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Umrah travel
The effects on customer satisfaction services in
and customer loyalty by integrating Malaysia

marketing communication and after

sale service into the traditional 363

marketing mix model of Umrah Received 29 September 2019

Revised 1 February 2020

travel services in Malaysia 3 February 2020

8 February 2020
Accepted 10 February 2020

Bestoon Abdulmaged Othman, Amran Harun,

Nuno Marques De Almeida and Zana Majed Sadq
(Author affiliations can be found at the end of the article)

Abstract
Purpose – With growing mobility in a globalized world and an estimate of more than 300 million
people going on religious pilgrimages every year, various researchers have been focusing on
pilgrimage-driven travel services. In this context and within the Islamic religious tradition, the
“Umrah” is used as a case study in this paper. In addition, this study also investigated the effects of
Umrah SMM (promotion, place, people, product, price, process, physical evidence, marketing
communication and after sale service) on customer satisfaction and loyalty toward Umrah travel
agents in “Malaysia.”
Design/methodology/approach – Convenience sampling technique at four international airports in
“Malaysia” was used to obtain data from Umrah travelers who had used Umrah services at least once. A total
of 384 usable questionnaires were collected from this study and the data were analyzed using the partial least
square.
Findings – The result indicated that the marketing mix has a significant positive effect on customer loyalty
through customer satisfaction both directly and indirectly. This study will be of interest to the Umrah travel
industry, for Malaysia and all the other countries, in understanding how marketing mix strategies are
essential in maintaining a long-term relationship with customers.
Originality/value – The literature on Umrah travel services revealed that the traditional service
marketing mix (SMM) of 7P’s is inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap and examine an
innovative service marketing mix strategy for “Umrah Service” including marketing communication and

The authors would like to thank the marketing managers who were involved in this study as
respondents. The authors would also like to thank Tabung Haji in Malaysia.
Funding This research was funded by the University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
Author Contributions: For research articles with several authors, a short paragraph specifying
their individual contributions must be provided. The following statements should be used:
conceptualization, B.O. and A.H.; methodology, B.O; software, Z,M.S; validation, B.O, A.H and N.M.D;
formal analysis, B.O. and Z,M.S; investigation, B.O; resources, B.O; data curation, F.A; writing—
original draft preparation, B.O; writing—review and editing, A.H and N.M.D; visualization, A.H.;
supervision, A.H; project administration, A.H; funding acquisition, Z,M.S. Please turn to the CRediT Journal of Islamic Marketing
Vol. 12 No. 2, 2021
taxonomy for the term explanation. Authorship must be limited to those who have contributed pp. 363-388
substantially to the work reported. © Emerald Publishing Limited
1759-0833
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. DOI 10.1108/JIMA-09-2019-0198
JIMA after sales service. It investigates the effects of enhanced Umrah SMM on customer satisfaction and loyalty
towards Umrah travel agents in “Malaysia”.
12,2
Keywords Customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty, Enhanced service marketing mix,
Umrah travel services, Religious traveling
Paper type Research paper

364
1. Introduction
With growing mobility in a globalized world and an estimate of more than 300 million people
going on religious pilgrimages every year, (Khatab et al., 2019) with an estimated increase for the
future, various researchers have been focusing not only on traditional touristic traveling to
leisure, world heritage, historical or commemoratives sites, but also to pilgrimage driven travel
services (Jackowski ,2000). Pilgrimage driven travel service providers are more and more
competitive, especially because of many new entrants selling and offering similar products and
services. In India, there are records of more than 100 million pilgrims attending a single event
(Sadq et al.; 2020a, 2020b). In America, one of the most important pilgrimage sites, the Basilica of
Our Lady of Guadalupe near Mexico City, accounts for 20 million pilgrims annually. In Europe
there are many examples of pilgrimage sites accounting for millions of visitors annually, some of
which attract both Christians and Muslims, such as Fatima in Portugal. A similar example can be
seen in the town of Ephesus in Turkey, which is today a site of pilgrimage for both Christians
and Muslims who wish to visit the house where Mary lived the last years of her life. In the Middle
East, Jerusalem is a major tourist and pilgrimage center to all three monotheistic religions,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with over 3 million visitors annually.
In Islamic religious tourism, the “Hajj” (major pilgrimage) and the “Umrah” (minor
pilgrimage) are the most important drivers for spiritual and religious tourism. Total of
12 million spiritual and religious tourists visit the two holy cities of “Mecca” and
“Medina” on an annual basis. This numbers are anticipated to increase to 17 million by
2025 as the Muslim population of the world is increasing, which is expected to reach
26.4 per cent of the overall world population (Kumaladewi et al., 2017). “Hajj and
Umrah” are types of pilgrimages that are made essential in the holy Quran, based on the
following ayat: “And complete the Hajj and Umrah for Allah” (Gannon et al., 2017).
Moreover, nowadays, the expanded offer of low air freight air transportation facilitates
travelling to Mecca in view of accomplishing Umrah.
Malaysia is a country where 60 per cent of the population is Muslim. This country is used as a
case study to investigate the effects of Umrah service marketing mix (SMM) (promotion, place,
people, product, price, process, physical evidence, marketing communication and after sale
service) on customer satisfaction and loyalty towards Umrah travel agents. This is relevant
because of the overall development and economic growth of the country and an increasing share
of the population with the financial resources needed to perform “Hajj and Umrah.” In Malaysia,
the demand of Umrah business is increasing day by day, as more and more Muslims choose to
perform Umrah (which can be performed at any time) as an alternative to “Hajj” (that can only be
performed once per year within a specific schedule). In 2017, approximately 250,000 people from
Malaysia performed their Umrah, with expectations for 300,000 people in 2018 (Hassan et al.,
2016). But there are some customers whinges connected to Umrah Tourism in Malaysia with 214
objections linking to Umrah travel scams between 2012 and 2016 (Kumaladewi et al., 2017).
Travel industries (like the Umrah travel industry) influence the economic growth of
countries through customer satisfaction (CS), increasing capital accumulation that can be
used to promote the manufacturing and consumption industries (Almuhrzi and Alsawafi,
2017). In past years, the traveling industry of Malaysia had somehow neglected the
principles of customer focus because of different economic and social problems, political Umrah travel
factors and most importantly because of the increase of demand over supply (Othman et al., services in
2018). However, with the arrival of private sector travel agencies, the industry has gradually
become more competitive. Therefore, travel agencies need to adopt and implement systems
Malaysia
toward CS and ultimately customer loyalty (CL). In this regard, it is important to clearly
identify factors affecting CS (Fiaza and Shukor, 2016).
Institutions and travel agencies of the Umrah travel industry striving to gain a proper
share of market need to understand the market trend. This can be achieved using marketing 365
mix (MM) variables (Othman et al., 2019). It can also be argued that these travel agencies can
use optimized distribution methods and include services in the destination cities of Mecca
and Medina, thus generating more business opportunities. These are examples of measures
to increase market share and customers through creativity and innovation as well as
matching resources with the needs of customers (Kord et al., 2018).
SMM has various evolution stages like from 4P’s to 7P’s and this process is still oning. In
various types of industries, people alter this mix to get the maximum benefit. Morrison
(2002) had explored that 8P’s of the marketing mix are required for travel and tour services.
Haq (2014) also suggested additional 2P’s for travel services. Some other studies also
suggested that these 8P’s are even not enough for such type of services (Haq, 2014), and still
there is a requirement to augment the SMM for travel services (Haq, 2014), especially in
Umrah Travel services. Keeping in view the gap in the literature in service marketing mix,
this study explored two additional dimensions (not P’s): marketing communication and after
sale service (Ladokun et al., 2013; Nwachukwu, 2018).
This study explored and integrated two new dimensions (not P’s) for service
marketing mix, rather than traditional SMM of 7P’s. The study’s research framework
was supported by the Stimulus-Organism-Response theory. Two of the three main
constructs, namely, SMM and CS were conceptualized as second-order constructs and
assessed via the reflective-formative approach.
The perspective of Malaysian Umrah industry whereby there is lack of literature
discussing the research topic and also it was noted that are so many new participants selling
and offering similar products and services. Therefore, it is important for this industry to
focus on customers’ special needs and preferences to maintain and retain the long-term
relationship. Thus, again the main contribution that leads to novelty of this paper is about
examining the SMM of the industry to get the clear picture of how the industry had
performed and how well they serve the current Umrah customer.
The result indicated the SMM has a significant positive effect on CL through CS both
directly and indirectly. This study will be of interest to the Umrah travel industry, both in
Malaysia and worldwide, in understanding how marketing mix strategies are essential in
maintaining a long-term relationship with customers.
The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of SMM on CS and CL
towards Umrah travel service in Malaysia. The result indicated the SMM has a significant
positive effect on CL through CS both directly and indirectly. Section 2 presents literature
review and hypotheses development; Section 3 presents the applied methodology; Section 4
presents the main results, discussion and interpretation of main results. Finally, the main
concluding remarks achieved in this study are presented in Section 5.

