assessing the “will of the people”: an investigation into town service delivery satisfaction

H U Y ~ D U S Mallika D a ~

Francis McKenzie

Abstract: The “will of the people’’ is considered to be the highest authority in a democracy and said to be the driving force behind public policies. Yet not many past studies have assessed the level of citizen satisfaction with government services and identified ways of improving service delivery. At a municipal level, there is even less emphasis on measuring consumer satisfaction. This study measures citizens’ satisfaction with municipal services in a town in Atlantic Canada. A taxonomy of government services based on user experience with the service and heterogeneity of consumer needs was developed and tested. Results indicate that while consumer satisfaction with municipal services is high, it does vary based on the nature of the service. Some action guidelines are suggested at the end of the paper to improve town service delivery.

Assessing the “will of the people”: an investigation into town service delivery satisfaction

Soinmaire : La wolont6 du peuplev est considkr6e comme ktant la plus haute autorite dans une democratice, et Yon dit msme que c’est elle qui est A l’origine des politiques publiques. Pourtant, peu d’etudes ont examine le niveau de satisfaction du citoyen en ce qui concerne les services gouvernementaux et ont tent6 de cerner les moyens permettant d’ameliorer ces services. Au niveau municipal, on fait encore moins d‘efforts pour mesurer la satisfaction des consommateurs. La prksente etude mesure la satisfaction des citoyens A regard des services municipaux dans une ville situee dans la r6gion Atlantique du Canada. Une taxonomie des services gouvernementaux basCe sur l’experience des utilisateurs et sur l’hkt6rogeneite des besoins des consommateurs a 6t6 mise au point et testke. Les rksultats indiquent que, bien que la satisfaction des consommateurs face aux services municipaux soit elevee, elle varie selon la nature de services. A la fin de I’article, on suggere quelques lignes directrices pour amdiorer la prestation de services des villes.

Public services are an important aspect of western democratic societies. Some writers have viewed public services as “axiomatic proof of an objec-

Hari Das is in the Department of Management, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax; Mallika Das is in the Department of Business Administration, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax; and Francis McKenzie is Director, BEDC, Bedfod, Nova Stotia. The authors wish to thank the Jour- nal’s referees for their helpful comments.

CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 1 ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA VOLUME 38, NO. 1 (SPRING/PRINTEMPS), PI‘. 77-93.

78 HARI DAS, MALLIKA DAS, FRANCIS MCKENZIE

tive social need for such activity.”’ Yet, as Bennett noted, “extremely little is known about client knowledge of government programs.”* While attempts to measure community satisfaction with public services began several decades ago,-? a review of the literature shows minimal emphasis being placed by Canadian towns and municipalities in gauging the wishes of citizens through survey^.^ Many liberal thinkers maintain that ”the will of the people” is the highest authority in a democracy and should be periodically assessed and incorporated into public policy initiatives. However, in contrast, while researchers have developed ways of measuring satisfaction with services5 and valuing public goods,6 surveys on these topics are uncommon in Canada. For example, among the 132 articles published in Canadian Pub- lic Administration between 1989 and 1993, not a single empirical study of citizen satisfaction of public services was to be found; indeed, only six articles published in the journal during the period dealt with municipal or town administration and related issues. A similar review of articles in the Service Iwhs t r i e s ]ournu1 could identify only four articles (or approximately 2.5 per cent of the total number of articles) focusing on public services. Of 121 articles published in Caiindiaiz Public Policy journal from 1990 to 1993, only two articles dealt with the mandate, structuring, financing, and administration of public services. Once again, not a single empirical study on citizen satisfaction with public services or policy initiatives in this context was to be found in that journal.

What causes this contradictory state of affairs? At least two contributing factors can be identified. First, services by their very nature pose special problems in evaluation studies. Four unique characteristics of services have been emphasized in the literature: intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity,

Foiir iinique characteristics of services have bmn einpha- sized in the literature: intangibility, inseparability, Izet- erogemity, and perishability ... These irriiqire features of scrziices pose several problems to the marketer of services and to those interested in exainiiiing service satisfactioiz

_. -

and peri~hability.~ Intangibility implies that a service is experienced and rendered - no physical ownership is transmitted. Inseparability refers to the f x t that service production and consumption cannot be separated -often, a service is first sold and then produced and consumed simultaneously Ser- vices are heterogeneous because they are difficult to standardize - the quality and essence of a service can show substantial variation from server to server, from customer to customer and from day to day8 The fact that services are perishable and cannot be stockpiled for later use makes service organizations more vulnerable to fluctuations in demand. These unique fea-

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TOWN SERVICE DELIVERY SATISFACTION 79

tures of services pose several problems to the marketer of services and to those interested in examining service satisfaction.

