/ABRIVATIONS..................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ....................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 5

1.3.1 General objective ............................................................................................................ 5

1.3.2 Specific objectives .......................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Hypothesis of the study ......................................................................................................... 5

1.5 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 6

1.6 Scope of the study ................................................................................................................. 6

1.7 Limitation of the study .......................................................................................................... 7

1.8 Organization of the study ...................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 8

2. THE LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Theoretical Review ............................................................................................................... 8

2.1.1 Definition of Service ...................................................................................................... 8

2.1.2 The concept of service .................................................................................................... 8
2.1.3 The concept of quality .................................................................................................. 10
2.1.4 Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction .................................................................. 12
2.1.5 Services Marketing ....................................................................................................... 14
2.1.6 Quality of Service Dimensions ..................................................................................... 15

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 2.1.7 Measuring Service Quality ........................................................................................... 16
2.1.8 The SERVQUAL .......................................................................................................... 18
2.1.9 Measuring Service Quality Gaps .................................................................................. 19
2.2 Empirical review ................................................................................................................. 20

2.3 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 22

CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 24

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 24
3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 24

3.2 Target population ................................................................................................................ 24

3.3 Research Approach ............................................................................................................. 25

3.4 Sampling Techniques and sample size ................................................................................ 26

3.5 Data Sources ........................................................................................................................ 27

3.6 Data Collection Instrument ................................................................................................. 27

3.7 Model Specification and Description of Study Variables ................................................... 27

3.8 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 28

3.9 Validity Test ........................................................................................................................ 29

3.10 Reliability .......................................................................................................................... 29

3.10. Ethical Consideration ....................................................................................................... 30

CHAPTER FOUR......................................................................................................................... 31
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................... 31
4.1 Respondents of Demography and Service Quality perception............................................ 31

4.2 Response Rate ..................................................................................................................... 34

4.3 Descriptive Statistics of Service Quality Dimension and Customer Satisfaction. .............. 35

4.4 Perception towards Overall Service Quality Dimensions ................................................... 39

4.5 Assumptions of Multiple Linear Regressions ..................................................................... 40

4.5.1 Correlation .................................................................................................................... 40

4.5.2 Multicollinearity ........................................................................................................... 41
4.5.3 Test for the Independence of the residuals ................................................................... 42

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 4.5.4 Linearity........................................................................................................................ 42
4.5.5 Homogeneity of error variance and Normality............................................................. 43
4.6 MLR Model for SQ Dimensions Predicting the CSa of the Registrar Office ..................... 44

4.7 Hypothesis Test Result ........................................................................................................ 47

4.8. Discussion of Results ........................................................................................................ 50

CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 53

5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 53
5.1. Summary ............................................................................................................................ 53

5.2. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 54

5.3. Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 55

5.4. Future Research Direction .................................................................................................. 56

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 57
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 64
APPENDIX–A: Assumptions Test of Multiple Linear Regressions ........................................ 64

APPENDIX –B: Questionnaires ............................................................................................... 67

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 List of Tables
Table 1. Sample of Target population......................................................................................................... 25

Table 2. Summary of Dependent and independent variables ..................................................................... 28

Table 3. Reliability statistics of Cronbach‟s Alpha .................................................................................... 30

Table 4. Demography.................................................................................................................................. 32

Table 5. Service Quality Perception .......................................................................................................... 34

Table 6. Response rate ............................................................................................................................... 34

Table 7: Perception towards items of Tangibility ....................................................................................... 35

Table 8. Perception towards items of Reliability ....................................................................................... 36

Table 9. Perception towards items of Responsiveness............................................................................... 37

Table 10. Perception towards items of Assurance ..................................................................................... 37

Table 11. Perception towards items of Empathy ........................................................................................ 38

Table 12. Perception towards items of Customer Satisfaction .................................................................. 39

Table 13. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) for SQ dimensions and CSa. ................. 40

Table 14. Intercorrelations for CSa of the registrar office and SQ dimensions ......................................... 40

Table 15. Collinearity statistics, the tolerance and the VIFs of the MLR model of the SQ dimensions (R2
= .656; N = 328) .......................................................................................................................................... 42

Table 16. Durbin-Watson statistic of the regression .................................................................................. 42

Table 17 . Model summary for SQ dimensions predicting the CSa of the registrar office (N = 328) ....... 46

Table 18. The ANOVA of the MLR model of the SQ dimensions predicting the CSa of the registrar (N =
328) ............................................................................................................................................................. 46

Table 19. Regression coefficients for TAN, REL, RES, ASU and EMP predicting the CSa of Jimma
University Registrar Office (N = 328) ........................................................................................................ 47

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 List of Figures
Figure 1 conceptual framework .................................................................................................................. 23

Figure 2. Matrix plot of TAN, REL, RES, ASU, EMP, CSa (P < .001; DV = dependent variable which is
CSa; IVs = independent variables (SQ dimensions) ................................................................................... 64

Figure 3. Plot of observed cumulative probability and expected cumulative probability of the model (DV
is CSa) ......................................................................................................................................................... 64

Figure 4. Scatter plot of regression standard residual and standardized predicted values (DV is CSa) ..... 65

Figure 5. Histogram of regression standardized residuals (dependent variable is CSa) ............................ 65

Figure 6. Probability plot of the regression standardized residual (dependent variable is CSa) ................ 66

x
 ACRONYMS/ABRIVATIONS

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

TAN Tangibility

REL Reliability

RES Responsibility

ASU Assurance

EMP Empathy

CSa Customer Satisfaction

SERVQUAL Service Quality

MLR Multiple Linear Regressions

VIF Variance Inflation Factor

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 CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION

This unit deal with background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study,
hypothesis of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, limitation of the study, and
organization of the paper are the major areas are discussed in this chapter.

1.1 Background of the Study

In the current business world, the quality of customer service is becoming the concern of both
customers and organizations. And in most industries providing quality service is very important for
their longer survival. In service industries, globally, the subject of service quality remains critical as
businesses strive to maintain a comparative advantage in the marketplace (Zeithaml and Bitner,
2003).

Customer Satisfaction is when a consumer/customer is contented with either the product or services
it is termed satisfaction. Satisfaction can also be a person‟s feelings of pleasure or dissatisfaction
that result from comparing a product‟s perceived performance or consequence with their
expectations (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Customers‟ strength to service providers expecting to get a quality service and the level of
expectation among each individual varies. Finding out what customers expect is essential in
providing a quality service. This can be done through advertising research focusing on issues such
as what features are important to customers, what levels of these features customers expect, and
what customers think the company can and should do when problems occur in service delivery
(Miles, 2013).

In point of fact, satisfaction could be the pleasure derived by someone from the consumption of
goods or services offered by another person or group of people; or it can be the state of being happy
with a situation. Satisfaction varies from one person to another because it is utility. “One man‟s
meal is another man‟s poison,” an old adage stated describing utility; thus highlighting the fact that
it is sometimes very difficult to satisfy everybody or to determine satisfaction among a group of
individuals. This is the general concept of the business need to increase the service of the company
(Kotler & Keller, 2009).

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To remain competitive, service providers must deliver quality service to their customers. Moreover,
understanding and meeting customers‟ hope and later being different from competitors are
important in order to survive in the today world of globalization. Nowadays, the provision of
quality services has become one of the most important rights of citizens, and is the key to assuring
the continuous operation of organizations, how to provide good service quality is an important
topic, and how Organizational culture impacts that is the target of this study. An organization is a
planned social unit deliberately structured for the purpose of attaining specific goals (Parsons,
1960). An organization‟s capacity is its potential to perform, its ability to successfully apply its
skills and resources to accomplish its goals and satisfy its stakeholders‟ expectations.

The evaluation of customer satisfaction is a primary goal for any service organization that would
like to survive in this increasingly competitive market. The quality-of-life index is based on the
measuring of the quality of government performance. As it relates to good public administration
and the provision of better services to citizens, Service industries, have been, and were continue to
be, largely responsible for much of the domestic and international economic growth (Sara, 2013).

Currently, the understanding of customers' wants desires and trying to meet the level of customer
satisfaction. To make customers loyal are important to maintain the customer for longer than mere
considering each visit of the customers (Reich held, 2000).

Higher education institutions are rapidly increasing since recently in Ethiopia. The primary and first
point of contact of the universities with their customers, mainly the students, is the registrar's office.
It is here where the newly enrolled students start to receive service from their respective
universities. The registrar closely and persistently provides services to the students until the
students complete their studies. Besides, this office provides service to the graduated students as
well to the university academic instructors at different times with different services.

The quality of the services provided by the university registrar offices determines the level of the
satisfaction of the customers: the students and the Academic Staff. Assessing the factors that can be
used as indices of the quality of the service provided by the office could be of importance to
identify the gaps that need to be addressed by the university to satisfy its customers. Service quality
is a key differentiator between the competing scenarios. It is especially very critical in a highly
competitive environment such as that of the higher institution operating environment service quality
on customer satisfaction improvement is the key issue that determines the very survival of the

2
institution itself. Assessing the quality of the services provided on customer satisfaction at the
offices of the registrars of the higher institutions can be important to indicate the gaps in the
provision of quality services (Sureshchandar et al., 2002).

Therefore, the main purpose of this study to investigate the effect of service quality dimensions on
customer satisfaction. The study is backed by five predicator dimensions those are regarding to
physical facilities, the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately,
willingness to help customers and provide prompt service, knowledge and courtesy of employees
and their ability to inspire trust and confidence and caring individualized attention the registrar
provides to customer satisfactions.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Institutions of higher education have gone through such reforms for improving the service they
deliver to the customers, mainly the students and the Academic Staff. One of the parts of the
university that mainly gives services is the registrar's office at different colleges and institutions.
The effectiveness of the reforms that the university has implemented requires to be assessed in
terms of the provision of quality service delivers (Longanecker and Blanco, 2003).

As students are the main stakeholders of higher education, service quality in the context of higher
education has relied on the service experience of students as provided by HEIs (Jancey and Burns,
2013). Further, the satisfaction of students is substantially influenced by their perception of service
quality (Alves and Raposo, 2010).

In addition, Satendra (2011) and Mesay (2012) have recognized that satisfying customers is the first
major mission and purpose of any organization. When customers are satisfied, organizations
achieve higher mission, objectives, and goal. Customer satisfaction also leads organizations to gain
loyalty and achieve the desired objectives (Lymperopoulous et al., 2006).

In this regard, Jimma University is one of the higher educations in Ethiopia with a mission to ensure
training high-quality national and international professionals, undertaking quality and problem-
solving trainers. So, within these to attain its mission and future goal the service quality delivery by
the organization is vital for the success and growth of the institutional sector activities. In this
regard, the service quality on customer satisfaction is one of the key areas of the institution. Since
the registrar has a lot of complaints on the emerging area of the service quality especially, regarding

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practical customer handling and lack of on-time delivery service to customer‟s document and
information quality service is critical in order to satisfy customers which imply a sustainable
advantage.

In addition, the graduating 2021 class students of Jimma University and the academic staff of the
university have been complaining regarding the quality of service rendering in the University
Office of Registrar. Consequently, the effects of quality of services on customer satisfaction that the
Office of registrar provides to the customers were investigated to obtain insight into the level and
quality of the service has been provided by the Jimma University registrar office.

In relation of this research topic some researchers were conducted various studies in different areas,
Bikila Debela (2015) conducted in the title “Assessment of service quality and customer satisfaction
in case of some selected branches of „co-operative bank of Oromia‟ in Addis Ababa.” The past
research has emphasized that service quality and customer satisfaction on bank organization. Here,
the current study focused on the outcome of service quality on customer satisfaction on the services
being offered in Jimma University.

The other study done by Mohammed Hussen (2017) is service quality on customer retention in hotel
sector (a case of 5 selected hotels in Gambella town, Ethiopia). An important gap still exists in the
empirical literature to indicate service quality delivery and customer satisfaction specifically related to
rendering service quality on customer satisfaction.

Most of the studies related to service quality and customer satisfaction were done on bank and hotel,
such as, a study doing by Belay (2010) the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction of private
and commercial banks, using Five dimensions of service quality (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance and empathy the result implied that, The three service quality dimensions (assurance,
empathy, and responsiveness) have positive and insignificant effect on customer satisfaction.
Tangibility has a positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction. However, reliability has a
negative and insignificant effect on customer satisfaction.
Therefore, the study tried to fill the gaps shown between the previous and current study. In past studies
the area of research focused on private sectors such as banks and hotel. However, the current study has
emphasized on the outcome of service quality on customer satisfaction being offered in public sector
case in Jimma University. And also, most of the study conducted by using descriptive research

4
design. However, the present study was conducted by using both descriptive as well as inferential
research design.
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General objective
The general objective of this study is to examine the effects of service quality on customer
Satisfaction in Jimma University, the Case of Registrar Services.