2. Literature review and hypotheses development

2.1 Customer satisfaction in Umrah travel services
CS is an affirmative emotional state acquired from assessing a business in terms of all
communications with all stakeholders (Sanchez et al., 2006). CS is a collective involvement of
JIMA purchasing and consuming and is driven by two aspects of prospects and practiced
12,2 performance of service. CS can thus be defined as the feeling of liking or displeasure as a
result of linking the outcomes with expectations (Lally, 2010).
The connection between CS and CL has been explored by many researchers. CS is known
to be the mediating variable that might bring modification to CL (Wang et al., 2005; Deng
et al., 2010; Ojo, 2010). Previous studies had also found that one of the major determinants of
366 CL is CS (Belás and Gabcová 2016; Verma and Singh, 2017). Based on several past studies
coupled with conceptualization of a contemporary idea, this study suggests the following
hypothesis:

H1. When an Umrah customer is satisfied with the services received from Umrah travel
agents, this will positively influence their loyalty towards the travel agent.

2.2 Customer loyalty in Umrah travel services

An adequate explanation for CL has been proposed by Wahab et al. (2016).CL can be defined
as partiality of a brand and behavioral reaction over time, where an individual desires a
specific brand over other brands (McMullan and Gilmore, 2008). CL is an innate commitment
that leads to reuse or repurchase a specific service/product (Daikh, 2015). Loyalty refers to
the highest acceptance level of a brand by customers that is usually visible in customers’
buying behavior. Loyal customers buy more frequently and even recommend the brand to
others (Ngo and Nguyen, 2016).
The square measure varied approaches can be used to define CL, typically as an attitude
towards the loyalty object or as repeated patronage behavior. As an alternative, the
definition could mix behavior in either an additive or an interactive expression. A study by
East et al. (2005) has defined that combining concepts of loyalty are of limited value and,
therefore, should be defined as a singular measure. For this present study, the uni-variable
approach is used to assess CL. This approach is in line with the recommendations by East
et al. (2005) and emphasizes the factors that strengthen the Umrah travel agents competitive
ability and raise satisfaction and customers’ willingness to repeat the acquisition of the
services provided (Aghaei et al., 2014). In this paper, CL is taken as a uni-variable, and it is
conceptualized as the willingness of the customers to return and patronize the Umrah travel
agents. This builds on previous work by Othman et al. (2019). According to Garg et al. (2016)
marketing mix is still in its evolution phase, especially for different industries like its most
popular 4P’s (product, price, promotion and place) and now 7P’s with additional 3P’s (people,
process and physical evidence). But with this additional contribution, various authors
believe that more contributions are still required; for example, Morrison (2002) recognized
that 8P’s of the marketing mix are required for travel and tour services. Some other studies
also suggested that these 8P’s are even not enough for such type of services (Haq et al., 2009).
This study explored and integrated two different dimensions (not P’s) for service marketing
mix, namely, after-sale service (Ladokun et al., 2013) and marketing communication (Venter
and Van Rensburg, 2014; Al-Minhas, 2018). Rafiq and Ahmed (1995) and Riyadi and
Rangkuti (2016) also supported the usefulness of the SMM at a generic level as a strategy.
However, all of these studies were restricted to only social marketing area.

2.3 Marketing mix strategy for Umrah travel services

2.3.1 Enhanced service marketing mix strategy for travel services. SMM is vital in the
planning and implementation of marketing strategies which the customer deliberates as a
first priority. In an extension to the traditional 4P’s, the SMM framework known as 7Ps
[adapted from Aras et al. (2017)] has seven elements, namely, service/product, price, Umrah travel
promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence. It can be stated that each company services in
needs to adopt an effective MM strategy to gain and sustain competitive advantages.
Marketing strategy comprises two interrelated perspectives: target market and marketing
Malaysia
mix. According to Kiran and Diljit (2017), target market determines the profile distinct
groups of customers who differ in their needs, wants and preferences and develop an
integrated marketing communications campaign to display and deliver the advantages of
the organizational products or services. Based on this premise, this study adds two more 367
dimensions to the 7P’s SMM, namely, marketing communication and after sale service
keeping the view from the study of Haq et al. (2009).
Numerous researchers have used the 7P’s model to investigate and apply SSM covering
publication (Melewar and Saunders, 2000), productivity and quality (Lovelock and Wirtz,
2004), personalization (Goldsmith, 1999), or people instead of participation (Afridi, 2009).
Haq et al. (2009) proposed an additional eighth P to expand SMM for travel services. This
shows that the 7P’s of SMM can be used as a basis in the contemporary business
environment for the firms to frame plans, policies, operation and tactical aspects toward
customer’s related outputs and business performance. But it also shows that there is a need
to improve its traditional approach.
SMM initially evolved from 4P’s to 7P’s and this improvement process is still on going. In
various types of industries, people alter this mix to obtain maximum benefit. Morrison
(2002) had explored that 8P’s of the MM are required for travel and tour services. Haq (2014)
also suggested additional 2P’s for travel services. Some other studies also suggested that
these 8P’s are not enough for such types of services (Haq et al., 2009) and still there is a
requirement to optimize and enhance SMM for travel services (Haq et al., 2009). The authors
suggest that this is particularly relevant for Umrah Travel Service (UTS). Keeping in view
the gap in the literature in SMM for UTS, this study will explore two additional dimensions
(not Ps) to be investigated in this context, namely, marketing communication and after sale
service, following Ladokun et al. (2013) and Lau (2016), it is also worth mentioning a
framework presented by Boom and Bitner’s (1981) that included “after sales service” and
“marketing communication” and was proposed to be applicable for the manufacturing
sector and services sector such as airline, hotel and banking sectors.
The following subsections present a brief explanation of the proposed nine SMM
dimensions for UTS.
2.3.1.1 Umrah product. It is the leading first factor and core of MM, because as long as
there is no product or service, other elements of SMM lose their meanings. In this respect, it
should be endeavored to mark the services as tangible through observable structures (Al-
Dmour et al., 2013). To define a service/product, it is used (Sudari et al., 2019) definition
whereby “a product is anything which can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition,
use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need”(Islam et al., 2013). Therefore, while
evolving a product/service, it is vital that the bundle of benefits in the service offer must
have a customer’s perspective (Kushwaha and Agrawal, 2015). Travel services also have a
positive relationship with CL in many areas, especially in travel and spiritual travel services
(Eid and El-Gohary, 2015; Wilson and Liu, 2011). Hence, we propose the hypothesis of the
study as follows:

H2. Excellent service/product provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence

Umrah CL.
In previous studies, a product is defined as anything which is presented to the market to
join, obtain, consume, use or create CS and then CL in a larger context (Aras et al., 2017). The
JIMA features of product/services in tourism are pleasantly clarified by Vassiliadis et al. (2005)
12,2 who defined the Umrah travellers as prospects in the marketplace to the receivers of the
Umrah traveller’s market and its role is to provide support to the workable travel enterprise
process. They additionally explained if the design of the elevation of the destination is
viable, it must consist of three factors, namely, climate, taverns-restaurants and parking
areas. Some other studies on Umrah travelers destination management revealed that two
368 factors including innovative and well-coordinated travel products are considered to be very
important for tourism areas (Sadq et al., 2020a, 2020b); (Hiransomboon, 2012; Henderson,
2016). Hence, we propose the third hypothesis of the study:

H3. Excellent service/product provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence

Umrah CL.
2.3.1.2 Umrah price. A price is the amount of sum or return specified by one party to another
in return for one unit of goods or services. Sometimes, value is included by various costs of
production linked with the demand for the service/product.
The price dimension comprises defining the level of charges, the pricing technique,
pricing strategies, and approaches and rapports of expense in services (Kotler et al., 2014) .In
the travel industry, traveling cost is very sensitive to customers. The influential factors for
structuring Umrah traveling price in packages is based on the cost of duration of stay with
quality service and investment on traveling (Al-Qarni et al., 2013; Kumaladewi et al., 2017) .
Price is a very sensitive aspect because it is the only element that returns back to the
company by covering various costs and efforts. That is why it is needed to identify very careful
attention of experts to set, adjust or even to readjust. The pricing of service needs to be suitable
bestowing to the customer’s capacity, so that the customer has its paying capacity or not.
Pricing decision plays a very crucial role in devising overall marketing decisions while
formulating strategies and creating multiple impacts throughout the product life cycle resulting
in good and bad disasters in market growth and market share (AMEUR et al., 2015), that is
why people who travel for Umrah services are also questioning in terms of prices of such
services. In “Umrah Travel Services,” the package includes the prices and value additions that
need more consideration, and also various searchers used this connection in numerous
researching of various settings of travel services (Almuhrzi and Alsawafi, 2017). Based on the
following hypothesis, therefore, we can assume to test the relationship:

H4. Value price provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah CL.
To embolden Umrah traveller’s services operators, the pricing aspect should be well
maintained on the cost side (Kotler et al., 2014).Furthermore, Umrah travellers and
travel industry customers have their own choices regarding prices for the services
which they expect to choose. It is certainly imperative to decide all prices that is why as
an outcome, customer contribution is increased. Therefore, it can be concluded that the
key to success in obtaining additional Umrah travelers is the level of price. Umrah
travel agents also need to such factors may mislead customers and reduce the
satisfaction level. A prior research also focus on the pricing structure as this industry is
also very competitive in nature and ignoring this revealed five substantial points
regarding MM which enhance tourism production (Kadhim et al., 2016). Therefore, we
can assume the following hypothesis:

H5. Value price provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah customer
satisfaction.
2.3.1.3 Umrah place. One of the supreme fundamental issues is marketing management Umrah travel
services is place or location of service endowment which makes the service probable. It services in
assists to speed up and increase the essential services in addition to making the services
simpler. Service marketing strategy mainly depends on the essential nature of service
Malaysia
providers, place, and distribution. The advanced distribution system assists customers to
reach and discover the preferred brand that marks their level of invented quality with less
effort and time Kotler et al. (2014). There are varied placings for Umrah traveling service
because of providing service and operation of (Umrah Travel Service), UTS which is
369
considered as to diverse areas (across countries). Moreover, Umrah Travel Service offers
Umrah customers to join Umrah Travel Service to practice the service delivery at a location
which is considered to be more perceptible in nature. Therefore, the following hypothesis
has been proposed:

H6. Suitable place provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah CL.
Placement helps identify and provide accurate options of specific services which points to a
significant role for Umrah travellers on the ground. In addition, placement presents several
principles in combination with other features to assist Umrah travellers so as to make the
right decision to correctly select associated services (Champatong, 2014). The place is
concerned about the time and distances from the location of the customers. In addition, it
provides unique notions for traveling ways in addition to emphasising some possible
customers for Umrah travellers’ service. Marketing channels and implementing MM with
the greatest distribution of services for various travel agencies had been illustrated in
previous studies and research (Sadq et al., 2020a, 2020b). Hence, the following hypothesis
could be proposed:

H7. Suitable place provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah
customer satisfaction
2.3.1.4 Umrah promotion. One of the effective methods which encourages, motivates and
familiarizes customers to purchase is promotional section of the MM associated with
providing services and products. Promotion mix has numerous features containing
advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling based on self-associated choices. All the
above mentioned processes reinforce the acceptance and approve the product and
concurrent competition in the market (Thamrin, 2012). Promotion plays a vital role in UTS,
customers are predictors of best Umrah customer service and service quality (Ahmed and
Rahman, 2015). According to the aforementioned study, Sarker et al. (2012) stated that
traveling service as a significant feature is considered as the “front door” to the organization
or business that they provide their service to. It is vital to benefit from the experience
through the service process, because it is required to be expressed as the core of the service
brand. On the other hand, Eid and El-Gohary (2015) believed that branding in traveling
creates change and the idea is definitely vital.
Xie (2020) stated that there is a relation between promotion and the process for getting
individuals to gain information and knowledge of product/service. “Advertising, public
relations, point-of-sale displays, and word-of-mouth promotion” are out-of-date methods of
enhancing a product. Promotion could be observed as a method in ending the knowledge
gap between potential sellers and potential buyers. Al-Qarni et al. (2013) defined promotion
as a type of accurate reinforcement to motivate customers to transfer the information and
inform others about the services (Owomoyela et al., 2013). As previously debated in former
sections, promotion has an identical significant role in producing the allegiance in customers
JIMA of travel services (Almuhrzi and Alsawafi, 2017). Therefore the following hypothesis has
12,2 been proposed:

