Relationship Between Image and Service Quality Perceived by Customers of Railway Stations in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study customer perception of image and service quality of railway stations in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and to investigate the relationship of the perceived image and service quality. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 400 passengers, selected using Yamane formula, at railway stations in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including percentage, mean scores, and standard deviation. Moreover, Pearson's correlation coefficient was performed to analyze the association of the data. The results showed that the overall perception level regarding image of railway stations in Nakhon Si Thammarat was high. Considering the perception level by aspect, station’s distribution channel obtained the highest score, followed by price, utilities and facilities, services, organization, and marketing promotion, respectively. Moreover, the overall perception level in service quality was at a high level, while results by aspect regarding service quality suggested that physical aspect achieved the highest score, followed by reliability and customer response, understanding and empathy with service recipients, and ability to build up customer confidence, respectively. The study also demonstrated that there was a strong positive correlation between image and service quality perceived by railway station customers in Nakhon Si Thammarat. It is hopeful that findings of the present study can be a guideline to promote positive image and marketing communication strategies for passenger service selection to meet customers’ needs and decision to choose the train as their primary option of transportation