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Identifying the gaps between customer expectations and perceptions on service quality dimensions of Islamic banks in Malaysia

Rafikul Islam (Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
Selim Ahmed (Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
Dzuljastri Abdul Razak (Department of Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences

ISSN: 1756-669X

Article publication date: 16 November 2015

2746

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the gaps and differences between customer expectations and perceptions on service quality of Islamic banks in Malaysia based on six dimensions of service quality, namely, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, tangibles and Islamic Shari’ah compliance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveyed 179 customers who have first-hand experience with Islamic banking services in Malaysia. The research data were analysed using reliability analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance.

Findings

The results indicated that customers’ perceptions failed to meet their expectations on the service quality of Islamic banks in Malaysia. The results also indicated that those customers (respondents) aged below 30 years have higher expectations on empathy from the Islamic banking service compared to other age groups. However, there is no significant difference between customer expectations and perceptions of Islamic banking service quality based on educational background and occupation.

Research limitations/implications

This research focused solely on Islamic banks in Malaysia and thus the results might not be applicable for other conventional banks.

Originality/value

The findings are expected to provide guidelines for enhancing the satisfaction level of clients of the Islamic banking system in Malaysia and other countries.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Research Management Centre (RMC), International Islamic University Malaysia, for providing research grant to conduct this study.

Citation

Islam, R., Ahmed, S. and Razak, D.A. (2015), "Identifying the gaps between customer expectations and perceptions on service quality dimensions of Islamic banks in Malaysia", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 424-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-12-2014-0053

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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