1.3.2 Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the study are
To identify the effects of tangibility on customer‟s satisfaction of the Registrar;
To identify the effects of reliability on customer‟s satisfaction of the Registrar;
To identify the effects of responsiveness on customer‟s satisfaction of the Registrar;
To identify the effects of assurance on customer‟s satisfaction of the Registrar; and
To identify the effect of empathy on customer‟s satisfaction of the Registrar.
1.4 Hypothesis of the study
A hypothesis is a logical estimated relationship between two or more variables expressed in the
form of testable statements. The result of empirical studies universal indicates different outcome
while using the same variables to investigate the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University the case of registrar services. With the purpose of achieve the study objectives
and to answer the following hypotheses are developed:

Ho1: Tangibility will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University registrar.
Ho2: Reliability will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University registrar.
Ho3: Responsiveness will not have a positive and significant effect on customer
satisfaction in Jimma University registrar.
Ho4: Assurance will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University registrar.

Ho5: Empathy will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University registrar.

5
1.5 Significance of the Study

This study examined the service provided by the office of the registrar at Jimma University and its
impact on customer satisfaction. The study has the following significant:

It identified the strengths and weaknesses of the service delivered by the registrar's
office and its effect on customer satisfaction.

It might give information on the service the registrar is currently providing and help it to
identify areas that need improvement and plan towards it, so that its customers enjoy
quality service.

This study may help the university management to direct their attention to this highly
essential function of the service area.

The findings of this research might help the University‟s office registrar to understand
the role of good customer service on customer satisfaction,

It can provides what level of service quality of the registrar office under customer
service quality,

It can allows the stakeholders to have clue on where the registrar stands in the eyes of its
customers and the findings can be a stepping stone for future researches in registrar
office and other service sectors.

1.6 Scope of the study

This study was delimited to:
Conceptually; this study was focused on the relationship between service quality dimensions
(tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, empathy, and assurance) and customer satisfaction in
relative term. The study was also limited to the study area.
Geographically; the study was conducted or limited to only in Jimma university main campus,
Jimma Institute of technology (JIT), Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary
Medicine (JUCAVM) of all Colleges‟ Registrars and Institutions.
Methodologically; this study was conducted based on cross sectional survey research design and
also convenience sampling techniques. Additionally, the main tool used to collect data from
customers is questionnaires. This study was also conducted based on SERVQUAL tools.

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1.7 Limitation of the study
The current study employed five elements as independent variables under the effective service
quality on customer satisfaction in Jimma University the case of registrar services and dependent
variable customer satisfaction. This implies that other variables relating to service quality were not
considered. In addition, due to certain limitations, this study was limited to Jimma University,
which is one of the monsters among government universities. It is, therefore, not known to what
extent one can generalize the findings from this study to other state universities or even for private
universities across the country. Another limitation was this study employed only multiple linear
regressions to analyze the effect service quality on customer satisfaction and used only quantitative
analysis. This study did not use logic regression and qualitative analysis.

1.8 Organization of the study

The thesis was organized into five chapters: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter
Four, and Chapter Five. The first chapter is for the introduction of the study which consists of the
background of the study, the background of the organization, statement of the problem, objectives
of the study, scope of the study, limitation of the study, and organization of the paper. Chapter Two
also contains different literatures on the area which discusses various theories and concepts on
service Quality. Then, Chapter Three represents the research methodology. Furthermore, Chapter
Four presents results and discussion, and the final chapter; Chapter Five is the summary,
conclusion, recommendation of the thesis, and future research direction.

7
 CHAPTER TWO
2. THE LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter deals with the review of the relevant works of literature to establish the study
background. It contained the theoretical foundation of the subject, empirical review of recent pieces
of literature, and the conceptual frameworks with various subsections.

2.1 Theoretical Review

2.1.1 Definition of Service
One of the major trends of recent years has been the phenomenal growth of services. This shift
towards a service economy is largely attributed to rising affluence, more leisure time, and the
growing complexity of products that require servicing. Moreover, as companies find it harder to
differentiate their physical products, they increasingly turn to service differentiation, seeking to win
and retain customers through delivering superior services. Many developed countries have seen a
dramatic increase in the importance of services to national economies and to the individual
consumer. In the major European countries, the US and in Japan, more people are employed in
services than in all other sectors of the economy put together. Both public and private sector
services in these countries account for between 60 and 75 percent of gross domestic output. (K.
Rama Mohana Rao, 2005).
In some countries, service occupations have been forecast to contribute to all net job growth in the
next five years (Kotler, 2005). Because of their diversity, services have traditionally been difficult
to define. The way in which services are created and delivered to customers is often hard to grasp
since many inputs and outputs are intangible. Most people have little difficulty defining
manufacturing or agriculture, but defining service can elude them (Lovelock & wright, 1999). Some
of the definitions of service are the following service is an act or performance offered by one party
to another. Although the process may be tied to a physical product, the performance is essentially
intangible and does not normally result in ownership of any of the factors of production (Lovelock
& wright, 1999).

2.1.2 The concept of service

According to Gilmore (2003), the important growth of services industries highlights the
contribution to world economies. From the evolution of the services marketing literature, many

8
definitions of the concept of service came across; there have been arguments about the extent to
which services should be considered. On one hand, some have argued that despite the fact services
are performances, still have characteristics similar to goods in terms of how they are produced,
consumed, and evaluated. On the other hand, many have argued that the differences that exist
between goods and services highlight the limitations of traditional marketing principles when
applied to the marketing of services. By their very nature, services are diverse and therefore have
often been difficult to define, services should be defined in their own right, not in relation to goods
because of the distinctive characteristics among them.
According to Lovelock (2011) express that services are economic activities offered by one party to
another. Often time-based, performances bring about desired results, objects, or other assets for
which the organization have the responsibility”. This definition emphasizes that the customer
expects “value” in exchange for money, time, and effort. However, despite the scope of the service
and the understanding of its meaning, services have a number of distinctive and unique
characteristics, which separates services from goods often described as intangibility, heterogeneity,
inseparability, and perishability. These are defined in the next section.

2.1.2.1 Intangibility

According to Palmer (2011), a pure service cannot be measured using any of the physical senses,
services are performances or actions rather than objects, they cannot be seen, felt, tasted, or touched
in the same manner as tangible goods. Additionally, Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremier (2009) states
that intangibility presents several marketing challenges, precise manufacturing specifications
concerning uniform quality can rarely be set, but when what is being sold is purely a performance,
the criteria customers‟ use it may be complex and difficult to capture precisely. However, Grönroos
(2007) says that in order to develop a service management and marketing models for the business, it
is important to understand what customer is really looking for and what they evaluate.

2.1.2.2 Heterogeneity
Services are performances produced by humans; no two services will be precisely alike. In addition,
is important to point out that the characteristics of customers may differ as well; each had had
unique demands or experience the service in a unique way. Therefore Zeithaml, Bitner, and
Gremier (2009) explain that because services are heterogeneous across time, organizations, and
people, ensuring consistent service quality is challenging. Quality depends on many factors such as

9
the ability of the customer to articulate his or her needs, the ability and willingness of the personnel
to satisfy those needs, the presence (or absence) of other customers, and the level of demand for the
service.
2.1.2.3 Inseparability
Services that are a series of processes, where production and consumption cannot be totally
separated, and where the customer often actively participate in the production process are bound to
be perceived as extremely complex (Grönroos, 2007). In this regard Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremier
(2009), explains that because services are often produced and consumed at the same time, mass
production is difficult. The quality of the services and customer satisfaction will be highly
dependent on what happens in “real time” including the actions of employees and the interaction
with the customer. This all leads to consumers having higher levels of perceived risk (Gilmore,
2003).
2.1.2.4 Perishability
The perishability of services is a key concept in services market and refers to the fact that services
cannot be saved, stored, resold, or returned. In contrast to goods, they cannot be stored in inventory
or even returned if the customer is unhappy. Creating a primary issue for marketers face in relation
to service perishability, demand, predicting and creative planning for capacity utilization are
therefore important and challenging decision areas according to Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremier
(2009). It must be emphasized that both manufactured goods and service products contribute to the
quality experience, but this research is concerned primarily with the service delivery process.
According to Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremier (2009), customers not only influence their own service
outcomes, but they can influence other customers as well. The three elements of the marketing mix
mentioned before are an important tool that addresses the uniqueness of services, keeping the
customer at the center what Grönroos (2007) called “functional quality”. How to define quality is
the next topic of interest.
2.1.3 The concept of quality
Once the argument of services has been agreed out, is important to turn the discussion on how
quality can be defined, thus, this concept has been researched by several authors through decades
making it necessary to understand the various definitions and approaches that exist in the marketing
environment. Kasper, Helsdingen, and Gabbot (2006) argue that the application of quality in
services is a relatively recent phenomenon and according to Schneider (2004) Quality is an

10
ambiguous term and perhaps the most important and complex component of the business strategy.
However, in the existing literature was explained that is challenging to try to establish a single and
universal definition for quality, nevertheless, there are several different ways to approach the
definition of it.

The concept of quality usually has been seen to be a production concern with the extent to which a
product conforms to technical standards (Kasper, 2002). Although is only suited for quality in
mass-production goods and its measurement. Among the definitions available in the literature, it
was noticeable the fact that the definitions are changing with a common factor such as customer
centered.

For example, the research carried out by Battini (2012) points out that the concept of quality can be
approached from: the productive point of view, where can be defined as “ the fraction of goods that
are produced correctly” and the customer-satisfaction point of view: in which the quality of the
product is determined by the customers‟ perception. The limitation of this approach is subjective;
due to every customer can have an individual perception of quality with freedom of variation. As
Gummesson (1991) expresses, strong disapproval on the belief of the subjective approach arguing
that the evaluation process should involve the subjective and objective aspects. Bearing this in
mind, the two points of view should be considered when it refers to quality, such as Wicks (2009)
explain in their publication for the “Journal of business and Economic studies”.

They argue that even though the quality definition is often described by just one approach as Battini
(2012) states in their research mentioned previously. In contrast, these scholars explain that in order
to reach quality in services both approaches should be considered as a common factor. In order for
the organization to compete in the world-class business environment is crucial to refer to the user-
based definition because is more important to the customer and the process-based definition
because is more important for the business, although there is no such thing as a universal definition
for quality, the organization should seek for balance in their strategy.

Additionally, Garvin's (1988) technical approach may be suitable for the measurement of the
overall process, in other words, the final result of what was delivered in the process; while the user
approach is appropriate in the manner of evaluating how the delivery process was. Nevertheless, the
customer-based approach is more relevant to discuss in this research because the study focuses on

11
the customer perceptions and expectations of the service provided by the launderette, and identify
the gap in between (If it exists) exploring the literature based on the perspective of (Parasuraman &
Berry, 1985).

According to Radomir (2010), under this approach, the quality evaluations based on the customer
perceptions, are therefore completely different from those that considered the technical approach.
Because of the role customers have in the delivery process, the service marketing literature adopts
this perspective. However, these authors explain as well that the research quality in present times
should refer to all perspectives without the need to find the superiority of one perspective over
another adapting the definition of quality according to the business necessities.

2.1.4 Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction

According to Sunayma (2013), quality can be view as the level of service qualities needed to make
the service acceptable and profitable for the organization in the marketplace; this is from the
organization point of view, in contrast, the customer point of view focus only in satisfying their
own desires and needs. The reason why Parasuraman & Berry (1988) underpinned the need to
understand service quality, studying services separately from goods, but today, the subject of
service quality has acquired an important amount of research attention among businesses and the
marketing environment. For any organization the quality of their service costs money, research is
necessary for the organization to know where to allocate the resources to make the best impact.

Based on the discussion about the own characteristics of services as a concept, is essential to
narrow the scope, and focus on the definition of service quality, that according to Zeithaml,
Parasuraman & Berry (1985) can be defined as “the difference between customers expectations of
service and their perceptions of the actual service performance”. The obvious absence of tangible
manifestations in services creates a great challenge to measure it, quality service ensures that
customers are satisfied with what they have in exchange for money, time, and effort. What can be
perceived as outstanding service to one customer, maybe average for others, but is crucial for the
services industry to measure positive and negative experiences in order to identify the causes of
service quality shortfalls and the design and implement corrective actions on the management
strategy.

12
The actual research in the literature shows some discussion on the potential benefits for the
implementation of quality. Such as the competitive advantage that the organization can create by
isolating its customer from the competitors, called as well customer inertia Kasper, Helsdingen and
Gabbot (2006); the positive word of mouth from existing customers that are satisfied reduces the
costs of the organization‟s marketing approach on attracting new customers. The natural financial
improvement related with customer loyalty and the impact on the internal marketing of the
organization by a decreasing the staff turnover although this last point has been only limited
empirical support. According to Kasper, Helsdingen, and Gabbot (2006) quality is something an
organization is responsible for, and satisfaction is in the customer domain, because the
interrelatedness of quality and satisfaction should not be taken as individual approaches.

