Customer Satisfaction

International Journal of Bank Marketing
Emerald Article: Customer satisfaction and retail banking: an assessment of some of the key antecedents of customer satisfaction in retail banking Ahmad Jamal, Kamal Naser
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To cite this document: Ahmad Jamal, Kamal Naser, (2002),"Customer satisfaction and retail banking: an assessment of some of the key antecedents of customer satisfaction in retail banking", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 20 Iss: 4 pp. 146 - 160 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02652320210432936 Downloaded on: 20-08-2012 References: This document contains references to 87 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 60 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 7218 times since 2005. *
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Terrence Levesque, Gordon H.G. McDougall, (1996),"Determinants of customer satisfaction in retail banking", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14 Iss: 7 pp. 12 - 20 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02652329610151340 Arturo Molina, David Martn-Consuegra, gueda Esteban, (2007),"Relational benefits and customer satisfaction in retail banking", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 25 Iss: 4 pp. 253 - 271 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02652320710754033 Albert Caruana, (2002),"Service loyalty: The effects of service quality and the mediating role of customer satisfaction", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 Iss: 7 pp. 811 - 828 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090560210430818
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Customer satisfaction and retail banking: an assessment of some of the key antecedents of customer satisfaction in retail banking
Ahmad Jamal Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK Kamal Naser Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK
Keywords
Customer satisfaction, Banking, Retailing, Service quality
Introduction
Customer satisfaction is an important theoretical as well as practical issue for most marketers and consumer researchers (Dabholkar et al., 1996; Fournier and Mick, 1999; Meuter et al., 2000). Customer satisfaction can be considered the essence of success in today's highly competitive world of business. Thus, the significance of customer satisfaction and customer retention in strategy development for a ``market oriented'' and ``customer focused'' firm cannot be underestimated (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Consequently, customer satisfaction is increasingly becoming a corporate goal as more and more companies strive for quality in their products and services (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994). A review of the literature suggests that our understanding of the relationship between customer satisfaction judgements and service quality perceptions remains a problematic issue (Taylor and Baker, 1994). A stream of research has argued that customer satisfaction judgements are causal antecedents of the service quality judgements (Bitner, 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1988). However, others have reported that it is the service quality that appears to be the causal antecedent of customer satisfaction (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Oliver, 1993; Taylor and Baker, 1994; Woodside et al., 1989). This conflicting empirical evidence highlights the need for the research reported here as the direction of the causal link between satisfaction and service quality is likely to lead to different customer behaviour outcomes, which in turn could have important managerial relevance (Dabholkar, 1995). Previous services literature also highlights the multidimensionality of service quality, and
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Abstract
Understanding the antecedents to and outcomes of customer satisfaction is a critical issue for both academics and bank marketers. Previous research has identified service quality, expectations, disconfirmation, performance, desires, affect and equity as important antecedents of customer satisfaction. The current paper reports findings from a survey which looked into the impact of service quality dimensions and customer expertise on satisfaction. A sample of 167 respondents took part in this study. Findings indicate that both core and relational dimensions of service quality appear to be linked to customer satisfaction. Findings also indicate that expertise is negatively related to satisfaction. The paper discusses implications for bank managers.
