Service quality and customer satisfaction

In recent years, major cities in South Africa (i.e., Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria) have experienced a mushrooming of private Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET / FET) colleges. Clearly, the increasing number of private institutions has resulted in growing competition in the sector. Escalating competitive pressure, therefore, means that there is need for these institutions to find new ways of achieving competitive advantage. Marketing specialists agree that an effective strategy for a business to maintain competitive advantage in a highly competitive market depends on two factors. Firstly, the business needs to develop an understanding of customers' opinions on service quality, and secondly, applying such knowledge to create efficient services delivery systems for maximising consumer satisfaction. It is against this background that the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) assessing FET / TVET students' perceptions of service quality, and (b) investigating how the Servqual attributes influence satisfaction. Contributions and implications of this study are also given to assist private education institutions management to improve their services.