In the literature the existence in some evidence that suggests that satisfaction is a prerequisite of
perceived service quality? In more detail, the goal of the service science is to provide to the
organization a noticeable increase in efficiency and sustainability of the same (Baron, 2013).
2.1.4.1 Customer Satisfaction

Several authors have defined customer satisfaction in various ways: According to Kotler (2000),
satisfaction is a person‟s feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a
product‟s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectation.
Gaither (1994) defines customer satisfaction as the determination of customer requirements and
demonstrated success in meeting them.

Kotler (2006) again defined customer satisfaction by giving details on the attributes of a highly
satisfied customer. According to him, a highly satisfied customer stays loyal longer, and buys more
as the company introduces new products and upgrades existing products; talks favorably about the
company and its products, pays less attention to competing brands and is less sensitive to price,
offers a service or product ideas to the company and costs less to serve him than new customers
because transactions are routine.

Kotler and Armstrong (2001), in their Principles of Marketing, define customer satisfaction as the
extent to which a product‟s perceived performance matches a buyer‟s expectations. They continued
that, if the product‟s performance falls short of expectations, the buyer would be dissatisfied but if
performance matches or exceeds expectation, the customer will be satisfied or highly satisfied. In

13
service quality literature, customer expectations are understood as desires or want of consumers
Zeithaml, & Parasuraman (1993) or “what they feel the service provider should offer rather than
would offer.” Customer perceptions are defined as “the customer‟s judgment of the service
organization‟s performance” (Davidow and Uttal, 2009).

Customer satisfaction is a “psychological concept that involves the feeling of wellbeing and
pleasure that results from obtaining what one hopes for and expects from an appealing product
and/or service” (World truism organization, 1985);

As the literature in marketing indicates, customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal for the
organization's success Hoffman (2006) Thus, in this century customer satisfaction defines a clear
sense in today‟s economic activities highlighting the link between financial business performance
and customer satisfaction. In addition, Solomon (2006) describes that the satisfaction of the
customer will be determined by the overall feelings or attitudes the customer has towards the
service that has been delivered.

2.1.5 Services Marketing

“Services are going to move in this decade to being the front edge of the industry” quote from,
Gerstner (2003), in this context Baron (2013) identified the expansion in the scope of contemporary
development in the service sectors, which have accounted for an increasing proportion of global
economic activity. Services can be defined as processes and performances provided or coproduced
by one entity or person for another entity or person. Zeithaml, and Gremier ( 2009) virtually all
organizations compete to some degree on the basis of service; it is difficult to name even one
industry for which service matters are unimportant.

Services are so much a part of what it‟s produced, consumed, and exported, the reason why there
has a need to concern about quality Zeithaml, & Berry (1985). In addition, Baron (2013) have
described and discussed that by the creation of the service culture among organizations, the nature
of the customer relationship will change, moving from the customer relationship management
(CRM) to the consideration of customer engagement, justifying this change with the sales growth
and superior competitive advantage of the business. The usual marketing framework is based on the
characteristics of manufacturing goods. Service marketing involves the approach that modifies the
standard theory of the “4Ps” of the marketing mix McCarthy, (1960). Thus, the nature of services

14
poses distinct marketing challenges research has shown the need to extend the marketing mix by
adding the “Ps” related to services: process, the physical environment, and people, called the “7Ps”
of the marketing mix (Doyle, 1994).

2.1.6 Quality of Service Dimensions

Service quality dimensions mean the tangibility and included the material utilities and equipment
also the officials and the credibility which means the capabilities to promising service performance
in reliability and accurate way, as for the response means the readiness to assist customers and
presenting fast service, and the sympathy implies individual care and attention providing by the
organization for the customers Agbor ( 2011), the service quality is measured via four dimensions
which are the tangibility refers to the material utility and the equipment and the officials'
appearance, the credibility refers to the origination capabilities to perform the anticipated service in
reliability and accurate way, as for the response means the desire to assist customers and presenting
the service quickly, sympathy means individual care and attention of the organization for the
customers Bhiwajee & Naidoo, (2010) as follows:
A. Response: it means the official's readiness to render the service in time and in a suitable way
Yarimoglu (2014) and the response is defined as the organization desire to assist the customer and
rendering service to him quickly, and the capabilities to render service at one to the customers'
requests service and lessening the waiting period, also the officials' readiness to render the service
Al-Azzam Abdel Fattah Mahmoud (2015) associated with the officials' readiness for rendering the
service in time and ensure that the customer's service passes via successful criteria and rendering
the service immediately to the customer (Irene, &Darko ,2014).
B. Credibility(reliability) it depends on dealing with customers' service, and implementation the
service properly from the first instance and clear from errors and in the specified time, credibility
represented by maintenance the customers' desires, inaccurate registers, and the service is
implemented by within the instructions, laws, and criteria Al-Azzam Abdel Fattah Mahmoud
(2015). The credibility lays in the integrity of the organization's activities and it is an essential
matter to achieve rendering high-quality service and implementing it properly from the first
instance (Irene, & Darko, 2014).
C. Understanding is defined as the individual care and attention presented by the organization for
its customers and this requires an understanding of the officials to know their customers‟ demands

15
and the necessities within hours of work, also means welcoming the customers by the employees
Al-Azzam Abdel Fattah Mahmoud (2015). To put the customers' interest at the core of their work,
subsequently understanding their special demands and providing individual care for their customers
and response their questions (Irene, &Darko ,2014).
2.1.7 Measuring Service Quality
According to Hoffman (2006), the process of service quality can be surveyed in terms of gaps
between expectations and perceptions on the part of the management, in other words, they
explained that the expectations communicated to the customer are marketer-controlled
(organization or business). The main goal for the measurement of quality in services is to close the
“service gap” or at least to try to narrow the differences as much as possible. In this regard,
Zeithaml, and Gremier (2009) points out that closing this gap is critical to delivering quality
service; effective services marketing is a complex undertaking that involves many different
strategies, skills, and tasks; viewing services in a structured, integrated way called the gaps model
of service quality. These three authors have been explored the gap model basis, gaps that can occur
within the organization providing the service and it can occur in any of these gaps and include:
Gap 1: The listening gap
Providing services that customers perceive as excellent requires that the business knowledge of
what customers expect. This gap may occur when the organization supervises or underestimate the
need to fully understand customer‟s expectations; when this happens, companies provide services
that do not match customer‟s expectations: important structures are left out and the levels of
performance on features that are provided are “inadequate”. Bearing this in mind, the suggestions
for the closure of this gap according to the last publication of Hoffman ( 2006) the detailed
knowledge of the customer desires is essential in order to build a response in the service operating
system. Several tasks on behalf of the organization can include: adequate marketing research
orientation, the interaction between the management and customers, market segmentation, and the
ability of the service to recovery after a failure.
Gap 2: The standards gap
The standards that have been set for service delivery, the entire process, such as, time and the
behavior of the personnel in the service interaction may open this gap between the management
perceptions of customer expectations. In many cases, the strategy selected by the management can
be directed to enhance resources that only concern to other organizational goals such as sales,

16
profits, or market share. This approach can be cited as misguidance priority as Hoffman (2006)
point out as an impediment for the organization progress in delivering quality services. According
to the recent literature the action that should be undertaken in order to close this gap, is to have
customer-driven service standards, focusing on customer requirement instead of short-term profits.
Gap 3: The service performance
Organizations offering services that are highly interactive, labor-intensive, and performed in
multiple locations are especially vulnerable to Gap 3. That can occur when the employees are
unwilling or unable to perform a service at the level required Zeithaml, and Berry, (1990). In
addition, tends more into the employees‟ behavior in the real-time delivery process, where the
inadequate support received from the management leads to poor employee productivity, unsatisfied
customers, and a noticeable increase in the size of the delivery gap. Hoffman (2006) and Zeithaml,
and Gremier (2009 state that the closure of this gap is related to the recruitment and training
process.
Gap 4: The communication
Appropriate and accurate communication about services is the responsibility of both marketing and
operations. Zeithaml, and Gremier (2009) add that effective coordination of the actual service
delivery with the external communication, therefore, narrows the communications gap and
favorably affects the customer gap as well; companies must also manage all communications to
customers so that inflated promises do not lead to higher expectations. In other words, this gap can
be affected by two basic factors: (1) to overpromise and (2) the flow of internal communication.
Where the balance between these two should exist in order to avoid an awkward position when a
customer requests the services promises and the provider has no idea what the customer is talking
about. According to the existing literature, the gaps mentioned before are essential to creating gap
5; the closure of this gap may support the organization to achieve good service quality and met or
exceed the customer expectation, keeping the judgment of the customer on the real perspectives.
The gap that is the focus for this research, where through the SERVQUAL it was exploring the
wideness of this gap, between what customer expects and what was perceived from the service
interaction. And so, the researcher will focus just on the interaction with the customer putting aside
the gaps that focus on the organization, given to the organization‟s need to focus on the customer
and to use the knowledge to drive the business strategy. In order to understand this gap, the
expectations and perceptions were fully explained later on in this chapter.

17
2.1.8 The SERVQUAL
Parasuraman & Berry (1985) developed the SERVQUAL instrument for the measurement of
service quality. They have made a serious improvement to the model in 1988, 1991 and again in
1994. SERVQUAL has become one of the most renowned in the service quality domain. This
model conceptualizes the gap between what the customer expects by way of service quality from
the service providers and their evaluations of the performance of a particular service provider.
Service quality is presented as a multidimensional construct.

In their original formulation, Parasuraman& Berry (1985) identified ten dimensions of service
quality which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication,
credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, and tangibles. In their 1988 work, these
components were condensed into five dimensions (Buttle, 1996).
Since mid-1980s, the researchers Grönroos (1984) and state that the existing quality standards in
the goods sector were not extendable to the services sector. Zeithaml, and Gremier (2009) made a
study with the purpose to understand and improve service quality; exploring the factor that
influences customer‟s in the evaluation process. They determined the common dimension among
three different service sectors.
Based on various aspects of service quality it was developed a research instrument named
SERVQUAL, with the premise to explore the differences between expectations and perceptions,
arguing that only customers can judge quality, all other judgments should be considered as
irrelevant. The SERVQUAL instrument consists of two sections: a 20-item section that was referred
to the customer expectations of excellent firms in a specific service sector and a second 20 item
section responsible to measure consumer perceptions of a particular organization in that service
sector.

The results from these two sections are relevant to compare and obtain the “gap scores” designed to
fulfill the five service quality dimensions that are summarized as it follows: Tangibles: Appealing
appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, and employees that are involved during the service
deliverance, Reliability: The ability to perform accurately and dependably what the organization
promised to deliver the service maintaining error-free records, Responsiveness: The willingness of
the organization to provide help, information and prompt service to customers, Assurance: The
ability of the organization to display trust and confidence, having the knowledge and necessary

18
skills to deliver a service as promised, Empathy: The individual attention and the understanding of
customers‟ problems, resolving them with a caring approach (Zeithaml and Berry, 2009). The
SERVQUAL model was first published in 1988, but since then numerous improvements have been
applied.

2.1.9 Measuring Service Quality Gaps

As it is known that what can be measured are the differences between the abstractions. So if we can
measure the difference between expectations and perceptions, which was defined as perceived
quality, we can therefore determine the level of satisfaction. This concept was quite similar to the
conceptual model of service quality suggested by Zeithaml and Berry (2009), which applied the
expectancy disconfirmation theory. These authors had identified that there were five key
discrepancies that can influence customer evaluations of service quality:
• Gap 1 was the gap between customer expectations and management‟s perceptions of those
expectations. Gap 2 was the gap between management‟s perception of what the customer wants and
specifications of service quality. Gap 3 was the gap between service quality specifications and
delivery of the service. Gap 4 was the gap between service delivery and what the company promises
to the customer through external communication. Gap 5 was the gap between customers‟ service
expectations and their perceptions of service performance. Berry (2009) stated that in order to
manage service quality, it was important to manage the gaps between expectations and perceptions
on the part of management, employers and customers.
The most important gap (Gap 5) was that between customers‟ expectations of service and their
perceptions of the service actually delivered. So by referring to the gap model, it was noted that a
service marketer must lessen the customer gap (Gap 5). In order to do so, the service provider must
first try to lessen the other four gaps (Gap 1, 2 3, and 4) within the organization that inhibit delivery
of quality service, as each of these elements contribute towards the expectations and perceptions of
customers. Subsequent to the gap model, Parasuraman, & Berry, (1988) designed 18 the
SERVQUAL instrument to identify and measure the gaps between customers‟ expectations and
perceptions of service quality. The instrument suggested service quality as the gap between
customer‟s expectations (E) and their perception of the service provider‟s performance (P). Hence
the service quality scores (Q) can be measured by subtracting the customer‟s perception score from
the customer‟s expectations score. The SERVQUAL is popularly used by many studies of service

19
quality. It is a multiple-item scale developed to measure service quality by computing the
differences between consumers‟ desired expectations and their perceptions of a firm‟s performance.
The instrument has been designed to be applicable across a broad spectrum of services.
2.2 Empirical review
The empirical literature survey helps the development of the theoretical framework and hypothesis
for testing. There have been a lot of studies conducted in the field of service quality and customer
satisfaction in various service industries on both the national and international levels. Some of the
previous related research studies from an international and national perspective have been reviewed
as follows. Internationally a lot of studies were conducted on the issues of service quality. Let
summarizes some of them chronologically:
As Mohammad and Alhamadani (2011) have undertaken the research on five dimensions of Service
quality (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The researcher came up
with the result that the five service quality dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, and empathy) have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

According to Tibebe (2012), states that the impact of five service quality dimensions on customer
satisfaction was significant in all factors of service quality. More specifically, customers indicated
high satisfaction with the five service quality dimensions examined in the study (Reliability,
Responsiveness, Empathy, Assurance, and Tangibles). The researcher used to quantitative methods
and a self-completion with a closed questionnaire was conducted.