Secondly, services provided by the private and public sectors are qualita- tively different. Many services provided by the government agencies fall into the category of pure public goods (for example, general police patrol). They also, in several instances, do not lend themselves to market transac- tions? In the case of many of these services it is also difficult for individual members of the public to significantly increase or decrease the quality or quantity of the service consumed." Thus, in the case of some public services, variation in quality of service delivery, product differentiation, and targeted marketing may be very difficult. Assessing customer satisfaction in such instances may pose special challenges.

Further, in the private sector, market conditions prevail; consequently, the likelihood of a consumer understanding or accepting the price on his or her own in the transaction is greater. In contrast, in the public sector, cost con-

... public services are often more complex, harder to standardize, less prone to market constraints, and are judged by different standards. This makes their assessment more challenging

straints may lead to a rationing of services; prices may be fixed through leg- islative mechanisms." Budget limits may often decide the service availability rather than consumer need. Rawson'2 notes that public administrators, unlike marketing departments in the private sector, often have no single goal but attempt to carry out three distinct activities: provide services directly to the general public, provide services through third parties, and provide services in their role as a political arm of the government. On occa- sion, the demands of these three roles may be contradictory.

In the case of monopolistic town services, there may be additional challenges: Hirschman argued that if suitable alternative services are not available, consumers would have higher complaint rates. Fornell and Didow, who compared the complaint rates in monopoloy and competitive settings, concluded that monopoly settings breed more customer complaints. Gron- haug and Arndt suggest that the limited divisibility and oligopolistic (if not monopolistic) nature of many public services present a high potential for dissatis faction.I3

In sum, public services are often more complex, harder to standardize, less prone to market constraints, and are judged by different standards. This makes their assessment more challenging. No wonder then that only a limited number of empirical studies assessin Canadian town services have been reported in the journals in recent p a s t 4 In an attempt to fill the gap in


part this paper summarizes the findings of a survey on the public's satisfaction with various services provided by a town in Atlantic Canada. Con- clusions and implications for future public surveys are presented along with

No wonder then that only a limited number of empirical studies assessing Canadian town services have been reported in the journals in recent past

a typology of services that may improve our understanding of the unique nature of town services. It is believed that the typology offered in this paper may help us to gauge public satisfaction with government services better.

A framework for classification of town and municipal services

While taxonomies for classifying public services do exist, they appear to be based on the service provider's point of view as opposed to those of the consumers. For example, the common classification of ublic services into toll goods, collective goods, and common-pool goods"is based on exclusion and jointness of consumption.'6 Both of these variables are primarily of interest to the service provider and look at services from the service

Giaen the present focus on balancing budgets and cutting waste (at the same time maintaining high-quality service), it would seem logical to look at the quality of service delivery front the user's point of view as well

provider's point of view.17 Compare this to the classification of goods most commonly seen in the marketing literature into convenience, shopping, and specialty goods. This classification is based on frequency of purchase, time and effort spent by consumers on the purchase, and attributes used in purchase - all looked at from the final consumer's point of view. Given the present focus on balancing budgets and cutting waste (at the same time maintaining high-quality service), it would seem logical to look at the quality of service delivery from the user's point of view as well. Consequently, this paper looks at quality of service delivery as perceived by the users - or town residents in this instance.

Roth, Bozinoff, and MacIntosh provide a classification of town services that seems to be more consumer-based.'8 They classify town services based on frequency of use, homogeneity of consumer needs and directness of consumer experience. Some town services are frequently used by citizens (e.g., water supply), while others are not (e.g., fire protection services). Some past


writers have argued that the frequency of usage is associated with the satisfaction ratings by users. The greater the experience with a service, the more likely the citizens are to be dissatisfied with the service. This is because "a poor service, if seldom experienced, in the aggregate, may be perceived by

The greater the experience with a service, the inore likely the citizens are to be dissatisfied with the service

most consumers as adequate. An interaction therefore exists where high experience increases poor rating ... while low experience services are therefore more likely to receive high evaluation^."'^

