(Luận văn) determinants of customer satisfaction in the apartment industry the cace for the apartment industry in vietnam

t to MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY ng hi ep w n lo ad ju y th yi NGUYEN THI MONG VAN pl al n ua DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE APARTMENT INDUSTRY va n THE CASE FOR THE APARTMENT INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM ll fu oi m nh at MASTER’S THESIS z z ht vb k jm In Business Administration Ology code: 60.34.01.02 om l.c gm n a Lu Supervisor Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan n va y te re Ho Chi Minh City, 2012 - - Acknowledgement t to ng hi This research project would not have been possible without the support of ep many people Firstly, I wish to express my deep sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan for his invaluable advice and help Without him, this thesis w n could not have been completed lo ad I would like to express my deepest gratitude and honor to my parents not ju y th only for the love they devote to me but also for the time which I should have devoted to them during their senior years yi pl I am also grateful to my classmates and my colleagues, especially Le Thi al ua Bich Dao and Ngo van Quan for all of their friendship and encouragement n I also wish to thank my friends in Becamex subsidiaries for their great va n support, and to the respondents, without whom, my thesis could not have been ll fu accomplished m oi Finally, I am most grateful to my dear husband He is my whole life He is nh my greatest inspiration and the source of encouragement to overcome all difficulties at z through out the duration of this study z k jm ht vb om l.c gm an Lu n va ey t re Abstract t to ng hi In market economy, quality of products or services is the most important tool ep to succeed The nature of the quality of goods is intended to satisfy the needs of the highest enjoyment of goods or services Construction work in general w n and of apartment buildings in particular are a type of goods The criteria for the quality lo ad of it also must be directed towards those values However, the criteria for the ju y th quality of goods or construction in general and apartment buildings in particular is extremely diverse The business activities in the field of real estate are trying to yi pl improve the quality of products and services to satisfy the maximum demands of al ua customers, especially in the apartment business This study examined the n determinants of satisfaction and the effects of customer satisfaction on word of va n mouth of consumers in the apartment industry in Vietnam, as well as the influence fu ll of background data on the relationship between satisfaction and word of mouth m oi activity This research measures the factors influencing apartment satisfaction in nh quantitative research methods The scale was evaluated by the factor analysis at z method to explore EFA and reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha) then multiple z ht vb regression analysis is used to test the research model jm This study will help to improve the strategies of real estate companies in k choosing the best measures to improve the quality of their company's product, while gm increasing competitiveness and solidify the company's position in the marketplace l.c As time was short, this study focused its review on the relationship between six om factors influencing their apartment construction and intention to engage in word of an Lu mouth activity n va ey t re Keyword: Customer satisfaction, word of mouth, Service quality, apartment industry Contents t to ng Acknowledgement hi ep Abstract Contents w List of Tables n lo List of Figures ad Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION y th 1.1 Overview ju 1.2 Research background yi pl 1.3 Problem statement al Purpose of the study 10 1.5 Objectives of the study 10 n ua 1.4 va n 1.6 Research question 11 ll fu 1.7 Significance of the study 11 oi m 1.8 Structure of thesis 11 nh Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 at 2.1 Overview 13 z z 2.2 Overall customer satisfaction 13 vb 2.2.1 Concept of customer satisfaction 13 ht jm 2.2.2 Determinants of customer satisfaction 14 k 2.3 Hypotheses and model 16 gm 2.3.1 Customer cost 16 l.c 2.3.2 Physical quality 17 om 2.3.3 Environmental quality 19 an Lu 2.3.4 Project facilities 19 2.3.5 Regional facilities 20 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25 ey 2.4 Conclusion 24 t re 2.3.7 Relationship between customer satisfaction and word of mouth 22 n va 2.3.6 Service quality 20 3.1 Overview 25 t to 3.2 Research purpose 25 ng 3.3 Research design 26 hi ep 3.4 Item generation 26 3.4.1 Overall customer satisfaction scale 26 w 3.4.2 Scale to measure service quality 28 n lo 3.4.3 Scale to measure customer satisfaction 29 ad 3.4.4 Scale to measure word of mouth 34 y th 3.5 Pilot test 34 ju yi 3.6 Main study 35 pl 3.6.1 Sampling 35 al ua 3.6.2 Sample size 36 n 3.6.3 Data analysis techniques 36 va n 3.7 Conclusion 37 fu ll Chapter 4: DATA ANLYSIS AND FINDINGS 38 m oi 4.1 Overview 38 at nh 4.2 Respondents demographics 38 4.3 Scale assessment 39 z z 4.3.1 Reliability testing (Cronbach’s Alpha) 40 vb ht 4.3.2 Exploratory factor analysis 42 k jm 4.3.2.1 Exploratory factor analysis with determinants of customer satisfaction 42 gm l.c 4.3.2.2 Exploratory factor analysis with overall customer satisfaction and word of mouth 45 om 4.4 Testing research model and hypotheses 45 an Lu 4.4.1 Testing correlations between all constructs 45 4.4.2 Testing research model and hypotheses 46 ey 4.5 Conclusion 50 t re 4.4.2.2 The relationship between overall customer satisfaction and word of mouth in the apartment industry 49 n va 4.4.2.1 The relationship between determinants of customer satisfaction in the apartment industry and customer satisfaction 46 Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 51 t to 5.1 Overview 51 ng 5.2 Conclusions of the study 51 hi ep 5.3 Implications of the study 51 5.3.1 Theoretical implications 51 w 5.3.2 Practical implications 52 n lo 5.4 Limitations and recommendations for future research 52 ad List of References 54 y th Appendix 1- Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 