The Relationship Between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty : A study comparing Generation X and Y in Sweden

Abstract: Businesses are constantly trying to find new strategies that help them gain loyal customers, in order to avoid the considerable cost of attracting new customers. This thesis analyzes if service quality has any significant impact on brand loyalty, where customer satisfaction is used as an indicator for brand loyalty. Additionally, it tests if the factor of generations, and the generational differences has any impact on how service quality is valued by the consumer in terms of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. To answer this, an experiment in the form of two surveys was sent out and answered by 99 participants belonging to either Generation X or Generation Y, where customer satisfaction was measured as a result of either neutral or excellent service quality. The results showed and confirmed what previous studies have claimed, that service quality has a significant effect on both customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, where evidence was found that excellent service quality highly impacted the participants’ satisfaction as well as their level of loyalty towards a brand. Furthermore, the study concluded that there is no difference in how Generation X and Generation Y value service quality, despite what previous research has claimed in regard to generational differences.