H8. Informative promotion provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence

Umrah CL.
Promotion is considered as a significant module of SMM that is deliberated from the feature
370 of statement mix, personal selling, public relations, and direct marketing instruments
implemented by the organization for advertisement and marketing. Furthermore, marketers
sell UTS through creating analysis and prophesizing Umrah traveller’s market, designing
Umrah traveller’s products, packaging, and pricing, to enhance Umrah traveller’s products
and some forms worth further increasing consumer products (Kadhim et al., 2016) as
previously deliberated in the literature review, up-to-date methods are not practiced by
Umrah travel agents to attract the attention of customers. Therefore, this hypothesis is
proposed:

H9. Informative promotion provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence

Umrah customer satisfaction
2.3.1.5 Umrah people. In the light of the coexisting availability of services and the relation
between service and servant, the significance of the employees in the facility is fundamental
and essential precision is required to be dedicated to the selection, education, motivation and
other human resources’ influences connected to staff (Octavia and Fatricia, 2017). Observing
the importance of employers in an organization that has connection with an emphasis on
developing staff is important. Individuals’ element is crucial in UTS and is an essential
feature to influence the branding and Umrah CS. On the other hand, a number of UTS is
implementing the technology of Umrah traveling. Another phase for instance, the
appearance of service employees and travel agent services is required to be more
professional and involve more methodological abilities.
According to Lin (2011), the Umrah service requires further growth from the foundations
of individuals. Therefore, Fiaza and Shukor (2016), Lovelock and Wirtz (2004) recommended
that organizations have association with different service sorts of business which needs to
pay attention and consideration to individuals. This lets management teams gain and
identify service delivery and quality standards with correct components. For example,
staff’s duty satisfied by mutawif, recruitment of right employees, training for right skills
and the performance of mutawif (group leader), additional encouragement for the staff,
association structure for interior procedures, well-designed reinforcement systems and job
design. However, even though numerous members of UTS implement the technology used
in Umrah traveling, the individuals’ element is still required in Umrah traveling
management and has an important factor to influence Umrah CS and business branding.
Another aspect such as the appearance of service employees in travel agent services is
required to be more professional and requires more technical abilities. It is a familiar
universality that human resources are considered as a fundamental aspect or considered as
the backbone of the industry as an alternative to finance. Therefore, personnel working in
travel services form a positive and important association with CL with mix strategies again
while it differs from one service to other services (Almuhrzi and Alsawafi, 2017). Therefore,
this hypothesis is proposed:

H10. Cooperative people provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah
CL.
Human recourses are one of the supreme and essential features in distributing and Umrah travel
providing services as part of a management. Kadhim et al. (2016) mentioned that in the services in
absence of personnel, a customer-orientation is impossible to be achieved. In the eyes of
customers, a part of the enterprise product and service as pointed out by Davidson:
Malaysia
The secret of success lies in recognizing the services and customer contact staff is the company’s
key role. So people are categorized as an important factor in product and service. More trainings,
communication, and learning that are offered to personnel will enable them to achieve positive 371
results in displaying value of Umrah services.
Judd (1987) proposed another P in SMM which is individuals. Researchers generally approve
that individuals’ (people) power is required to be pompous, institutionalized and managed
similar to the other four Ps as a typical module of the market mix. Furthermore, customer-
oriented service employees with an emphasis on viewing professionalism of employees,
information of mutawif, inter-personal care, willingness to present assistance, courtesy and
prompt behavior are expected to have association that greatly reinforces the customer–
employee relationship (Kushwaha and Agrawal, 2015):

H11. Cooperative people provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah
customer satisfaction
2.3.1.6 Umrah physical evidence. Diversity of physical, material tools and facilities as
elements of service organization are essential to deliver services and realize potential
services. Up-to-date and more qualitative services are in accordance with CS (Kotler et al.,
2014). In general, Umrah traveling service could be considered as a typical procedure and
the service location is unchangeable. The implementation of Umrah traveling technology in
services is one vital element to decrease reliance on the human aspect and advance UTS.
The use of technology in Umrah traveling helps to provide a full day (twenty-four hour
operation), accuracy of time and payment, better Umrah traveling observation and online
assistance for the system. Umrah traveling service can be considered as a home of the
Umrah customers through which they can comprehend, practice and experience the
traveling services. Umrah traveling agents have a great role as non-transferable central
authority of providing facilities and the customers may enjoy the facilities as services
provided by the traveling agents. Therefore, suitable distribution of physical evidence in
UTS has positive influence on Umrah customer experience and gratification throughout
service consumption including: procedures, documentation, an office setting, and
equipment.
Services are regularly intangible and customers are not able to measure the quality well.
Therefore, the service environment is implemented as a significant proxy for quality by
customers. Service environments are recognized as services cape or physical evidence which
is associated with the model, the presence of the physical surroundings and further
experiential features met by customers at the service delivery sites. It is necessary for
service organizations to manage physical evidence accurately because customers’
impressions are affected by physical evidence (Kushwaha and Agrawal, 2015). Physical
evidence is crucial and effective in some services, however, in UTS, physical evidence is
required to explore through our framework because there is absence of a specific study
which explores this relationship (Almuhrzi and Alsawafi, 2017). Therefore, the following
assumption has been stated:

H12. Useful physical evidence provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence
Umrah CL.
JIMA Physical evidence includes all aspects that the sellers have including: place, decoration, staff
12,2 and everything in the travel office that has association with travel experience, which offers
non-profit to the sellers. For instance, a tour of historical places for the first time leaves
beautiful memories while transport facilities, markets and the behavior of the local people
are also important to remain as a remembrance of the factors. Therefore, Umrah travellers
are important in the travel experience. Thus, the following assumption has been stated:
372 H13. Useful physical evidence provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence
Umrah customer satisfaction
2.3.1.7 Umrah processes. The management and marketing process of services have
influence on the quality of service. Possibilities, limitations and supply and demand
conditions are effective features that affect the process of service provision. The service
process simplicity is in accordance with customers’ relaxation and satisfaction in terms of
fast and easy delivering (Kotler et al., 2014). Tan and Pawitra (2001) defined process as
procedures, mechanisms and activities which are required to provide services. Generally,
Umrah traveling service is considered as an unchangeable service location and standard
process.
The use of technology in Umrah traveling helps to provide a full day (twenty-four hour
operation), accuracy of time and payment, better Umrah traveling observation and online
assistance for the system.
For the seventh P, the process means maximum performance in sending products and
services to clients. The purpose of providing facility is to help customers feel satisfied.
Persistence and process are two essential aspects in the MM as customers get first
impressions mainly through the delivery process and persistence depicted by marketers
(Hashim and Hamzah, 2014). Through Umrah practice, travel services regularly derive
benefits in terms of income and have various oriented directions and interactions. Research
findings are varied and mixed to draw a conclusion regarding the importance of this
relationship while the majority accepts that the relationship is positive (Almuhrzi and
Alsawafi, 2017) .Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H14. Easy Umrah process provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah CL.
Process is inseparable, in the service process, if the service provider can focus, carefully,
patiently, for customer service, can provide customers high-quality service impression, so
customer service satisfaction is high, the process of service management is the key to
improve the quality of service (Kadhim et al., 2016). Hirankitti et al. (2009) stated that the
process is clearly perceived by the customer and it forms the basis of CS with the purchase.
Thus, we propose the following hypothesis:

H15. Easy Umrah process provided by Umrah travel agents positively influence Umrah
customer satisfaction.
2.3.1.8 Marketing communication (new dimension in service marketing mix). Marketing
communications can be through ancient and online media, as well as newspapers, radio,
magazines, television, outside advertising, support, promotion, client service hot line,
company website, social media sites, packaging, logo, purpose of sales show and private
marketing (Smith and Zook, 2011). Corporations will use numerous promoting
communication tools like media advertisements, promotion, distribution and ratings to make
awareness, image and temperament (Donchev, 2012) that successively facilitate to extend
trust and eventually results in CL (Philip and Lane, 2013). Supporting this read, Chung and
Park (2017) prompt that promoting communication combine like advertising, price, Umrah travel
packaging, symbols, logos, store location and word of mouth will, in fact, strengthen CL. services in
Marketing communication could be a management method where a company engages with
its numerous audiences. Through the understanding of an audience’s most well-liked
Malaysia
communication surroundings, organizations ask for to develop and gift messages to its known
neutral teams, before evaluating and acting upon any responses. By conveyance of title messages
that an area’s unit of serious worth, audience’s area unit were inspired to supply attitudinal,
emotional, and behavioral responses (Kotler et al., 2014). Umrah travel agents are doing various 373
activities and using many communication tools to keep in touch with their Umrah customers
(Karjaluoto et al., 2015). Some of those tools are advertisements, sales incentives, direct
marketing, multilevel marketing and promotional tools (Morrison, 2002). If companies have good
relationships with their customers they can convert their potential customers into loyal
customers. After having a good satisfaction level with services and the rest of all offerings, they
can be converted into loyal customers. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis:

H16. Comprehensive marketing communication provided by Umrah travel agents

positively influence Umrah CL.
Marketing communications between a company and its customers highlights the benefits
and unique differences of a particular service. It is a process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create an
exchange that satisfies individual and organizational objectives. Human and social needs
were identified as per what producer and customer focus on and advertising purchase
intention (Sarker et al., 2012) .When Umrah travel agents get any information which is a
benefit to the customers, they must inform their customers, for example when Umrah travel
agents read an article (Alfanda et al., 2005; Khan and Shambour, 2018). Umrah travel agents
do not send all new information for customers. Customers want to get new information.
They must be the best in providing a great quality customer care. When there is an
association that a customer is interested in, if the customer gets enough information about
an association, it will reduce the doubt concerning the problem; hence, they will feel more
comfortable traveling with the association. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis:

H17. Comprehensive marketing communication provided by Umrah travel agents

positively influence Umrah CS.
2.3.1.9 After sale service (new dimension in service marketing mix). After sale service has
changed the traditions of businesses because of rapid technological advancement, high
competition and increasing profits (Jalil, 2011). Now, the after sale service has shifted
from cost center to major profit source and in many businesses profitability reached up
to 45 per cent of revenue (Saccani et al., 2007). The after sale services strategy of service
providers is affected because of particular terms like service contracts, warranty,
characteristics of clienteles and nature of the products (Jalil, 2011). After sale services
ensure that of customers are satisfied with services they have received. For example,
during holidays, selling tickets to clients is not essentially the completion of the selling
business for both parties. Travel agents of Umrah must enquire from customers after
the trip about their satisfaction for after sale services. This will create a good image of
travel agents and prove sincere concerns in terms of public relations for customers
(Zhou, 2014).
After sale services are referred to as the contact to the customers after they perform
Umrah. Contacting their Umrah customers after the sale can help them in building an
JIMA ongoing relationship with customers and also encourage customers to talk about their
12,2 business in a positive way (Zhou, 2014). After sale services are great ways in obtaining
Umrah CL and proving to their forecast that they are their priority. When Umrah travel
agents talk to their customers, they will probably have referrals to give to Umrah travel
agents (Khodakarami and Chan, 2014; Ordenes et al., 2014). During UTS, the after sale
service needs to be explored in terms of its usability, as feedback given aims to improve the
374 quality of services. Also empirical evidence on this relationship is not available. Therefore,
we can assume the following hypothesis:

H18. Tremendous after-sale service provided by Umrah travel agents positively

influence Umrah CL.
After sale services are denoted as the connection with the customers after performing
Umrah. This will help travel agents in constructing continued associations with clients
and encourage them to take the business in a good way (Zhou, 2014) .After sale service
is an ideal way to gain customers’ loyalty and ensure that they are viewed as the top
priority. Clients of Umrah referee towards travel agents when they talk with their
clients about after sale services (Khodakarami and Chan, 2014; Ordenes et al., 2014).
After sale services need to be explored more in terms of usability during UTS, as the
aim of taking feedback is to improve the quality. There are a few evidences available
that empirically verify the effects of after sale services. Therefore, the following
hypothesis has been proposed:

H19. Tremendous after-sale service provided by Umrah travel agents positively

influence Umrah CS.

