The impact of brand experience,service quality and perceived value on word of mouth of retail bank customers: investigating the mediating effect of loyalty

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of the antecedents—brand experience, service quality, and perceived value on word of mouth (WOM) recommendations by retail banking customers in an emerging market. The paper also investigates the mediating effect of loyalty on WOM with respect to the abovementioned antecedents. A survey of 412 retail customers of various banks in India was undertaken using a structured questionnaire developed using existing constructs. The results show that brand experience, service quality, and perceived value have a significant impact on WOM recommendations of customers of retail banks. Further, the relationships between the abovementioned antecedents and WOM are mediated by loyalty. This study makes several contributions to the academic literature. First, it establishes the importance of brand experience, service quality, and perceived value as antecedents of WOM in the context of retail banks in an emerging market. Second, it also establishes that loyalty plays a mediating role for the abovementioned antecedents for WOM recommendations by retail customers of banks in an emerging market.     

A structural equation modelling of the antecedents of relationship quality in the Malaysia banking sector

The intense competition among firms in the new global environment has made it inevitable for firms to seek ways to create and maintain quality relationship with customers, and Malaysia banks are no exception. However, little is understood from empirical viewpoint about the antecedents of relationship quality specifically, the actual influence of overall customer satisfaction and its indicators. Based on data collected from 220 customers of 15 retail banks in Malaysia and analysed using the structural equation modelling technique, findings are that overall customer satisfaction is a key determinant of relationship quality. The indicators of customer satisfaction include trust, commitment, communication, service quality, service satisfaction and conflict handling. These results are not confounded by any service differential among the participating banks. Important theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

Towards a better understanding of mobile banking: the impact of customer experience on trust and commitment

In the current context of ubiquitous connectedness through portable mobile devices and services, it is important to comprehend more fully the nature of consumer/bank interactions and relationships. At the same time, firms in the service sector are trying to provide customers with impactful positive experiences. This article examines the impact of mobile banking experience on trust and commitment based on the customer experience dimensions defined by Schmitt and expanded to include the negative aspect of the affective dimension. A total of 396 panellists of a recognized Canadian research firm responded to a self-administered online questionnaire. Findings demonstrate that the cognitive and negative affective dimensions of mobile experience impact trust, whereas the positive affective/sensory dimension influences commitment. The behavioural and social dimensions do not have significant impacts. This study enriches the theoretical corpus of knowledge in customer experience, relationship marketing and m-banking literature, lending practical implications for mobile services managers. Financial institutions, for example, should offer sensory mobile applications designed to appeal to the eye or to the touch (positive affective/sensory dimension), provide tools and information intended to arouse user curiosity and provoke reflection (cognitive dimension), while avoiding negative experiences which can lead to damaging feelings/emotions such as disappointment and anger (negative affective dimension).     

Mobile nudging: Youth engagement with banking apps

Mobile-banking (m-banking) is of particular interest to banks seeking to sustain their market share because of m-banking’s role attracting and retaining customers, especially young ones. This article reports on a study that applies concepts from behavioural economics (BE) and ‘nudging’ with the objective of promoting young people’s ongoing engagement with m-banking applications (that is, software designed to run on mobile devices, or m-banking ‘apps’ in common parlance). Insights and ideas for new features or refinements for m-banking apps were generated from discussions with a large class of senior marketing students, and then presented to m-banking managers and app designers to refine and to select two features for each of five constructs from BE: loss aversion, power of now, scarcity value, chunking and choice architecture. The relative desirability of these 10 m-banking features was investigated via a survey involving a pairwise-ranking exercise that was completed by 257 young m-banking consumers. Overall, the research reveals that m-banking app design can benefit from fundamentally different approaches (relative to traditional methodologies) that prioritise intuitive interfaces over non-intuitive-based designs, and, in particular, that BE and nudging can supply valuable insights and ideas for new features or refinements.     

