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The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service

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Abstract

A conceptual model articulating the nature and determinants of customer expectations of service is proposed and discussed. The model specifies three different types of service expectations: desired service, adequate service, and predicted service. Seventeen propositions about service expectations and their antecedents are provided. Discussion centers on the research implications of the model and its propositions.

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Author notes

  1. Valarie A. Zeithaml (Doctor of Business Administration, Partner in Schmalensee Zeithaml Consultin)

    Present address: Duke University, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, USA

    Valarie A. Zeithaml (Doctor of Business Administration, Partner in Schmalensee Zeithaml Consultin)

  2. Texas A&M University, USA

    Leonard L. Berry Ph.D. & A. Parasuraman D.B.A. (Foley’s/Federated Professor of Retailing and Marketing Studies)

  3. Arizona State University, USA

    Leonard L. Berry Ph.D.

  4. Indiana University, USA

    A. Parasuraman D.B.A. (Foley’s/Federated Professor of Retailing and Marketing Studies)

Authors
  1. Valarie A. Zeithaml
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  2. Leonard L. Berry Ph.D.
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  3. A. Parasuraman D.B.A.
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Additional information

Her research interests include services marketing and consumer perceptions of price and quality. Her articles have appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Retailing, andManagement Accounting. She is co-author (with Len Berry and Parsu Parasurman) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990).

Leonard L. Berry holds the J. C. Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, is Professor of Marketing, and is director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. He is a former national president of the American Marketing Association. His research interests are services marketing, service quality, and retailing strategy. He is the author of numerous journal articles and books, includingMarketing Services: Competing Through Quality (The Free Press, 1991), which he wrote with A. Parasuraman.

His research interests include services marketing, sales management, and marketing strategy. He has written numerous articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Sloan Management Review, andBusiness Horizons. He is the author ofMarketing Research (Addison-Wesley, 1991) and coauthor (with Leonard L. Berry and Valarie A. Zeithaml) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990).

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Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L. & Parasuraman, A. The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service. JAMS 21, 1–12 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070393211001

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