International Journal of Bank Marketing 20/4 [2002] 146160 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0265-2323] [DOI 10.1108/02652320210432936]
in doing so focuses on two of its overriding dimensions (Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Gronroos, 1984; McDougall and Levesque, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1991). The first dimension includes the core or outcome aspects (contractual) of the service (e.g. reliability) and the second one includes the relational or process aspects (customeremployee relationship) of the service (e.g. tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (see for instance, Parasuraman et al., 1991a). However, only a limited set of empirical research has reported the relationship between the two dimensions of service quality and customer satisfaction. The current paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature. A review of the literature also suggests that expectations for service quality are likely to be based on perceptions of excellence, whereas satisfaction judgements are likely to be based on a broad range of non-quality issues (Taylor and Baker, 1994; Patterson and Johnson, 1993; Rust and Oliver, 1994). More specifically, there can be potentially many antecedents of customer satisfaction, including service quality, which is probably due to the fact that the dimensions underlying satisfaction judgements are global rather than specific (Rust and Oliver, 1994). Some widely reported determinants of customer satisfaction include service quality, expectations, disconfirmation, performance, desires, affect and equity (Churchill and Suprenant, 1982; Glenn et al., 1998; Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Oliver, 1993; Patterson et al., 1997; Spreng et al., 1996; Szymanski and Henard, 2001). However, a review of the literature indicates that formation of performance expectations during product or service evaluation can be moderated by customers' expertise (Bettman, 1970; Fishbein, 1963; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Rosenberg, 1950). Previous research
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Ahmad Jamal and Kamal Naser Customer satisfaction and retail banking: an assessment of some of the key antecedents of customer satisfaction in retail banking International Journal of Bank Marketing 20/4 [2002] 146160
suggests that expert customers are likely to have a superior knowledge of existing alternatives. They are also likely to have superior ability to encode new information and to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987; Johnson and Russo, 1984). In the context of complex services (such as banking, insurance, pension, mortgages etc.), anecdotal evidence identifies a general trend in the marketplace whereby an increasing number of customers are making their financial decisions on their own. However, in spite of this, no prior research has attempted to explore the role of customers' expertise in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction. The current research attempts to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the role of expertise in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction. In so doing, the research also explores the impact of demographics and other related variables on customers' evaluation of service quality and satisfaction judgements.
(Dabholkar et al., 1996). A recent study conducted by Levesque and McDougall (1996) confirmed and reinforced the idea that unsatisfactory customer service leads to a drop in customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the service to a friend. This would in turn lead to an increase in the rate of switching by customers.
Some key antecedents to the formation of overall customer satisfaction
There can be potentially many antecedents of customer satisfaction as the dimensions underlying satisfaction judgements are global rather than specific (Taylor and Baker, 1994; Patterson and Johnson, 1993; Rust and Oliver, 1994). For instance, research on customer satisfaction has largely relied on the disconfirmation paradigm, which views satisfaction with products and brands as a result of two cognitive variables: prepurchase expectations and disconfirmation (Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Oliver, 1989; Yi, 1990; Peter and Olson, 1996). According to Peter and Olson (1996, p. 509):
Pre-purchase expectations are beliefs about anticipated performance of the product; disconfirmation refers to the differences between pre-purchase expectations and postpurchase perceptions.
Conceptual background
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is generally described as the full meeting of one's expectations (Oliver, 1980). Customer satisfaction is the feeling or attitude of a customer towards a product or service after it has been used. Customer satisfaction is a major outcome of marketing activity whereby it serves as a link between the various stages of consumer buying behaviour. For instance, if customers are satisfied with a particular service offering after its use, then they are likely to engage in repeat purchase and try line extensions (East, 1997). Customer satisfaction is widely recognised as a key influence in the formation of customers' future purchase intentions (Taylor and Baker, 1994). Satisfied customers are also likely to tell others about their favourable experiences and thus engage in positive word of mouth advertising (Richens, 1983; File and Prince, 1992). This positive word of mouth advertising is particularly useful in collectivist Middle Eastern cultures like that of Abu Dhabi where social life is structured in a way to improve social relationships with others in the society (see Hofstede, 1980; Hall and Hall, 1987). Dissatisfied customers, on the other hand, are likely to switch brands and engage in negative word of mouth advertising. Furthermore, behaviours such as repeat purchase and word-of-mouth directly affect the viability and profitability of a firm
Hence, if the perceived performance exceeds a customer's expectations (a positive disconfirmation), then the customer feels satisfied. On the other hand, if the perceived performance falls short of a customer's expectations (a negative disconfirmation), then the customer feels dissatisfied. There is a considerable amount of empirical evidence that confirms the disconfirmation paradigm (see for instance Szymanski and Henard, 2001; Yi, 1990). For instance, in an earlier study, Churchill and Surprenant (1982) reported that disconfirmation positively affected satisfaction. That is, when customers perceived the product performing better than expected, they became more satisfied (Churchill and Surprenant, 1982). Further empirical research supports the notion that satisfaction is caused by expectations and requires considerable cognitive effort on the part of customers (Bearden and Teel, 1983; Cadotte et al., 1987). However, others argued that customers develop norms for product performance based on general product experiences, and these, rather than expectations for a focal brand's performance, determine the confirmation/disconfirmation process (Cadotte et al., 1987; Woodruff et al., 1983). Previous research also demonstrated a direct link between actual performance and satisfaction levels (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Tse and
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Wilton, 1988). More recent work argued that in addition to the cognitive components, satisfaction judgements are also dependent upon affective components as both coexist and make independent contributions to the satisfaction judgements (Mano and Oliver, 1993; Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). Also, some have recently demonstrated a positive relationship between equity and satisfaction whereby equity is viewed as a:
Fairness, rightness or deservingness judgement that consumers make in reference to what others receive (Oliver, 1997, p. 1944; see also Oliver 1993; Oliver and Swan, 1989).