Bank service quality: A comparison between a publicly quoted bank and a government bank in Singapore

This study, conducted in Singapore, investigates three aspects of service quality. The study samples customers of two specific banks, one of which is publicly quoted and one of which is government owned. For comparative purposes, five service quality dimensions, which the authors created, were used. The results showed that consumer expectations about an excellent bank's service quality were not significantly different as between the publicly quoted bank and the government bank. The perceptions that consumers had about the service quality of the bank they patronised, though, showed some significant differences. The publicly quoted bank was perceived as having a significantly better ‘services portfolio’, specifically in regard to making customers aware of its services and offering a variety of services through its ATMs. The government bank was perceived as having better ‘staff who deliver the service’, specifically in the way the staff dressed and the efficiency with which they served customers. The five service quality dimensions were found to have better predictive capabilities for the measurement of the overall satisfaction of customers who patronised the government bank.     

Understanding the intention to use mobile banking by existing online banking customers: an empirical study

The Indian banking sector can take advantage of the proliferation of smartphones as well as the government’s encouragement of cashless transactions to accelerate the use of mobile and online banking. The purpose of this study is to understand the initial acceptance of mobile banking by existing online banking users. Few studies have focused on online banking users’ behavioural intention to use similar services (such as mobile banking) in India. To this end, a theoretical model was developed using the technology acceptance model, which was extended to cover the adoption factors that influence users of online banking to use mobile banking. These adoption factors comprise perceived ease of use, perceived security, mobile self-efficacy, social influence and customer support. The dependent variable is customers’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking. A partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis was used to test the theoretical model with sample data from 420 online banking customers of various public, private, foreign and co-operative banks in India. The study found that the adoption factors had a significant impact on customers’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking. The findings of this study provide insight into digital banking channels, contribute to existing research on digital banking adoption and will educate banks and financial institutions on the adoption of mobile banking in India.

     

The effect of automated service quality on bank financial performance and the mediating role of customer retention

The impact of automated service quality on bank financial performance and the mediating role of customer retention have received little attention, as scholars have focused on issues of usability and measurement. This study begins by showing the impact of technology on the way banks conduct business and proceeds to discuss automated service quality definitions and the potential influence of automated service quality on retention and financial performance. A mediating model that links service quality to bank financial performance through customer retention in the automated service context is proposed. The results of this empirical study confirm the role of customer retention as a mediator in the effect of automated service quality on financial performance. Implications of the findings are discussed and the limitations of the study and the potential for future research are considered.     

Adoption of digital banking channels in an emerging economy: exploring the role of in-branch efforts

The aim of this qualitative study is to analyse the role of in-branch efforts of banks on migrating customers from branch banking to digital banking in India. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with bank executives representing senior management from public and private sector banks in India. Qualitative content analysis technique was used to analyse the data. Varieties of responses received during interviews were clubbed into four main themes based on data reduction, display, and conclusion-drawing processes. In-branch communication with customers, digital transformation of the branch, customer-centric initiatives, and redefined role of branch staff hold the potential to bridge the customers’ migration to digital banking. The paper suggests that the key identified factor in improving digital banking acceptance in India is the requirement of integrated cultural and organisational changes at the bank’s level to gain the customers’ confidence and trust in digital banking.

     

Online banking in India: An approach to establish CRM

Technology is fast altering the business servicescape. Its role in improving customer service levels is being used strategically and increasingly by service organizations. The service attributes and quality can be enhanced by deployment of technology. The Internet has facilitated convenience in customer interactions and transactions with the banks. Online banking is currently emerging as a new approach in India for providing improved accessibility and expediency to customers. Most banks have their own websites for improving the customer interface and offering online services. The article studies the applicability of online banking in India and its role in fostering relationships with customers and giving them more value. The research was conducted on customers familiar with online banking in India, and their perceptions about online banking were studied. The findings reveal that customers are using the services but are skeptical about the financial transactions and service quality dimensions.     

Financial advisors,financial crisis,and shareholder wealth in bank mergers

This study investigates the relationship between the quality of investment banks and shareholder wealth in bank mergers. Focusing on a US sample of 415 targets and 1066 bidders from 1995 to 2010, I find that the quality of financial advisors appears to have a significant impact on shareholder wealth for bidding firms, but not for target firms. The results suggest that bidders experience higher losses when hiring tier-1 advisors. Further analysis shows that this finding holds during ‘normal’ periods, but not during crisis periods, where I find a significant positive relationship between tier-1 advisors and bidder announcement returns, suggesting that more prestigious financial advisors can offer superior advising services.     

