An empirical study on service quality of shipping lines and its relationship with customer satisfaction

Abstract

Due to the growing recognition of service quality as significant, this project is conceived

out of a desire to achieve greater understanding on the aspects of service quality. The

study uses shipping lines in Singapore as the primary setting. It aims to gain insight on

the criteria used by shippers in the evaluation of service quality of shipping lines, as well

as explores the underlying relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.

A comprehensive literature research is conducted to provide a review on salient aspects

of service quality and customer satisfaction. This serves as the foundation of the present

research from which relevant conceptual issues are applied to derive the findings. In

tum, possible implications and recommendations are provided to the shipping lines.

Delivering quality services that satisfy the customers has become an important source of

competitive advantage that reduces price elasticity and retains customer loyalty. Hence,

to compete more effectively in an environment in which quality competition prevailed,

the management of shipping lines may find the results of this study useful for strategic

applications. However, effective management of service quality requires not only an

understanding of how service quality works, but also to capitalize on fundamental

underlying trends to create new areas of emphasis. This translates into establishing an

agenda for further service quality research.