A Study Investigating the Perceived Service Quality Levels of Sport Center Members: A Kano Model Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate sport center members' perceived service quality levels with a view to Kano customer expectations and requirements model. To that end, a descriptive approach and a correlational research design featuring survey method is adopted. Research group consists of 680 (300 women, 380 men) sport center members who are chosed through multistage sampling (Cluster). “Sport Fitness Centers Perceived Service Quality Scale and Expectation Scale are used as data collection tools. Independent samples t-test, Pearson Correlation analysis and Multiple Linear Regression tests are used to analyzed the data. In the light of the findings, it is seen that all the subdimensions have medium or high level positive significant relationships with the expectation when the subdimensions of the expectation scale and the SFC-PSQS are compared.

According to the results of the Independent Samples T-test, the expectation levels of the customers stating that the programme fee is expensive are significantly lower. In conclusion, as the customers’ perception of service quality in the sport center increases, their expectation levels also generally increase significantly. The customers expect that the quality of service they receive to be high and to meet their expectations exceedingly. However, it is also predicted that physical and psychosocial factors affecting the expectation can also affect the perception of service quality at a significant level. Since the service quality and meeting the expectations of the customers is an important indicator to maintain the businesses’ existence, studying with multiple factors attempting to understand the nature of service quality and the customer expectations should be conducted.