From a few studies conducted on service quality and customer satisfaction in Ethiopia, Asfaw
(2014) tried to assess service delivery and customer satisfaction of ESLS (Ethiopian Shipping &
Logistics Services Enterprise) focusing on the logistics transport sector by identifying gaps,
potentials, and constraints for the development of effective and efficient transport service. To make
this research effective, the researcher used probability-sampling techniques to select from customer
employees and management office.

A questionnaire and interviews were used to gather relevant information. Statistical tools like
percentages, tables, and pie charts are used to analyze the data. The findings of this study indicate
that most customers were not satisfied based on the feedback of the majority level of customer
satisfaction and dimensions of service quality.

20
Girma (2015) has undertaken the research on the assessment of service quality and its influence on
customer satisfaction in the case of Oromia International Bank S.C. SERVQUAL method was used
to determine customers‟ expectation and perception of service quality.

The researcher selected 40 branches using simple random sampling and 365 customers from these
branches using a systematic simple random sampling technique. 365 questionnaires were
distributed to the selected customers and 211 duly filled questionnaires were collected and used to
undertake the research. The study applied a quantitative research method and descriptive and
explanatory research design.

The result of the study revealed that the average perception and expectation gap for all service
quality dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) was a negative
disconfirmation score of 1.53. The highest mean score was for tangibility followed by reliability
and assurance and the lowest mean score was for empathy and responsiveness. There was a
significant and positive relationship between the five service quality dimensions and customer
satisfaction. The highest correlation was between assurance and customer satisfaction followed by
responsiveness and customer satisfaction and empathy and customer satisfaction. The least
correlation was between tangibility and customer satisfaction and reliability and customer
satisfaction.

The analysis also indicated that the service quality dimensions have a positive and statistically
significant influence on customer satisfaction except for reliability. 77.3 % of the variation in
customer satisfaction was explained by the service quality dimensions.

The researcher recommended the development of the skill and knowledge of employees and
prioritizing investment outlay for physical elements of the service like equipment, physical
facilities, and communication materials.

Al-Azzam (2015) has undertaken research on the impact of service quality dimensions on customer
satisfaction on Arab banks in Irbid city, Jordan. The study used a simple random sampling
technique to select 400 respondents from four banks sited in Irbid city. Primary data was collected
using a questionnaire. The questionnaire measured the quality of services by implementing the five
dimensions SERVQUAL instruments (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and

21
security), and the 5-point Lickert scale was used for all responses. The research has applied a
quantitative research approach and analyzed using SPSS version 19.25.

The researcher came up with the result that customer satisfaction in Jordanian banking services is
significantly affected by tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and security. It also
demonstrated that customers'‟ perception is the highest in reliability area.

2.3 Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework indicates the crucial process, which is useful to show the direction of the
study. The conceptual frame below shows how the relationship between the five service qualities
dimensions (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangible) in customer satisfaction.
According to Parasuraman et al., 1988, the independent variable quality of service consisting of five
sub-dimensions (Response, Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, and Empathy) and the dependent
variable is Customer Satisfaction.

Tangibles: The appearance of physical facilities (working rooms, and staff rooms), tools and
equipment‟s (computers, internet, etc.) used to provide the service, appearance of personnel and
communication materials.
Reliability: The ability of the administrative staffs to perform the promised service dependably
and accurately. And, their ability to discharge duties consistently, and dependably.
Responsiveness: The willingness and/ or readiness of the registrar employees to help students and
academic staffs in preparing ID Cards, clearance and documents, promptly.
Assurance: The knowledge and courtesy of the administrative staffs of registrar and their ability to
convey trust and confidence: competence (possession of the required skills and knowledge to
perform the service)
Empathy: The provision of caring, individualized attention to students and academic staffs:
informing the customers about the expectation of their performance, Understanding customers
specific needs, and providing individualized attention. It also according to researchers scales Irene,
A. & Darko (2014). Basing on the research problem and its objectives, the researchers have
developed a conceptual framework.

22
Independent variables Dependent variable

Service quality

Tangibility

Reliability Customer
satisfaction
Responsiveness

Assurance

Empathy

Figure 1 conceptual framework

Source: Adopted by the researcher from Parasuraman 1988.

23
 CHAPTER THREE
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the methods that were used in this study. It stated and justified the research
design, population, sampling methods, and data collection technique, and data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

This study employed both descriptive and explanatory survey designs which used quantitative
method.

Isaac (1997) explains that the assessment research method was used to answer questions that have
been raised, to solve problems that have been created, to assess needs and set goals, to determine
whether or not specific objectives have been met, to establish baselines against which future
comparisons can be made, to analyze trends across time, and generally, to describe what exists, in
what amount, and in what context.

Both descriptive and explanatory study design and quantitative methods were used to analyze the
data collected through questionaire from students and academic staffs. The reason to use descriptive
method was that the study was intended to describe the existing situation under study and the
service quality dimensions that lead to customer satisfaction. Quantitative method was used for
answering the hyphotesis test which desgined with close-ended in the form of that the five-point
Lickert-type scale . Therefore, the study used quantitative methods because the the hyphotesis test
and the corresponding specific objectives required quantitative data.

3.2 Target population

The target populations of the study were graduating class regular students in 2021 academic year,
and academic teaching staffs. The total numbers of graduating class are 4194 students and 1285
academic staffs.

Therefore, the total number of graduating students and academic staffs was 5479. The researcher
used stratified simple random sampling technique to select respondents for the quantitative survey
of the total population. Accordingly, the sample size was 359 both graduating students and
academic staffs as indicated in table 1 below:

24
According to Kothari (2004), a population is a well-defined set of people, services, elements, and
events, groups of things, or households that are being investigated. Surveys are more representative
because everyone has an equal chance to be included in the final sample that is drawn by Mugenda
(2003) and Taro Yamane (1967) proportionate simple sampling.

According to Ross (1987), stratified sampling is an appropriate methodology to make

proportionate (take part of the whole) and meaningful in the population. In this study, to draw a
sample proportion for each college and institution, a proportionate stratified sampling design
was used.
The sample determined from colleges and institutes by the Eq. (1)

𝒏𝒊= (𝒏/𝑵) 𝑵𝒊 (1)

n=the total number of sample=the total number of the target population, Ni=the total number of the
target population, ni= the proportional sample.

Table 1. Sample of Target population

Name of Colleges Students Academic Target stratified sampling Samp

staff population le size
Institute of Technology 1000 274 1274 n1=359*1274/5479=8 83
Institute of Health Sciences 850 128 978 3n2=359*978/5479=64 64
Social S. and Humanities 718 216 934 n3=359*934/5479=61 61
Business and economics 409 144 553 n4=359*553/5479=36 36
Natural Sciences 492 232 724 n5=359*724/5479=48 48
Law and Governance 137 56 193 n6=359*193/5479=13 13
JUCAVM 483 187 670 n7=359*670/5479=44 44
Educ. and Behavioral 105 48 153 n8=359*153/5479=10 10
Science
Total 4194 1285 5479 359

3.3 Research Approach

According to Saunders et al. (2009), there are two main research approaches: qualitative and
quantities approaches. From quantitative theories are developed and a research strategy designed to
test the hypothesis. Under the quantitative research method of data collection, a standard
questionnaire with modifications to fit the context of the study was used to collect data for this
study. The researcher used the measure with numbers and then analyses the data with statistics

25
techniques by using SPSS software. In this study, the quantitative approach was used to quantify
the hypothesized relationship between the dependent variable (customer satisfaction) and the
independent variables (service quality dimensions).

3.4 Sampling Techniques and sample size

The statistical population of this research is among 5479 customers of Jimma university registrar
which is graduating class of 2021. These were: 275 Students, 84 Academic staffs were selected 359
customers using convenience sampling technique within 6 colleges and 2 Institutes of Jimma
university which means all regular graduate class of the year 2021 in the University was included.
The reason for using convenience sampling is because the population is too large and it is
impossible to include every individual and because of their inconvenient accessibility and proximity
to the researcher. The sample was determined using Eq. (2):

Z 2 pq
n (2)
d2

Where: n = the desired sample size (if target population is greater than 10,000); Z = the standard
normal deviate at the required confidence level; p = the proportion in the target population
estimated to have characteristic being measured; q = 1-p; and d = the level of statistical significance
set.
Assuming 50% of the population has the characteristics being measured; q = 1-0.5; assuming the
desire accuracy at 0.05 level; and the Z-statistic is 1.96 at this level. Then,

n= (1.96)2 * (0.5) * (0.5)/ (0.05)2 = 384

Because the population is less than 10,000, (Mugenda, 2003) adjusted sample size is computed
using Eq. (3).

n
nf  n  1  (3)
N

Where, nf = the desired sample size when population is less than 10,000; n = the desired sample
size when population more than 10,000; and N = the estimate of the population size. Then,

n=1+ (384/5479) = 384 ÷ 1.07008 = 358.87 = 359

26
3.5 Data Sources
In order to address the objective of this study and to provide a wide range of information on the
study area data was collected from different sources. The primary sources are the customers
(Students, and Academic Staff). Primary data was collected from customers through a selected
sample list by using questionnaires. In addition, a discussion with key informants had been carried
out to understand the service quality and to get information about the overall condition of service
provision by using a close-ended questionnaire. To get concrete information and in order to support
the data obtained from primary sources, secondary data was also included. Secondary data sources
were used for this study was reported and some documentation regarding the customer.

3.6 Data Collection Instrument

The SERVQUAL model (Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) was
used in this study. Therefore, the respondents were the customers. Accordingly, close-ended
questionnaires with 34 questions for each were distributed. The data collection was scheduled by
the Gantt chart technique, on five different days, with small groups of ten each day. These were
assessed the proper amount of time for each group, which was provided more control on the issues
that may arise. Therefore, the method of implementation was face-to-face.

3.7 Model Specification and Description of Study Variables

The researcher conducted multiple linear regression analysis by considering the form of relationship
and the number of independent and dependent variables. Multiple linear regression Analysis is used
to show the relationship between the dependent and the independent variable (Kothari, 2004).

Model:
Gujarati (1995) defines a regression functions as follows: Multiple linear regression model formula
is given in Eq. (4).

(4)

Where, β0 is constant, β1, β2… βn are coefficients of the model; X1, X2, Xn are predicator variables;
and Y is response variable. is error term.

= customer satisfaction

27
 = tangibility

= reliability

= responsiveness

= assurance

= empathy

= constant

= coefficient

= error term

Table 2. Summary of Dependent and independent variables

Variables Proxies

Independent Tangibility: physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel

Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately
Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust
and confidence
Empathy: caring individualized attention the registrar provides to its customers
Dependent Customer satisfaction: generally refers to a customer's comparison of service quality
to customer satisfaction expectation as it relates to a registrar office performance.

3.8 Data Analysis

The study required quantitative techniques of data analysis. Thus, the quantitative data was
analyzed using the Statistical package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 software program
to calculate mean in order to describe the target population. One sample t-test and Mean score were
used to compare if there was a significant difference in service quality attitude between target
populations.

After data cleaning which entailed checking for errors in entry, both descriptive and inferential
statistical tools were employed to analyze the collected data. Such as frequencies, percentages mean

28
scores, and standard deviations. Additionally, correlation and regression were estimated for all the
quantitative variables and information presented in form of tables and using modeling of multiple
linear regressions.
Pearson correlation presented by figure and table. The quantitative data from the closed-ended
questions were analyzed using conceptual content analysis and present in wording. Inferential data
analysis did use multiple regression analysis.

