After-sales services of home appliances: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Abstract

The provision of after-sales services is considered as a source of product differentiation leading to competitive advantage of a firm. As a consequence, there is a need of monitoring and measuring the activities of after-sales service departments to ensure that the objectives of their existence are satisfied. Yet, it is very rare to find previous studies that investigated after-sales service provision. We investigated different dimensions of after-sales service provision of home appliances in the Sri Lankan context. The study operationalized different dimensions of after-sales service provision from three different perspectives and used multiple parameters to evaluate the nature of provision. Introduction In the present day, the retailers of home appliances do not consider their active role end with an actual sale of a product (Levitt, 1983); they provide a set of supporting after-sales services to customers. After-sales services include support services that are provided to the customer after the product has been sold and delivered such as technical advice for use, maintenance and the provision of spare parts and repair services (Vitasek, 2006; Saccani et al., 2007; Low, 2013) to ensure a trouble-free use over the useful lifespan of the appliance (Loomba, 1998; Rigopoulou et al., 2008). Previous research identifies after-sales services as a part of customer relationship management (Ramaswamy et al., 2002; Vitasek, 2006; Shaharudin et al., 2009) leading to increased customer loyalty and brand reputation (Saccani et al., 2006; Shaharudin et al., 2009). According to some previous research (such as Alexander et al., 2002; Wise and Baumgartner, 1999), profit margin that can be generated with the provision of aftersales services is higher compared to a product sale without it. Hence, the provision of after-sales services is considered as a source of product differentiation leading to competitive advantage of a firm (Levitt, 1983; Mathe and Shapiro, 1990; Ramaswamy et al., 2002; Low, 2013). Due to this emergent importance of the provision of after-sales services, there is a trend of after-sales service departments to evolve as a strategic driver ensuring increased customer satisfaction, retention, and market growth (Cavalieri et al., 2007). As a consequence, there is a need of monitoring and measuring the activities of aftersales service departments to ensure that the objectives of their existence are