Service Quality of Coca-Cola Distribution as perceive by the Merchandisers

in Surigao City

Introduction
Inserted on a strong competition and pursuit of survival in the market
context, more companies have attending their retailers in a way that their needs
and expectations become fully satisfied. It is possible, for example, to observe
many options of purchase in retail format as well as in services and products.
(Moura, Silva, and Batalha 2006; Parassuraman, 2000). Commented [U1]:

Towards the context previously explicit, the Coca – cola company is one of
the largest beverage companies in the world has a specific distribution method.
The firms distribution system is one of the most well planned and executed
compared to all other category. It has such an impact on consumers and it is so
successful that even wholesalers and distributers need the product for their
business’ success ( Lucius Lu & Sophia Tiwana, 2015).
However, Coca – Cola Company also faces some challenges in the
distribution field and the services of the company as distinguish by the
merchandisers in which can affect its market. Merchandiser have extremely
demanding requirements, much like customers do if suppliers don’t need their
needs, the relationship will falter. ( Jordan Katz, 20113).
In the last decades the pursuit of excellence in services has been
highlighted as an important strategy in the process of client – supplier
relationship management, since the establishment of relationship is an important
source of competitive advantage ( Haley, 1998; Galaskiewicz and Zaheer, 1999 )
This study aims to specify all the information, which is vital in addressing
the problems in service quality and investigate the service quality of distribution
of Coca – Cola products as discerned by the merchandisers in Surigao City. This
initially scrutinize the variables that may link to the service quality of the
distribution. Also deals to the impact of the distribution of product which lead to
the satisfaction of the Merchandiser.
 Conceptual Framework
Parasuraman, Valarie A.Zeitham1 and L. Berry defined service
quality as "the delivery of excellent or superior service relative to customer
expectation."' They conducted extensive research into service quality and
identified ten criteria in evaluating service quality. Later, they reduced it into
five broad dimensions viz.,
l. Reliability
2. Responsiveness.
3. Assurance
4. Empathy
5. Tangibility

So, from the above discussions it is clear that the service quality is a
difficult concept to define in a single definition. This concept seems to refer
several different areas, namely, quality of the output, quality of the process,
quality of the delivery system and quality as a general philosophy of the
organization.

The above definitions reveals one fact that, the concept 'service
quality' is not an independent term, means, its formation depends upon
several factors related to service and service firms. These factors are grouped
into five broad dimensions such as, reliability, responsiveness, assurance,
empathy and tangibility. Each one is discussed below.
 Reliability is defined as the ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately. In broad sense reliability means, service firms'
promises about delivery, service provisions, problem resolutions and pricing.
Customers like to do business with those firms, who keep their promises. So it
is an important element in the service quality perception by the customer and
his loyalty. Hence the service firms need to be aware of customer expectation
of reliability. In the case of banking services, the reliability dimension
includes - regularity, attitude towards complaints, keep customers informed,
consistency, procedures etc.

Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and to provide

prompt service. This dimension focuses in the attitude and promptness in
dealing with customer requests, questions, complaints and problems. It also
focuses on punctuality, presence, professional commitment etc., of the
employees or staff. It can be calculated on the length of time customers wait
for assistance, answers to questions etc. The conditions of responsiveness can
be improved by continuously view the process of service delivery and
employees attitude towards requests of customers

The third dimension of service quality is the Assurance dimension. It

can be defined as employee's knowledge, courtesy and the ability of the firm
and its employees to inspire trust and confidence in their customers. This
dimension is important in banking, insurance services because customers feel
uncertain about their ability to evaluate outcome. In some situations like
insurance, stock broking services firms try to build trust and loyalty between
key contact persons like insurance agents, brokers etc. and individual
customers. In banking services "personal banker" plays the role of key contact
person. This dimension focuses on job knowledge and skill, accuracy,
courtesy etc of employees and security ensured by the firm.

Another dimension of service quality is the Empathy dimension. It is

defined as the caring, individualized attention provides to the customers by
their banks or service firms. This dimension try to convey the meaning
through personalized or individualized services that customers are unique and
special to the firm. The focus of this dimension is on variety of services that
satisfies different needs of customers, individualized or personalized services
etc. In this case the service providers need to know customers personal needs
or wants and preferences.

The fifth dimension of service quality is the Tangibility which is

defined as the appearance of physical facilities, equipments, communication

materials and technology. All these provide enough hints to customers about

the quality of service of the firm. Also, this dimension enhances the image of

the firm. Hence tangibility dimension is very important to firms and they need

to invest heavily in arranging physical facilities.

 As illustrated, the first box presents the profile variables which include sex,
age, civil status.

Sex refers to sexual identity of the participants whether male of female.

Age refers to the number of years of existence since birth.

Civil Status pertains to their martial status whether single, married or

separated.

Service Quality of Coca-Cola

Distribution as perceive by the
Merchandisers in Surigao City:
Business profile as
- Reliability
to:

- Age - Responsiveness.
- Sex
- Assurance
- Civil Status
- Empathy
- Tangibility
 Significance of the Study
This study aimed to know the Service Quality of Coca – cola Distribution of the
Merchandisers in Surigao City. Specifically it sought to answer the following
questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents?

1.1 Age
1.2 Sex
1.3 Civil Status
2.
 CHAPTER 3
Method

This chapter presents the research design, participants of the study,

research instrument, data gathering procedure, and data analysis.