The directness of experience may also influence satisfaction ratings. There are some public services which virtually every citizen has directly experienced (e.g., water quality); however, there are certain other services which most people have not directly experienced (e.g., fire services). On what basis, then, are satisfaction ratings made in the latter instance? Reports of experience by relevant others and the various hearsay evidence during informal conversations would seem to be the basis of evaluating the quality of services in this instance. Research indicates that when the service is unfamiliar, consumers without direct experience may use fewer attributes to evaluate the service;" form inferences about unmentioned attributes;" or overlook important omitted information and still form extreme judgments with high degree of confidence. Directness of experience may thus lead not only to sharper evaluations of the service (since expectations and experience

Services which fill a homogeneous need are inore likely to receive a higher Satisfaction rating jrom the population than heterogeneous services where the expectatioiis of each sub-groupfvom the town are different

can be compared in more concrete terms), but may also make the users more critical of services they have directly experienced." Some town services attempt to cater to public needs that are homogeneous (e.g., garbage collection). In the case of services which cater to heterogeneous needs, varying levels and mix of services may be required. Thus, homogeneity of needs may be a third variable that is linked to the public's satisfaction levels. Services which fill a homogeneous need are more likely to receive a higher satisfaction rating from the population than heterogeneous services where the expectations of each sub-group from the town are different. Providing any single type or level of service is unlikely to please every one concerned. Pro- viding all possible types of services may not be economically viable.


Given the above, the following hypotheses were formulated in the present study:

Hypothesis 1: The frequency of use of services is linked to overall satisfaction ratings. Average satisfaction scores for infrequent services are likely to be higher than the corresponding scores for frequent services.

Hypothesis 2 : Homogeneous services are likely to receive more positive satisfaction ratings than heterogeneous services.

Hypothesis 3: The directness of experience of services leads to greater con- vergence in satisfaction ratings by consuming public.

Research methodology

instrumentation Taxonomy of services Currently, there is no agreed-upon classification of public services on the dimensions of frequent-infrequent, homogeneous-heterogeneous and direct- indirect. In this study, a panel of twelve judges was asked to classify eighteen services on the above three dimensions. The panel consisted of seven university professors, one manager, two non-managerial employees, and two homemakers. All of them had rented or owned homes in the town in which the research was conducted. Only items where at least eight of the twelve panel members agreed on a dimension were included for data analysis purposes. The services which had inter-judge agreement under each category are shown in Table 1.

Sa tisfact ion survey ques tioiina ire The findings reported here form part of a large public satisfaction survey conducted by the town. To identify the various items in the questionnaire, a focus group consisting of eleven town residents was set u p approximately a month before the survey. The questionnaire items were identified on the basis of the emerging concerns of the citizens and information needs of the town officials. Some items were modelled after a major Gallup Canada survey in an Ontario city” The question of interest here was: ”How satisfied are you with each of the following services offered in your community? Please check the appropriate level of satisfaction to the right of each item.” Service satisfaction was measured on a four-point scale with the following anchors: “Very satisfied” (=4), “satisfied” (=3), ”dissatisfied” (=2), “very dissatisfied” (=l) . A four-point scale was considered to improve the overall reliability of measurement at the same time providing the researchers with usable and statistically analysable data.

A N INVESTIGATION INTO TOWN SERVICE DELIVERY SATISFACTION 83

Table 1. Taxonomy of town services dtveloped by a panel of twelve judges Services judged as:

FREQUENT

*Garbage *School *Sewer *Recycling *Street lighting *Drainage *Water supply *Snow removal

HOMOGENEOUS

*Fire services *Garbage Police

*Snow removal *Sewer *Street lighting *Drainage *Water supply Street repair

*Recycling *School

DIRECT

INFREQUENT

*Fire services Sidewalk maintenance

Tourism

HETEROGENEOUS

Recreational facilities Library Recreational programs

*Tourism Transit operation

INDIRECT

*Fire services Police

*Tourism

*Garbage Library

*School *Snow removal Recreational facilities

*Sewer *Street lighting *Drainage *Water supply *Recycling Parks

*Services which had inter-judge agreement on all three dimensions.

Pre-test and reliability check A pre-test was conducted using eighteen town residents. An analysis of their responses indicated that the questionnaire items were clear and unam- biguous and needed little modification.

After a two-week interval, the same respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire a second time. Comparison of their responses on the two


occasions indicated that the responses on the question had test-retest reliability of .70 or above and hence considered acceptable.