Customer retention and cross-buying in the banking industry: An integration of service attributes,satisfaction and trust

Most previous studies have focused on customer retention and have ignored the importance of customers’ cross-buying behaviour. Customer retention seems to be the result of a kind of repetitive decision by the customers, but their decision to cross-buy involves a more complicated process. In this study, the authors examine the effects of locational convenience, one-stop shopping convenience, firm reputation, firm expertise, and direct mailings on both customer retention and cross-buying. The mediating roles of satisfaction and trust in the relationships between service attributes, customer retention, and cross-buying are also examined. The results indicate that banks can use different service attributes to influence customer retention and cross-buying. Trust and satisfaction play different mediating roles in the relationships between service attributes, customer retention, and cross-buying.     

Implications of bank ownership for the credit channel of monetary policy transmission: Evidence from India

Using bank-level data from India, we examine the impact of ownership on the reaction of banks to monetary policy, and also test whether the reaction of different types of banks to monetary policy changes is different in easy and tight policy regimes. Our results suggest that there are considerable differences in the reactions of different types of banks to monetary policy initiatives of the central bank, and that the bank lending channel of monetary policy is likely to be much more effective in a tight money period than in an easy money period. We also find differences in impact of monetary policy changes on less risky short-term and more risky medium-term lending. We discuss the policy implications of the findings.     

Does cyber tech spending matter for bank stability?

CyberTech has drawn academic attention in the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC) as banks were forced to embrace CyberTech more aggressively to cope with market competition after the crisis. Banks can improve their operational efficiency and quality of service by relying on CyberTech, but they become more vulnerable to cybersecurity. Thus, increasing investment in CyberTech becomes a strategic necessity for banks to combat cybersecurity hazards. The study investigates how disruptive digital transformation affects bank stability. In particular, it examines whether the law of diminishing marginal returns from overspending on CyberTech affects bank stability. Based on a global sample from 43 countries, we find that an increase in CyberTech spending above the threshold level adversely affects the stability of banks. The main reason behind the adverse effect of CyberTech spending on the stability of banks is that banks take more than the proportional risk for every dollar they spend on disruptive CyberTech after they cross a threshold level of spending. While results persist across sub-samples, our results indicate two important channels of technological regimes – a diminishing returns regime and an increasing returns regime. The diminishing returns regime improves bank stability through more aggressive spending on technology, and the increasing returns regime makes banks more unstable due to excess spending on disruptive CyberTech. The study has implications for cybersecurity and sustainable CyberTech spending for banks.     

Foreign bank subsidiaries’ risk-taking behavior: Impact of home and host country national culture

This paper examines whether the risk-taking behavior of foreign affiliates of multinational banks is more influenced by the national culture of their parent banks’ home country or the national culture of foreign affiliates’ host country. The study uses a dataset of 292 foreign affiliates (i.e., subsidiaries or branch operations) operating in 66 countries having parent banks in 26 countries for empirical analysis. National culture of both home and host countries is measured with four dimensions—uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and power distance—of Hofstede's framework of national culture. Findings suggest that the national culture of parent banks’ home country has higher impact on the risk-taking behavior of foreign affiliates of multinational banks than the national culture of their host country. Specifically, foreign affiliates’ risk-taking is higher if parent banks’ home country has low uncertainty avoidance, high individualism and low power distance cultural values. This study extends our understanding that how informal institutions, such as the national culture, influence the financial decisions in multinational banks.     

Atributos de calidad del servicio de la telefonía móvil para clientes mexicanos y su impacto en la satisfacción y en la lealtad hacia la marca

The objective of this study is to identify relevant attributes of service quality in mobile phones for Mexican customers and to establish their impact on customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. It is being assumed that the attributes of service quality are an antecedent of satisfaction and loyalty. The study is divided in two phases. In a first qualitative phase, thirteen attributes were detected using in-depth interviews. In a second quantitative phase, these attributes were empirically contrasted with variables of satisfaction and loyalty. It was found that only six attributes are statistically related to the variables of these constructs, with two of them being the most relevant: price per minute and empathy perceived by customers from company’s employees.     

