Enhancing the Competitiveness of Organic Food Shops Using the SERVQUAL Scale

Purpose - This study focused on consumer perceptions of service quality in organic food shops, the innovativeness of organic products, and which SERVQUAL sub-dimensions increase purchase intentions. Another purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between consumer perceptions of organic food shops, their direct interest in organic food, and their purchase intentions. Research design, data, and methodology - We tested our hypothesized model within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework, utilizing path-analysis implementation. The AMOS 18.0 software was used, and we found that it fit very well with the observed data. Results - The results of the full model (structural and measurement models) indicated the following fit indices: χ²=39.492, degree of freedom=25, provability level=0.033, RMR=0.047, GFI=0.948, AGFI=0.906, NNFI=0.958, CFI=0.984, and RMSEA=0.060. The effects of service quality on purchase intention, service quality on innovativeness, and innovativeness on purchase intention we resignificant. We also examined the statistical significance of the mediation effects using the Sobeltest and found further evidence to support service quality and purchase intention through innovation. Conclusions - These results suggest that, if organic food shops want to achieve a greater level of competitiveness, they must try to raise the quality of their service and actively promote the innovativeness of organic food.