Abstract
The aim of this research was to examine Dunedin retail managers' perceptions of service quality and to determine whether or not this was linked to the fact that Dunedin retail managers were not utilising the courses that Kiwihost offers in service quality training. An open-ended questionnaire was mailed to 145 Dunedin retail managers with a response rate of 29%. Through using the QRS NUD*IST program the qualitative data was categorised and indexed, establishing the themes and trends that were further explored within the results.
It was evident from the results that there were two apparent themes within the data, labelled non-Kiwihost and Kiwihost. The non-Kiwihost managers made up 87% of the sample population, a figure that was relatively high in comparison to the 13% of managers that had used Kiwihost. The results illustrated that differences existing between retailers were the result of two trends, being the length of time in business and the size of the retail outlet.
The size of the retail outlet was found to have substantial impact on whether managers used Kiwihost or not. Small retailers commonly used informal training, a service quality training method that they considered was more cost effective than the training courses that Kiwihost offers. On the contrary large retailers were frequently found to have used Kiwihost in the past and this was attributed to these retailers having a large number of employees to train. This result suggests that small retailers were deficient of the financial resources needed to send staff on the Kiwihost program, whereas for large retailers the condensed training programs offered by Kiwihost are more likely to be cost-effective when training large numbers of employees.
The second trend was the length of time that a retail outlet had been in business. The results showed that retail outlets that had been in business for over 10 years were more likely to have used Kiwihost in the past as these managers were concerned with maintaining customer loyalty and expanding their customer base. The retailers that had been in business for less than 10 years perceived service quality as a way in which their business could build a reputation with customers and the free adverting that is associated with word of mouth advertising. It was apparent from the comments made by these managers that because these retailers were relatively new to the market they could not afford the expense of service quality training through external organisations hence Kiwihost.
Four recommendations were made to assist Kiwihost in tapping into the small Dunedin retail market that consist of the majority of the 87% of Dunedin managers that were found to have never had used Kiwihost programs in the past.