2.4 Customer satisfaction as a mediator between service marketing mix and Umrah
customer loyalty
The right mixture of SMM creates effective operational elements of the mix as stimulus
factor towards CS and CL. The integration of CS in the relationship between SMM and CL
will contribute to a more variance explanation in satisfaction construct. Past studies had
affirmed that CS is an antecedent to CL (Ordenes et al., 2014; Wahab et al., 2016; Verma and
Singh, 2017; Sudari et al., 2019).
Previous studies found that one of the major determinants of CL is CS, indicating that in
every business and market, customers need to be satisfied before they can become loyal
(Sarker et al., 2012) It is important for providers of hijab and the fashion industry to deliver
excellent services and products so that they will create a good reputation and ensure
satisfaction to customers. Therefore, CS is justified to be used as the mediating variable that
will influence hijab customers to become loyal to an organization.
There are nine elements that serve as independent variables under the marketing mix
which consist of product, price, place, promotion, people, process, physical evidence,
marketing communication, after sale service and marketing intelligence. Meanwhile, the
dependent variable reflects the outcome of the research study, which is CL and the
mediating effect is customer satisfaction. Those elements are used as the study setting in
investigating the relationship among marketing mix, CS and customer loyalty. The
relationship between service marketing mix, CS as mediating variable and CL is worth to be
investigated because existing empirical still lacks to explain the relationship. Thus, present
study postulates the sixth hypothesis as follows:
 H20. Umrah CS mediator has a significant positive relationship between SMM and Umrah travel
Umrah CL. services in
Malaysia
3. Method
Based on the literature review presented in the previous section, the investigation
framework of this study contains the seven essential SMM dimensions called Ps such as
“price, product, place, process, promotion, physical evidence and people,” and the proposed 375
addition of two extra dimensions which are specific contributions by the authors:
“marketing communication and after sale service.” All of these nine dimensions are taken as
independent variables whereas CL is taken as a dependent variable. Additionally, CS is
looked upon as a mediator as shown in Figure 1.
The investigation framework allows studying the effects on CS and CL by integrating
marketing communication and after sale service into the traditional SMM model of Umrah
travel services in Malaysia. With this aim in mind, the population selected for this study
consists of Umrah customers who used UTS more than one time previously. For this study,
convenience sampling technique at four international airports in Malaysia, namely KLIA 1
and KLIA 2, Senai Airportand Kota Kinabalu International Airport were used to obtain data
from Umrah travellers who had performed Umrah at least once. They were approached
during the waiting session for Umrah departure. They were asked a screening question
which was to identify if they had performed Umrah previously using travel agents. A total
of 384 volunteer respondents participated in the survey and the data was analyzed using
partial least square (PLS). The present study selects a reflective-formative modeling
approach that suits the assessed constructs. In a high-order construct level, SMM was
measured through a formative model where nine variables are coded as product (PRD), price
(PRC), place (PLC), promotion (PRM), people (PEP), process (PRO), physical evidence (PHY),
marketing communication (MC) and after sale service (AFSS) were conceptualized to form

Figure 1.
Investigation
framework for UTS
JIMA the SMM construct. Validity of the questionnaire was investigated through confirmatory
12,2 factor analysis using smart PLS software. Reliability of the questionnaire was also
investigated through composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha and the results are higher
than 70 per cent, indicating high reliability of the questionnaire (Hair et al., 2012).
The questionnaire comprised of five sections. The first was a screening question. The
second section is the demographic information of the respondents. The third section
376 contains questions linked with dimensions of SMM: promotion (Al-Dmour et al., 2013), price
(Al-Dmour et al., 2013), product (Al-Dmour et al., 2013), place (Helm and Gritsch, 2014)
physical evidence (Akroush, 2011), people (Lee et al., 2014), process (Sreenivas et al., 2013),
marketing communication (Duffett, 2017) and after sale service (Coviello and Yli-Renko,
2016).The fourth part covered items relating to CS (Sadq, 2020a, 2020b). The final part was
questions about CL (Harris and Goode, 2004).

4. Findings and discussion

4.1 Profile of respondents
Table I shows the percentage and frequency of the sample population covered by the study
on the basis of gender, age, occupation, qualification, marital status and monthly salary of
the respondents.
By gender, the majority of Umrah travellers are men (57.3 per cent) as compared to
women (42.7 per cent). Men were found to have a higher propensity for buying UTS than
women. The age describes the knowledge about the purchasing behavior of people. It shows
that older people have higher consideration for purchasing UTS.

Demographic Characteristic Frequency (%)

Gender Male 220 57.3

Female 164 42.7
Age 20-30 68 17.7
31-40 101 26.3
41-50 83 21.6
51-60 91 23.7
61 years old and above 41 10.7
Qualification High school 77 20.1
Certificate 47 12.2
Diploma 91 23.7
Degree 136 35.4
Masters and above 33 8.6
Occupation Government 111 28.9
non-government 137 35.7
Self-employment 67 17.4
Student 16 4.2
Others 53 13.8
Marital status Single 54 14.1
Married 307 79.9
Other 23 6.0
Monthly salary (RM) Below 2000 83 21.6
Table I. 2001 to 3000 85 22.1
Demographic 3001 to 4000 76 19.8
characteristics of 4001 to 5000 58 15.1
respondents Above 5000 82 21.4
 The above demographical characteristics show that the most frequent respondent’s ages Umrah travel
range from 31 to 40 years (26.3 per cent), although the age ranges are fairly distributed from services in
20-60 years old. The aptitude of customers to have an Umrah experience was driven by
getting them as the personification of their pecuniary competences. Customers of UTS have
Malaysia
per month salary from 2,001 to 3,000 (RM) with a percentage rate of 22.1 per cent. Currently,
numerous Umrah travels are available that can be gained by consumers. Choice of Umrah
travel depends profoundly on information of the buyer that the Umrah travel agent that
develops echelons of buyer information. Consumers with higher levels of qualification will 377
be more selective in their purchases. Clients with upper qualification will be choosier in their
consumption. Buyer developments in obtaining service Umrah travel conquered the
respondents with a qualification level degree that is around 35.40 per cent. This can be
described as customers who obtain service Umrah travel are opened as having adequate
information and can be applied as a foundation as a verdict for creating service Umrah
purchases. The users also opted to have a service Umrah travel triggered for their
matrimonial position. There is also the power of husbands, children, and wives in the
procurement of services. Buyer tendencies to buy depend on several factors like marital
status (Kotler et al., 2014). Table I denotes that the purchase of Umrah travel services
influenced by consumers who are married, such as 79.90 per cent. These situations clarify
that the services provided by Umrah travel offer a high petition to clients who have been
conjugal since because maximum modifications are intentionally shaped for the family
service Umrah. The type of work that possessed customers’ movement matching to them in
booming out their happenings (Kotler et al., 2014). The occupation of someone also
influences consumption arrangements. Features of respondents by occupation subjugated
by non-government are equal to 35.70 per cent.

4.2 Measurement model

Table II explains that “latent variables” are categorised by the “convergence validity” of
all loading factors and for all variables of the study the value of AVE is more than 0.5 and
for all latent variables, the values of CR are above the criteria of 0.7, which shows that the
qualified components sustain acceptable reliability. Moreover, applying “Cronbach’s
alpha” test of reliability, all latent values are more than 0.6, and this proof is sufficient to
agree that the study material has good reliability. Whereas reviewing the discrimination
validity, Table III expresses that for all variables, the values of AVE root square are more
than inter-structure correlations. So it can be concluded that the measurement model has
good reliability, and its validity is constructive and reliable to indicate the variables of
the study.

