Does Ethnic/Cultural Dissimilarity Affect Perceptions of Service Quality?

Abstract

This article examined the issue of ethnic and cultural differences between service recipients and service providers and their impact on service quality perceptual evaluations (SQPs). The study analyzed responses of two samples of patients who consulted specialist physicians from a survey of 300 Israeli Jewish and 300 Israeli Arab respondents. For all respondents, the research constructed a measure of similarity between the service providers (the physicians) and the service receivers (the patients) based on whether the former belonged to the same ethnic or cultural communities as the service recipients. The results show that within the Israeli Jewish population (the majority population), service providers similarity was positively correlated with higher SQP scores. Similar results were not found for the Arab Israeli respondents (the minority social group). The results indicate that service recipients may seek quality “markers” for the services received by transferring their objective or subjective quality perceptions of the service providers to the SQPs themselves. The article then draws implications for service managers and for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• ethnic and cultural differences
• ethnocentricity
• medical services
• SERVQUAL

Acknowledgments

This article was written when both authors were at the School of Business Administration, College of Management, Rishon Lezion, Israel.

Notes

*p < .05.