Advisers

Vinalyn L. Sarzata, MBA

Discipline

Business administration

Abstract

In the rapidly evolving photography and multimedia services industry in the Philippines, where technological advancements and rising client expectations drive demand for high-quality visual content, superior service quality is commonly associated with enduring customer relationships and business sustainability. This study investigates the relationship between service quality, guided by the SERVQUAL Model dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, empathy, and assurance, and customer relationship building at Dwine Salvilla Art-Multimedia Services, a Caloocan City-based firm offering portrait photography, event coverage, commercial shoots, same-day video editing, and bespoke photo albums. Employing a quantitative descriptive-correlational design, data were gathered from 30 purposively sampled clients via structured Likert-scale questionnaires. Statistical tools included weighted mean for level assessments, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient at a 0.05 significance level for relationship testing, and ranking for challenges. Service quality dimensions were positively assessed: empathy (m=3.44, strongly agree), assurance (m=3.36, strongly agree), reliability (m=3.10, agree), responsiveness (m=3.09, agree), and tangibles (m=3.11-3.12, agree). Client relationships showed similar positivity: satisfaction (m=3.21, agree), loyalty (m=3.12, agree), consistency (m=3.08, agree), and communication (m=3.07, agree). Pearson analysis revealed a low positive but highly significant correlation (r = 0.095, p = 0.0001), leading to rejection of the null hypothesis and indicating a statistically significant association between service quality and customer relationships. Key challenges ranked highest were delays in project delivery (frequency=8), followed by high service costs (4), communication issues and limited resources (3 each), with managing multiple projects and insufficient support least frequent (1 each). Findings affirm that while strengths in empathy and assurance build trust and emotional connections, bolstering reliability (e. g., timeliness) and responsiveness is vital for loyalty. The study proposes a PHP 60,000 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy over 1-5 months, including AI Chatbots/Google Forms for feedback, equipment upgrades (PHP 38,000), tiered pricing menus, and contingencies—with the aim of supporting streamlined operations, fewer delays, improved communication, and sustained profitability amid industry competition.

Keywords

service quality, customer satisfaction, tangibles, reliability, Responsiveness, assurance, Empathy, customer loyalty, servqual model, multimedia, customer relationships, photography services