Effects of communication and financial concerns on banking attitude-behaviour relations

Despite extensive discussion of the concept of Islamic banking, which is based on the fundamental doctrines of Islamic law (Shariah) and Islamic economics (prohibition of interest and profit-loss sharing), few studies have explored the factors that potentially affect behaviour intentions among customers. This study investigates direct and moderating effects of communication and financial factors on customer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards Islamic banking. Data were collected from the customers of Islamic banks and the Islamic banking divisions of conventional banks in Malaysia using online surveys. The hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis. The results suggest that relationship marketing, informative advertising, perceived benefits, and profit-loss sharing are important determinants of behavioural intentions among both Muslim and non-Muslim customer groups. This study also found moderating effects for most of the conceptualized moderating variables, particularly attitude interactions with informative advertising, ease of online banking, and the principle of profit-loss sharing. There are both notable similarities and differences in the results for the two customer groups. The findings imply that different strategies should be used both to retain existing customers and attract new ones.