Retail services quality and behavioural intentions: an empirical application of the retail service quality scale in Northern Cyprus

In the highly competitive retail sector, the provision and measurement of superior retail service \nquality is crucial for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Service quality is an important \nstrategic weapon in retail contexts, particularly in developing defensive marketing strategies. The \nmeasurement of service quality in a retail setting is somewhat different from the measurement \nof service quality in other pure service settings. The most widely known and discussed scale for \nmeasuring service quality -SERVQUAL- has not been successfully adapted to and validated in \na retail store environment. The ‚retail service quality scale‘ (RSQS) [1] has been validated in the \nUSA, Hong Kong, and Korea, but not in other cultural settings. Only a limited number of studies \nhave attempted to measure service quality in retail settings, so there is a significant gap in the \nliterature regarding this area of research. The present study addresses this gap by applying the \nRSQS among 648 customers of a large chain of retail stores in Northern Cyprus. The study also \nproposes and tests two hypotheses regarding the relationship between retail service and custo- \nmers‘ behavioural intentions. The results confirm the applicability of the original five dimensions of \nthe RSQS in the setting of Northern Cyprus. Retail service quality is shown to be positively related \nto behavioural intentions (intention to repurchase and intention to recommend). Multi-regression \nanalyses reveal that the dimensions of ‚physical aspects‘, ‚problem solving‘, and ‚reliability‘ have \nthe greatest impact on customers‘ behavioural intentions. The study also analyses the relationship \nbetween certain demographic characteristics and perceptions of service quality. The results, ma- \nnagerial implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed in detail.