NOTES
1. Customer satisfaction and perceived service quality have been acknowledged
to be strongly related but somewhat conceptually different
constructs (see Bolton and Drew 1991b; Cronin and Taylor 1992; Parasuraman,
Berry, and Zeithaml 1994). However, the author chose not to focus
on the distinction between perceived service quality and customer
satisfaction because multiple other articles describe and delineate the two
constructs and because in practice the two are treated as virtually the
same. Since this article has a broader perspective—that of linking service
quality to profits—relevant research relating customer satisfaction and
profitability is introduced and weaved into the model. In particular, work
by Fornell and colleagues discussed in this section has moved the field
forward considerably; furthermore, customer variables such as expectations,
perceived quality, perceived value, and purchase intentions are also
measured in their work (see especially Fornell 1992 and Fornell, Johnson,
Anderson, Cha, and Bryant 1996).
2. It is possible that there exists some understatement of zero or nonsignificant
effects due to a “file drawer” problem—the tendency not to
publish research that does not show significant associations. Unfortunately,
the extent of this effect is not possible to estimate.
3. The same price-versus-service issue is central to behavioral intentions
and to financial outcomes, and has not received sufficient research
attention in those areas either