Logistics service quality as a segment-customized process

Logistics excellence has become a powerful source of competitive differenti ation within diverse marketing offerings of world-class firms. Although res earchers have suggested that logistics competencies complement marketing ef forts, empirical evidence is lacking on what logistics service quality mean s to customers and whether it has different meanings for separate customer segments. The authors present empirical support for nine related logistics service quality constructs; demonstrate their unidimensionality, validity, and reliability across four customer segments of a large logistics organiza tion; and provide empirical support for a logistics service quality process . Although structural equation modeling offers support for the logistics se rvice quality process across customer segments, the authors find that the r elative parameter estimates differ for each segment, which suggests that fi rms ought to customize their logistics services by customer segments.