Sampling The 582 postal codes in the town were used to identify clusters of dwelling units. The required sample size for testing the above hypotheses with 95 per cent confidence level was computed. Using Lotus 123, seventy randomly selected postal walks were identified ensuring that the sample had a similar composition of apartments, duplexes, and single-family houses as the population. In the selected clusters, all dwelling units were sampled except in the case of large apartment buildings where every third apartment was sampled. The questionnaire stated that only the head of the household presently available should answer the questionnaire.

Of the 473 dwelling units sampled, 241 completed, usable questionnaires were received. This response rate of 51 percent compares favourably with public survey results reported in the past. A comparison of the respondent group with the profiles of town residents indicated that the respondents in this survey were a representative sample of all town residents. The median income of the responding family (as for the town) was $49,000; 10.4 per cent of the respondents lived in apartments, 5.4 per cent in duplexes, 2.5 per cent in condominiums, and the remaining in single-family homes (the same pro- portions as in the town). The median length of residence of the respondent was eight years; the median age group of the respondent was forty-one to sixty years; and a typical respondent had three family members.

Results The average satisfaction levels of the eighteen town services are shown in Table 2 along with their standard deviations. The same table shows the average satisfaction scores on the six t)’pes of services (frequent-infrequent; homogeneous-heterogeneous, direct-indirect).

The hypotheses were tested at two levels: at the aggregate category level and individual service level. For example, to test the first hypothesis at the aggregate level, the average satisfaction rating for all frequent services were compared to the corresponding score for infrequent services. The mean differences were found to be significant ( t = -2.27; p < .03) and in the predicted direction. Secondly, the mean satisfaction ratings on each service rated as irequent were compared to the corresponding ratings of all infrequent services. In about 70 per cent of such comparisons, the mean scores were different in the predicted direction. Thus, the present findings tend to support the first hypothesis.

To test the second hypothesis, the mean satisfaction score of all homogeneous services was compared to the corresponding score of all heterogeneous services. These were found to be significantly different (t = 2.67;


Table 2. Satisfaction levels for 18 town services

Town service n Mean S.d.

Fire services Garbage collection Library Police Water suppiy Street lighting Sewer Snow removal Parks Sidewalk maintenance Drainage Tourism Recreational programs Transit operations Street repair School Recreational facilities Recycling

219 237 191 233 232 238 207 233 212 213 195 1 73 193 191 233 I 75 206 197

3.41 3.40 3.28 3.28 3.25 3.18 3.09 3.08 3.03 3.01 3.00 2.99 2.98 2.97 2.95 2.92 2.87 2.48

Average satisfaction scores

.56

.57

.58

.63

.68

.52

.57

.67

.64

.66

.68

.62

.65

.73

.69

.77

.70

.79

S.d.

"Frequent" services "Infrequent" services "Homogeneous" services "Heterogeneous" services "Direct" services "Indirect" services

3.09 .41 3.19 .45 3.17 .41 3.09 .43 3.13 .40 3.27 .56

p < .01) and in the predicted direction. In the analysis of individual homogeneous and heterogeneous services, over 75 per cent of the time the differences were found to be statistically significant in the predicted direction. Thus, the present findings support the second hypothesis as well.

The variance in satisfaction ratings for indirect services was higher than that of direct services (p<.O5). It is also interesting to note that indirect services had consistently higher average satisfaction scores than direct services (t = -3.86; p < -000). The implications of these findings are discussed below.

Theoretical and practical implications The single-most important 'finding of the present study is that public satisfaction with town services varies according to the nature of the services. The satisfaction level for infrequently used services were found to be higher. In contrast, frequently used services such as schools had consistently lower satisfaction ratings. The greater the experience with a service, the more likely a


strong opinion of it (positive or negative) is held, depending on actual per- formance. However, a poor service, if seldom experienced by the public, may be considered by most as adequate. Town and county offices will bene-

The single-most important finding of the present study is that public satisfaction level for infrequently used services were found to be higher. In contrast, frequently used services such as schools had consistently low satisfaction ratings.

fit by constantly monitoring the public’s satisfaction with frequently used services, as these are the ones where it is most likely to hold strong opinions.

Similarly, services which cater to a homogeneous public need are more likely to be found satisfactory than those which cater to different consumer groups and tastes. In the case of heterogeneous services such as library, recreational facilities, tourism, and transit operations, the needs and expectations of the consuming public are probably quite different, making it critical to invite input from different consumer groups before determining service levels. Different service offerings (service times, mode of delivery, frequency, quality) may be needed in the case of heterogeneous services.