Multiple regression analysis was used to establish the relations between the independent and
dependent variables. Multiple regressions were used because it was the procedure that uses two or
more independent variables to predict a dependent variable. And present Multicollinearity to see
independent variables each other.

3.9 Validity Test

The validity is that the measuring instrument measures the property it is supposed to evaluate. The
objective of assessing validity is to see how accurate the relationship between the measure and the
underlying trait it is trying to measure (Gara, 2007). The validity of the questionnaires was checked
with the advisors, experts of the field, and based on the test the relationship between the measure
and the underlying trait. Table 3 is a summary of the reliability test based on the Cronbach alpha
coefficient for the five scale items in the data collection instrument.

3.10 Reliability
To measure the reliability of the questionnaire particularly standardize questionnaires were used. To
carry out the reliability analysis, Cronbach‟s Alpha was used. Cronbach‟s Alpha is a measure of
internal consistency of questions within the questionnaire and checks if the questions of the
questionnaire are understood and if the data are reliable for analysis (Travakol & Dennick, 2011).
Cronbach's Alpha reliability test is run on the data collected to determine the reliability of the data.
Results showed that all the values were above 0.757 indicating acceptable reliable. Nunally (1978)
suggested that the minimum of 0.70 is acceptable. This implies that there is a higher level of
consistency in the questionnaire in measuring all the variables of the study.

29
Table 3. Reliability statistics of Cronbach’s Alpha

Sr. No. Service quality dimensions Cronbach‟s alpha Number of items

1 Tangibility 0.757 4
2 Reliability 0.823 4
3 Responsiveness 0.822 4
4 Assurance 0.823 4
5 Empathy 0.876 4
6 Customer Satisfaction 0.761 5
Source: Data output from SPSS, 2021

3.10. Ethical Consideration

Ethical issues related to the study were addressed by maintaining high-level confidentiality of the
information volunteered by the respondents and not using the information for purposes other than
drawing the conclusion of the study. The names of the respondents were not required and if known
to the researcher was not disclosed to protect their identities. All personal details are limited to
general information. Permission is sought from the colleges and institutions managing directorate to
collect data from the respondents and a letter of introduction to respondents is attached to each
questionnaires.

30
 CHAPTER FOUR
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, the analysis outputs and discussion of the descriptive statistics, a correlation
analysis, and a multiple regression analysis of the study variables are presented. The chapter has
five sections. The first section: demography of respondents and service quality perception. The
second section: response rates for respondents. The third section: descriptive statistics which
summarizes the main features of the study variable such as mean and standard deviation. The fourth
section: overall perception towards service quality dimension. The fifth section: of the chapter are
Multicollinearity, correlation, homoscedasticity, linearity, normality, multiple linear regressions,
and MLR model for predicting CSa was employed to examine the effect of service quality on
customer satisfaction. Out of the 359 Questionnaires distributed to customers of the Registrars:
students and academic staffs 328 questionnaires were collected. The data was analyzed using SPSS
version 20.0.

4.1 Respondents of Demography and Service Quality perception

To find out the general background of Academic Staff, and Students the respondents were answered
their Gender, Age, Educational Status, and length of relationship with the Registrars. The results
obtained from the structured questionnaires are represented in the table 4 below.

Table 4 indicates that the Majority of the surveyed respondents are male representing 62% of the
sample while females constitute 38%. The combination of male to females‟ respondents indicated
that the gender combination of the sample was fair which was helpful to incorporate the opinion of
both sex in the study.

Concerning the age group majority of respondents, 40.9% were between the age group of 18–25
followed by the age group of 26 – 35 which is 40.9% almost the same and age groups belong 36 –
45 which is 16.1%. However, there were only1.2% respondents 46–55 and 0.9 respondents above
56 age groups. Regarding the age group of the respondents, it can be analyzed that, most of the
respondents are very young.

Concerning to educational level of respondents was educated as well as students and holder of
degree and above degree educational level. So that they have contributed in the study, similarly,
respondents whose educational level belongs to degree holder 1.84%, second degree holder 8.53%

31
were relatively small. However, the majorities of the respondents were students of third degree and
above holder 10.67% and students of first degree and above 78.96% regarding respondents‟
educational status can be said that, most of the service takers were found in a good educational
level.

With related to respondents the working experience of Academic staff, the majority of the
respondents taking service for 8–10 years 43.4% , 4–7 years 25%, less than 1–3 years 18.3% and
as well as and finally greater than 11 years 13.3% working in Jimma university. The result implied
that the experiences‟ of academic staffs were well educated and known the service area of registrar.

Table 4. Demography

Profile of Academic Staff and Students

No. Gender Profile Frequency Percent Cumulative percent
1. Male 204 62 62
2. Female 124 38 100
Total 328 100
No. Age profile Frequency Percent Cumulative percent
1. 18 – 25 134 40.9 40.9
2. 26 – 35 134 40.9 81.8
3. 36 – 45 53 16.1 97.9
4. 46 – 55 4 1.2 99.1
5. Above 56 3 0.9 100
Total 328 100
Educational Background
No. Educational status Frequency percent Cumulative percent
1. 1st Degree holder 6 1.84 1.84
2. 2nd Degree holder 28 8.53 10.37
3. 3rd Degree and above holder 35 10.67 21.04
4. Students of 1st Degree and 259 78.96 100
above
Total 328 100
Working experience of Academic Staffs
No. Length of relationship Frequency percent Cumulative percent

1. Less than 1year – 3 year 36 18.3 18.3

2. 4 – 7 years 49 25 43.3

32
3. 8 – 10 years 85 43.4 86.7
4. Greater than 11 years 26 13.3 100
Total 196 100
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

Table 5 shows that concerning of among perception of services that the respondents' services they
took from Jimma university registrars. All services 33.6%, all services means: like Official
transcript, Student copy, Original students documents, and including other services. Other services
29.5% other service means: Identification card, Clearance, SRS (students‟ record system), Data
encoder, ICT services, Alumni services, English proficiency letter, Authentication service, etc.
Official transcript 16.4%, Student copy 13.4% and Original students‟ documents 7.1%. As stated
above the office of the registrar that services have been given from Jimma University registrars
were mostly other services and all services. As well as specially, at main registrar office: official
transcript, English proficiency letter, Authentication service, students copy and original students‟
documents were served their customers at Jimma university.

Concerning of among perception of services the respondents got the services from Jimma university
registrars consumed time to get the services they need took: - more than one hour 49.7 %, 10 - 30
minutes 25.9%, and half an hour to one hour 12.5% and less than 10 minutes 11.9%. As stated
above the office of registrars those who were working at different colleges and institutes preparing
more time those services have been given from Jimma University. From the registrar Office had
been taken time is more than one hour to deliver the service customers need. Some of the offices of
registrars working at colleges and institutes of Jimma University less time gave services their
customers they need.

Concerning according to customers opinion the extent of efficient service delivery and quality
service is important for customer‟ satisfaction the degree of extremely important is 57%, important
is 28%, fairly important is 9% and the last one is, not important is 46%. As stated in the above the
effective and efficient service is very important and to kept the service quality for Jimma University
registrars‟ services.

33
Table 5. Service Quality Perception

Which services are took by you?

No. Registrar services Frequency Percent C. Percent
1. Official transcript 54 16.4 16.4
2. Student copy 44 13.4 29.8
3. Original students documents 23 7.1 36.9
4. Other services 97 29.5 66.4
5. All services 110 33.6 100.0
Total 328 100.0
No. Duration Frequency Percent C. Percent
1. < 10 minutes 39 11.9 11.9
2. 10 - 30 minutes 85 25.9 37.8
3. half an hour to one hour 41 12.5 50.3
4. more than one hour 163 49.7 100.0
Total 328 100.0
No. Efficient of service delivery Frequency Percent C. Percent
1. Extremely important 187 57 57
2. Important 91 28 85
3. Fairly importance 30 9 94
4. Not important 20 6 100.0
Total 328 100.0
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

4.2 Response Rate

Three hundred and fifty-nine questionnaires were distributed to respondents. Among this, 275
questionnaires were distributed to students, 84 were distributed to Academic Staff. The response
rate from students was 89%, and from Academic Staff 99%. The total rate of response was 91.4%
in table 6. Therefore, the rate of response is within the acceptable range.

Table 6. Response rate

Questionnaires Respondents In percentile

Categories Students Academic Staff Total
Distributed 275 84 359 100
Returned 245 83 328 91.4
Not returned 30 1 31 8.6

34
4.3 Descriptive Statistics of Service Quality Dimension and Customer
Satisfaction.
NB: in the context of this study‟s analyses and discussions: agree, strongly agree and neutral are
treated as one, so as disagree and strongly disagrees. Hence, all the findings that follow
subsequently will be treated as such. However, the tables would display them separately.
As table 7 shows from items listed under tangibility dimension, The Registrar office building is
located at a suitable location to its customers, it shows the highest mean score (3.85) and 87.8%
agree, whereas 12.2% disagree. This means the office of the registrar is located at a suitable
location for its customers, also the facilities of the Registrar Office are visually attractive shows
with the lowest mean (3.52) and 82.1% agree, whereas 18% disagree. This means the facilities of
the registrar were not visually attractive under the tangibility dimension. So the registrar office
building is located at a suitable location is very important to have speedy service quality to deliver
for customers at the right time and the right place. So more emphasis on modern equipment and
having potential front line employees helps to create loyal retained customers. This is supported by
Abraham, (2015).
Table 7: Perception towards items of Tangibility

Tangibility Acronym N Mean SD

The registrar has modern equipment ME 328 3.57 1.061
The facilities of the Registrar Office are visually attractive VA 328 3.52 1.037
The Registrar Office building is located at suitable location to SL 328 3.85 1.003
its customers
The front line workers of the Registrar Office are well WN 328 3.57 1.084
dressed and neat
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

As table 8 shows from items listed under the reliability dimension, The registrar's office keeps
customers' profiles or records correctly., it shows the highest mean score (3.76) and 85.1% agree,
whereas 14.9% disagree. This means the office the registrar records profiles of its customers
correctly, and it has an influence on service quality to support the customer satisfied their desire of
to get quick service. Also the university registrar office has a quality internet network to deliver
quick service shows with the lowest mean (3.57) and 78.6% agree, whereas 21.3% disagree. This
means the university registrar office has a poor quality internet network to deliver quick service
under the reliability dimension. This means the university registrar office has a poor quality internet

35
network to deliver quick service under the reliability dimension. Reliability is to provide promised,
dependable, accurate and consistent services to the customers. However, reliability depends on
handling customer service issues, performs the services right the first time; offers services on time,
and maintain a record of error-free (Khan and Fasih, 2014).

Table 8. Perception towards items of Reliability

Reliability Acronym N Mean SD

The university Registrar Office has quality internet network QI 328 3.57 1.086
to deliver quick service
The Registrar Office keeps customers' profiles or records CP 328 3.76 1.003
correctly.
The Registrar Office delivers quality services at the DP 328 3.64 1.021
designed and promised time
The registrar informs its customers any failure of service FI 328 3.70 1.002
delivery ahead of time.

Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

As table 9 shows from items listed under the responsiveness dimension, the registrar provides
diversified services to customers, it shows the highest mean score (3.77) and 88.5% agree, whereas
11.5% disagree. This means the office provides diversified services to its customers, also the
university registrar office gives quick responses to customers‟ requests shows with the lowest mean
(3.58) and 79% agree, whereas 21% disagree. This means the office provides low expanded
services to its customers under the responsiveness dimension. So, jimma university registrar
provides diversified services to its customers to save their time accurately and satisfied that having
further services in one area to keep service quality on customer satisfaction.

36
Table 9. Perception towards items of Responsiveness
Responsiveness Acronym N Mean SD
The Registrar Office employees are happy and willing to HW 328 3.64 1.032
service their customers.
The registrar provides diversified services to customers DS 328 3.77 .949
The registrar gives quick services QS 328 3.59 1.044
The registrar gives quick responses to customers‟ requests QR 328 3.58 1.068

Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

As table 10 shows from items listed under the assurance dimension, the employees have the
knowledge to answer customers' questions. It shows the highest mean score (3.81) and 86.9% agree,
whereas 13.1% disagree. This means the office the registrar employees have the knowledge to
answer customers' questions, also the employees make customers feel safe in the service provider
shows with the lowest mean (3.70) and 83.5% agree, whereas 16.5% disagree. This means the
university registrar's office has low made customers feel safe in the service provider under the
assurance dimension. So, on the perception towards assurance employees has the knowledge to
answer customers‟ questions shows that the service providers are educated and responsible for their
works. And it has an important value to keep service quality to satisfied customers. So, Assurance
indicates the employees‟ knowledge, good manners and their ability to express trust and
confidence. Parasuraman et al. (1988) remarked that assurance is a necessary measurement of
service quality to know customers level of satisfaction.

