Expected service quality of utility stores in Pakistan

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present the Generation X and Generation Y customers’ expectations of utility retail stores in an Asian setting of Pakistan Research studies that advocate a cross-generational perspective to retail service quality have been limited. Design/methodology/approach – Sketching through a naturalistic paradigm, data for this exploratory study is collected from 80 retail shoppers through face-to-face interviews. The data is noted, coded and presented through the genre of service marketing mix theory. Findings – There are significant differences with regards to variety of products offered and time consumed during shopping have been found between generational cohorts belonging to Generation X and Generation Y customers. However, there are a few similarities noted between the two types of customers that challenge the traditional perspective of retail service marketing mix theory. Originality/value – The study is an original contribution towards explaining the retail service quality construct from cross-generational marketing perspective. Pragmatically, the utility stores have never been the subject matter for service quality studies in countries such as Pakistan.