Customer importance vs service performance: a multifaceted investigation in the Indonesia halal certification

Purpose This study aims to measure the consumer satisfaction index (CSI) and show the gap between importance and performance attributes in halal certification services. Design/methodology/approach This study uses CSI, paired-sample t-tests and importance performance analysis (IPA) with measurement indicators. The sample size was 2,743, drawn from 34 provinces in Indonesia. Findings The results showed that the CSI value was 88.6%, but the results of the paired sample t-test showed a difference and gap between importance and performance, with an average value of 4.27%. According to IPA, establishing service requirements, ensuring ease of access to information on halal certification services and streamlining consumer complaint submission were attributes of high consumer importance and low performance. Research limitations/implications This research has limited access to foreign business actors; therefore, the research sample only accommodates domestic business actors. Practical implications This study emphasizes the need for policymakers to formulate customer-centric policies by evaluating customer satisfaction and service provider performance based on customer importance and service performance. Originality/value This study encourages the adoption of public service attributes to measure customer satisfaction in the halal certification process. In addition, it designed a service satisfaction evaluation model by sequentially elaborating the CSI, paired sample t-test and IPA approaches into one unit to reveal the satisfaction values.