Table 10. Perception towards items of Assurance

Assurance Acronym N Mean SD

The personal behavior of the registrar staffs are excellent CT 328 3.71 .909
that the customers can trust.
The employees have sufficient knowledge of service SK 328 3.74 .913
information the registrar delivers.
The employees make customers feel safe in the service CF 328 3.70 1.023
provide
The employees have the knowledge to answer customers' KQ 328 3.81 .983
questions
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

37
As table 11 shows from items listed under the empathy dimension, the employees understand the
specific needs of their customers. It shows the highest mean score (3.80) and 90.2% agree, whereas
9.8% disagree. This means the office the registrar employees understand the specific needs of their
customers, also the Registrar Office workers know what the customers' show with the lowest needs
mean (3.70) and 80.8% agree, whereas 19.2% disagree. This means the university registrar's office
hasn‟t know what the customers' needs are under the assurance dimension. As shown table 11 the
perception towards the items of empathy dimension, the employees understand the specific needs of
their customers are very important for service quality to run quick service to save their time and
using their time wisely and properly. Therefore, the empathy dimension service quality customers
are satisfied.

Table 11. Perception towards items of Empathy

Empathy Acronym N Mean SD
The Registrar Office workers know what the needs of their CN 328 3.55 1.024
customers
The workers of the registrar give required attention to GA 328 3.65 1.058
individual customer.
The Registrar has suitable working hours to all its customers. SW 328 3.71 .928
The employees understand the specific needs of their SN 328 3.80 .958
customers
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021
As table 12 shows the items listed under customer satisfaction, the level of satisfaction on handling
compliant questions, and the effectiveness of the services of the registrar, which shows the highest
mean score (3.98) and 90.9% high level, whereas 9.1% low level. This means the office of the
registrar high level of satisfaction on handling compliant questions and the effectiveness of the
services. Also, the level of satisfaction on the performance of the registrar staff shows that the
lowest mean (3.70) and 76.2% high, whereas 23.8% low. This means a low level of satisfaction on
the performance of the registrar staff under the customer satisfaction. So the perception towards
items of customer satisfaction level is on handling compliant questions and the effectiveness of
services of the registrar is very critical area, which is to have satisfaction and answer the complaint
questions to answer their desire, and high level of customers satisfied and having the service to
keep service quality. Therefore, from the result we can conclude that the overall customer

38
satisfaction level fall between high and very high about the service provided by the jimma
university registrar office.

Table 12. Perception towards items of Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction N Mean SD

Your level of satisfaction having the modern equipment and 328 3.97 1.005
provide speedy service to its customer.
Your level of satisfaction on giving individual attention to 328 3.58 1.080
customers of the registrar staffs.
Your level of satisfaction on the communicative ability of the 328 3.86 .926
employees of the registrar.
Your level of satisfaction on the performance of the registrar staffs. 328 3.50 1.066
Your level of satisfaction on handling compliant questions of 328 3.98 .989
effectiveness of the services of the registrar.
Source: Data output from SPSS.2021

4.4 Perception towards Overall Service Quality Dimensions

This output shows for each of the six variables, the number (N) of participants with no missing data
on that variables. Table 13 also shows that the mean (x) and standard deviation (σ) of the variable.
The Std. Deviation score on assurance variables are high which constitute (x = 14.94, σ = 2.76)
followed by empathy constitute (x = 14.79, σ = 2.91).The mean score on reliability and
responsibility almost similar which were (x = 14.71, σ = 2.83) and (x = 14.67, σ = 2.89)
respectively. The lowest mean score which constitutes (x = 14.51, σ = 2.45) was for tangibility
variables. The mean score of customer satisfaction constituted (x = 15.06, σ = 2.83) which indicates
almost the entire customers are satisfied. So, the effective of service quality on customer
satisfaction in jimma university registrar; the Perception towards Overall Service Quality
Dimensions the highest mean and standard deviation among from service quality dimensions
Assurance had the highest and from among service quality dimensions tangibility had the least
mean and standard deviation. That means Customers were almost satisfied in jimma university
registrar services.

39
Table 13. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) for SQ dimensions and CSa.
Descriptive statistics
Variables N Mean SD
TAN 328 14.52 2.45
REL 328 14.71 2.83
RES 328 14.67 2.90
ASU 328 14.95 2.76
EMP 328 14.80 2.91
CSa 328 15.06 2.83
Source: Data output from SPSS, 2021

4.5 Assumptions of Multiple Linear Regressions

4.5.1 Correlation
The scatter plot matrix of the dependent variable CSa and the SQ dimensions show that the TAN,
REL, RES, ASU, and EMP which are SQ dimensions were generally linearly related to CSa of the
registrar office, the response variable, meeting linearity assumption to conduct the MLR model
analysis. The dots form a straight line between any of the variables relative. The points fitted
relatively well a straight line. The SQ dimensions were statistically significantly correlated to the
CSa of the registrar's office (P < .001). In addition, the correlations between the SQ dimensions
were less than 0.80 and the correlation between the SQ dimensions and the CSa of the registrars
was greater than 0.30 Table 14. The dots forming the straight lines and the correlation value
between the SQ dimensions being less than 0.70 as well the values for the correlation between the
CSa and SQ dimensions meet the presence of linearity and the absence of multicollinearity
assumptions to conduct the MLR model analysis.

Table 14. Intercorrelations for CSa of the registrar office and SQ dimensions
TAN REL RES ASU EMP
REL 0.551 1
RES 0.469 0.643 1
ASU 0.515 0.605 0.660 1
EMP 0.496 0.588 0.709 0.689 1
CSa 0.536 0.644 0.710 0.714 0.693
Source: Data output from SPSS, 2021

40
4.5.2 Multicollinearity
Multicollinearity, the linear relationship between the predicator variables, severely limits the
multiple correlation coefficients, makes it difficult to identify the effect of a given explanatory
variable, and causes an increase in the variance of the coefficients of the regression model.
Therefore, checking for multicollinearity is important (Belsley, Kuh, and Welsh, 1980). The widely
used technique to check for multicollinearity is examining the tolerance and variance inflation, VIF,
values Table 15. The VIF of the independent variable measures the inflation of the variance of the
regression coefficient of the variables relative to a regression where all the explanatory variables are
independent. Tolerance value and VIF are inversely related. VIFs below 1 and above 10 are
considered as the existence of multicollinearity. In the case the tolerance statistics value is greater
than 1-R2; there is no multicollinearity between the explanatory variables (Landau and Everitt,
2004).

The Multicollinearity involving the SQ dimensions explained by TAN, REL, RES, ASU, and EMP,
were assessed from the collinearity statistics. From the collinearity diagnosis of this study, the value
of 1-R2 is equal to .344. The tolerance values range from .398 to .632 and are well greater than
.344. Therefore no Multicollinearity between the SQ dimensions the explanatory variables. The
VIFs between 1 and 10 indicate the absence of a multicollinearity relationship between the
explanatory variables. For this study the observed VIFs range from 1.582 to 2.523, indicating the
absence of multicollinearity between SQ dimensions, TAN, REL, RES, ASU, and EMP. The
intercorrelations between the SQ dimensions also show the absence of Multicollinearity among the
variables under investigation. In general, none of the collinearity statistics, the tolerance values, and
VIFs, indicate the reason for the concern of Multicollinearity between the SQ dimensions. Hence,
multiple linear regression condition is met concerning Multicollinearity.

41
Table 15. Collinearity statistics, the tolerance and the VIFs of the MLR model of the SQ
dimensions (R2 = .656; N = 328)
Predicator variables Tolerance VIF 1 – R2
TAN .632 1.582
REL .478 2.094
RES .396 2.523 0.344
ASU .428 2.337
EMP .398 2.515

Source: Data output from SPSS, 2021

4.5.3 Test for the Independence of the residuals

The assumption is that the values of the regression residuals are uncorrelated or independent. In this
case, the value of the Durbin-Watson, DW, statistic, in the regression model summary table is
evaluated to assess the independence of the residuals of the MLR model for the SQ dimensions
predicting the variation on the CSa of the registrar office. The DW statistic can vary from 0 to 4.
For the assumption that the residuals are uncorrelated to be met, value of the DW to be close to 2.
The DW values below 1 and above 3 are cause for concern as may render the MLR model analysis
may be invalid. For the MLR model of the SQ dimensions‟ predicting the CSa of the registrar the
DW value is 1.689 Table 16, which is close to 2, so the assumptions of the regression model
residuals are uncorrelated is met. Hence, the MLR model analysis for the prediction of the CSa of
the registrar using SQ dimensions as an explanatory variable is valid.

Table 16. Durbin-Watson statistic of the regression

Model R R2 R2adj SEE Durbin-Watson

MLR .810 .656 .651 1.675 1.689
a. Predictors: (Constant), EMP, TAN, REL, ASU, RES
b. Dependent Variable: CSa; SEE: Standard Error of the Estimate; R: correlation coefficient

4.5.4 Linearity
The plot of observed cumulative probability versus the expected cumulative probability of the data
informs the dependence of the variation of the CSa on the variation in the independent variables,
TAN, REL, RES, ASU, and EMP of the SQ dimensions. The almost linear plot of the observed
cumulative probability and the expected cumulative probability of the model indicates that the

42
change in the CSa of the Office of the Registrar had a linear relationship with the SQ dimensions
parameters Figure 3. Thus, the plot indicates a linear relationship between the two commutative
probabilities. This assumption was met to conduct an MLR model analysis. Transformation of the
data or the use of other modeling was not required as the assumption of linearity was met to use
MLR model to predict the variation in CSa of the Registrar Office of Jimma University from the
variation in the SQ dimensions such as TAN, REL, RES, ASU, and EMP.(See Appendix A)

To do the linear regression analysis the assumption that the relationship between the response
variable and the predictors is linear must be met. To examine if this assumption is violated or not,
testing the linearity relationship between the response variable, the CSa, and the explanatory
variables, the five SQ dimensions, before the MLR model was conducted by examining the scatter
plot of the regression standardized residuals and the regression standardized predicted values. Here
the primary target is to check if there exists a linear relationship between residual values by fitting a
non-linear best fit line known as the Loess Curve through the scatterplot of the regression
standardized residuals and the regression standardized predicted values to observe any nonlinearity
is detected. From the scatter plot and the Loess curve fit the blue line, it is suggested that the
relationship of regression standardized predicted to regression standardized residuals was almost
linear around as the regression residuals scattered randomly around zero Figure 5.Thus, it can be
concluded that the relationship between the CSa data and the five SQ dimensions. (See Appendix
A)

4.5.5 Homogeneity of error variance and Normality

For linear regression assumption to meet the variance of the residuals is homogenous across all
levels of the predicted response variable values. The homogeneity of the variance is known as
homoscedasticity. In another express, if the variance of the residual is non-constant through all
levels of the predicted response variable values it is said to be heteroscedastic. In such a case, the
assumption of ordinary least square regression is not met.

The homoscedasticity assumption was checked by assessing the plot of the residuals versus the
fitted, just similar to examining the linearity assumption. If the MLR model of the CSa and SQ
dimensions is fitted, there should be no pattern of the residuals plotted versus the fitted CSa values
Figure 4. (See Appendix A)

43
The P-P plot of the observed cumulative probability versus the predicted cumulative probability for
testing the normality of the residuals and not predictors is linear for this MLR model. So the
assumption of normality of the residuals of the CSa data met to conduct MLR model analysis
Figure 6. The normality of the regression standardize residual plot is indicated by the histogram plot
of the regression standardized residual values Figure 5. The normal distribution of the standardized
residual is also assessed using Minitab 19 by plotting the regression standardized residual values
versus the frequency of the residuals. The probability plot of the residual with the p = 0.774, which
is greater than the critical value of 0.05, and Anderson-Darling, AD, value of 0.240 indicates that
the regression standardized residual values are normally distributed.

4.6 MLR Model for SQ Dimensions Predicting the CSa of the Registrar Office
Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate how well SQ dimensions, TAN, REL,
RES, ASU and EMP, predict the CSa of the Office of the Registrar of Jimma University. The
assumptions of normally distributed errors, uncorrelated errors, and linearity were checked and
these multiple regression conditions were met figure 3. Homoscedasticity was also checked and no
homoscedasticity.

The resulting SPSS output consist the model fit coefficients and the ANOVA table is given in Table
18. For each of the SQ dimensions four factors were considered. The regression equation was
statistically significant (F (5, 322) = 122.784, p < .001) with an R2 = .656 and R2adj = .651. All the
five SQ dimensions were significant predictors of the CSa of the Registrar Office of the university.