Research Design

The study will used the descriptive – survey research design. The design will
be suitable in bringing out data to find out the service quality Coca – cola
distribution as perceive by the merchandiser in Surigao City. It will be also valued
the analysis and evaluation of the impacts of the determinants of profitability to
the merchandiser.

Participants

The participants of the study will be the merchandizer of Coca – cola

products who are the distributor of the products in Surigao City. We will be using
convenience sampling method in order to determine the respondents. They will
be given a survey questionnaire. We are going to consign the sufficient for the
central limit theorem to hold.

Instruments

A researcher’s will make questionnaire that will be used in the study. Part I
asked the profile the participants. Part II focused in extent of influence of the
factors on the distribution perceived by the merchandizers. The indicators of the
questionnaire were based from the literatures cited in the review of related
literature. The validation of the instruments will be done by presenting it to be
the questionnaire construction experts. The corrections were collected in the
questionnaire before the distribution of the instruments.

Data Gathering

Premier to data gathering, a formal letter request to conduct study outside

the campus will sent to the basic education principal of St. Paul University Surigao
as per endorsement of the assistant principal of Sr. High School. Upon approval,
the researchers will provided a formal letter to conduct the study to the selected
merchandisers of Coca – cola in Surigao City. The questionnaire will be
simultaneously distributed to the participant who gave their consent and were
not forced to do so. The questionnaire were immediately retrieved thereafter.
Moreover, the data will be tallied, scored, tabulated, analysed, and will be
interpreted.

Data Analysis

The data gathered during the distribution of the questionnaire will be

treated using the following statistical tools:
Frequency Count and Percentage Distribution will be used to
describe the profile of the merchandiser.
Mean computation and Standard Deviation will be used to described
the extent of Service Quality of Coca – cola Distribution as perceive by the
Merchandiser.
Analysis of Variance of (ANOVA) was employed to treat the
significant difference of the Service Quality of Coca – cola Distribution to
Merchandiser when grouped relative to their profile variable.
 T –test was utilized to find the significant difference between the
sample mean and the mean of population.

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

The attainment of quality in products and services had become a pivotal

concern of the 1980s. While quality in tangible goods has been described and
measured by marketers, quality in services was largely undefined and
unresearched. Hence, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) attempted to
rectify the situation by reporting the insights obtained in an extensive exploratory
investigation of quality in four service businesses and by developing a model of
service quality, that sought to improve the previously developed methods by
developing asset of firm characteristics that could be measured by providing the
first complete set of ten service quality determinants: tangibles ,reliability,
responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy,
understanding/knowing the customer ,and access, and thereby introduced the
value of gap measurement in customer satisfaction and named that new
measurement device as SERVQUAL. These investigators were the first to utilize
gap measurement to determine the importance of service quality in customer
satisfaction.
Carman (1990) in his study on “Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality:
An Assessment of The SERVQUAL Dimensions,” described the replication and
testing of SERVQUAL battery, which measures the perceived quality of a service
situation. The scale was tested in 4 service settings from different from those
original test; a dental school patient clinic, a business school placement center, a
tire store, and an acute care hospital. Six basic questions of interest to the retailer
are discussed: (1) the number of dimensions and how generic they are (2) the
extent to which item wording can be changed (3) service situations that include
multiple service functions (4) the validity of analyzing differences between
expectation and perception (5) the point at which expectations information
should be obtained, and (6) the relationship between expectation and
importance. SERVQUAL answered questions 1 and 2 but needs adaptations with
regards to Questions 3 through 6. The study established some of the dimensions
subject to limitations on certain specific applications and there were sufficient
empirical findings to support SERVQUAL dimensions in customer satisfaction
subject to small variations for different industries.
Cronin and Taylor (1992) investigated the conceptualization and
measurement of service quality, consumer satisfaction, and purchase intentions.
A literature review suggested that the current operationalize f service quality
confounds satisfactions and attitude. Hence, the author tested (1) an alternative
method of operationalizing perceive service quality and (2) the significance of the
relationships between service quality, consumer satisfaction, and purchase
intentions. The research yielded a new measurement device known as
SERRVPERF. Their empirical study utilized structural equation modeling, which
yielded a finding that service quality should be viewed as determinant of
customer satisfaction. The results suggested that (1) a performance-based
measure of service quality may be an improved means of measuring the service
quality construct, (2) service quality is an antecedent of consumer satisfaction, (3)
consumer satisfaction has a significant effect on purchase intentions, and (4)
service quality has less effect on purchase intentions than doe’s consumer
satisfactions.

For consumers, evaluation of a service firm often depends on evaluation of

the “service encounter” or the period of time when the customer interacts
directly with the firm. Knowledge of the factors that influence the customer
evaluations in service encounters is therefore critical, particularly at a time when
general perceptions of service quality are declining. Thereby, Bitner (1990)
presented a model for understanding service encounter evaluation that
synthesized consumer satisfaction services marketing, and attribution theories by
took a comparative approach to studying service quality satisfaction in a study of
travelers in airport. A portion of model was tested experimentally to assess the
effects of physical surroundings and employee responses (explanations and offers
to compensate) on attributions and satisfaction in a service failure context. She
concluded that judgments about satisfaction were merely antecedents of the
elements of service quality.