Page 74 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.82, # 1, 2025, pp. 70-88

throughout the patient’s journey. The inability of physical evidence to significantly
predict satisfaction in Miarsih’s study may reflect the higher weight patients assign to
relational and functional elements over environmental aesthetics in healthcare
contexts.

Insights from Other Service Sectors
Studies in other industries reaffirm the importance of service quality in shaping
satisfaction. Khan, Yusoff, and Kakar (2025) examined the tourism industry and
found that dimensions like accessibility, accommodation, and venue quality were
significantly related to tourist satisfaction. Though these factors differ contextually
from healthcare, they parallel the SERVQUAL dimensions, highlighting how ease of
access (reliability), comfort (tangibles), and personalized service (empathy and
assurance) consistently affect satisfaction across services.
Similarly, Tran and Nguyen (2025) investigated retail service quality in Vietnam and
found that reliability and customer care were the most significant predictors of
satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their model, while adapted to retail,
supported the SERVQUAL framework by confirming the mediating role of
satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. This reinforces the
generalizability of service quality dimensions across service environments and the
central role of satisfaction as a performance outcome.
The relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction has received
considerable scholarly attention in recent years. Ariffin et al. (2022) examined patient
satisfaction in Malaysian private hospitals by employing the Malaysian Customer
Satisfaction Index (MCSI), which integrates constructs such as hospitalization quality,
perceived value, and patient loyalty. Their findings revealed that service quality,
outcome quality, and patient rights and privacy are among the most critical drivers of
satisfaction in the context of inpatient services. The study also utilized an Importance-
Performance (IP) matrix to identify priority areas for healthcare service improvement.
The authors emphasized that relying solely on professional standards may not capture
the true needs and preferences of patients. Zaim et al. (2010) investigated the
determinants of patient satisfaction in Turkish hospitals using an adapted
SERVQUAL model tailored for healthcare environments. The study identified
tangibility, reliability, courtesy, and empathy as the most influential factors on
satisfaction, while responsiveness and assurance were not statistically significant.
Logistic regression analysis confirmed that improvements in specific service quality
dimensions substantially increased the odds of higher satisfaction and loyalty. The
researchers highlighted that continuous monitoring and enhancement of service
delivery processes are essential for patient-centered healthcare. Their findings
reinforce the necessity of aligning hospital services with patient expectations and

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