A Comparison Of Customer Perceived Service Quality Between Traditional And Mobile-App Taxi Services In Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Customer perception of service quality directly impacts the level of customer satisfaction in service businesses. Assessment of customers’ perception of service quality in the taxi industry is crucial in determining whether mobile-app taxi hailing has improved service quality in the taxi industry in comparison to the traditional taxi model. Mobile-apps are an information technology that improves operation efficiency and convenience therefore leading to improved service quality. This study had an aim of determining if mobile-app taxi hailing improved service quality in the taxi industry as compared to the traditional taxi. The SERVPERF model was used as the guideline tool for carrying out the study. A 25 response questionnaire was self-administered in order to survey club and restaurant taxi hailing customers within Nairobi. There were 395 valid responses, 63.5% male and 36.5% female respondents. Data was analyzed using the Paired sample t-test to determine levels of service quality represented by overall mean values of traditional and mobile-app taxi responses. The study was significant; the null hypothesis was rejected. The significant dimensions in the study were determined through one sample t-test for each taxi model; findings suggested that all the dimensions were significant in the study for both the traditional and mobile-app based taxi services. The conclusion was that mobile-app technology has significantly contributed to improvement of taxi hailing service quality. All service quality dimensions were significant for both the traditional and mobile-app taxi services. Limitations of the study were financial, scope of coverage and population size related. Suggestions for further studies included: mobile-app taxi services competitiveness and wider scope of taxi service quality survey.