Leonard L. Berry is a Professor of Marketing and the director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. He is also a former national president of the American Marketing Association. His major research interest is in services marketing. Partnering mainly with A. Parasuraman and Valarie A. Zeithaml, Professor Berry has published a series of works in service quality. Furthermore, he is the first to introduce the phase, "relationship marketing" to service marketing literature in 1983.

Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Leonard L. Berry, "A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research," Journal-of-Marketing, Vol.49 (Fall 1985) pp41-50.

This article demystifies the issue of service quality and develops a solid base of information usable for marketing practitioners and researchers. Although the strategic benefits of quality had been well demonstrated, quality in services remained not clearly defined. Especially, such unique characteristics of services as intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability make definition of service quality much more difficult than that of goods quality. Thus, the authors conducted an exploratory study to define service quality and formulate propositions for the relationship between marketers’ action and service quality.

After collecting and analyzing information of 14 executive interviews and 12 focus group interviews with consumers, the authors defined that service quality perceived by a consumer is a function of the magnitude and direction of the discrepancy (gap) between expected service and perceived service (Gap 5). The authors further argued that Gap 5 is in fact a function of four gaps associated with the design, marketing, and delivery of services:

Gap 1: The gap between consumer expectation and management perception;

Gap 2: The gap between management perception and service quality specification;

Gap 3: The gap between service quality specification and service delivery; and

Gap 4: The gap between service delivery and external communications.

Thus, expressed in formula, service quality as perceived by a consumer is:

Gap 5 = f (Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3, Gap 4)

On the other hand, observing from focus groups that consumers used basically similar criteria in evaluating service quality across different service industries, the authors then organize these criteria into ten key categories, labeled as service quality determinants: a) reliability, b) responsiveness, c) competence, d) access, e) courtesy, f) communication, g) credibility, h) security, i) understanding/knowing the customer, and j) tangibles. In other words, consumers would use these 10 dimensions to form expectations about and perceptions of services.

The authors also compared the ten service quality determinants to quality attributes of goods. Adopting concepts of search properties (attributes which a consumer can determine prior to purchasing a product), experience properties (attributes which can only be discerned after purchase or during consumption) and credence properties (characteristics which the consumer may find impossible to evaluate even after purchase and consumption), they attributed the more difficulty in evaluating service quality than quality of goods to the fact that most services contain few search properties and are high in experience and credence properties.

Berry-Leonard-L, "Bank Trust Departments-Where to Now?" Bankers-Magazine. Jan./Feb. 1979; v162n1, 19-24

Stanley-Thomas-J; Berry-Leonard-L; Danko-William-D, "Personal Service Versus Convenience: Perceptions of the High-Income Consumer," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Jun 1979; v1n1, 54-61

Berry-Leonard-L, "Service Strategies in the 1980s," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Sep 1979; v1n2, 1-10

Berry-Leonard-L, "The Time-Buying Consumer," Journal-of-Retailing. Winter 1979; v55n4, 58-69

Berry-Leonard-L, "Services Marketing Is Different," Business-. May/Jun 1980; v30n3, 24-29

Lingren-John-H Jr.; Berry-Leonard-L; Kehoe-William-J, "The Financial Institution Marketer," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Sep 1980; v2n3, 39-45

Berry-Leonard-L; Kehoe-William-J; Lindgren-John-H Jr., "How Bank Marketers View Their Jobs," Bankers-Magazine. Nov/Dec 1980; v163n6, 35-40

Berry-Leonard-L, "The Employee as Customer," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Mar 1981; v3n1, pp. 33-40

George-William-R; Berry-Leonard-L, "Guidelines for the Advertising of Services," Business-Horizons. Jul/Aug 1981; v24n4, pp. 52-56

Berry-Leonard-L; Thompson-Thomas-W, "Relationship Banking: The Art of Turning Customers into Clients," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Jun 1982; v4n2, pp. 64-73

Berry-Leonard-L, "Bank Marketing Priorities in the United States," European-Journal-of-Marketing. 1982; v16n3, pp. 5-13

