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Introduction
Various models have been used and developed over the last ten years to explain satisfaction and service quality. The most widely used and accepted satisfaction theory arising from the consumer behaviour literature is the disconfirmation theory (see, for example, Bolton and Drew, 1991; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Cooper et al., 1989; Oliver and DeSarbo, 1988; Swan, 1988; Tse and Wilton, 1988; Vezina and Nicosia, 1990; Woodruff et al., 1985). The disconfirmation theory holds that satisfaction is related to the size of the disconfirmation experience, where disconfirmation is related to the person's initial expectations (Churchill and Surprenant, 1982).
This theory is very similar to the service quality model found in the service management literature, which has been developed, most notably, by Berry et al. (1985). This model is based on the view that service quality results from customers' comparing their expectations prior to receiving service to their perceptions of the service experience itself. If a customer's perceptions were matched by his/her expectations, then the customer is satisfied with the service. If the experience was better than expected, then perceived service quality is high and the customer is delighted. If the experience did not meet expectations then service quality is perceived to be poor and the customer is dissatisfied (see also Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Brogowicz et al., 1990; Gronroos, 1990; Haywood-Farmer and Nollet, 1991; Parasurman et al., 1985).
There is a debate to be found in some recent papers concerning the differences between these two constructs and the efficacy of expectation-based evaluations (see, for example, Cronin and Taylor, 1992, 1994; Oliver, 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1994; Taylor, 1993). The premiss on which this article is based is that satisfaction with a service is the antecedent to service quality (see, for example, Rust and Oliver, 1994) and that a customer's satisfaction with individual transactions, or service encounters, affects the customer's dissatisfaction with the overall service experience (see also Bitner and Hubbert, 1994). This view of satisfaction, as the result of a developmental process, is also supported by Erevelles and Leavitt (1992), Oliver and DeSarbo (1988), Swan (1992) and Tse and Wilton (1988).
This article attempts to understand the links between customers' dis/satisfaction with a series of transactions, or service encounters, and their overall dis/satisfaction with the...