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The purpose of this paper is to examine the PAKSERV service quality measure in a South African cultural context.

In order to test and confirm the dimensionality of the PAKSERV service quality construct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used. The data were collected through a survey of over 300 Black South African banking customers.

The results of the CFA confirmed that PAKSERV is a valid measure of service quality in a South African cultural context, consisting of six dimensions: tangibility, reliability, assurance, sincerity, personalisation and formality.

A major limitation of this study is that PAKSERV was only validated for the banking sector. To ensure validity across a variety of industries and cultural contexts, further replication would be needed.

By measuring and evaluating service quality dimensions that are culturally relevant to customers, marketing managers can focus on the dimensions of service quality that are not adequately captured in the SERVQUAL instrument. The paper recommends three useful managerial applications of the service quality construct. The findings are particularly valuable to international services managers who what to move away from a single international service strategy and embrace a flexible service delivery strategy that is culturally sensitive.

The study contributes by providing further validation for the PAKSERV service quality measurement scale. This is also one of the few studies to test and confirm a culturally sensitive service quality construct in Africa. Furthermore, the study questions the notion that the PAKSERV measurement scale is culturally specific and argues that PAKSERV should be seen as a generic measurement scale that can be used across a variety of countries and cultural contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of PAKSERV measures on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the Malaysian Islamic banking context.

The dimensionality of the PAKSERV scale is examined with confirmatory factor analysis. A survey approach is adopted to collect data from 300 Islamic banking customers in Kuching, Malaysia.

Results reveal an excellent model fit for the PAKSERV scale in collectivist cultural context of Malaysia. All dimensions of PAKSERV are validated except reliability. The issue of non-validity of the reliability dimension in an Islamic banking context is explained by extant literature.

Islamic banks are recommended to focus on all the PAKSERV scale dimensions to impart service quality. Given a collectivist cultural setting, a “network marketing” approach is recommended to maintain a desirable level of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The PAKSERV scale has been employed for the first time to investigate the service quality-loyalty path in a collectivist cultural context. The validity of the PAKSERV scale has been operationalized for the first time in a collectivist cultural context.

There is a plethora of research which has dealt with service quality issues in various service organizations. But a few researchers have presented state of service quality from a cultural perspective, especially within an Asian cultural context. The purpose of this paper is to measure service quality of Pakistani Islamic banks through validating a culturally sensitive scale: PAKSERV. Furthermore, the path from service quality to customer loyalty has been presented through applying PAKSERV service quality scale.

Following a positivist tradition, the service quality to loyalty path in Islamic banking sector of Pakistan is established. A self-administered survey was conducted to approach 300 Islamic bank customers in major cities of Pakistan. The respondents were purposefully selected based on their extent of using the retail banking services. The data were analysed through employing various quantitative measures such as correlation and structural equation modelling employing AMOS.

The findings reveal that Pakistani Islamic banking customers are satisfied with the service quality offered. All the dimensions of PAKSERV are found to significantly contribute towards customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, major focus of customer is on the dimensions such as responsiveness and sincerity which are understandable in high-risk avoiding and moderately power-oriented Pakistani society.

The research has been first of its type to present the validity of PAKSERV scale in a collectivist cultural context of Pakistan. Furthermore, the path from the customer satisfaction to loyalty by employing PAKSERV scale has been presented for the first time.

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of PAKSERV model on customers' satisfaction, loyalty and trust in Malaysian Islamic banks. These comprehensive measures concern on the cultural dimension of service quality by focusing on the mediating role of trust in the Malaysian context.

A survey was conducted involving 401 customers of Islamic banks in the states of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. The data were analyzed through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model employing AMOS 23 and SPSS 23.

The study found positive relationship of PAKSERV dimensions of service quality, customers' satisfaction, customers' loyalty and the mediating role of trust in enhancing customers' loyalty. This study provides new evidence on how trust can act as a partial mediation on the relationship between customers' satisfaction and customers' loyalty in the cultural context of Islamic banking in Malaysia.

The findings of this study can be used as a framework for other Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in improving services to its customers.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge in enhancing the understanding on customers' satisfaction, loyalty and trust in Islamic banks in Malaysia. This study also covers a broad range of respondents, hence representing a good diversity of Islamic banks' customers.

This study aims to test a proposed model based on a combination of the relationship marketing and service quality dimensions as predictors of corporate image and customer loyalty via corporate reputation in the Takaful context. More importantly, this study compares the Takaful operators’ services with the perceived service quality and the relationship marketing from the Malaysian and Saudi Arabian customers’ viewpoint.

