Customer Satisfaction Improvement at Avenue Nissan Service Department

This report examines customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan, a Toronto-based automotive dealership, with a specific focus on its service department. The research investigates the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction, exploring factors such as product and service quality, service department efficiency, and complaint management. The report delves into the importance of the service department in fostering customer loyalty and retention, analyzing relevant models like Oliver's Satisfaction Quality Model and the Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction (SQCS) Model. The methodology involves a descriptive investigation using secondary data from journals, articles, and online resources. The report aims to identify methods for enhancing customer satisfaction, determining necessary changes within the service department, and addressing accessibility and ethical considerations. The limitations of the research include time and budget constraints, while the schedule outlines the completion of various activities, from data collection to finalizing the study.

Running head: IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A
FOCUS ON SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Improving customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan with a focus on Service department
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
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Executive summary:
The report deals with the improving customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan with a focus on
service department. The researcher shall use qualitative method of data analysis to find the
relationship between the customer satisfaction and the service quality in order to find out the
ways to improve customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan.

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
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Table of contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction:................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................4
1.2 Purpose of the project............................................................................................................4
1.3 Aims and objectives...............................................................................................................4
1.4 Research questions.................................................................................................................5
2. Literature review..........................................................................................................................6
2.1 Concept of customer satisfaction:..........................................................................................6
2.2 Factors affecting customer satisfaction:................................................................................6
2.3 Importance of service department.........................................................................................7
2.4 Relationship between service department and customer satisfaction....................................7
2.5 Customer satisfaction using service quality models..............................................................8
2.5.1 Oliver’s Satisfaction Quality Model...............................................................................8
2.5.2 Service quality and Customer Satisfaction (SQCS) Model............................................9
3. Research methodology...............................................................................................................11
3.1 Types of investigation:........................................................................................................11
3.2 Justification of the type of investigation chosen..................................................................11
3.3 Method of data collection....................................................................................................11
3.4 Data collection method chosen............................................................................................11

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
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3.5 Accessibility issues..............................................................................................................12
3.6 Ethical issues.......................................................................................................................12
3.7 Data Analysis Plan...............................................................................................................12
3.8 Research Limitations...........................................................................................................13
3.9 Schedule for completion......................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

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1. Introduction:
1.1 Background
Avenue Nissan is an automotive franchise dealership that is located in midtown Toronto
since 1981. Automotive dealerships in North America typically operates with four major
departments: New Vehicle Sales, Pre-owned Vehicle Sales, Service and Parts. It offers sales and
services of Nissan vehicles to consumers.
For the past 35 years, Avenue Nissan has gone through three ownerships. Customer
retention has fluctuated over the years due to the turnover of employee. Customer satisfaction
with the last regime ownership has damaged the store reputation.
1.2 Purpose of the project
The purpose of the research is to analyze the impact of the efficiency of service
department of Avenue Nissan on customer satisfaction. The research analyzes the impact of
service quality by finding the relationship between service quality and the level of customer
satisfaction.
1.3 Aims and objectives
The major aims of the research are as follows:
 To understand the impact of service quality on the customer satisfaction
 To determine the ways of improving customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan with a
focus on service department

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
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 To determine the necessary changes that are required to improve the customer
satisfaction at Avenue Nissan
1.4 Research questions
The following are the research questions for this research proposal:
 What are the methods by which customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan can be improved
with a focus on service department
 How does the service department at Avenue Nissan work and what are the necessary
changes required?

