Relationship between Service Quality and Customers’ Behavioral Intentions: Islamic and Empirical Approaches

Abstract

According to the recent literature connecting quality management and Islamic perspectives, service quality consists of five effective dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Extant studies in this field reveal that the ability of service providers to appropriately implement quality in delivering daily services may have a significant impact on customers’ behavioral intentions. Even though this relationship has been extensively investigated, the role of service quality as an important antecedent was ignored in the current organizational quality research literature. Therefore, this study was undertaken to measure the relationship between service quality dimensions and behavioral intention according to the Islamic perspective and empirical approaches. A survey method was employed to collect data from customers at medical centers in the Malaysian Armed Forces. The outcomes of SmartPLS Path Model analysis confirmed that the implementation of tangibility, responsiveness and empathy had enhanced the intention of customers to use the services continuously. Conversely, the implementation of reliability and assurance had not enhanced the intention of customers to continue using the services. Further discussion, implications and a conclusion were disscused.

Keywords: Service Quality Dimensions; Behavioral Intention; Malaysian Armed Forces; SmartPLS