Development and validation of an improved DeLone-McLean IS success model - application to the evaluation of a tax administration ERP

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is critical to an organization’s success. However, the factors that contribute to the success and usage of these ERP systems have received little attention. This study developed and validation of an improved DeLone-McLean IS success model. Additionally, we examined the factors which influence ERP system usage, employee satisfaction, information quality, service quality, and system quality, as well as the factors that influence the system’s overall success. The proposed model is based on a mixed-methods case study (MM-CS). The results show that the proposed model significantly measures the success of an ERP system. The organizational climate, the information quality, the system quality, and the service quality all have an impact on the usage of an ERP system. The proposed model also shows that the use of an ERP system, training and learning, and the three information (IS) quality constructs are all significant predictors of user satisfaction. The results also indicate that gender and years of ICT use on the path of ERP users have a moderating effect on the relationship between teamwork & support and use.     

Market concentration and bank competition in emerging asian countries over pre and post the 2008 global financial crisis

This paper examines the relationships between market concentration, bank competition, and efficiency in banking across six emerging Asian countries namely Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam over the period 2005 to 2012. The countries selected for this study operate commercial banking activities with a comparatively large number of both publicly listed and private commercial banks providing a broad range of commercial banking services. For example, banks in Bangladesh, India and Vietnam used to be predominantly state-owned. But over the last few decades, governments have been issuing licenses to private owners. The methodological approach taken by our study provides an important and original contribution to the extant literature by testing various hypothesis that investigate the relationship between competition and efficiency across banks from a select group of Asian countries. We find that market concentration has a positive effect whereas competition has a negative effect on the efficiency of banks operating in these countries. This finding conveys a critically important message to the regulators of banks in these countries: there is a trade-off between quantity and quality. Our analyses also reveal that the effect of bank size on efficiency is positive whereas the effect of liquidity risk on efficiency is negative. This again supports the conventional wisdom that large banks are in a position to provide cost efficient services because they have the ability to attain economies of scale and scopes. Here again, the regulators have very important roles to play: while they have to put in place effective mechanism preventing big banks from being an oligarchy; at the same time, they should make sure that banks get liquidity support as funding pressure builds up.     

The real effects of bank distress: Evidence from bank bailouts in Germany

How does bank distress impact their customers' probability of default and trade credit availability? We address this question by looking at a unique sample of German firms from 2000 to 2011. We follow their firm-bank relationships through times of distress and crisis, featuring the different transmission of bank distress shocks into already weakened firm balance sheets. We find that a distressed bank bailout, which is subject to restructuring and deleveraging conditions, leads to a bank-induced increase of firms' probabilities of default. Moreover, bailouts tend to reduce trade credit availability and ultimately firms' sales. We further find that the direction and magnitude of the effects depends on firm quality and the relationship orientation of banks.     

Financial crisis and bank executive incentive compensation

We study the executive compensation structure in 14 of the largest U.S. financial institutions during 2000–2008. We focus on the CEO's purchases and sales of their bank's stock, their salary and bonus, and the capital losses these CEOs incur due to the dramatic share price declines in 2008. We consider three measures of risk-taking by these banks. Our results are mostly consistent with and supportive of the findings of Bebchuk, Cohen and Spamann (2010), that is, managerial incentives matter — incentives generated by executive compensation programs are correlated with excessive risk-taking by banks. Also, our results are generally not supportive of the conclusions of Fahlenbrach and Stulz (2011) that the poor performance of banks during the crisis was the result of unforeseen risk. We recommend that bank executive incentive compensation should only consist of restricted stock and restricted stock options — restricted in the sense that the executive cannot sell the shares or exercise the options for two to four years after their last day in office. The above incentive compensation proposal logically leads to a complementary proposal regarding a bank's capital structure, namely, banks should be financed with considerably more equity than they are being financed currently.     

银行个人理财服务顾客满意度影响因素

提高顾客满意度是个人理财服务快速发展的关键。本文从顾客角度探讨了我国银行个人理财服务销售人员的特征、品牌资产、关系品质、感知风险与顾客满意的关系,从而寻求提高顾客满意度的关键因素。通过建立假设模型、开发测量量表及对中国7家银行的数据统计分析,本文发现:销售人员特征对我国银行的个人理财服务顾客满意度总影响效果最大,其次为感知风险,再次为品牌资产;关系品质对顾客没有直接影响,但会通过感知风险间接影响顾客满意度。理财经理的素质和能力及品牌的塑造是我国银行个人理财服务发展的关键。