An Exploratory Study of Customer Satisfaction Based on ACSI Model : an application to the No.2 bus service in Gävle of Sweden

Abstract: This thesis used ACSI model as a theoretical basis, which is a cause-and-effect model, to measure the quality of goods or service that starts from “customer expectations” to “customer satisfaction”. The purpose of this thesis is to find a suitable model for developing the customer satisfaction of No.2 bus service, by examining the relationships between perceived quality, customer expectation, perceived value and customer satisfaction in ACSI model. According to the data from survey of the international students in Gävle University, who lives in Sätra of Gävle of Sweden, this thesis used the partial least squares (PLS) regression to estimates the ASCI model. As a result, the coefficients of each variable and R-square statistics indicate that the relationships between PQ, CE, CS and PV are very weak; PV should be ignored in the case. Therefore, the ACSI model in this case had been revised, and the conclusion can be drawn: the ACSI model was unsuitable for No.2 bus case, furthermore, this study presents a new model for No.2, which is “customer expectation—perceived quality—customer satisfaction”. Consequently, the X-traffic Company should know the customers expectation and provide the service which can meet customer needs. By expanding previous research and based on ACSI model, the study empirically examines the relationships between three customer satisfaction dimensions.