IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rnd/arjebs/v11y2019i3p23-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Model to Measure the Service Quality of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers

Author

Listed:
  • Christo A Bisschoff
  • Heinrich C Barnard

Abstract

The study constituters a model to measure the service quality of pharmaceutical wholesalers in South Africa. Several pharmaceutical wholesalers distribute medical supplies throughout South Africa in a very regulated and competitive market where high service quality levels are anticipated. In this price-undifferentiated market, service quality can have a significant impact on the competitiveness of a pharmaceutical wholesaler. As a result, the primary objective was to develop a model to measure the service quality levels of large pharmaceutical wholesalers. The literature study compiled an industry profile of the South African pharmaceutical market, analysed service quality and then proposed an adapted SERVQUAL model to measure the service quality. A review of the literature also highlighted the general structure of the pharmaceutical industry and the regulatory framework in the supply of pharmaceutical products. The literature study also focuses specifically on the role and function of the pharmaceutical wholesaler in the supply chain. Data was collected from clients of a pharmaceutical wholesaler using to record the service expectations and perceptions on a seven-point Likert scale. Some 385 of the 4468 clients completed and returned the industry-adapted SERVQUAL survey questionnaires on the electronic platform Google Forms (signifying an 8.6% response rate). The results showed that the data were reliable with a Cronbach alpha coefficient higher than 0.70. The results also show that in five, the service dimensions gap where perceptions and expectations are measured had negative gaps. This means that the clients expected better service quality than what they received. The service dimension Assurance showed the largest gap, while Tangibility had the smallest gap. However, none of these gaps was practically significant. Further analysis using exploratory factor analysis identified three underlying service quality variables, namely Positive employee actions, Business process management and Marketing channels. These factors explained a favourable cumulative variance of 67.7%. The study finally proposes a model to measure service quality in the pharmaceutical wholesale industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Christo A Bisschoff & Heinrich C Barnard, 2019. "A Model to Measure the Service Quality of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 11(3), pages 23-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:23-38
    DOI: 10.22610/jebs.v11i3(J).2866
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/2866/1855
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/2866
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22610/jebs.v11i3(J).2866?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wirtz, Jochen & Bateson, John E. G., 1999. "Consumer Satisfaction with Services: Integrating the Environment Perspective in Services Marketing into the Traditional Disconfirmation Paradigm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 55-66, January.
    2. Meesala, Appalayya & Paul, Justin, 2018. "Service quality, consumer satisfaction and loyalty in hospitals: Thinking for the future," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 261-269.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi Mei & Xiaoyan Xu & Xiaodong Li, 2020. "Encouraging Patient Engagement Behaviors from the Perspective of Functional Quality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Wenxin & W. & Bentum-Micah & G. & Zhiqiang & M. & Bing & L. & Asabea Addo & A. & Boadi & B.E. & Atuahene & A.S. & Bondzie-Micah & V., 2020. "The Influence of Encounter Service Quality on Patient Satisfaction: An Empirical Study in Chinese Public Hospitals," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 461-477.
    3. Muhammad Asif & Arif Jameel & Noman Sahito & Jinsoo Hwang & Abid Hussain & Faiza Manzoor, 2019. "Can Leadership Enhance Patient Satisfaction? Assessing the Role of Administrative and Medical Quality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Cho, Jihoon & Janda, Swinder, 2023. "Reciprocity in upward product line extensions: A longitudinal study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Yihan Huang & Daehwan Kim, 2023. "How Does Service Quality Improve Consumer Loyalty in Sports Fitness Centers? The Moderating Role of Sport Involvement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Hanna Górska-Warsewicz, 2022. "Consumer or Patient Determinants of Hospital Brand Equity—A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-36, July.
    7. Alev Kocak Alan & Inci Dursun & Ebru Tumer Kabadayi & Kenan Aydin & Fikret Anlagan, 2016. "What Influences the Repurchase Intention for Luxury Brands?-The Relative Impacts of Luxury Value Dimensions," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(5), pages 11-24, May.
    8. Mohamed Ismail, 2023. "The Effect of Social Contacts on the Uptake of Health Innovations among Older Ethnic Minorities in the UK: A Mixed Methods Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Wu, Cedric Hsi-Jui & Liang, Rong-Da, 2011. "The relationship between white-water rafting experience formation and customer reaction: a flow theory perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 317-325.
    10. Ana B. Casado & Francisco J. Mas & Hans Kasper, 2006. "Explaining Satisfaction In Double Deviation Scenarios: The Effects Of Anger And Distributive Justice," Working Papers. Serie EC 2006-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    11. Eziyi O. Ibem & Pearl A. Opoko & Egidario B. Aduwo, 2017. "Satisfaction with Neighbourhood Environments in Public Housing: Evidence from Ogun State, Nigeria," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 733-757, January.
    12. Hsu, Chia-Lin & Chen, Mu-Chen, 2021. "Advocating recycling and encouraging environmentally friendly habits through gamification: An empirical investigation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. María Rojas & María Camarero, 2006. "Experience and satisfaction of visitors to museums and cultural exhibitions," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 3(1), pages 49-65, June.
    14. Mason, Michela C. & Paggiaro, Adriano, 2012. "Investigating the role of festivalscape in culinary tourism: The case of food and wine events," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1329-1336.
    15. Ganglmair-Wooliscroft, Alexandra & Wooliscroft, Ben, 2013. "A cross-cultural application of the Affective Response to Consumption scale: Investigating US-American and Austrian passengers on long-haul flights," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 765-770.
    16. Minjung Cho, 2023. "Evaluating Therapeutic Healthcare Environmental Criteria: Architectural Designers’ Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-34, January.
    17. Barnes, Stuart J. & Vidgen, Richard T., 2014. "Technology socialness and Web site satisfaction," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 12-25.
    18. Wong, IpKin Anthony & Dioko, Leonardo (Don) A.N., 2013. "Understanding the mediated moderating role of customer expectations in the customer satisfaction model: The case of casinos," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 188-199.
    19. Di Kuang & Xiao-Fei Li & Wen-Wen Bi, 2021. "How to Effectively Design Referral Rewards to Increase the Referral Likelihood for Green Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, June.
    20. Lydie Bonnefoy-Claudet & Nabil Ghantous, 2013. "Emotions' Impact on Tourists' Satisfaction with Ski Resorts. The Mediating Role of Perceived Value," Post-Print hal-00946206, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:23-38. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Muhammad Tayyab (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.