Akan’s (1995) findings also suggest that the meaning of service quality in Turkey
differs from North America. Differences in service quality dimensions in the hotel
industry in a large city in Turkey are in the following seven factors: (a) courtesy and
competence of the personnel, (b) communication and transactions, (c) tangibles,
(d) knowing and understanding the customer, (e) accuracy and speed of service,
(f) solutions to problems, and (g) accuracy of hotel reservations (Parasuraman et al.,
1988). As these dimensions differ from Parasuraman et al.’s (1988) service quality
dimensions that were developed in the United States, these findings suggest that the
cultural environment could influence the meaning of the concept of quality. However,
additional research is needed to verify whether service quality dimensions differ
across other cultures. Despite Akan’s contribution to our understanding of service
quality within an international context, the author does not propose a theoretical rationale
for these findings.