4.3 Hypothesis test

The first hypothesis is the customer satisfaction (CS) which has a positive and significant
impact on customer loyalty (CL) whereas literature usually supports this relationship.
Similarly, the relationship between these constructs was also established as significant ( b =
0.493, SE= 0.034, t = 14.722 and p < 0.000) in the Umrah service context. The first
hypothesis test findings show that CS has a positive and significant impact on CL, as it is a
high-quality and large effect of CS on CL. Very few customers have complaints on the
acquisition of offerings, the preparation. Service customers feel that satisfaction of both
features of the enterprise has to be ideal (use services of service) so that the shortage of such
criticism, the effect on clients’ willingness to apply or buyback the goods and services
available. This case is an example of the excessive CL. Customers who are satisfied and
happy have a tendency to be a CL. CS can make an emotional affection to a provider and it
JIMA Variables Cronbach’s alpha rho_A Composite reliability Average variance extracted
12,2
AFSS 0.945 0.951 0.953 0.670
CL 0.881 0.903 0.910 0.598
CS 0.935 0.936 0.951 0.795
MC 0.939 0.941 0.947 0.621
PEP 0.915 0.916 0.932 0.664
378 PHY 0.955 0.956 0.962 0.736
PLC 0.916 0.917 0.932 0.630
PRC 0.913 0.916 0.931 0.659
PRD 0.843 0.867 0.884 0.528
PRM 0.933 0.935 0.945 0.681
PRO 0.906 0.907 0.928 0.681
Table II.
Variables Notes: AFSS = after sale service; MC = marketing communication; PEP = people; PHY = physical
measurement model evidence; PLC = place; PRC = price; PRD = product; PRM = promotion; PRO = process

Variables AFSS CL CS MC PEP PHY PLC PRC PRD PRM PRO

AFSS 0.819
CL 0.628 0.773
CS 0.528 0.741 0.891
MC 0.773 0.599 0.447 0.788
PEP 0.637 0.664 0.580 0.618 0.815
PHY 0.787 0.610 0.498 0.773 0.708 0.858
PLC 0.642 0.593 0.499 0.671 0.733 0.747 0.794
PRC 0.597 0.575 0.512 0.570 0.691 0.615 0.688 0.812
PRD 0.499 0.535 0.478 0.503 0.624 0.532 0.564 0.694 0.727
PRM 0.614 0.521 0.450 0.677 0.646 0.669 0.755 0.721 0.566 0.825
PRO 0.693 0.589 0.517 0.656 0.804 0.739 0.684 0.654 0.542 0.660 0.825
Table III. Note: AFSS = after sale service; CS = customer satisfaction; CL = customer loyalty; MC = marketing
Discriminant validity communication; PEP = people; PHY = physical evidence; PLC = place; PRC = price; PRD = product;
of latent constructs PRM = promotion; PRO = process

generates excessive CL. Loyalty may be defined as someone’s faithfulness in using the
products and services provided through the organization.
The hypothesis is based on the assumption that all the dimensions of the SMM have a
positive and significant impact on CL. The findings show that the path coefficient from
SMM to CL were statistically significant with a very strong standardized estimation and
obtained high t-values of more than 2.58 (p < 0.000). Moreover, R2 for variance in was
substantially explained at 0.660. The hypothesis testing results show all dimensions of
SMM had a significant positive impact on CL. Another factor adding a positive impact and
significant SMM on CL, found that the outcomes of focus group with known causes of
positive and significant effects of the SMM on CL. This was because of clientele regarding
that Umrah service is a superior travel service, has competitive prices, marketing
communications through the sale well completed and offices are easily accessible. The
employee who has a concern about their clientele, the accessibility of facilities and
infrastructure are adequate helps to activate the creation of great CL. The statement
described that the establishment of CL cannot be obtained by a single dimension but the Umrah travel
whole dimension inherent in the service marketing mix. services in
The hypothesis testing shows that all dimensions of SMM are positive and have a
significant impact on CS. The result made by Smart PLS had displayed that there was a
Malaysia
significant connotation between SMM and CS (p < 0.000). Another statistical finding is the
R2 for CS was to be 0.355 which was close to the moderate level of variance accounted
through service marketing mix. The results confirmed that all the dimensions of SMM have
significant and positive impacts on CS Umrah travel agents. The consequences of a 379
recognition of discussions found a number of matters influencing SMM have a high-quality
and good sized-impact on CS. The outcomes of discussions held in a single workplace
Umrah tour recognized to source positive and tremendous impacts of the SMM on customer
satisfaction, typically because of the fact the enterprise has first rate hotels and
infrastructure, customers can benefit from facts about offerings and shopping systems. This
impacts high interest and desires of the customers to make purchase of services and use
offerings from the travel industry.
The SMM on CL by relating the mediating variables of customer satisfaction, it can be
confirmed that SMM has significantly influenced CS, and CS has significantly impacted CL;
therefore, SMM also significantly has an effect on CL. After regression and bootstrapping
techniques were applied together with service marketing, CL and CS as mediator variables;
the size of indirect effect of CS was 0.294 and achieved statistically significant at t =11.219
(p < 0.000) after divided by standard error (SE) value = 0.026. The direct path coefficient
between SMM and CL was decreased to b = 0.415, a significant path at level p < 0.000.
Thus, it was confirmed that CS was a mediator between SMM and CL through partial
mediation and it represented that hypothesis H20 was supported (Table IV). Table V
illustrates the coefficient b for each path. The data specify that all of the results of
hypothesis are significantly and positively related to customers’ satisfaction and CL
(Figures 2 and 3).

4.4 Discussion
The study analyzed the impact of SMM on CS and the impact of CS on CL in Umrah travel
agent in “Malaysia.” The study has been conducted with the help of primary data. Data has
been collected with the help of a questionnaire filled in by people who used UTS more than
one time before in “Malaysia.” This finding indicates that “Malaysian” Umrah customers are
conservative where they prefer the Umrah service product travel takaful and Visit (Badar,
uhad, Masjid Qiblatain, Quran factory, Jeddah Mosque, and Museum Haramain). Besides
that, practitioners had to conserve their marketing such as the price of the Umrah package
which was relevant to the services offered, the relevant price of the Umrah package
compared to the facilities provided and where the price of the Umrah packages was
reasonable, the prices offered are better compared to competitors, and an efficient method of
payment. While promotional aspects are always interrelated and vital to the foundation of
Umrah services (such as production of advertisement or electronic media/print media), sales
promotion and public relations are used to enhance its image. “Malaysian” Umrah
customers had demonstrated that they desire: physical evidence such as office design,
professional appearance of employees and facilities with modern technology. They also
preferred the right Umrah staff, the professionalism of employees, the confidence of
employees in serving customers, the management system to handle customers and
representatives at the airport for the facilitation of check-in.
Adding to this finding, the primary causes that treat mixes of service marketing was
extensively associated to CS and CL are place and process, where they reacted actively in
JIMA Hypotheses Path b SE t-value p-value Decision
12,2
H1 CS ! CL 0.493 0.034 14.722 0.000 Supported
H2 PRD ! CL 0.034 0.004 9.605 0.000 Supported
H3 PRD ! CS 0.049 0.004 10.835 0.000 Supported
H4 PRC ! CL 0.047 0.005 9.721 0.000 Supported
H5 PRC ! CS 0.067 0.005 12.236 0.000 Supported
380 H6 PLC ! CL 0.052 0.006 9.171 0.000 Supported
H7 PLC !> CS 0.074 0.006 12.713 0.000 Supported
H8 PRM ! CL 0.052 0.006 9.344 0.000 Supported
H9 PRM ! CS 0.075 0.006 12.554 0.000 Supported
H10 PEP ! CL 0.053 0.005 10.894 0.000 Supported
H11 PEP ! CS 0.076 0.006 13.519 0.000 Supported
H12 PHY ! CL 0.071 0.007 9.800 0.000 Supported
H13 PHY ! CS 0.103 0.007 14.305 0.000 Supported
H14 PRO ! CL 0.042 0.004 10.363 0.000 Supported
H15 PRO ! CS 0.060 0.005 12.922 0.000 Supported
Table IV. H16 MC ! CL 0.070 0.007 10.043 0.000 Supported
Summary of H17 MC ! CS 0.100 0.007 13.944 0.000 Supported
hypotheses testing H18 AFSS ! CL 0.073 0.007 10.146 0.000 Supported
direct results H19 AFSS ! CS 0.104 0.007 14.371 0.000 Supported

