Parasuraman et al. (1985) identify over 200 attributes of service quality. The pool of attributes was derived from an extensive series of interviews with customers in four different commercial services. Using factor analysis, five main dimensions of service quality were identified. They were: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The importance of the above dimensions in understanding service quality cannot be underestimated.
However, comparing service expectations with service perceptions has offered a more insightful perspective. Perceptions of quality by those who provide services and those who consume them have often been reported to differ (Parasuraman et al., 1985).