Service quality
Research on customer satisfaction is often closely associated with the measurement of service quality (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Bitner and Hubbert, 1994; Taylor and Baker, 1994; Rust and Oliver, 1994; Levesque and McDougall, 1996). While satisfaction is a feeling or an attitude of a customer towards a service after it has been used, service quality is simply:
Customers' overall impression of the relative inferiority/superiority of the organization and its services (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994, p. 77).
In this context, some argue that both service quality and satisfaction are:
Best conceptualised as unique constructs that should not be treated as equivalents in models of consumer decision-making (Taylor and Baker, 1994, p. 165).
A review of the literature, however, suggests that service quality is not a uni-dimensional construct. Rather, service quality incorporates a number of dimensions such as reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Carman, 1990; Gronroos, 1984; Lewis, 1993; Bitran and Lojo, 1993; McDougall and Levesque, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1985; 1988). Although the number and composition of service quality dimensions are likely to be dependent on service settings (see for instance Brown et al., 1993; Carman, 1990), one can argue that there are two overriding dimensions of service quality (Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Gronroos, 1984; McDougall and Levesque, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1991a). The first one refers to the core aspects of the service (e.g. reliability) and the second one refers to the relational or process aspects of the service (e.g. tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Parasuraman et al., 1991a)). This is due to the fact that reliability is mainly concerned with the outcome of service, whereas tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy are concerned with the service delivery process (Parasuraman et al., 1991a). In this context, we propose that both the core and relational dimensions of service quality are likely to be antecedents of customer satisfaction.
Dimensions of service quality
Tangible dimension of service quality
Hence, many have attempted to establish the nature of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Among the many attempts, some have proposed a causal link between customer satisfaction and service quality, due to the fact that satisfaction is viewed as experiential or occurring at the transactional level, whereas service quality is viewed to be an attitude at a global level (Bitner, 1990; Oliver, 1981; Parasuraman et al., 1988). For instance, Bitner (1990) explored the service quality and satisfaction judgements of 145 travellers at an international airport. Her findings suggest that satisfaction judgements are antecedents of service quality. However, the current paper follows a substantial amount of research which has proposed a causal link between service quality and customer satisfaction. This is due to the fact that customers can and do evaluate service quality at the transactional level and customer satisfaction may be quite meaningful at the global level (see for instance Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Woodside et al., 1989).
Due to the intangible nature of services, it is often difficult for customers to understand services (Legg and Baker, 1996). Customers thus make inferences about the service quality on the basis of tangibles (the buildings, the physical layout etc.) that surround the service environment (Bitner, 1990). Support for this argument comes from empirical evidence suggesting that the tangible and physical surroundings of the service environment can have a significant impact on customers' affective responses and their behavioural intentions (Wakefield and Blodgett, 1999). Dabholkar et al. (1996) reported similar findings that the tangible aspects of department stores do influence customers' perceptions of service quality. Furthermore, the exploration of the use of evaluative criteria in forming performance expectations has had a major impact on the study of consumer behaviour (Bettman, 1970; Fishbein, 1963; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Rosenberg, 1950). The evaluative criteria can include attributes like price, brand perceptions, quality, comfort and design (Grapentine, 1995; Lee and Lou, 1996; Monroe and Dodds, 1988; Myers and Shocker, 1981;
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Rao and Monroe, 1989; Richardson et al., 1994). In the context of services, a substantial amount of research has looked into the criteria adopted by customers in forming performance expectations (see for example, Anderson et al., 1976; Tan and Chua, 1986; Laroche and Taylor, 1988; Erol and El-Bdour, 1989; Erol et al., 1990; Denton and Chan, 1991; Kaynak et al., 1991; Khazeh and Decker, 1992; Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Mittal, 1999). Findings suggest that convenient location is a critical factor influencing the formation of performance expectations by customers. A convenient bank location means customers can easily do business with their banks on a regular basis (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). Accessibility is also a related factor, which, while acting together with convenience, enables customers to deal with their banks more easily (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). For the purpose of current study, convenience and accessibility are treated as part of the tangible dimension of service quality. In this context, we propose that the tangible dimension of service quality is also likely to be an important antecedent of customer satisfaction.
