The article presents an inclusive framework on
three major constructs namely intercultural communication
competence, service reliability and customer satisfaction in
the grocery retail settings in Malaysia. The constructs’
validity and reliability were examined based on structural
equation modeling. Based on the proposed framework, a
number of propositions were developed to facilitate
empirical investigation on intercultural communication
competences of the selected grocery retail outlets. This
contributes to the development of a theory based path
model that links the intercultural communication
competence to service reliability and customer satisfaction.
While numerous scholars have considered the extensive
topics of service quality and customer satisfaction, however,
none of those studies explored on the critical role of
intercultural communication competence and incorporated
the construct with perceived service quality and customer
satisfaction. One of the most critical finding of the study is
the dimension of perceived service quality and intercultural
communication competence have positive relationship and
it also progressive finding for further research on other
dimensions of perceived service quality.