Effects of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty : Example of Marmara University Hospital

This study employs six dimensions of service quality scale that is developed by Carman (2000) and Kara et al. (2005) to better understand the factors underlying healthcare customers' perceptions of service quality. These dimensions investigated are namely tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, courtesy and empathy. Sampling has been conducted at the Marmara University Hospital between June 1st and July 15th 2007. Purposive convenient sampling has been employed to 183 inpatients. Through a 5 point Likert-type scale, healthcare customers' expectations of a perfect service provider has been compared with the practices Marmara University Hospital to determine if there are any gaps. Quality of the Marmara University Hospital's healthcare services has been analyzed together with its effects on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through a regression analysis