CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

 INTRODUCTION
 OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY BACKGROUND
 PURPOSE
 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 SCOPE OF STUDY
 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
 SERVICE
 CHAPTER OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

Specifically, for this research the researcher carry out “A study of customer satisfaction towards
car rental services provided by Mayflower”. Moreover, in this report the researcher is focus on
the customer satisfaction including factors such as Quality of car rental service, service speed,
and cost of car rental service, process of car rental and knowledge and skills of car rental staff. In
this we identify how these factors lead to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY BACKGROUND

Nowadays, World Tourism Organization reported that international arrivals have more than 900
million tourists such as railway preferred to use land to visiting friends and relatives, trips,
leisure, health, and recreation reasons with available transportation service like buses, rent-a
car services, and taxies (UNWTO, 2006).

The transportation services have played an important role in tourism for the customers requires
and needs of the movement from or to in between the locations. However, many of the car
rental agencies have played a vital role to increase the transportation provided for customers in
order easily travelling for their destinations. Moreover, car rental service provided is one of the
important for customer such as retention and expansion, and tourist satisfaction in the tourism
industry in the international markets.

In fact, both industry between rent a car business and tourism industry have to specific the
culture and country quality measurement for their different services provided in order to growth
in the international market and as an important part of the tourism and travel processes (Yavas
& Konyar, 2002).

Mayflower Acme Tours Sdn Bhd was established in 1960, it also offering a diversified range of
car rental services and leading total travel service specialist in Malaysia. In other hand,
Mayflower also has received many awards, recognitions, appreciations, certifications, and
compliments from their business partner, industry, and satisfied customers. Mayflower have
also won many wining of the commitment and contribution towards the development of tourism
in Malaysia such as the Malaysian Tourism Awards for Best Tour Operator and Best Tour
program on 2005/2006, the Malaysia Airlines Top Agent Award of Excellence from 2001 to
2006, the Industry Excellence Award for Services in 2007 by the Ministry of International Trade
& Industry (MITI), and the Brand Laureate SMEs Asia Pacific Chapter in 2007 for best brand in
tours and travel (Mayflower Car Rental, 2012).
PURPOSE

The author select Mayflower Acme Tour Sdn Bhd for this independent research paper because
it’s have more than 50 years’ experience in car rental service provided in Malaysia and variety
of debates of the service quality conceptualization and measurement.

According to Zaithaml (1988) defined that service quality as customer perception and played the
important crucial goals for the service organization such as repetitive customers, and finding
and retaining satisfied for the overall of superiority to organization in excellence providing
service for customers.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The research objective for this research paper is customer satisfaction towards the car rental
service provided by Mayflower Acme Tours Sdn Bhd which are:

1. To identify customer satisfaction level towards the quality of car rental services provided
by Mayflower Acme Tours Sdn Bhd.

2. To determine customer views on the service quality concept which includes service
product, service delivery, service environment, technical and functional quality, physical
environment quality, interaction quality, and outcome quality.

3. To evaluate customers based on gender views on the facilities or services provided.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions will make in order to fulfil the research objectives which are:

1. What are the important features of customer satisfaction toward the service provided?

2. What is the relevant information available for customers in order car rental service?

3. What is the customer view towards the location of the workshop?

SCOPE OF STUDY
To carry out this research, the author is to conduct the development of car rental services in
Segambut. However, the author is using different research technique for the research paper
such as questionnaire, primary and secondary research, and interview together with the video
recording with Mayflower Manager. Besides, the questionnaire will be based on 150 walk-in
customers of total two set of questionnaire, namely open-ended and close-ended
questionnaires. Since there is no available website for e-car rental services in Segambut, the
evaluation and analysis for identifying important features that should provide that will be done or
focused on car Rental Company and any individual who want to advertise their car rental
service. In additional, the target people or users for this research will focus on Mayflower staff
and their customers.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

By finalized the research, the author is to understand the particular company and how can the
organization to improve the services provided. In other hand, the author is to determine the
Mayflower website for e-car rental service provided. This is because they can save more energy
and time which is more efficient and interactive. The application of e-business commerce in this
research is really essential because B2B e-commerce has transformed into the most valuable
aspect of the e-business revolution, offering businesses the opportunity to save cost, increase
revenues, improve productivity and reengineer inefficient workflows or business process.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
There will have many researchers that defined customer satisfaction in the different ways.
According to Cronin and Taylor (1992) defined that customer satisfaction is a transaction
specific measurement while Anderson et al. (1994) defined that customer satisfaction as overall
of the total purchase consumption and experience by consumers and customers. However, in
the lately of Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) conceptualized that the customer satisfaction is term of
the products and services provided to meets customer expectation.

Moreover, for the organization which can do well in customer satisfaction will easy for them to
monitor and manage the business in the markets. Besides, it can also to growth and key
performance for the organization profit (Goodman, 2009). Today, most of the organization has
focused their customer expectation to bring up the profitability and increase the bargaining
power.

SERVICE
Service is the process of sales person or organization how to treat their customers from before,
during, and after the products has purchase or made. According Schneider and White (2004)
explained that good service provided can enhance customer satisfaction and fulfil their
expectation in order to increase profitability. Hill, Brierley and MacDougall (2003) also identify
that service can be change the overall improvement of the organization since there is related to
customer perception. However, customers hold the expectation of the quality of service
encounter of a firm. So that, organization has to determine the customer expectation are about
individual service encounter in more specific and concrete or overall of service quality provided
to their customers.
CHAPTER OUTLINE

The author will consist in five chapters for this research paper. The summaries and concludes
the research has been carried out by other author scholarly with the same topic in chapter two
which is literature review. Chapter three for methodology will be discuss for the research
purpose, time frame, analysis, limitation and etc. Whilst, all the information or results of research
obtained will reported and discuss in chapter four. Last but not least, the conclusions and
recommendations of this research will discuss in chapter five.