Modelling predictors and outcomes of total Islamic experience quality in an Indian Muslim restaurant among Muslim urban millennials / Syaharizah Abdul Aziz

The concept of customer experience is a crucial differentiator in today’s marketplace. The food service business, therefore, needs to embrace this concept to sustain itself longer in the industry. In a restaurant setting, customer experience is depicted as a customer’s holistic perceptions and emotions when interacting with the restaurant environment. Despite the significance of theory and practices, customer experience from Islamic perspectives remains unexplored. With the amplification of the Muslim population, higher disposable income and the proliferation of Islamic lifestyles based on faith, this new concept is seen as a guiding impetus for restaurateurs to access the Malaysian Muslim market. Moreover, as of now, it is inconclusive as to which factors influence Muslim customer experience and the impact on behaviour response in the restaurant. Drawing from this, the study devised a system approach coined as Total Islamic Experience Quality and modelled the predictors and outcomes in the context of Indian Muslim restaurants. The framework adopts the Stimuli-Organism-Response paradigm as the backbone of the study. The Total Islamic Experience Quality measurement metric was built based on the emotional state model of Pleasure-Arousal- Dominance and modified accordingly by integrating a new spiritual dimension. The study hypothesised four predictors: Spiritual Intelligence, Halal Literacy, Islamic Restaurant Image, and Islamic Retail Experiential Value. The conceptual model was tested and validated from the perception of Muslim Urban Millennials in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Primary data were collected from the sample of 401 respondents using the quota sampling and restaurant intercept technique. The data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that four of the eight paths postulated were in the right direction, lending support to the research hypotheses. The result implies that Islamic Retail Experiential Value was the sole predictor of Total Islamic Experience Quality leading to Emotional Attachment and Customer Loyalty. Additionally, the study developed a new hypothesised model of Islamic Retail Experiential Value. Two new dimensions, namely Islamic values and social values, were incorporated into the conventional typology. The empirical evidence confirmed the model had achieved a psychometrically sound instrument. In sum, the study has contributed to the body of Islamic marketing literature and provided specific mindsets for restauranteurs targeting the Muslim millennial group. Implications and suggestions are discussed, and future research directions are recommended.