The coefficient of determination, R2, will increase when further explanatory variables are added to
the MLR model. However, the addition of further terms to the model does not explain variability.
The adjusted R2, R2adj, improves the estimation of R2 in the population. The R2adj is adjusted down
to compensate for the increases in R2, with bigger adjustments for larger sets of independent
variables (Der and Everitt, 2001). Use of this adjusted R2 leads to a revised estimate that the
variability in the CSa of the registrar office that is explained in this study by the five explanatory
variables, the TAN, the REL, the RES, the ASU and the EMP of the SQ dimensions. Accordingly,
from the model fit diagnosis the R2adj = .651 means 65.1% of the variation in the CSa of the
registrar was explained by the variation in the five SQ dimensions, the TAN, the REL, the RES, the
ASU and the EMP.

44
The coefficient Table provides the information to construct the MLR model equation Table 19. For
the registrar office CSa data, the estimated value of regression coefficient is 0.623, with an
estimated standard error of 1.675. The average distance that the observed values of the CSa fall
away from the fitted regression line obtained using the SQ dimensions, as the explanatory variables,
was estimated by examining the standard error of the estimate of the regression which is also called
the standard error of the regression. The amount of the value of the standard error of the regression
depicts how wrong the MLR model is on average using the units of the CSa of the registrar office,
which is the response variable. The smaller value of the standard error of the regression is the better
because it indicates that the observed CSa is closer to the fitted regression line. In this regards, the
value of the standard error of the estimate of the MLR model is 1.675 with the correlation
coefficient, R, value of 0.810. This value of R indicates good correlation between the observed and
expected CSa of the registrar office of the university. The coefficients from the ANOVA Table 18
of the MLR model for the TAN, the REL, the RES, the ASU and the EMP for predicting the change
in the CSa of the registrar were used to develop the MLR equation presented in Eq. (5).

CSa = 0.623 + 0.116 TAN + 0.150 REL + 0.248 RES + 0.285ASU + 0.179 EMP (5)

The correlation between the observed SQ and the predicted CSa of the registrar office of Jimma
University is predicted from the multiple correlation coefficients, R, value. The R = .810 indicates
that there is a strong correlation between the observed SQ and those CSa predicted by the
regression model.

The regression coefficient represents the mean change in the CSa of the registrar given a unit
change in the SQ dimensions. The Unstandardized Coefficients, B, describes the amount by which
a response variable changes if an explanatory variable changes by a unit keeping other predicator
variables constant. In line with this established concept, the Coefficient table of the MLR model
shows that CSa of the registrar increases by 0.285 if the ASU increases by one unit keeping other
SQ dimensions, the REL, the RES, the ASU and the EMP, constant. In the same manner the table
presents by what amount the CSa of the registrar increases with respect to the change in the other
SQ dimensions when using the MLR model used in this study.

The Standardized Coefficients Beta, β, is the coefficients that are standardized to measure the
variation in the response variable in units of its standard deviation when the independent variables
increase by one standard deviation. The β coefficients are used to compare the relative effects

45
across the independent variables (Cohen, 1988; Everitt, 2001b). The β coefficients measured the
change in the CSa of the registrar in units of its standard deviation when the TAN, the REL, the
RES, the ASU and the EMP, the SQ dimensions, increase by one standard deviation.

Accordingly, the β weights of the present study indicate that the ASU had relatively the largest
effect and the TAN had the least importance on the change in the CSa of the registrar with β
coefficients of .277 and .100, respectively. The β value 0.277 of ASU indicates that a change of one
standard deviation in the ASU results in a 0.277 standard deviations increase in the CSa of the
registrar. Thus, according to the results of the MLR model analysis, ASU (customers trust to
workers, having sufficient knowledge of the workers, make customers feel safe and having
knowledge to answer the questions) contributed most to predicting CSa of the office of the registrar
and TAN (having modern equipment, visual attractiveness, suitability of location and well dressed
and neat of the workers) contributed the least to predicting the CSa of the office of the registrar. The
possible predicators can be ranked using the β coefficients, indicated in a bracket in the order
indicated. Thus, the rank of the SQ dimensions, the predicator variables, in the order of decreasing
effects on the CSa of the registrar office is: ASU (0.277) > RES (0.253) > EMP (0.184) > REL
(0.150) > TAN (0.100).
Table 17 . Model summary for SQ dimensions predicting the CSa of the registrar office (N = 328)

Model R R2 R2adj SEE

MLR .810a .656 .651 1.675
a. Predictors: (Constant), EMP, TAN, REL, ASU, RES; SEE: the standard error of the estimate
Table 18. The ANOVA of the MLR model of the SQ dimensions predicting the CSa of the
registrar (N = 328)

Model SS Df MS F P
Regression 1721.886 5 344.377 122.784 .000
MLR Residual 903.126 322 2.805
Total 2625.012 327
Dependent Variable: CSa; Predictors: (Constant), EMP, TAN, REL, ASU, RES; SS: Sum of
Squares; MS: Mean Square

46
Table 19. Regression coefficients for TAN, REL, RES, ASU and EMP predicting the CSa of
Jimma University Registrar Office (N = 328)

Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients 95.0% CI for B

Model B SE Β t P LB UB
CSa .623 .629 .990 .323 .615 1.861
TAN .116 .047 .100 2.434 .015 .022 .209
MLR REL .150 .047 .150 3.174 .002 .057 .243
RES .248 .051 .253 4.878 .000 .148 .348
ASU .285 .051 .277 5.552 .000 .184 .386
EMP .179 .050 .184 3.555 .000 .080 .279
Dependent Variable: CSa
SE: Standard Error; CI: Confidence Interval; LB: Lower Bound; UB: Upper Bound

The Mathematical Model of multiple regressions below can be used to determine the quantitative
association between the variables;
CSa= + 1TAN+ 2REL+ 3RES+ 4ASU+ 5EMP+

CSa= .623 + .116X1 +.150X2+ .248X3 +.285X4+.179X5

4.7 Hypothesis Test Result

Five hypotheses have been tested to answer the research questions based on the research
problem and objectives. The hypotheses address each service quality dimension such as;
tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy impacts on customer satisfaction. The
hypothesis test results were presented as follows.

Hypothesis 1
Hol: Tangibility will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Ha1: Tangibility will have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

From the regression analysis, as presented in table 19, we can see that there is a positive statistical
relationship between tangibility (the independent variable) and customer satisfaction (the dependent
variable). The R-square answers the question, “of all of the reasons why the outcome variable can
vary, what percent of those reasons can be accounted for by the predictor(s) variables”. In this case,
as table 17 the coefficient of determination (R-square) indicates the proportionate amount of
variation in the response variable (customer satisfaction) explained by the independent variable

47
(tangibility) in the linear regression model. Thus, the combination of the five dimensions explains
approximately 65.1% (R2=.651) of the variation on customer satisfaction of the registrar. As
presented in table 19 the regression coefficient is the value that represents the rate of change of one
variable (dependent variable) as a function of changes in the other variable (independent variable).
It represents the mean change in the response variable for one unit of change in the predictor
variable while holding other predictors in the model constant. This statistical control that regression
provides is important because it isolates the role of one variable from all of the others in the model.
From the following coefficient table, B value which measures how strongly each independent
variable influences the dependent variable. Thus, a unit increase in tangibility leads to .116
increases in customer satisfaction, other things remain constant. Therefore, the researcher may
reject the null hypothesis and it is accepted that, tangibility has a positive and significant effect on
customer satisfaction.
This finding is reliable with the previous study by Hawary et al. (2011), Mohammad and
Alhamadani (2011), Tizazu (2012), Akalu (2015), and Hirut (2015); who reported tangibility
positively and significantly influenced the level of customer satisfaction. But, it is contrary to the
research study by Endalkachew (2013) who found that no significant influence of tangibility on
customer satisfaction.
Hypothesis 2
Ho2: Reliability will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Ha2: Reliability will have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

From the regression analysis, as presented in table 19 .we can see that there is a positive statistical
relationship between reliability (the independent variable) and customer satisfaction (the dependent
variable). As observed from the following table 17, the combination of the five dimensions explains
approximately 65.1% (R2=.651) of the variation on customer satisfaction of the registrar.

As presented in table 19 from the following coefficient table, B value which measures how strongly
reliability, the independent variable, influences the customer satisfaction, the dependent variable.
Thus, a unit increase in reliability leads to .150 increases in customer satisfaction, other things
remain constant. Therefore, the researcher may reject the null hypothesis and it is accepted that,
reliability has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

48
This finding is consistent with the previous study by Dijale (2011), Mesay (2012), Akalu (2015) and
Dawit (2015) who reported that reliability positively and significantly influenced the level of customer
satisfaction. But, it is contrary to the study by Gupta (2012) who found insignificant influence of
reliability in customer satisfaction.
Hypothesis 3
Ho3: Responsiveness will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Ha3: Responsiveness will have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

From table 19, we can see that there is a positive statistical relationship between the independent
variable-responsiveness and the dependent variable-customer satisfaction. Thus, as table 19 the
combination of the five dimensions explains approximately 65.1% (R2=.651) of the variation on
customer satisfaction of the registrar.
On table 19, B value which measures how strongly responsiveness, the independent variable,
influences the customer satisfaction, the dependent variable. Accordingly, a unit increase in
responsiveness leads to .248 increases in customer satisfaction, other things remain constant.
Therefore, the researcher may reject the null hypothesis and responsiveness has a positive and
significant effect on customer satisfaction.
This finding is similar to the previous research work conducted by Akalu (2015), Dijale (2011), and
Dawit (2015), which reported that responsiveness positively and significantly influence the level of
customer satisfaction. But, it is contrary to the study by Endalkachew (2012) who found there is no
significant influence of reliability on customer satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4
Ho4: Assurance will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Ha4: Assurance will have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

From table 19, we can infer that there is a positive statistical relationship between the independent
variable-assurance and the dependent variable-customer satisfaction. Thus, from the table 17 the
combination of the five dimensions explains approximately 65.1% (R2=.665) of the variation on
customer satisfaction of the registrar.
On table 19, B value which measures how strongly assurance, the independent variable, influences
the customer satisfaction, the dependent variable. Accordingly, a unit increase in assurance leads to
.285 increases in customer satisfaction, other things remain constant. Therefore, the researcher may

49
reject the null hypothesis and assurance has a positive and significant effect on customer
satisfaction.
This finding is consistent with the previous study by Akalu (2015), Meron (2015), and Dawit (2015)
who reported that assurance has positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Hypothesis 5
Ho5: Empathy will not have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Ha5: Empathy will have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.

From table 19, we can infer that there is a positive statistical relationship between the independent
variable-empathy and the dependent variable-customer satisfaction. Thus, as table 17 the
combination of the five dimensions explains approximately 65.1% (R2=.665) of the variation on
customer satisfaction of the registrar.
From table 19, how strongly the independent variable - empathy influences the dependent variable -
customer satisfaction. Accordingly, a unit increase in empathy leads to .179 increases in customer
satisfaction, other things remain constant. Therefore, the researcher may reject the null hypothesis
and empathy has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.
This finding is consistent with the previous study by Dijale (2011), and Akalu (2015) who reported
that customer satisfaction was directly and significantly affected by empathy; but, it is contrary to
the study by Al-Hawary et al. (2011) who found insignificant influence of empathy in customer
satisfaction.

Moreover, from the findings of this study, researchers found out all of the service quality
dimensions have positive effects on customer satisfaction. Out of the five service quality
dimensions four dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, and empathy) have positive and
significant effects on customer satisfaction. Assurance is the most influential service quality
dimension in customer satisfaction. The second service quality dimension which has the highest
effect in customer satisfaction is responsiveness, empathy, and reliability, have equivalent impact in
customer satisfaction and tangibility is the last service quality dimension that has relatively least
effect on customer satisfaction.
4.8. Discussion of Results

To examine the effects of service quality on customer Satisfaction, the five dimensions of service
quality were used. Among the five dimensions, the Jimma University registrars were found to be

50
superior in providing appealing service environment. This section discusses the findings of the
statistical analysis in relation to the previous research and literature.

The result of this study indicates that tangibility has a positive and significant effect on customer
satisfaction. This finding is supported by Munusamy, (2010), found that tangibility has a positive
and significant effect on customer satisfaction. This finding is also supported by Al-Hawary, (2011)
reported that tangibility has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. On the
contrary, (Malik et al., 2011) reported that tangibility has no contribution to customer satisfaction.