Berry-Leonard-L,R"tail Positioning Strategies for the 1980s," Business-Horizons. Novec 1982; v25n6, pp. 45-50

Berry-Leonard-L, "Success Requirements for Personal Banking Programs," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Winter 1982; v4n4, pp. 1-7

Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "Service Firms Need Marketing Skills," Business-Horizons. Nov/Dec 1983; v26n6, pp. 28-31

Varadarajan-Poondi; Berry-Leonard-L, "Strategies for Growth in Banking: An Exposition," International-Journal-of-Bank-Marketing. 1983; v1n1, pp. 15-25

Berry-Leonard-L; Futrell-Charles; Bowers-Michael, "The State of Personal Selling in Retail Banking," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Fall 1983; v5n3, pp. 1-7

Berry-Leonard-L; Bowers-Michael-R; Futrell-Charles, "Personal Selling in Wholesale Banking: A Status Report," Bankers-Magazine. Mar/Apr 1984; v167n2, pp. 39-43

Berry-Leonard-L; Mann-George-J; Rose-Peter; Simmons-Thomas, "Architectural Interpretations of the Bank of the Future," Bankers-Magazine. May/Jun 1984; v167n3, pp. 42-47

Futrell-Charles-M; Berry-Leonard-L; Bowers-Michael-R, "The Personal Selling Orientation of Banks in the United States," International-Journal-of-Bank-Marketing. 1984; v2n1, pp. 12-21

Futrell-Charles-M; Berry-Leonard-L; Bowers-Michael-R, "An Evaluation of Sales Training in the US Banking Industry," Journal-of-Personal-Selling-and-Sales-Management. Nov 1984; v4n2, pp. 40-47

Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L, "Problems and Strategies in Services Marketing," Journal-of-Marketing. Spring 1985; v49n2, pp. 33-46

Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valerie-A; Parasuraman-A, "Quality Counts in Services, Too," Business-Horizons. May/Jun 1985; v28n3, pp. 44-52

Thompson-Thomas-W; Berry-Leonard-L; Donnelly-James-H Jr., "The Marketing/Retail Banking Partnership: An Evolutionary Perspective," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Summer 1985; v7n2, pp. 9-22

Berry-Leonard-L; Thompson-Thomas-W, "Relationship Banking Keeps Clients Returning," Trusts-and-Estates. Nov 1985; v124n11, pp. 27-35

Berry-Leonard-L, "Retail Businesses Are Services Businesses," Journal-of-Retailing. Spring 1986; v62n1, pp. 3-6

Berry-Leonard-L; Gresham-Larry-G, "Relationship Retailing: Transforming Customers into Clients," Business-Horizons. Nov/Dec 1986; v29n6, pp. 43-47

Berry-Leonard-L, "Characteristics of High Performance Retailers," Retail-Control. Jun/Jul 1987; v55n5, pp. 31-40

Berry-Leonard, "Big Ideas in Services Marketing," Journal-of-Services-Marketing. Summer 1987; v1n1, pp. 5-9

Parasuraman-A; Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L, "SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality," Journal-of-Retailing. Spring 1988; v64n1, pp. 12-40

Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "Communication and Control Processes in the Delivery of Service Quality," Journal-of-Marketing. Apr 1988; v52n2, pp. 35-48

Baker-Julie; Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "The Marketing Impact of Branch Facility Design," Journal-of-Retail-Banking. Summer 1988; v10n2, pp. 33-42

Berry-Leonard-L; Lefkowith-Edwin-F; Clark-Terry, "In Services, What's in a Name?" Harvard-Business-Review. Sep/Oct 1988; v66n5, pp. 28-30

Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "The Service-Quality Puzzle," Business-Horizons. Sep/Oct 1988; v31n5, pp. 35-43

Berry-Leonard-L; Kantak-Donna-Massey, "Personal Selling in the US Banking Industry: 1983 and 1988," Service-Industries-Journal. Jan 1990; v10n1, pp. 5-24

Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Parasuraman-A, "Five Imperatives for Improving Service Quality," Sloan-Management-Review. Summer 1990; v31n4, pp. 29-38

Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "Understanding Customer Expectations of Service," Sloan-Management-Review. Spring 1991; v32n3, pp. 39-48

Berry-Leonard-L; Conant-Jeffrey-S; Parasuraman-A, "A Framework for Conducting a Services Marketing Audit," Journal-of-the-Academy-of-Marketing-Science. Summer 1991; v19n3, pp. 255-268

Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "Refinement and Reassessment of the SERVQUAL Scale," Journal-of-Retailing. Winter 1991; v67n4, pp. 420-450

Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "Perceived Service Quality as a Customer-Based Performance Measure: An Empirical Examination of Organizational Barriers Using an Extended Service Quality Model," Human-Resource-Management. Fall 1991; v30n3, pp. 335-364

Berry-Leonard-L, "Qualities of Leadership," Supermarket-Business. May 1992; v47n5, pp. 178-179,189

Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "Prescriptions for a Service Quality Revolution in America," Organizational-Dynamics. Spring 1992; v20n4, pp. 5-15

Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service," Journal-of-the-Academy-of-Marketing-Science. Winter 1993; v21n1, pp. 1-12

Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "Building a new academic field - The case of services marketing," Journal-of-Retailing. Spring 1993; v69n1, pp. 13-60

Parasuraman-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Zeithaml-Valarie-A, "Research note: More on improving quality measurement," Journal-of-Retailing. Spring 1993; v69n1, pp. 140-147

Berry-Leonard-L; Seiders-Kathleen, "Growing through portfolio retailing," Marketing-Management. 1993; v2n3, pp. 8-20

Parasuraman-A; Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L, "Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: Implications for further research," Journal-of-Marketing. Jan 1994; v58n1, pp. 111-124

Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A; Zeithaml-Valarie; Adsit-Dennis, "Improving service quality in America: Lessons learned; Executive commentary," Academy-of-Management-Executive. May 1994; v8n2, pp. 32-52

Parasuraman-A; Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L, "Alternative scales for measuring service quality: A comparative assessment based on psychometric and diagnostic criteria," Journal-of-Retailing. Fall 1994; v70n3, pp. 201-230

Berry-Leonard-L, "Relationship marketing of services - Growing interest, emerging perspectives," Journal-of-the-Academy-of-Marketing-Science. Fall 1995; v23n4, pp. 236-245

Zeithaml-Valarie-A; Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "The behavioral consequences of service quality," Journal-of-Marketing. Apr 1996; v60n2, pp. 31-46

Berry-Leonard-L, "Retailers with a future," Marketing-Management. Spring 1996; v5n1, pp. 38-46

Berry-Leonard-L, "Customer respect checklist," Marketing-Management. Spring 1996; v5n1, p. 44

Berry-Leonard-L; Yadav-Manjit-S, "Capture and communicate value in the pricing of services," Sloan-Management-Review. Summer 1996; v37n4, pp. 41-51

Berry-Leonard-L; Lusch-Robert-F, "Making corporate performance 'SOAR'," Marketing-Management. Fall 1996; v5n3, pp. 12-24

Berry-Leonard-L; Lusch-Robert-F, "Making corporate performance 'SOAR',"Chain-Store-Age. Apr 1997; v73n4, pp. 33-46

Berry-Leonard-L; Parasuraman-A, "Listening to the customer -the concept of a service-quality information system," Sloan-Management-Review. Spring 1997; v38n3, pp. 65-76

Berry-Leonard-L; Seiders-Kathleen; Gresham-Larry-G, "For love and money: The common traits of successful retailers," Organizational-Dynamics. Autumn 1997; v26n2, pp. 6-23

Berry-Leonard-L, "The service nightmare: Can we sustain success?" Marketing-Management. Fall 1997; v6n3, pp. 10-13

Seiders-Kathleen; Berry-Leonard-L, "Service fairness: What it is and why it matters," Academy-of-Management-Executive. May 1998; v12n2, pp. 8-20