The findings are particularly relevant as demand for construction-related products and services continues to grow. Residential development, business spaces, infrastructure projects, and the increasing use of iron-based products have created opportunities for welding workshops.
The journal article notes that demand for fences, canopies, window rails, and other iron-based structures has increased alongside property and infrastructure development. At the same time, more welding businesses, ranging from micro to medium-sized enterprises, are entering the market. This has created increasingly intense competition and made it important for welding workshop operators to understand why customers choose particular service providers.
Customers Look Beyond Price
Customers do not necessarily make purchasing decisions based on price alone. Before choosing a welding service, they can consider the quality of the materials and workmanship, the price offered, and the overall service experience.
This means a welding workshop cannot rely solely on technically functional products. Accuracy, workmanship, communication, responsiveness, and the ability to meet customer expectations can also influence whether customers decide to use the service.
Study Involved 57 Modern Welding Workshop Customers
The researchers used a quantitative approach to examine the relationship between the three factors and purchasing decisions. Data were collected through questionnaires and direct observation involving customers of Modern Welding Workshop in Surabaya.
The study covered 57 active customers. The collected data were then analyzed using multiple linear regression with the assistance of SPSS to determine how quality, price, and service were associated with customer purchasing decisions.
The statistical analysis showed that the regression model met the basic assumptions required for the analysis. The normality test indicated an acceptable distribution pattern, while the other tests found no problematic heteroscedasticity or autocorrelation. The multicollinearity test also indicated that the independent variables did not create a critical multicollinearity problem in the model.
Quality Has the Strongest Coefficient
The regression results provide a clear picture of the relative contribution of each factor.
The resulting regression equation was:
Purchasing Decision = 4.277 + 0.874 Quality + 0.072 Price + 0.589 Service + e.
The quality coefficient was 0.874, while the service coefficient was 0.589. The price coefficient was considerably smaller at 0.072. All three coefficients had positive signs, although their statistical significance differed.
When examined individually, quality produced a significance value of 0.012, below the 0.05 threshold. This indicates that quality had a statistically significant effect on purchasing decisions.
Service also demonstrated a significant effect, with a significance value of 0.025. The result indicates that better service was associated with stronger customer purchasing decisions.
Price produced a significance value of 0.832, well above the 0.05 threshold. Therefore, price did not have a statistically significant partial effect on purchasing decisions in the Modern Welding Workshop setting examined by the researchers.
Quality, Price, and Service Matter When Considered Together
Although price did not have a significant individual effect, the three factors were significant when examined simultaneously.
The F-test produced an F value of 50.399 with a significance level of 0.000. This result indicates that quality, price, and service jointly had a significant influence on customer purchasing decisions.
The model also produced an R Square of 0.740, or 74 percent. This means that quality, price, and service together explained 74 percent of the variation in purchasing decisions within the research model. The remaining 26 percent was associated with other factors not included in the analysis.
The finding suggests that a welding workshop's business strategy should not focus exclusively on pricing. Quality and service showed stronger statistical relationships with purchasing decisions when examined individually.
Implications for Welding Businesses
For welding workshop operators, the findings from Nina Triolita and Erwin Eko Priyanto offer practical considerations for competing in an increasingly crowded market.
Improving quality can involve ensuring accurate workmanship, producing durable products, meeting customer specifications, and using appropriate equipment. Service can be strengthened through fast responses, clear communication, friendly interactions, and consistent fulfillment of agreements.
Price remains an important component of business strategy because customers naturally consider costs. However, the study shows that price alone was not statistically significant in determining purchasing decisions in the individual analysis. This suggests that competing primarily through lower prices may not be sufficient to secure customer preference.
The researchers recommend that welding workshop operators use customer decision factors as practical references when developing business strategies and maintaining long-term business sustainability. Future researchers are also encouraged to examine additional factors, including completion time and customer relationship management (CRM), while considering different research periods and methodologies.
About the Authors
Nina Triolita is the lead author of the article and is affiliated with Politeknik NSC Surabaya. Her research interests include management, marketing, innovation, and consumer-related issues. In this study, she worked with Erwin Eko Priyanto, also from Politeknik NSC Surabaya, to examine how quality, price, and service relate to customer purchasing decisions in the welding industry.
Triolita has also conducted research with Budiyanto examining the influence of social capital on marketing innovation and the mediating role of virtual communities.
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