The present study did not find it useful to categorize services on the basis of directness of experience by the consuming public. As hypothesized, services experienced directly had lower variance in satisfaction than the indirect ones; however, the overall satisfaction ratings in these instances were somewhat lower. Frequency of usage and directness were found to be highly correlated in this study (we had very few items which fell into the direct- infrequent or frequent-indirect categories). Given this high correlation, these factors may best be considered as extensions of the same construct. We suggest that frequent, direct experiences are best thought of as high-experience services; in contrast, infrequent-indirect services are the ones that many members of the public have not experienced. The latter are best thought of as low-experience services. When we reclassified the town services into high- and low-experience categories and compared the mean satisfaction scores of high-experience services with those of low-experience ones, we found that the low-experience services, as a group, had higher satisfaction ratings (Table 3). The alpha reliabilities of the satisfaction ratings (of the entire sample) on these four dimensions (that is, high experience, low experience, homogeneous, and heterogeneous) were next computed. These are shown in Table 4 and considered satisfactory. Thus, based on the available evidence, it would seem as if the present taxonomy of services is robust enough to justify further investigation into its merit and usefulness.

The present findings, thus, encourage us to categorize town services into


Table 3. Mean satisfaction ratings of services which have differing experience rates by citizens

Mean Std. devn t sig. level

High experience services 3.13 .41 -3.79 .ooo Low experience services 3.27 .49

one of four distinct types: high-experience-homogeneous, low-experience- homogeneous, high-experience-heterogeneous, and low-experience-heterogeneous. Of course, services considered high-experience in one town may not be rated similarly in another town. Thus, identifying the experience levels associated with each service may be a useful strategy for the town administration.

The required managerial strategies in each case may also be somewhat different. High-experience-homogeneous services are similar in nature to what marketers call convenience goods (i.e., goods that are frequently used but ones that consumers buy with little thought or effort). These are also products that consumers are not highly involved in. Due to these factors, high-experience-homogeneous services may require a long-term strategy of demand management and an emphasis on maintaining current levels of service. As Peter and Olson note, for services such as these, involvement is limited to when the consumer experiences a problem and hence maintaining a uniform, acceptable level of service may be all that is required." This may entail training staff to provide uniform service and establishing standards for customer service in terms of speed, quality, and reliability of service. It may also require surveying the public to understand usage patterns better and provide information for demand management. High-experience-heterogeneous services, on the other hand, may require a slightly different strategy. These services are similar to what marketers refer to as shopping goods (i.e., goods that consumers consider to be different on price, features, and other characteristics and those that they spent considerable effort and time shopping for). Consumers are fairly highly involved in the purchase of these services. Hence, the strategic emphasis here may have to be on supply management in terms of variety of services provided and making citizens realize the constraints and choices that the local government faces. Good customer service here may not be limited to issues of speed, quality, and reliability alone. Thus, staff training may also need to emphasize the ability to locate trouble spots and handling of difficult customers. Pirie's questions, such '1s 'Who are the groups involved, who benefits now, who could gain?" may be important in these in~tances.2~ Public surveys focusing on a desired mix of services by specific customer groups and on complaint behaviours of different consumers may be desirable in these instances. As Seguin noted, rela- tively little is currently known about the expectations of the various

88 HARI IIAS, MALLIKA DAS, FRANCIS MCKENZIE

Table 4. Alvlia relinbilities of four types o f town services Alpha S tn 11 dnrd ized

relinbility alplin reliability

High experience services Low experience services Homogeneous services Heterogeneous services

.a4

.70

.84

.67

.&I

.71

.85

.68

demographic subgroups regarding the services they would like to receive and the degree of satisfaction with the services they do receive.26

Low-experience services, in general, may require an emphasis on information provision. Depending on the lmlance between supply and demand for these services, information provision could mean letting the public know about the availability of services (to increase demand) or just provision of information in terms of the quality of services rendered and the benefits to the public (when increasing demand is not desirable). In addition, with low- experience-heterogeneous services, the strategy could be to emphasize

T h e f indings suggest the importance of frequent public s u r w y s fo gauge satisfactiori levels. Th i s is especially critical for high-experience serzlices

-~

image management. Such services may require more of a public relations approach: providing information on the variety of services, sensitizing the public to the constraints facing the service providers, and improving the overall image of such services. For all low-experience services, increasing efficiency and cost effectiveness of service delivery may become critical given the current trend to cut government expenditures. Table 5 outlines some possible action strategies in each case. Needless to point out, the situa- tional contingencies facing each town have to be considered in imple- menting the strategies outlined in the table.

