Perceived service quality and customer trust - Does enhancing customers' service knowledge matter?

Abstract

The authors show that investments in enhancing customers' service knowledge strengthen customer trust in an organization and thus can act as an important service differentiator. Customer education initiatives, however, also affect the impact of perceived service quality on customer trust. Successful marketers should be aware of the dynamic relationships between customer education, expertise, and service quality in managing customers' attitudes toward firms. Using data collected from customers of a global financial services firm, this study modeled the multifaceted impact of customer education initiatives on the relationship between service quality and trust. The findings suggest that customer education affects the relative importance of technical and functional service quality for building customer trust in a firm. Research implications point to new business opportunities for service differentiation and relationship marketing.