60 ju yi Appendix 2- Observed variables 63 pl Appendix - Descriptive statistics of variables 65 al n ua Appendix - Reliability analysis- Cronbach’s Alpha 66 va Appendix - Factor analysis 69 n Appendix - Regression result 71 ll fu oi m at nh z z k jm ht vb om l.c gm an Lu n va ey t re List of Tables t to Table 2.1 Service quality dimension definitions (modified from Zenithal et al., ng hi 1990) 22 ep Table 3.1 Scale to measure service quality 29 w Table 3.2 Scale to measure customer cost 32 n lo Table 3.3 Scale to measure physical quality 32 ad Table 3.4 Scale to measure environmental quality 32 y th Table 3.5 Scale to measure project facilities 33 ju yi Table 3.6 Scale to measure region facilities 33 pl Table 3.7 Scale to measure customer satisfaction 33 al n ua Table 3.8 Scale to measure word of mouth 34 va Table 4.1 Demographic profile of respondents 38 n Table 4.2 Reliability of measurement items 41 fu ll Table 4.3 EFA result for construct measurement scales (2nd times) 43 m oi Table 4.4 Total variance explained 44 nh at Table 4.5 EFA result for construct measurement scales 45 z Table 4.6 Correlation matrix 46 z ht vb Table 4.7a Model summary 47 jm Table 4.7b ANOVAb 47 k Table 4.7c Coefficients 48 gm l.c Table 4.8 Summary of hypotheses testing results 49 Table 4.9a Model II summary 50 om Table 4.9b Coefficients 50 an Lu n va ey t re List of Figures t to Figure 1.1 Structure of Thesis 12 ng hi Figure 2.1 Research model of customer satisfaction 24 ep Figure 3.1 Research process 27 w Figure 3.2 Response rate 36 n lo Figure 4.1 Means of joining of respondents 39 ad Figure 4.2 Relationship between determinants of customer satisfaction in apartment y th industry and customer satisfaction 47 ju yi Figure 4.3 Relationship between overall customer satisfaction and word of mouth in pl apartment industry 49 n ua al n va ll fu oi m at nh z z k jm ht vb om l.c gm an Lu n va ey t re Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION t to 1.1 Overview ng This chapter presents an overview of the research, the Background to the study, hi ep Problem statement, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, and structure of thesis w n 1.2 Background to the study lo ad Customer satisfaction is one of the key issues for companies in their efforts to y th improve quality in the market place Most businesses have their own targets for ju being profitable They have carefully planned and implemented strategies, but they yi pl all have something in common – a customer Business purposes are based on ua al customers and if the company wants to be successful, it has to concentrate on them n This means determining customers’ needs, responding to their requirements and va n maintaining customer satisfaction by assuring quality in company’s operations fu ll Besides, customer satisfaction is so important, because satisfied customers spread m oi positive word of mouth which attracts more new customers, and then companies at nh will sell more and gain high profits (Garson 1993, 5.) The apartment industry in Vietnam recently formed and flourished in recent years z z The development of the apartment industry has contributed greatly to the vb jm ht urbanization of Vietnam Currently, however, the apartment market in Vietnam has fallen in the general downturn of the economy Project investors such as Hoang Anh k l.c gm Gia Lai are decreasing their prices in a number of new apartment projects as much as 40% Other projects such as the Discovery Complex apartment project in Hanoi, om Dai Thanh project, etc are experiencing a similar depreciation an Lu Competition between investors is fierce among apartment products as well as other commodities in the market Therefore, when consumers decide to buy or invest ey VNR survey data of property report (2009-2010) indicates that, the most important t re to build an effective business strategy n buy and satisfy their life needs Apartment investors must understand these factors va property goods, customers will consider many factors that affect their decision to factor for customer satisfaction is the location of the project (gaining an advantage t to position of 71.2%) Next is the project design factor In addition to these factors, the ng decision to buy is based on the flow of information relating to apartment options hi ep before buying This is where word of mouth has a large influence In order to increase sales, investors need to understand the factors affecting customer w n satisfaction and enhance positive communication activities to develop more new lo ad customers y th 1.3 Problem Statement ju The Vietnamese economy is developing in accordance with Party economic policy yi pl The population’s incomes was increased dramatically, demand for housing along ua al with a growing Current, source of housing supply from many Vietnam and foreign n real estate companies are quite diverse va n When Vietnam integrated into the world economy, conceptions about the apartment fu ll industry gradually changed along with the developing of the economy Today, m oi owning an apartment is proud choice, especially for young people because interior at nh decorations of apartments that are modern, luxurious and similar to or star hotels Each apartment is designed close to public services, such as supermarkets, z z Asian and European restaurants, swimming pool, multi gym, postal services, vb jm ht banking, kindergarten, office of the company, etc as a miniature city, so that people can use the utility on the spot without having to go far, etc k l.c gm In order to meet this demand, many construction companies have invested in this sector Compared to just two years ago, this year the apartment industry has om diversified profusely an Lu Due to the increased competition experienced between firms, customer satisfaction has become more important Good product and quality differentiates between ey Vietnam and the growth trend in real estate supply for the past decade, does not t re industry are very scant The increase competition in the apartment industry in n In Vietnam, empirical studies on the state of customer satisfaction in the apartment va products, ensures consumer loyalty and may lead to increased market share