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2. Literature review
2.1 Concept of customer satisfaction:
According to Jahanshani et al. (2014), customer satisfaction refers to the customer’s
positive experience when they purchase a product or service. When the expectations of a
customer are matched with the benefits obtained from the goods or services purchased are
referred to as customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is a personal experience and belief that
differs from one customer to another and from one situation to another. When a customer is
satisfied with the goods or services purchased by him or her, they are likely to develop loyalty
towards the goods or services of that particular company. Customer satisfaction motivates a
customer to indulge in repeated purchasing from the same brand. Companies nowadays, focus
upon ensuring that the customers are satisfied in order to maintain a strong loyal customer base.
This ensures the profitability of the business along with the satisfaction of the needs of the
customers.
2.2 Factors affecting customer satisfaction:
There are several factors that affect customer satisfaction. According to Bansal & Taylor
(2015), the quality of the products and services purchased by the customers determine the level
of satisfaction gained by the customers. In case the quality does not meet the expectations of the
customers, it tends to cause dissatisfaction among the customers. However, nowadays the
customers attach more importance to the service provided by the companies than their products.
For instance, the customers prefer to purchase car from those companies, which provide quick
and excellent customer service to them. The word of mouth also helps in increasing the level of
customer satisfaction. The capability of the suppliers to deliver the products within the deadline

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also affects the customer satisfaction level. The efficiency of complaint management system
within an organization determines the level of customer satisfaction. The more is the efficiency
of an organization in handling customer grievances and complaints, the more is the customer
satisfaction achieved. The goodwill of the company and the suppliers also impact the level of
satisfaction.
2.3 Importance of service department
According to Yoon et al (2016), customer service is highly essential for establishing good
relations with the customers that helps the business in becoming profitable in the long- run. The
quality of service provided to the customers depends upon the efficiency of the service
department within an organization. The customers expect prompt reply and solutions to their
issues regarding the products and services availed by them. The efficiency of the service
department has a huge impact upon the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a customer. Therefore,
the service departments are required to be empathic and handle the grievances of the customers
appropriately.
2.4 Relationship between service department and customer satisfaction
According to Sengupta, Balaji & Krishnan (2015), the increase in the level of customer
satisfaction is capable of reducing the chances of pointing out demerits of a product or service by
the customers. The efficiency in the services provided to the customers helps in keeping the
customers happy. Service department plays a crucial role in keeping the customers satisfied as
the customers contact the service department in case they face any issues while using a product
or service. The customers share their grievances with the service department and seek the help of
the service department employees in order to get a suitable solution. Therefore, the efficiency of

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
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the service department determines the level of customer satisfaction in case of both product and
service industry.
2.5 Customer satisfaction using service quality models
2.5.1 Oliver’s Satisfaction Quality Model
The model developed by Oliver explains the relationship between the quality of services
and the level of satisfaction of the customers. The Oliver model shows that the quality of service
is developed by comparing the performance expectations related to the quality and the
satisfaction. Service quality is determined from the disconfirmation and satisfaction of desires do
not have any relationship with the satisfaction until it is linked with the quality.
Figure 1: Oliver’s Satisfaction Quality Model
(Source: Blut et al. 2015)

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The figure 1 shows the Oliver’s Satisfaction Quality Model. The model states that
expectations are inversely related to service quality but with the help of perceived performance,
the expectations become positively related to satisfaction and the perceived service quality.
Therefore, the organizations are required to reduce the customer expectations in order to deliver
better than the expectations of the customers that would result in the increase in the level of
satisfaction.
2.5.2 Service quality and Customer Satisfaction (SQCS) Model
The model depicts the relationship between customer satisfaction and the qualiy of
service. According to Hussain, Al Nasser & Hussain (2015) the situational factors as well as the
personal factors also impact the level of customer satisfaction. Personal factors refer to the needs
and wants of the customers that affect their desire and expectations. Situational factors refer to
the word of mouth both positive and negative that results in the generation of opinion regarding a
particular product, service or a brand.

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Figure 2: Service quality and Customer Satisfaction (SQCS) Model
(Source: Hapsari et al. 2017)
The figure 2 shows that the customer expectations include the expected service quality
and the perceived service quality and when the customer expectations match the actual
performance, it gives rise to customer satisfaction. According to Izogo & Ogba (2015), when a
customer is satisfied, he or she tends to repurchase a product or service from a particular brand
however, dissatisfaction results in switching intentions.