The finding of this study also indicates that reliability has a positive and significant effect on
customer satisfaction. This finding is supported by Al-Hawary, (2011) reported that reliability has
a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. This result also supported by (Malik,
2011), found that reliability has a significant and positive effect on customer satisfaction. On the
other hand, Munusamy, (2010) reported that reliability has a negative and insignificant effect on
customer satisfaction. However, the finding of this study indicates that responsiveness has a
positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. This result is supported by Mohammad and
Alhamadani, (2011); found that responsiveness has a positive and insignificant effect on customer
satisfaction. And also Al-Hawary, (2011) reported that responsiveness has a positive and
significant effect on customer satisfaction. Moreover, the result of this study also indicates that
assurance has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Inline this finding is
supported by Malik et al., (2011), he reported that assurance has a positive and significant effect on
customer satisfaction. Also (Al-Hawary, 2011) found that assurance has a positive and significant
effect on customer satisfaction.

The finding of this study further indicates that empathy has a positive and significant effect
on customer satisfaction. This finding is supported by Mohammad and Alhamadani, (2011),
reported that empathy has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. On the
contrary, Munusamy, (2010) found that empathy has a negative effect on customer satisfaction.In
overall, the results revealed that all independent variables accounted for 65.1% of the variance in
customers satisfaction (R2= .651). Thus, 65.1% of the variation of customer‟s satisfaction can be
explained by the five service quality dimensions questions. Furthermore, from the findings of
this study, researcher found out that all of the service quality dimensions have positive effects
on customer satisfaction. Out of the five service quality dimensions tangibility is the least

51
positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Whereas, the results of this study further
indicate that assurance is the most important factor to have a positive and significant effect on
customer satisfaction.

The positive significant coefficient for service quality and customer satisfaction relationship
suggests higher service quality on registrar service and the higher the satisfaction of customers
towards the registrar. Thus, satisfied customer is important in developing a loyal customer.
Therefore, organizations should always strive to ensure that their customers are very satisfied.
Customer satisfaction is potentially one of the most powerful weapons that institutions of can
employ in their fight to gain a strategic advantage and survive in today‟s ever-increasing
competitive environment.

52
 CHAPTER FIVE
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter is deal summary, conclusion and recommendations. In the summary section, the
researcher has summarized the introduction, the statement of the problem, the literature, the
methodology and the findings of the present study. Conclusions drawn from the result of the study
are presented next to the summary. Based on the study result, some follow up actions are suggested
in the recommendation section.

5.1. Summary

The study was intended to investigate the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction in
Jimma University: the case of registrar services. Based on the questionnaire, consisting of 359
convenience technique sampling selected customers. The results of the descriptive statistical
analysis also indicated that, customers were most satisfied with assurance the dimensions of service
quality followed by responsiveness, empathy, and reliability. However, customers were less
satisfied with Tangibility dimensions of service quality.

Moreover, in terms of the stated research hypotheses the following findings emerged from the
multiple linier regression analysis investigation: The five service quality dimensions which are
tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy have a positive and significant effect
on customer satisfaction in jimma university registrar services in the study area.

The correlation result show that there was a positive and significant relationship between tangibility
and customer satisfaction, reliability and customer satisfaction, responsiveness and customer
satisfaction, assurance and customer satisfaction, and empathy and customer satisfaction.

The finding also indicates that the highest relationship was found between assurance and customer
satisfaction, while the lowest relationship was found between tangibility and customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, the multiple regression results showed that the five service quality dimensions
(tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) have positive and significant effect
on customer satisfaction. Overall Regression Analysis 65.1% (R2=.651) of the variation on
customer satisfaction is explained by the independent variable.

53
5.2. Conclusions
This study investigates the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction provided by the Offices
of the Registrar of Jimma University. In this study, the five service quality dimensions, tangibility,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy are the predicator variables whereas service
quality is the response variable. Multiple linear regression models were employed to measure the
effects of the predicator variables on the quality of the services of the Office of the Registrar of the
university. Thus, based on the major findings of the study the following conclusions are drawn.
Tangibility dimension, TAN, which is described in this study with modern equipment, visual
attractiveness of the registrar facilities, suitability of the location of the building of the registrar,
and the neatness and well dressing of the forefront registrar works, is the factor statistically
significantly (p < 0.001) affecting the CSa of the registrar. The TAN SQ dimension is
statistically significantly correlated with CSa (p < 0.001). It is the factor that least predicts the
variance in CSa of the Registrar Office.
Responsiveness dimension, RES, which is described in this study with employees are happy and
willing to give service, provide diversified services to customers, gives quick services, and the
registrar gives quick responses to customers‟ requests is the factor statistically significantly (p
<0 .001) affecting the CSa of the registrar. The RES SQ dimension is statistically significantly
correlated with CSa (p < 0.001). It is the factor that neutral predicts the variance in CSa of the
Registrar Office.
For this study, assurance, ASU, is described with personal behavior of the registrar workers, the
knowledge of registrar workers of the service provided, the employees making the customers
feel safe, and the workers of the registrar knowledge to answer the requests of the customers, is
the factor that statistically significantly (p < 0.001) predicts the variance in CSa of the registrar.
It is the factor that mostly predicts the variance in CSa of the registrar office.
In a summary, from the coefficient values the predicator variables, the order of the effects of the
SQ dimensions from smallest to the largest effect is: TAN > REL > EMP > RES > ASU. The
contribution of each of the SQ dimension to predict the variance in the CSa of the registrar is
also decrease in the order presented.
The MLR model information shows that the combination of the predicator variables, TAN,
RES, REL, ASU and EMP statistically significantly (p <.001) predicts the dependent variable,

54
 the quality of the service provided by the Offices of the Registrar. The combination of the five
dimensions also explains approximately 65.1% of the variance in the CSa of the registrar.

Generally, the study identified, on many service quality dimensions (Tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy) majority of the respondents responded that they were
very satisfied and expresses their agreement with service provided by the office. This evaluation
of respondents indicates that on good performance indicators in the branches customers did
meet their expectation.

5.3. Recommendations
Based on the results of the study the following recommendations are:

The researcher recommends that the university registrars needs to give more emphasis to improve
customer satisfying power for tangibility‟s. Because currently this variable has relatively low mean
and effect values. The university registrars need to concentrate on tangibles as it has the least mean
score. Continuous improvements and follow ups might enhance future customer satisfaction levels
with respect to this variable. The university registrars in particular can conduct further customer
opinion services regarding the status of customer views on the tangible nature of the office.

In this study Assurance is the dominant service quality dimension which has a highest effect on
customer satisfaction therefore the office of registrar is recommended work on the indicators of this
dimension i.e. the office need to invest on trainings to enhance its employees, how to handle their
customers.
The study revealed that the variation on service quality is explained by tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Therefore, the office of the registrars is advisable to give
due attention to all the components of these service quality dimensions in their priority influence.
The rank of the SQ dimensions in the decreasing order of their effects on the CSa of the registrar
office was: Assurance, Responsibility, Empathy, Reliability, and Tangibility.
Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that the Office of the Registrar to prioritize the
SQ dimensions to provide quality services to its various customers.

55
Moreover, assessing the service quality on customer satisfaction of the office of the registrar on a
regular basis can persistently improve the quality of the service and maintain the level of customer
satisfaction one step ahead.

5.4. Future Research Direction

The researcher encourages further research to extend the results of this study and improve the
results by minimizing the limitation of the study. Therefore, the researcher suggests the following
future research areas:
Even though there are basically five different service quality gaps this study focuses only on
gap five, so the researcher recommends for future researcher might be examine considering the
remaining service quality gaps.
Even if the researcher use only quantitative method to examine the service quality in jimma
university registrars. For the future the researcher recommends that by using qualitative method
by adding Interview to minimize the gap of service quality in jimma university registrars.
Jimma university registrar delivers different kinds of services for large number of customers. To
achieve the objective of the study, the researcher limited to asking customers of those selected
areas like Students and Academic Staffs. So the researcher recommends for future researcher
might be examined including the remaining Administrative staffs that are not considered in this
study.
Though the researcher concentrated only in service quality dimensions in Jimma university
registrars, so for the future the researcher pay close attention to on service quality within
customer satisfaction on human resource management offices in Jimma University.

56
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 APPENDICES
APPENDIX–A: Assumptions Test of Multiple Linear Regressions

Figure 2. Matrix plot of TAN, REL, RES, ASU, EMP, CSa (P < .001; DV = dependent variable
which is CSa; IVs = independent variables (SQ dimensions)

Figure 3. Plot of observed cumulative probability and expected cumulative probability of the
model (DV is CSa)

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Figure 4. Scatter plot of regression standard residual and standardized predicted values (DV is CSa)

Figure 5. Histogram of regression standardized residuals (dependent variable is CSa)

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Figure 6. Probability plot of the regression standardized residual (dependent variable is CSa)

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APPENDIX –B: Questionnaires
Jimma University
College of Business and Economics, Department of Management

MPM Program
(Questionnaires for Academic Staff and Students)
Dear Sir/Madam, First I would like to thank you for your time. My name is Behailu
Chimdessa and I am a graduate student at Jimma University College of Business and
Economics. I am conducting this study for the completion of my Master‟s Degree in Public
Management. The purpose of the study is measure the Effective of Service Quality on
Customer Satisfaction in Jimma University Registrar Services. Your kind cooperation will
help me to find reliable data and will be used only for this study. Please try to answer all
stated questions and I would like to thank you for your time again. Please mark your response
with “√” If you have any question, please contact me through bechimd@gmail.com
Part I.PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. Gender 1. Male 2. Female

2. Age 1. 18 – 25 2. 26 – 35 3. 36 – 45

4. 46 – 55 5. > 56

3. I am__ 1. A student 2. an academic staff

(If you are a student, you are kindly requested to proceed to Question No. 4. If you are an
academic staff, you are kindly requested to proceed to Question No. 5)

4. I am ____student.
1. BSc 2. BA 3. MSc 4. MA 5. MD 6. LLB 7. PhD

5. Your academic rank is and you are kindly requested to proceed question number 6.
1. BSc 2. BA 3. MSc 4. MA 5. MD 6. LLB 7. PhD

8. Professor

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Part II. Perception towards service quality dimensions.

6. How many years have you been working in Jimma University?

1. Less than 1yr- 3 yrs 2. 4 yrs-7 yrs

3. 8 yrs - 10 yrs 4. >11

7. From services provided by Jimma University Registrar which service do you use?

1. Official transcript
2. Student copy
3. Original student document
4. Other service
5. All services
8. How long it took to get the above-mentioned service starting from your first arrival at
the registrar?
1. Less than ten minutes
2. Ten to thirty minutes
3. Thirty-one minutes to one Hour
4. More than one hour
9. According to your opinion to what extent efficient service delivery and service
quality is important for customer satisfaction?
1. Extremely important
2. Important
3. Fairly important
4. Not important

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Part III: SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE
Instructions: Please tick the number that you feel most appropriate, using the scale from 1 to
5 (Where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree).
Score Values

Disagree(1)

Disagree(2)

Neutral(3)

Agree(4)

Agree(5)
Strongly

Strongly
No. Statement

Questions Related to Tangibility 1 2 3 4 5

Jimma University Registrar has required and modern equipment to
10.
provide quick and quality service delivery
Jimma University Registrar employees have required knowledge
11.
and skills to deliver quality and speedy services to its customers.
Room is clean and provides adequate of space
12.
Employees‟ uniforms are attractive
13.
Questions Related to Reliability
14. Jimma University Registrar provides its services at promised times.
15. Employees are consistently polite.
16. The employees handled customer‟s complaints effectively
17. Employees provide accurate information to customers.
Questions Related to Responsiveness

18. Employees are happy and willing to serve the customers.

19. Jimma University Registrar provides diversified service to
20. Jimma University Registrar gives quality quick service
customers
21. Jimma University Registrar gives quick response to customer
Questions Related to Assurance
requests.
22. The employee has the required skills to provide services.
23. The employees have sufficient knowledge of service information
24. The employees make customers feel safe while providing services
25. Employees have required knowledge to answer customers'
Questions
questions Related with Empathy
26. Employees always treat customers in a friendly manner.
27. Employees treat customers with great respect.
28. Employees give individual attention to customers.
29. The employees understand the specific needs of their customers.

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PART IV, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION QUESTIONARRIES
Instructions: Please tick the number that you feel most appropriate, using the scale from 1 to
5 (Where 1 = Very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, and 5 = very high).
Score Values

Very high
moderate
Very low
Statements

high
low
Questions Related to Customer Satisfaction 1 2 3 4 5
30. Your level of satisfaction having the modern equipment and provide
No.
Questions Related to Tangibility 1 2 3 4 5
speedy service to its customer.
.
31. Your level of satisfaction on giving individual attention to customers
of the registrar staffs.
32. Your level of satisfaction on the communicative ability of the
employees of the registrar.
33. Your level of satisfaction on the performance of the registrar staffs.
34. Your level of satisfaction on handling compliant questions of
effectiveness of the services of the registrar.

Thank you!!!

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