A survey-based study was conducted through a questionnaire, and the data was collected from Takaful customers (362 Saudi Arabian and 350 Malaysian customers) through an online survey. Structural equation modelling is used to test the proposed model. Besides, the perception of Takaful customers between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia is compared through a multi-group analysis.

The results from the Malaysian context reveal that positive perceptions of service quality PAKSERV dimensions (personalization, reliability and tangibility) and positive perceptions of relationship marketing dimensions (Islamic ethical behaviour and structural bonds) have a significant influence on the corporate image. Alternatively, in the Saudi Arabian context, results have shown that the positive perceptions of service quality PAKSERV dimensions (assurance and reliability) of service quality and the positive perceptions of the relationship marketing dimensions (Islamic ethical behaviour, structural bonds and financial bonds) have a significant influence on the corporate image. The differences in both countries’ results can also enhance the corporate image on corporate reputation, merely in Malaysia. By contrast, corporate reputation is deemed a significant predictor of customer loyalty, represented as valid for both contexts.

The proposed research model tested in Takaful Malaysian and Saudi Arabian can be replicated in other contexts – in terms of country and industry. Moreover, the current study reveals the crucial role of corporate image in forming corporate reputation. Future research could be focussed on the importance of other emotional or affective variables that may be involved in determining corporate reputation. Finally, future studies can be carried with another cultural perspective to have more diversified socio-economic implications.

It is suggested that Takaful operators from both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia need to put maximum effort towards customer loyalty by bringing both the dimensions of service quality and the relationship marketing in compliance with the principles of Islamic business transaction. The findings of the specific dimensions of service quality and relationship marketing will contribute to customers’ perceptions of corporate image and reputation in the Takaful industry.

The present study tested a blended facet of customer’s overall experience through service quality (PAKSERV) and customer service provider connectivity (relationship marketing) to predict the corporate image of the highly growing financial marketplace (Takaful). Contextually, this study contributes to delineating the factors (corporate reputation) affecting customer loyalty rather than a customer satisfaction tradition. Significantly, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were chosen for this study, as they are currently the two fast-growing markets for Islamic financial services, especially with regards to the Takaful products and offerings.

This study aims to examine a proposed model based on a combination of relationship marketing and service quality dimensions as a significant predictor of corporate image. More importantly, it attempts to identify whether corporate reputation mediates the relationship between and customer loyalty and corporate image in the takāful (Islamic insurance) context, from the viewpoint of Saudi Arabian customers.

An online survey was conducted through an adopted questionnaire from 362 family takāful policyholders from Saudi Arabia. Also, structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed model on the direct relationships of the related constructs, as well as the establishment of corporate reputation as a mediator concerning its relationship between corporate image and customer loyalty.

This study discovered that only two dimensions of service quality (i.e. reliability and assurance) and three aspects of relationship marketing (i.e. Islamic ethical behaviour, financial and structural bonds) have a significant impact on the corporate image of the takāful providers. This study further concluded that corporate reputation mediates the relationship between corporate image and customer loyalty.

This study has presented and tested the perceived service quality using the PAKSERV model in the takāful (Islamic insurance) industry, particularly in the Saudi Arabian context. This research identified the dimensions of PAKSERV (i.e. reliability and assurance) that influence the corporate image and simultaneously, the aspects of relationship marketing (i.e. Islamic ethical behaviour, financial and structural bonds) are also connected to the corporate image. Corporate reputation acts as a mediator between the relationship of corporate image and customer loyalty. This study, nevertheless, only focused in the takāful industry alone, and these findings could also be tested for its validity to different services in other potential studies because of the diversity of the service industry.

The findings of this study highlight the specific components of PAKSERV measures in influencing the corporate image. Furthermore, relationship marketing addressing Islamic ethical behaviour, as well as the three facets of bonding – structural, financial and social bonds are also incorporated and connected to corporate image. Hence, this study will increase the understanding of the impact of service quality concerning the PAKSERV model and relationship marketing on corporate image, reputation and customer loyalty of the takāful operators in Saudi Arabia.

The studies which connect international marketing emotions with perceived service quality are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to fill this knowledge gap and take into account the consumers’ perceived animosity, religiosity, and ethnocentrism to connect these with perceived service quality and purchase intentions of US-based fast food brand chains currently operating in Pakistan.