Kiiozuledge of satisfaction/dissatisfaction of the beneficiaries would greatly aid tow71 p l u m i n g and contribute to strategy forniulation

These findings suggest the importance of frequent public surveys to gauge satisfaction levels. This is especially critical for high-experience services. More active boundary spanning and involvement of relevant constitu- ents in service planning may be useful in the case of heterogeneous services.

A N INVESTIGATION INTO TOWN SERVICE DELIVERY SATISFACTION 89

Table 5. Some possible action guidelines for managers of public services Public needs

Homogeneous Heterogeneous

High

Strategy: demand management

Train staff to a

provide uniform, high-quality service in a courteous manner

Survey public to a

manage demand patterns for services and usage patterns

Establish standards 0

for speed, quality, and reliability

Level of user’s experience Strategy: Information

management

Low

Ensure public’s accessibility

Information 0

provision about existence of service

Mechanical 0

means of communication

Strategy: supply management

Train staff to provide high-quality service, handle difficult customers and convey delivery constraints

Survey public to identify desired service levels, consumer profiles and complaints

Establish standards for quality, responsiveness and compe- tence

Determine proper balance between humansandmachines.

Strategy: Public relations/image management

Increase degree of visibility; develop cues and image

Information provision about variety of services and constraints

Open houses and efforts to sensitize public to facilities

Knowledge of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction of the beneficiaries would greatly aid town planning and contribute to strategy f~rmulation?~ The formulation of sunset clauses that require the quality of a program to be assessed prior to


extending it to other segments of the society or time/service zones make periodic evaluation of service delivery satisfaction a must. In some instances, privatization of local government services such as solid waste collection has been found to improve service delivery and reduce costs of operations.'* However, the decision to privatize local government services is a complex one and can be made only after a careful consideration of a variety of economic, social and political factors.29

Summary and conclusions This study has found that the consumers in the town surveyed were, in general, satisfied with the quality of services provided. It was found, however, that satisfaction levels varied depending on the experience level and homogeneity of needs of the consumers. In general, satisfaction levels were higher for low-experience and homogeneous services. A new taxonomy of public services developed on the basis of experience and homogeneity of user needs seem promising and warranting further research.

While the general level of satisfaction with town services may be acceptable, it is essential that frequent monitoring of satisfaction levels is carried out to see trends in satisfaction levels. Town administrators may find it useful to change their strategies according to the nature of the service. Public services which attempt to meet heterogeneous needs of consumers with undifferentiated products and service levels may face higher user dissatisfaction. As Manchester noted, the most suitable service delivery approach may be dependent on a variety of factors, including the cost, desired service quality, level and effectiveness, potential for service disruption, impact on other local services, and responsiveness to citizens' needs and expectations.30 Findings emerging from this study indicate that high-experience services and heterogeneous services may require greater attention of town authorities if the citizens' perception oi service quality is to be improved in such instances.

In the United States, hundreds of governmental functions have been suc- cessfully privatized. Several forms of privatization, including contracting out, franchising, the use of nonprofit organizations, subsidies and the voucher system and the use of volunteers and self-help agencies have been attempted in the past to deliver public services."' In one study, it was found that Los Angeles County, through the issuing over four hundred contracts to private entrepreneurs for carrying out many of the county's functions, saved at least 55 per cent in costs.32 Similarly, in another carefully controlled study of eight public services in twenty different cities by Ecodata Inc., dramatic savings were found for all but one of the eight services studied. Further, the study did not find any reduction in the quality of services provided by private contractors (as compared to municipalities), but it did find that the contractors had a lower ratio of supervisors to workers.33 While privatization


has been slower to happen in Canada, results such as these may highlight the importance of towns and municipalities striving to improve their services if they are to continue to be in charge of the same. aThe public sector

While privatization has been slower to happen in Can- ada, results such as these may highlight the importance of towns and municipalities striving to improve their services if they are to continue to be in charge of the same

may have to follow the concern for quality and customer orientation which have revolutionalized the private sector operations in recent past.

For practical reasons, the present study used a panel of twelve judges to evaluate town services. Although the present classification was found to have acceptable alpha reliabilities even for the entire sample of respondents, future studies may find it useful to use a larger panel or get experience ratings from all users of town services. While we did not find any significant differences in citizen satisfaction across income, education, family size, or age levels, it could very well be that these and other variables play important roles in determining citizen satisfaction in other Canadian towns.

