Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-3624

Service Quality of Private Nurseris in Kuching City: Perception of Parents

Ho Chui Tchin, Siti Aisyah Ya’kob , Mohd Uzairi Ahmad Hajazi

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJAREMS/v8-i3/6655

Open access

The spring-up of private nurseries in this era has triggered the trend for working parents to send their kids to private nurseries. This phenomenon has led to an increasing interest in assessing the service quality provided by nurseries. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between service quality and parents’ satisfaction towards the private nursery. A total of 399 samples were obtained in this study through the distribution of questionnaires in Kuching city, Sarawak. Pearson’s correlation is used to examine the direction of the relationship between independent variables (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) and dependent variable (parent satisfaction); while multiple regression analysis had also been used to determine the most dominant dimension that contributes to parents’ satisfaction. The findings of this study revealed that the majority of the respondents have a high level of satisfaction towards the service offered by the private nursery in Kuching. Meanwhile, there is a significant relationship between SERVQUAL dimensions and parents’ satisfaction except for the reliability dimension. In addition, findings also found out that the tangibility of the service is the most dominant dimension in enhancing parent satisfaction. The results suggest the service providers in nursery place should emphasize more on physical facilities of the nursery as well as maintaining hygiene to leverage parents’ satisfaction.

AnghelM, G., Anghelache, C., Dumitrescu, D., BureaD., Stoica, R. (2018). Analysis of the Effect of Accessing the Community Funds for Financing Investments on Romania's Economic Growth, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 8 (2): 102-112.
Arasli, H., Katircioglu, T. S., & Mehtap-Smadi, S. (2005). A comparison of service quality in the banking industry. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 23(7), 508–526. https://doi.org/10.1108/02652320510629881
Arokiasamy, A. R. A., & Tat, H. H. (2014). Assessing the Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in the Malaysian Automotive Insurance Industry. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 20(227), 1023–1030.
Bailey, D. B. (1987). Collaborative Goal-setting with families: Resolving differences in values and priorities for services. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 7(2), 59-71.
Berry, L. L., Zeithaml, V. A., & Parasuraman, A. (1990). Five Imperatives for Improving Service Quality. MIT Sloan Management Review, 31(4), 29.
Biernacki, P., & Waldorf, D. (1981). Snowball sampling: Problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociological Methods & Research, 10(2), 141–163.
Bigne, J. E., Martinez, C., Miquel, M. J., & Andreu, L. (2003). SERVQUAL reliability and validity in travel agencies. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(1), 258–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(02)00063-4
Coakes, S. J. & Ong, C. (2011). SPSS: analysis without anguish: version 18 for Windows. Queensland: Wiley.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education (6th Editio.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Doherty, G., Forer, B., Lero, D. S., Goelman, H., & LaGrange, A. (2006). Predictors of quality in family child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(3), 296–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.07.006
Friedman, B. A., Bobrowski, P. E., & Markow, D. (2007). Predictors of parents’ satisfaction with their children’s school. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(3), 278–288. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230710747811
Gibbons, S., & Silva, O. (2011). School quality, child wellbeing and parents’ satisfaction. Economics of Education Review, 30(2), 312-331.
Gronroos, C. (1984). A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications. Europiean Journal of Marketing, 18(4), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004784
Guesalaga, R., & Pitta, D. (2014). The importance and formalization of service quality dimensions?: a comparison of Chile and the USA. JOurnal of Consumer Marketing, 31(2), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-08-2013-0660
Hair J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2009). Multivariate Data Analysis (Seventh Ed.).
https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2014.20.09.12029
https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.wasj.2013.21.12.657
Iram, U., & Butt, S. M. (2004). Socioeconomic and environmental determinants of child-care patterns of preschoolers in Pakistan. International Journal of Social Economics, 31(3), 218–238. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290410518229
Ismail, F. L. M., Ismail, A., Aziz, A. M. A., Aziz, A. S. Sharom, N. Q., & Ramlan, S. R. (2018). Service Quality of Public Preschool Education in Malaysia: Perceptions of Parents. Sains Insani, 3(2), 28 – 37.
Jonsdottir, K., Bjornsdottir, A., & Bæck, U. D. K. (2017). Influential factors behind parents’ general satisfaction with compulsory schools in Iceland. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 3(2), 155-164.
Kassim, N. A., Baharuddin, K., Ishak, N. H., Ariff, N. Z. Z. M., & Buyong, S. Z. (2018). Identifying the Importance of Types of Music Information among Music Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 7(1), 1–11.
Kim, E. J. (2014). Quality analysis of child care services using SERVQUAL and study on factors effecting intent to recommend to others and to re-use. Seoul, KR: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
Lad

In-Text Citation: (Tchin, Ya’kob, & Hajazi, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Tchin, H. C., Ya’kob, S. A., & Hajazi, M. U. A. (2019). Service Quality of Private Nurseris in Kuching City: Perception of Parents. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 8(3), 100–116.