The role of Islamic culture in service quality research

Abstract

The purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore Service Quality from the perspective of the Muslim consumer. There is growing evidence that culture influences buying-habits and behaviours' of consumers in services. However, most cross-cultural consumer research in Asia has focused on the dimension of Chinese-Confucian beliefs providing opportunity to investigate other religious-cultural aspects in an Asia and consumption.Design/methodology/approach: This research explores the key attributes/factors of quality of services according to Muslim customers using the verbal protocol method followed by in-depth probing interviews of 35 respondents. In depth, interviews were conducted in Indonesia with a sample of Javanese-Muslim customers of airline, retail, hotel, and restaurant industries.Theoretical saturation was achieved with thick rich scripts obtained from respondents.Findings: Preliminary analysis suggests some distinct outcomes positioning culture and religion as important construct for consideration in service quality research.Practical Implications: The research provides important insights for service providers who target the Muslim consumer. AbstractThe purpose of this research is to explore Service Quality from the perspective of the Muslim consumer. There is growing evidence that culture influences buying-habits and behaviours' of customers in a service context. The fact that most cross-cultural consumer research in Asia has focused on the dimension of Chinese-Confucian beliefs provides this research opportunity to investigate other religious-cultural aspects in an Asian context and service quality. In this study, the key attributes/factors of quality of services according to Muslim customers are explored using the verbal protocol method. The verbal protocol is followed by in-depth probing of respondents. Interviews were conducted in Indonesia with a sample of Javanese-Muslim customers of airline, retail, hotel and restaurant industries. Preliminary analysis suggests some distinct outcomes which will be presented and position culture as a fertile field for future research in service quality. The research provides important insights for service providers who will target the Muslim consumers.This research also has potential to enrich SQ conceptualization, theory, and measurement.

Measuring Perceived Service Quality of Fast Food Restaurant in Islamic Country: A Conceptual Framework

“…Yunus et al [36] assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness, reliability, low food prices, short service time and convenient location Based on the previous explanation, it can be concluded that researchers who discussed fast food restaurant service by involving service quality dimensions that represents the performance of service companies in satisfying Muslim customer needs related to Islamic values is very limited. This is quite surprising since Gayatri et al [25]'s research shows the service quality measurement model is influenced by Islamic values of Muslim customers. More specifically, Gayatri and Chew [26] revealed that service quality models of Muslim customers should involve general service quality dimensions and Islamic service quality dimensions.…”

“…However, the use of generic service quality model has some problems from both theoretical and practical aspect. Theoretically, researchers have proved that the way of customer on evaluating the quality of service depends on the service contexts, such as service type and customers' culture [24,25,26]. In addition, the proposer of the generic quality models also warned users to consider the specific characteristics of the service industry to be measured when they adopts the generic models [19].…”

“…Related to this matter, Gayatri et al. [25] and Gayatri and Chew [26] have also found that Islamic values adopted by Muslim customers influence the way of customers in evaluating service quality. This means service quality measurement model of a fast food restaurant is Islamic country should involve service quality dimension that represents service aspect that related with Islamic values adopted by its customers.…”

“…Empirical studies have proved that service quality measurement is affected by service type and the cultural context where the service is provided [24,25,26]. Related to this matter, Gayatri et al.…”

The Influence of Religiosity Toward of the Muslim's Happiness With the Behavior of Zakat, Infaq and Alms as Moderating Variables

“…This study will attempt to investigate the variable of service quality with Islamic values, called by Islamic servcice quality. According to Gayatri, Hume, & Mort (2011) reveal that religion is one of the impotant factors in the presence of service quality among Muslims. Thus, this study will propose hypothesis development as a follow:…”