An Examination of Retail Dental Practices versus Private Dental Practices Using an Importance-Performance Analysis

Using an importance-performance approach, private dental patrons and retail dental patrons were contrasted in terms of their assessments of their expectations and perceptions toward various dental practice attributes or characteristics. Results suggest that while differences across attributes exist, expectations and perceptions of most of the key dimensions of quality service, reputation and competence are not distinguishing characteristics between the two dental patron groups. The only variations are with the importance of a friend's recommendation and the importance and performance regarding the hours of operation. These results provide some insights and interesting debate concerning the image and general marketing practice of private dentists and retail dental facilities.