University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Doi
Abstract
What is “quality” service in a business-to-government (B2G) context? Why is service performance particularly hard to measure in this context? This research takes a service dominant logic (SDL) perspective to answer these questions about one of the least-tangible and most highly interactive service environments of all, knowledge-based services (KBS). This paper provides a construct and understanding for B2G knowledge-based services. The research uses factor analytic techniques to explore the best latent measures of perceived service quality for KBS as precursors to perceived value in a public procurement context. KBS perceived quality is found to be a second-order factor construct that influences customer perceptions of value co-creation behaviors and value itself in B2G exchanges. Contrary to SDL in previous studies, value co-creation behaviors do not moderate the influence of perceived service quality on perceptions of value, presenting interesting conclusions for the evolution of SDL theory in B2G markets. Defining KBS and delineating specific measures of perceived B2G knowledge-based service quality extend the literature on service quality to different contexts. They also help B2G, and by extension, B2B customers mitigate risks of choosing firms with asymmetric information only to have them perform below expectations (adverse selection/moral hazard). This increases the possibility of improving service value (Zeithaml 1988) and decision speed. Consequently, the research provides a way to monetize the tradeoff between price and quality using a perceived service quality scale for knowledge-based services (KBS) and a choice-based conjoint methodology in a Department of Defense setting. The paper extends the literature on perceived service quality, value and willingness to pay for B2G KBS exchanges.Doctor of Philosoph
