The Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality - Loyalty Relationships

This research was conducted in Malaysia. The purpose of the study was to test the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the service quality-loyalty relationship in the national railway corporation known as Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) – Cement Cargo Services. The methodology of this study is using quota sampling, 200 respondents were selected from cement companies, namely Lafarge, YTL, TCB and CIMA, the main users of the service provider. Structured questionnaires were distributed to the selected respondents through a self-administered survey in November 2011. To test the hypotheses, a multiple regression analysis was performed. The results revealed that three dimensions of service quality (tangibles, responsiveness and assurance) has significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Further, both service quality and satisfaction have been shown to positively affect the customer loyalty. In addition, this study found that satisfaction partially mediates the service quality dimensions-loyalty relationships. However, the findings may not be generalized to the overall cargo services because the sample is small. In the future, researcher should investigate the overall cargo services (conventional and container) and their effect on satisfaction and customer loyalty. The managerial implications of this study explained that KTMB should improve the service quality. Thus, to sustain in the long run, excellent service quality will generate greater satisfaction with the delivered service, promote repeat purchase, positive word-of-mouth, brand loyalty and finally a high chance for customer loyalty.