Gender Differences in Automotive Service Quality Perceptions: Evidence from Malaysia’s National Car Service Sector

This study examines gender differences in perceptions of automotive service quality within Malaysia’s national car service sector. The study focuses on two dimensions of service quality: customer service quality and technical quality. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed using data from 311 customers of Malaysian national car service centres, comprising 132 male and 179 female respondents. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to determine whether perceptions of the two service quality dimensions differed significantly by gender. Female respondents reported slightly higher mean scores for both customer service quality and technical quality than male respondents. However, the differences were not statistically significant for customer service quality, t (309) = ?1.06, p = .292, or technical quality, t (309) = ?0.55, p = .585. The findings indicate that male and female customers hold broadly comparable perceptions of both aspects of automotive service quality. The study contributes gender-specific evidence from Malaysia’s national car sector and suggests that service providers should prioritise consistent customer service and technical performance across customer groups rather than assuming different service quality expectations based solely on gender.