Expected service quality of utility stores in Pakistan: Qualitative investigation of older and younger generational cohorts

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present the Generation X and Generation Y customers’ expectations of utility retail stores in an Asian setting of Pakistan Research studies that advocate a cross-generational perspective to retail service quality have been limited.

Design/methodology/approach

Sketching through a naturalistic paradigm, data for this exploratory study is collected from 80 retail shoppers through face-to-face interviews. The data is noted, coded and presented through the genre of service marketing mix theory.

Findings

There are significant differences with regards to variety of products offered and time consumed during shopping have been found between generational cohorts belonging to Generation X and Generation Y customers. However, there are a few similarities noted between the two types of customers that challenge the traditional perspective of retail service marketing mix theory.

Originality/value

The study is an original contribution towards explaining the retail service quality construct from cross-generational marketing perspective. Pragmatically, the utility stores have never been the subject matter for service quality studies in countries such as Pakistan.

Citation

Kashif, M. and Abdul Rehman, M. (2014), "Expected service quality of utility stores in Pakistan: Qualitative investigation of older and younger generational cohorts", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 309-325. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-04-2013-0023