Key determinants of real estate service quality among renters and buyers

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to compare quality perceptions of virtual servicescapes and physical service encounters among buyers and renters of real estate. Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative data from a sample of 27 professionals engaged in higher education in the USA are gathered by recorded interview before being transcribed and imported into MAXQDA 2007 software for analytical coding. Findings - Particular differences are found to exist between renters and buyers with regard to specific service attributes - for example, description of properties and type of visuals during the pre-purchase stage, knowledge/experience and honest behavior of realtors during the service encounter stage and a continuous relationship with the realtors in the post-encounter stage. Research limitations/implications - Generalization of the results is limited because the study utilizes data from only one industry (real estate) and from only one demographic segment (professionals in higher education). Practical implications - Real-estate firms need to pay attention to both the training of agents and the design and content of their websites. Originality/value - This paper contributes to knowledge regarding virtual servicescapes in professional services.