| Article ID: | iaor20125982 |
| Volume: | 4 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Start Page Number: | 250 |
| End Page Number: | 268 |
| Publication Date: | Jun 2012 |
| Journal: | International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics |
| Authors: | Tuan Luu Trong |
| Keywords: | service quality |
In shipping service realm, service quality of a carrier has been increasingly discerned as a crucial factor behind the attainment of its competitive edge and market superiority, not merely since its high service quality will increase its customers' satisfaction, but also since its high service quality can create new values for its customers. As a result, there emerges a need for a service quality instrument with which a carrier can gaze at themselves. A question is whether the SERVQUAL instrument developed for other services' industries can be utilised to gauge service quality perceptions and expectations in shipping. Predicated on a survey of 152 respondents from Vinalines's customer companies, the study reveals that customers' expectations of Vinalines's shipping services were impacted by three factors: 'reliability', 'empathy and responsiveness', and 'assurance'.