Given shrinking resources, varying customer expectations, and turbulent environments, the use of personal-communication strategies by towns and municipalities is likely to become critical. So will the leadership exhibited by the officials of these agencies. Ultimately, responding to the will of the people will depend on the calibre and will of the town administration and its members.

Notes 1 T. Sowell, Knowledge and Decisions (New York: Basic Books, 19801, pp. 114-15. Sowell cites

R.A. Dahl and C.E. Lindblom in Politics, Economics and Welfare (Chicago: University of Chi- cago Press, 1976). Dahl and Lindblom contend that government regulation remedies defi- ciencies in the price system (p. 213) A.A. Berle in Power (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1969) asserts that government "had to be called in" to education (p. 195); government regulation of consumption of some services is "the only practicable escape from unen- durable congestion and confusion, if not chaos" of a private, price system. See also Lawrence W. Lovik, "Bureaucracy, Privatization and the Supply of Public Goods" in Calvin A. Kent, ed., Entreprenuership and the Privatizing of Government (New York: Quorum Books, 1987). For a more recent discussion on the role of public services and citizen satisfaction, see W.E. Lyons, David Lowery, and Ruth H. Dehoog, The Politics of Dissatisfaction (New York: Sharpe, 1992).

2 S.E. Bennett, "Do Public Program Clients Understand Public Program Rules? The Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment," CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 29, no. 3 (Fall 1986), p. 462.

3 H.P. Hatry, L.H. Blair, D.M. Fisk, J.H. Greiner, J.R. Hall, and P.S. Schaenman, How Effective Are Your Community Services? (Washington, DC.: The Urban Institute and the International City Management Association, 1977).


4 While several surveys have been carried out to assess the commercial efficiency of public sector organizations in Canada, by and large these have been restricted to state enterprises and crown corporations. The measures used often highlight economic efficiency rather than client satisfaction. Further, "each type of efficiency measure entails significant problems of calculation or has serious limitations in explanatory power" (Standford F. Borins, and Barry E.C. Boothman, "Crown Corporations and Economic Efficiency," in D.G. McFetridge, ed., Canadian Indiistrinl Policy in Action [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 19851, p. 104).

5 E.R. House, Ertaliiatitig with Validity (Newbury Park: Sage, 1983). 6 See, for example, Robert C. Mitchell and Richard T. Carson, Using Sitrileys to Valite Pltblic

Goods: The Coritirigent Valmtion Method (Washmgton, DC: Resources for the Future, 1989). 7 S. Edgett and S. Parkinson, "Marketing for Service Industries - A Review," Pie Service btdus-

fries Ioiirnal 13, no. 3 (1993), pp. 19-39. 8 V.L. Zeithanil, A. Parasuraman, and L. Berry, "Problems and Strategies in Services Market-

ing," Joicrtial of Marketing 49 (Spring 1985), pp. 43-53. 9 J.R. Picherack, "Service Delivery and Client Satisfaction in the Public Sector," CANADIAN

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 30, no. 2 (Summer 1983, pp. 243-54. 10 It should be noted that there is no complete agreement on the definition and characteristics

of public goods. Writers such Paul Samuelson (e.g., "Diagrammatic Exposition of a Theory of Public Expenditure," R e v i m of Ecoriomic Statistics 37 [November 19551, pp. 350-56) classify national defence, pollution control, and crime deterrence as public (or collective) goods. Other goods, like bread, clothing, shelter, and transportation are treated as non-public goods. Some others, such as K.D. Goldin (e.g., "Equal Access vs. Selective Access: A Cri- tique of Public G o d s Theory," in Tyler Cowen, ed., Piiblic Goods and Mnrket Failrues [New Brunswick, USA: Transaction Publishers, 19921, pp. 69-92) suggest that the notion of equal access to goods is important when defining public and private goods.

11 Picherack, "Service Delivery." 12 B. Rawson, "Public Service 200 Service to the Public Task Force: Findings and Implications,"

CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 34, no. 3 (Fall 1991). 13 A.O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, Loyalty (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1970);

C. Fornell and N.M. Didow, "Economic Constraints on Consumer Complaining Behaviour," Adoarices i r i Corisirrner Research 7 (1980); K. Gronhaug and J. Arndt, "Consumer Dissatisfac- tion and Complaining Behaviour as Feedback: A Comparative Analysis of Public and Pri- vate Delivery Systems," Admiices in Coriszimer Research 7 (1980).