The authors collected data by means of a self-administered questionnaire, distributed among 500 consumers, randomly selected, patronized the four US fast food brands, namely, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Subway in the city of Lahore in Pakistan. The data are analyzed by employing Structural equation modeling (SEM) based on AMOS 21.0 software.

Results of this study reveal that religiosity and ethnocentrism among Pakistani fast food consumers are low and do not influence the decision to purchase fast food brands. However, consumer emotions influence service quality perceptions – ultimately leading to purchase intentions.

The study generally adds to marketing and specifically to international food service marketing knowledge by eliciting the role of religiosity, animosity, and ethnocentrism to delineate service quality and purchase intentions. Furthermore, the external validity of PAKSERV scale and the context of Pakistan – a collectivist Muslim country are also the unique products of this study.

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that were considered important by Muslim BPJS participants of service quality received when using BPJS Health card for hospitalization services.

The sample consisted of 250 respondents that came from five hospitals in Indonesia. The variables used in this study modify SERVQUAL, PAKSERV and CARTER models.

The results of this study indicate that there are ten factors that are considered very important by Muslim BPJS participants for hospitalization service, with the dominant variables of each factor being sincerity/sincerity of employees in serving BPJS participants, the amount of drugs cost borne by BPJS participants, cleanliness in the hospital building, tabligh attitude in serving BPJS participants (wise and right on target), reputation of BPJS doctors in the hospitals, affordability of the hospital location, compliance and accuracy of payment claim/treatment for BPJS patients, BPJS compliance with Islamic principles, the ability of BPJS to reliably deliver promised services and availability of mosque at BPJS referral hospital.

The new factors that have emerged are location access, information and availability of praying facilities. The sincerity and formality factors are considered very important by the Muslim community when using BPJS Health card for hospitalization service.

The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of cultural values on perceptions of service encounter quality by examining the potentially mediating role of service encounter expectations.

A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 30 cosmetic clinic patients in Tehran, Iran. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. Moreover, path modeling and bootstrapping were implemented using Smartpls 2.0 (M3) software to analyze the collected data and to assess the research model (Figure 1).

Cultural values have a significant impact on both expectations and perceptions of service encounter quality. Moreover, findings show that expectations of service encounter quality have an impact on perceptions of service encounter quality. The mediating role of service encounter expectations was confirmed.

There are additional issues that should be addressed about different aspects of service encounters in developing countries. Moreover, subcultures provide attractive context for service quality perception research; subcultures comprise a large consumer market having its own cultural values that future research could examine.

Healthcare service providers should understand the cultural values of patients that may differ by social demographic characteristics. Providing a service that enhances patient cultural values might enhance success in the plastic surgery market, because such surgery may assist one in gaining recognition and improving their relationships with others. Clinic managers should consider Iran as a developing country, with its considerable young population having modern self-oriented demands, should be a desirable market for cosmetics and beauty care products.

Using the concept of Schwartz’s basic human values model to assess consumers’ cultural values and its impact on service encounter quality was the study’s main contribution. Moreover, it is among few studies conducted in the cosmetic surgery industry in a developing country’s context.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how to improve the satisfaction and loyalty of Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial Kesehatan (BPJS) health patients in Indonesia based on services in Islamic hospitals, where the service quality was analyzed from a Sharīʿah perspective.

The sample for this study was 470 Muslim patients from BPJS health, 248 from large Islamic hospitals and 232 from small Islamic hospitals in Central Java, Indonesia. Overall, the respondents were from five large hospitals and five small hospitals. The study used eight service quality variables that were modified from the SERVQUAL, PAKSERV and CARTER models. All the variables used indicators of Sharīʿah principles and tested their effects on satisfaction and loyalty.

The results of the study showed that the insurance system has been proven to significantly increase the satisfaction and loyalty of BPJS health patients. This means that the efforts of the Indonesian Government to improve the level of health by establishing BPJS can benefit the community. Satisfaction can also be increased through the variables of reliability, empathy and responsiveness, while the loyalty of BPJS Health patients is strongly influenced by satisfaction. The sincerity variable can increase the satisfaction and loyalty of BPJS health patients in small hospitals, but not in large hospitals. On the other hand, the variable of compliance can increase the satisfaction and loyalty of BPJS health patients in large hospitals, but not in small hospitals.

The insurance system implemented in Indonesia can influence the improvement of satisfaction and loyalty. Also, hospitals that are fair in serving patients and that apply amanah (trust), tabligh (responsiveness) and are fast in handling BPJS health patients’ complaints are important indicators that need attention from BPJS health and hospitals. These indicators can form variables that can increase satisfaction and loyalty.