GAPS Model of Service Quality

The gaps model of service quality was first developed by a group of authors, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, Berry, at Texas A&M and North Carolina Universities, in 1985 (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry). Based on exploratory studies of service such as executive interviews and focus groups in four different service businesses the authors proposed a conceptual model of service quality indicating that consumers perception toward a service quality depends on the four gaps existing in organization consumer environments.

The key points for each gap can be summarized as follows :
Customer gap: The difference between customer expectations and perceptions – the
service quality gap.
Gap 1: The difference between what customers expected and what
management
perceived about the expectation of customers.
Gap 2: The difference between management’s perceptions of customer
expectations and the translation of those perceptions into service
quality specifications and designs.
Gap 3: The difference between specifications or standards of service quality
and the actual service delivered to customers.
Gap 4: The difference between the service delivered to customers and the
promise of the firm to customers about its service quality