This research study intends to measure the customer perception of Goodwood Racecourse. The project explores customer expectancy, perceived service and customer satisfaction of Goodwood Racecourse customers to observe the overall perceived value of quality service. The project used a mixed-method strategy of interviews and a survey. 51 participants completed the survey whilst 8 individuals completed the interviews. The participants were selected and sampled through the use of social media.
The data found that the customer perception of service quality was positive in both the quantitative and qualitive data. The expectations of customer at Goodwood Racecourse were positive. Three key factors which effected the positive expectations were word-of-mouth, price and previous experience. The research identified that the factors of word-of-mouth communications and previous create a realistic expectation of the whole event perception, whereas price had little effect on the expectations of perceived experience, but created a standard in which they expected quality service from staff, for example serving speed. The quantitative data supports the qualitative data in supporting the idea that Goodwood Racecourse manage their expectations effectively. The two factors which were measured in perceived service were service delivery and standard of product, which found that the perceptions of quality amongst products were very positive and increased customer retention. While there were positives discussed with delivery, there were negatives experienced regarding responsiveness of employees. The customer satisfaction was very positive, uncovering a desire to reattend events by Goodwood Racecourse customers. The suggestions focussed on the development required to close the gap on service quality specifications and service quality delivery. These developments include staff training and reward schemes for positive service delivery. Limitations of the study were the lack of representation within the study due the non-representative sample.