14 V.J. Roth, L. Bozinoff, and 1'. Maclntosli, 'Tublic Opinion and the Measurement of Consumer Satisfaction with Government Services," CANADIAN PLJBLIC ADMINISTRATION 34, no. 3 (Fall

15 For a detailed discussion of this classification, see E.S. Savas, Prirmtiziizg the Public Sector (New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers, 1982).

16 John D. Donahue, in 77ie Privatization Decisiorz (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1989), points out two other dimensions on which private and public services are to be differentiated: "the first dimension concerns financing: should we pay for some good or service individually ... or ... collectively with funds raised through ... taxation? The second dimension concerns perfor- mance: should the good be produced or service delivered by a governmental organization or by a nongovernment organization?" (p. 7).

17 Mitchell and Carson offer yet another typology: pure private, quasi-private and pure-public goods. The underlying basis of this classification is whether the good in question is being traded freely in competitive markets or not. Pure private goods include automobilies and financial services, quasi-private ones inclued tv frequencies and recreation parks, and pure- public include air visibility, environmental risks and national defence. See Mitchell and Car- son, Using Sitrwys fo Valiie Ptiblic Goods, p. 57.

18 While Savas's classification of goods into private, toll, common-pool and collective groups use the manner of consumption of goods by citizens, it cannot be considered a classification

1991), pp. 490-500.


that reflects the marketing needs of different services. It would seem that several “individually” consumed goods in Savas’s typology (e.g., elective surgery) are more homogeneous than several of the “jointly“ consumed goods (e.g., cable tv). See Privatizing the Pzrbtic Sector, pp. 34-5.

19 Roth, Bozinoff, and MacIntosh, “Public Opinion.” 20 A.L. McCill and D. Iacobucci, “The Role of Post-Experience Comparison Standards in the

Evaluation of Unfamiliar Services,” Advances in Consitmer Resenrch 19 (1992), pp. 570-79. 21 G.T. Ford and R.A. Smith, “Inferential Beliefs in Consumer Evaluations: An Assessment of

Alternative Processing Strategies,” Joirrnal of Consumer Research 14 (December 1987), pp.

22 F.R. Kardes, D.M. Sanbonmatsu, and P.M. Herr, “Consumer Expertise and the Feature-Posi- tive Effect: Implications for Judgement and Inference,” Advances in Consumer Research

23 For some of the decisions of interest to the town, a modified form of contingent valuation method of survey was used. These were, however, related to change in levels of services offered by the town and hence not detailed in this paper. For details of the reliability and validity of this method, see Mitchell, and Carson, Using Sirrueys to Vulue Public Goods.

24 J.P. Peter and J.C. Olson, Consumer Behaviottr and Marketing Strategy, 3rd ed. (Homewood, Ill.: Irwin, 1993), pp. 111-13.

25 M. Pirie, ”Principles of Privatization,” in Michael A. Walker, ed., Privatization: Tnctics and Techniques (Vancouver, BC: The Fraser Institute, 19881, p. 6.

26 F. Seguin, ”Service to the Public: A Major Strategic Change,” CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINIS- TRATION 33, no. 4 (Winter 19901, pp. 571-83.

27 This point is also elaborated in ibid. 28 James McDavid, ”Privatizing Local Government Services in Canada,” in Walker, ed., Privnti-

29 For example, see, Robert W. Poole Jr. “The Limits of Privatization,” in ibid., pp. 79-98. 30 Lydia Manchester, ”Alternative Service Delivery Approaches and City Service Planning,” in

Lawrence K. Finley, ed., Public Sector Privatization (New York Quorum Books, 1989), pp. 13- 23.

31 For a discussion on forms of privatization, see Terry Peters, ”Public Services and the Private Sector,” in Roger L. Kemp, ed., Privatization: The Provision of Public Services by the Private Sec- tor (Jefferson, NC.: McFarland & Co., 19911, pp. 53-9.

363-71.

17 (1990), pp. 351-54.

zation, pp. 101-16.

32 PA. Holmes, ”Taking Public Services Private,” Nation‘s Birsirtess (August 1985). 33 Quoted by Calvin A. Kent and Sandra P. Wooten, “Privatization: the Entreprenuerial

Response” in Calvin Kent, ed., Entreprenerrrship and the Privatizing of Gowrnment (New York Quorum Books, 1987), p. 1%.

assessing the “will of the people”: an investigation into town service delivery satisfaction

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