Measuring service quality by linear indicators

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology for building linear indicators of the quality of a service. A regression model is presented in which customers evaluate the overall service quality and a set of dimensions or attributes that determine this service quality. The model assumes that overall service quality is determined by a linear combination of attribute evaluations with some unknown weights. As different customers may have different weights, the estimation of the parameters of the distribution of weights in the population is carried out by generalized constrained least squares. The model is applied to the measurement of the quality of the education provided by an university and the quality of the Spanish railroad system.