Does customer service matter? A customer perception of bank services in Islamic countries

This paper aims to explore the possible usefulness of a combined multi-attribute and SERVQUAL service quality model in analyzing how bank customers perceive service quality. Using a survey, the authors measured how customers in one region in a major Saudi Arabia bank perceived service quality. Responses were analyzed with reference to both multi-attribute service quality and SERVQUAL models. The combined model seems to provide some guidance regarding how bank customers perceive service quality. The finding of several items reveals that customers are difficult to please. However, substantial heterogeneity exists in customer perceptions of the service quality items investigated. This exploratory study examines only one bank in specific region in Saudi Arabia, implying a need for additional research applying this combined model and other methods to investigate banking segment. The noticeable spread in conceptions of service quality items suggests that bank managers and personal bankers may benefit from co-creating services with customers. Banks are considered as intermediates on financial markets. Therefore, improved and customized service quality could make customers inclined to invest their resources in ways that promote economic growth. In addition to traditional measurement models, the SERVQUAL may contribute to service quality assessment in private banking.