Posted: March 1st, 2023

Zone of tolerance, Service Quality

Please read through the article and answer three questions.

1. please define ‘zone of tolerance’

2. why does the article stress the dis confirmation theory similar to the service quality model in service management literature? Provide reasons

3. Please explain the Figure 1(page 3) and provide your own service experience as an example.

We will discuss these questions and your solutions in the next class.

Zone of Tolerance
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Zone of Tolerance
1. Zone of Tolerance
Zone of tolerance can be defined as the state of satisfaction. Satisfaction emerges from receiving quality services in a business. Zone of tolerance can also be described as the pre-performance expectations of the customers and clients when getting services from a company. When the customers are satisfied with the services offered, they are deemed to be in the zone of tolerance (Johnston, 1995). It is also the wide range of service performance that the customers determine to be satisfactory. When the service performance is lower than the tolerance zone level, it increases the level of customer frustrations adversely hampering customer loyalty.
When the performance level is higher than the tolerance level, the customers are delighted and improve the customer loyalty. The service firms should rely on the concept of zone of tolerance to improve their customer service programs and experiences (Nadiri, & Hussain, 2016). Zone of tolerance is important for the customers accepting variations in the service performance within the organization. Understanding the zone of tolerance makes it possible for organizations remains within the range of acceptable service performance for the customers.
2. Dis Confirmation Theory/Service Quality Model
The article stresses that the dis confirmation theory is the same as the service quality model because all models relies on three outcome states to quality their perspectives. The three outcome levels agreed by both models include states of dissatisfaction, delight, and satisfaction. Both models agree that customers will always be tolerant and accepting when they get the desired degree of service (Hogreve, Bilstein, & Mandl, 2017). It is impossible for the customers to be satisfied or delighted when they do not get the expected service quality. The service management literature heavily relies on the design of service quality and expectations to improve quality service delivery in the long-term period.
In service management literature, the model of dis confirmation is close to the service quality approach. Service quality model reviews the outcomes of service quality from the clients compared to their expectations before receiving the services to the perceptions after getting the service. When the customer’s perceptions are equal to their expectations, the customer is deemed to be satisfied with the overall services rendered (Hsieh, Sharma, Rai, & Parasuraman, 2013). When the experience was better than the overall expectations, the perceived service quality increases and the customers are delighted. When the actual experience did not align the expectations, the quality of services rendered is seen to be poor and the clients are dissatisfied.
3. Service Experience
Figure 1 on page three breaks down three zones of tolerance. The three zones of tolerance include the pre-performance expectations, service process, and the outcome state. The pre-performance expectations are the initial perceptions and view on whether an organization has the capacity to deliver quality services (Johnston, 1995). Service process is the actual part of getting the services expected and lastly, the outcome state shows the results of the service process.
For example, I ordered a book from Amazon.com expecting that their delivery process will be acceptable. In the service process, the delivery of the book took a few days than anticipated. In spite of all, I thought that the online delivery process was an adequate performance. After all the process, I was satisfied with the process, but not delighted. It shows that the management of the service companies must focus on ensuring that all the zones of tolerance are understood and implemented accordingly. Amazon.com should get the feedback from the customers to ensure that the delivery process of the orders is improved. All the customers undergo the three zones of tolerance and it is proper to come up with good programs to improve the service delivery and performance process.

References
Johnston, R. (1995). The zone of tolerance: exploring the relationship between service transactions and satisfaction with the overall service. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 6(2), 46-61.
Nadiri, H., & Hussain, K. (2016). Zone of tolerance for healthcare services: A diagnostic model of public and private hospital service quality. Argumenta Oeconomica, (2 (37)), 245-280.
Hogreve, J., Bilstein, N., & Mandl, L. (2017). Unveiling the recovery time zone of tolerance: when time matters in service recovery. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1-18.
Hsieh, J. P. A., Sharma, P., Rai, A., & Parasuraman, A. (2013). Exploring the zone of tolerance for internal customers in IT-enabled call centers. Journal of Service Research, 16(3), 277-294.

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