Hypotheses Path b SE t-value p-value Decision

H20 SMM ! CS ! CL 0.294 0.026 11.219 0.000 Supported

H20a PRD ! CS ! CL 0.024 0.003 8.512 0.000 Supported
H20b PRC ! CS ! CL 0.033 0.003 9.624 0.000 Supported
H20c PRM ! CS ! CL 0.037 0.003 10.805 0.000 Supported
H20d PLC ! CS ! CL 0.037 0.003 10.779 0.000 Supported
H20e PEP !> CS ! CL 0.038 0.004 9.486 0.000 Supported
Table V. H20f PRO ! CS ! CL 0.029 0.003 9.863 0.000 Supported
Summary of H20g PHY !> CS ! CL 0.051 0.005 10.864 0.000 Supported
hypotheses testing H20h MC ! CS ! CL 0.049 0.005 10.027 0.000 Supported
indirect results H20i AFSS ! CS ! CL 0.052 0.005 10.287 0.000 Supported

moulding SMM for CS and CL assessment. Customers of “Malaysian” Umrah services

favour the short distance of the hotel from Masjid Al nabawi, distance of the hotel from
Masjidil Haram, waiting area at the travel agents’ office, accessibility to approach travel
agents’ offices and car parking facilities. They also prefer friendly procedures, ease of the
Umrah application process in general, Umrah application process time, Umrah application
problem handling, ability of the online system to process the inquiry and Umrah courses
provided.
Additionally, they prefer marketing communication and after sale service to help find
lost luggage, attractive after-sale service, responding quickly to service requests, changes in
packages after availing one package, information provided after reaching “Malaysia” from
Umrah and bus service from the airport to a designated destination in “Malaysia.” The
responses from “Malaysia” Umrah customers imply that they like the arrangements of
information, clarity of messages delivered through marketing communication and video
information about Umrah. Therefore, marketing communication and after sale service were
important dimensions of the service marketing mix. The finding of the marketing
 Umrah travel
services in
Malaysia

381

Figure 2.
PLS algorithm results

Figure 3.
PLS bootstrapping
results
JIMA communication and after sale service dimensions were positive and had a significant on
12,2 Umrah customer satisfaction. These results, therefore, remind practitioners to advance their
understandings on the customers’ needs in formulating SMM, as they use these to
incorporate in their company’s vision and mission statements.

5. Implications
382 This study will be of interest to the Umrah travel industry in understanding how marketing
mix strategies are essential for maintaining a long term relationship with customers. Umrah
travel industry contributes significantly on the Malaysian economic growth, and during the
past decade the competition has increased dramatically. Therefore, this research study is
intended to seek for solid empirical justification to consider SMM and CS as a major and
substantial factor in CL in Malaysian Umrah traveling industry.
Moreover, it might supply a basis for additional validation of the analysis framework
developed during this study to grasp the variations of client behavior. The study has varied
sensible implications for researchers and academicians. The findings of the study are useful
to grasp relationships among service selling combination, CS and loyalty. There is some
data concerned with SMM, CS and CL; however, these selling terms studied show only
occasional use in the Umrah travel field. Furthermore, there was an absence of proof of such
analysis in “Malaysia” particularly in the Umrah travel service sector.
The outcomes of the contemporary study are applicable for various specialists in the Umrah
travel sector. The Umrah traveling industry is still in a growing stage. To achieve justifiable
growth, Umrah travel agents need to emphasize on CS which leads in CL as specified in results
of the study. The results are of excessive use for policymakers and various high-level experts in
developing various plans and strategies for this sector. Furthermore, the study can be used by
scholars of different industries and different places throughout the world.

6. Conclusion
This study acknowledges the competitive environment and the relevance of a scientific
approach to pilgrimage driven travel services as an emerging area for expanding traditional
touristic traveling research, focusing on leisure, world heritage, historical or
commemoratives sites tourism. Malaysia, a country where 60 per cent of the population is
Muslim, is used as a case study to investigate the effects on CS and loyalty of a novel SMM
strategy for Umrah service that include the traditional 7P’s (promotion, place, people,
product, price, process and physical evidence) plus two additional dimensions: marketing
communication and after sales service.
The results of 384 usable questionnaires demonstrate that after sale service and
marketing communication have a significant positive effect on CL through CS, both directly
and indirectly, for Umrah service. These are two important dimensions in the SMM that can
be studied in other regions of the world offering Umrah services. Moreover, the results
provide a basis for additional validation of client behavior and are useful to grasp
relationships among service selling combination, CS and CL. There is some data concerned
with SMM, CS and CL; however, these selling terms studied show only occasional use in the
Umrah travel field. Furthermore, there was an absence of proof of such analysis in Malaysia
particularly in the Umrah travel service sector. The present study fulfills this gap.
In order to achieve justifiable growth, Umrah travel agents need to place emphasis on CS
which leads in CL as specified in results of the study. The results are of use for policymakers
and various high level experts in developing various plans and strategies for this sector.
Furthermore, the study can be used by scholars of different industries and different places
throughout the world.
 Apart from the many unique aspects coupled with findings and implications in various Umrah travel
contexts within organizations at the micro level and also for society at large, still there are services in
limitations because of the wider scope of study which goes beyond the borders. This study
contains the respondents of Malaysia only, whereas the users of these services are living
Malaysia
across the globe. Therefore, researchers, government institutions, regulatory bodies,
academicians and policymakers as stakeholders should be vigilant in expending and
implementing the outcomes of the study. It would be a better study if the data was collected
from different districts and countries. Future research can be carried out to study SMM, CS
383
and CL in diverse industries. Comparative studies can also be helpful among different
nations using these services to discover variations in CS and CL.

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Further reading
Bellmunt, T.V. and Deltoro, M.F. (2005), “The rise and fall of the marketing mix. The evolution of and
the debate surrounding the concept”.
JIMA Corresponding author
Bestoon Abdulmaged Othman can be contacted at: bestoon.othman@epu.edu.iq
12,2
Author affiliations
Bestoon Abdulmaged Othman, Department of Business Administration, Koya Technical Institute,
Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq and Scientific Research and
Development Center-Nawroz University-Kurdistan Regional, Iraq
388 Amran Harun, Faculty of Technology Management and Business,
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Malaysia
Nuno Marques De Almeida, Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources,
Technical University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal, and
Zana Majed Sadq, Department of Management and Accounting, Faculty of Humanities and Social
Science, Koya University, Koya, Kurdistan Region, F.R. Iraq and Department of Legal
Administration, Collage of Business and Economics, Lebanese-French University, Kurdistan
Region, F.R. Iraq

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