Customer satisfaction from inner-city services: A case study

Abstract

This paper examines the quality of municipal services within inner-city services. It identifies the most important service quality dimensions that determine citizen satisfaction. System dynamics approach is used to model and analyze ways to improve citizen satisfaction. For that purpose, we developed questionnaires based on ServQual. 634 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in a town neighborhood of about 16,000 citizens. The relevance of the ServQual dimensions was validated. Three of the ServQual dimensions: reliability, empathy and responsiveness, significantly predicted citizen satisfaction. The paper discusses ways to guide practitioners to improve quality attributes and enhance inner-city customer satisfaction.