IDENTIFYING AND VALIDATING DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY FOR THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

Excellent service quality is crucial to business survival in the present banking environment in order to gain competitive advantage and corporate profitability. Thus, it is essential to analyze the means of measuring and evaluating service quality provided by banking institutions as they adjust to the dynamic changes in the banking environment. Previous studies have produced scales that bear a resemblance to generic measures of service quality, which may not be totally adequate in assessing the perceived quality in the banking sector. This study aims to identify and validate the dimensions of service quality within the banking sector in Malaysia from the customers’ perspective. A proposed 29-item instrument has been empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability and validity using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. A factorial analysis suggests that service quality has three dimensions namely ‘Systemization of service delivery’, ‘Reliable Communication’ and ‘Responsiveness’. A subsequent multiple regression analysis revealed that ‘Systemization’ is the most important service quality dimension within the banking sector