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3. Research methodology
Research methodology describes the systematic procedure of proceeding with the
research proposal (Mackey & Gass 2015). It considers the method using which the researcher
would proceed with the research process. It enables the researcher to locate the several research
techniques that help in conducting the research.
3.1 Types of investigation:
There are three types of investigation that is taken in a research proposal, namely:
 Exploratory
 Descriptive
 Hypothesis
3.2 Justification of the type of investigation chosen
In this particular research, the researcher has chosen descriptive type of investigation as
the information regarding the topic is available.
3.3 Method of data collection
There are mainly two types of data collection methods. The two types of data collection
methods are primary and secondary. The primary data includes the interviews and surveys that
are to be conducted by the researcher (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault 2015). On the other hand, the
secondary data refers to the data obtained from the several secondary sources such as books,
journals, articles and internet sources.

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3.4 Data collection method chosen
The researcher has chosen secondary data collection method for this particular research
study. The researcher shall obtain the necessary information related to the topic from the
journals, books, articles and available internet sources. Most of the data show the impact of
improving customer satisfaction at Avenue Nissan with a focus on service department. The
researcher shall provide the analysis of the data along with the recommendations that might be
required later on.
3.5 Accessibility issues
While conducting the research, the researcher might face several obstacles in order to
access the required data and the available data might be manipulated and inappropriate (Flick
2015). These accessibility issues shall be taken into consideration while conducting the research.
3.6 Ethical issues
The researcher is required to ensure that he or she maintains certain restrictions as per the
Data Protection Act, 1998. The researcher is required to ensure privacy of the unpublished work.
Violence of the privacy shall result in the breach of the act and the researcher shall be liable for
the consequences pertaining to ethics (Silverman 2016).
3.7 Data Analysis Plan
There are two types of analysis, which are:
 Quantitative Data Analysis
 Qualitative Data Analysis
The researcher has chosen qualitative type of analysis for this research as there are no numerical
or mathematical calculations in the process.

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3.8 Research Limitations
In the research, the major issue of the researcher is insufficiency of time and budget. The
inadequate time and the insufficient budget are the limitations of this research.
3.9 Schedule for completion
Activity Months
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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6th
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7th
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Finalizing the topic 
Collecting data from secondary
sources
 
Forming a layout of the research
work
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Conducting Literature review   
Forming the research plan  
Selecting appropriate research
methodologies
 
Concluding the Study 
Designing a rough draft  
Submitting the Final Work  

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References:
Bansal, H.S& Taylor, S.F 2015, Beyond service quality and customer satisfaction: investigating
additional antecedents of service provider switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1999
Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 75-82). Springer, Cham.
Blut, M, Frennea, C.M, Mittal, V& Mothersbaugh, D.L 2015, How procedural, financial and
relational switching costs affect customer satisfaction, repurchase intentions, and repurchase
behavior: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 32(2), pp.226-229.
Flick, U 2015, Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Hapsari, R, Hapsari, R, Clemes, M.D, Clemes, M.D, Dean, D & Dean, D 2017, The impact of
service quality, customer engagement and selected marketing constructs on airline passenger
loyalty. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 9(1), pp.21-40.
Hussain, R, Al Nasser, A & Hussain, Y.K 2015, Service quality and customer satisfaction of a
UAE-based airline: An empirical investigation. Journal of Air Transport Management, 42,
pp.167-175.
Izogo, E.E & Ogba, I.E 2015, Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in automobile
repair services sector. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 32(3),
pp.250-269.
Jahanshani, A.A, Hajizadeh, G.M.A, Mirdhamadi, S.A, Nawaser, K & Khaksar, S.M.S 2014,
Study the effects of customer service and product quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT AVENUE NISSAN WITH A FOCUS ON
SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Mackey, A & Gass, S.M 2015, Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.
Sengupta, A.S, Balaji, M.S & Krishnan, B.C 2015, How customers cope with service failure? A
study of brand reputation and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business Research, 68(3),
pp.665-674.
Silverman, D. ed 2016, Qualitative research. Sage.
Taylor, S.J, Bogdan, R & DeVault, M 2015, Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Yoon, S, Kim, S, Kim, J & You, Y 2016, A study on the Impact of Consultants’ Nonverbal
Communication on Customer Satisfaction, Trust, and Long-term Relationship Orientation of the
Client Firm. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(26).