Culture and service quality expectations: Evidence from Generation Y consumers in Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose - The main purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of individual-level cultural dimensions on Generation Y consumers' expectations of service quality. Design/methodology/approach - Service quality and individual-level cultural values were measured using existing scales from the literature. Factor analysis was conducted to verify the factor structures of both constructs while structural equation modeling was employed to examine the measures for cultural values and service quality dimensions. Findings - Four out of the five hypotheses are supported and the last one is partially confirmed in terms of directional support. Service quality expectations are positively related to uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation but negatively related to power distance. Masculinity and collectivism did not have a significant relationship. Service quality was found to be a three-factor construct consisting of tangibles, reliability and responsiveness/empathy/assurance. Cultural values were confirmed to consist of five dimensions according to Hofstede's typology. Generation Y consumers are found to be low in power distance and have high expectations of service quality. Research limitation/implications - The main limitations are that the study did not distinguish between different types of full-service restaurants in its analysis and the sample consisted of undergraduate students only. Practical implications - The findings indicate the importance of measuring individual-level cultural values which may be used as a segmentation variable to guide service delivery and resource allocation. Originality/value - The study contributes to the scant research on service quality among Generation Y consumers in developing countries. It also assesses the five-factor structure of the SERVQUAL scale in a new country setting, that is, Malaysia.