Linking a service‐driven market orientation to service quality

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to empirically develop a service‐driven market orientation construct and test its relationships with service quality.Design/methodology/approachThe researcher employs Critical Incident Technique to generate items for the survey instrument. Then, the quantitative‐based descriptive research uses structured questionnaires to capture the perceptions of 558 university students from Malaysia which are used to understand the nature of the customer‐perceived market orientation and its relationship with service quality.FindingsThe results show that the service‐driven market orientation (SERVMO) that consists of six components (customer orientation, competitor orientation, interfunctional orientation, performance orientation, long‐term orientation, and employee orientation) has a significantly strong and positive relationship with service quality.Research limitations/implicationsThe SERVMO scale is developed using data from the higher education sector and is yet to be validated in other industries.Practical implicationsThe proposed strategic construct and current findings on its relationships with service quality provide practical insights for service managers to monitor their service orientation and enhance service quality.Originality/valueThe newly developed SERVMO scale is originally derived from the customer perception data in the Malaysian higher education sector.