Abstract
The study examined customer perception of service quality and its relationship with customer satisfaction in selected public sector banks in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Primary data were collected from 666 active bank customers using a structured questionnaire comprising Customer Perception (35 items), Service Quality Assessment (30 items), and Customer Satisfaction (10 items) scales on a five-point Likert format. The instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency (overall Cronbach’s alpha = 0.924). Data were analysed using EDUSTAT through descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing. Three hypotheses were tested for the research paper: gender-wise difference in perceived service quality, the association between overall service quality and customer satisfaction, and the predictive effect of service quality dimensions on satisfaction. The gender-wise comparison indicated no significant difference in perceived service quality between male and female customers (t = 1.25, p > 0.05). Overall service quality showed a strong positive correlation with customer satisfaction (r = 0.75, p < 0.01; 99% CI [0.71, 0.79]). Multiple regression confirmed that the service quality dimensions jointly explained 57% of the variance in customer satisfaction (R² = 0.57, F = 143.2, p < 0.01), and each dimension made a statistically significant positive contribution. The findings highlighted that service quality improvements—particularly convenience/digital support alongside core service dimensions—were closely associated with higher customer satisfaction in public sector banking.
Key Words: Public sector banks, service quality, customer perception, customer satisfaction
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