A proposal to measure perceived quality and image and their effect on user’s satisfaction in public institutions: A PLS-SEM approach, applied to a municipality in Chile

Abstract

Current users of public institutions demand services that fulfill their needs, expecting quality services they can feel satisfied with. In Chile, one of the greatest pending tasks of the State’s modernization objectives is to achieve an actual improvement in the quality of the services offered by the public sector. More specifically, on a municipal level, the process has been insufficient, and there is scarce evidence of research measuring users’ perceptions of satisfaction and service quality. This study proposes a PLS model with Structural Ecuations to measure and explain the factors that influence perceived quality and image, and how these factors affect users of public institutions. The model was applied to the services rendered by the Municipality of the borough of Lo Prado in the Metropolitan Region, Chile. The obtained results show that “Efficiency in proceedings” related to the speed in which services are provided, and the “Staff Assistance” are the factors that produce the largest effects over “Perceived quality” and “Satisfaction”. The authors propose the model described above as a management tool; one that supports decision-making, rationalization of available resources and improvements.