Customers' expertise
Some earlier studies have suggested that the effect of evaluative criteria in forming performance expectations can be moderated by factors like consumer individual differences (such as age, gender, education, occupation) and by customers' expertise (Bettman and Park, 1980; Oliver, 1980). In a landmark article on customer expertise, Alba and Hutchinson (1987) identified two major and distinctive components of customer expertise: expertise and familiarity. They defined expertise as ``the ability to perform product related tasks successfully'', whereas familiarity was defined as:
The number of product related experiences that have been accumulated by the consumer (Alba and Hutchinson, 1980, p. 411).
More specifically, expertise or product class knowledge represents:
The understanding of the attributes in a product or service class, and knowledge about how various alternatives stack up on these alternatives (Sheth et al., 1999, p. 533).
Thus, some customers may be more expert than others and may be more likely to evaluate service quality and satisfaction judgements rationally at the cognitive level. For instance, in an earlier work, Gronroos (1982) argued that while evaluating the quality of a service, customers compare the service they expect with perceptions of the services they actually receive. Hence it is
significant for service providers to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations (Bojanic, 1991). Gaps can exist, however, between the service provider's perception of quality and customers' perception of service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Bojanic, 1991; Patterson and Johnson, 1993). Obviously, the focus of service providers' strategy is to narrow or close the gaps by developing proper communication programmes to facilitate customers' understanding of and perceptions about service quality. Research in consumer behaviour has, however, established that customers' expertise facilitates their learning of new and more complex types of information (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987; Cowley, 1994; Mishra et al., 1993). For instance, a number of researchers have compared the information processing activities of more knowledgeable (expert) customers with those of less knowledgeable customers (novice). Findings indicate that experts have superior ability about learning new information about an offering, as compared to novice customers (Johnson and Russo, 1984; Brucks, 1985; Alba and Hutchinson, 1987). Also, expert customers are likely to have developed skills in distinguishing between important and unimportant information, as well as between relevant and irrelevant information (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987). Generally, expert customers are likely to have a superior knowledge of existing alternatives; they are also likely to have a superior ability to encode new information and to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information (Johnson and Russo, 1984; Alba and Hutchinson, 1987). Due to their knowledge and abilities, one could argue that expert customers in comparison with novice customers are very likely to have high expectations from service providers. Hence, as per the disconfirmation paradigm, the differences between pre-purchase expectations and post-purchase perceptions are likely to be at a highest level for expert customers. However, despite this, no study to the best of our knowledge has looked into the role played by customers' expertise in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction. On the basis of the review of the literature, a number of research questions can be raised. For instance, within the retail banking sector: . What is the role of the core, relational and tangible dimension of service quality in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction?
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What is the role of customer expertise in moderating the effects of various dimensions of service quality in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction? What is the role of consumer individual differences such as demographics and factors such as ethnic background or length of stay in moderating the effect of service quality in the formation process leading to overall customer satisfaction?
multiple interactions between the bank and the customer (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). In this context, customer satisfaction could be identified as a composite of overall attitudes that customers have towards the bank. Following Levesque and McDougall (1996), three frequently used measures of customer satisfaction (i.e. overall service quality, meeting of expectations and satisfaction with the service) were used in this study.
Answers to these questions should be of help to the bank marketers and consumer researchers in any marketplace.
Data collection, estimating procedures and model development Data collection
Study methodology
Context
The Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) was chosen for the current study for two important reasons. First, the bank ranks among the largest and strongly profitable banks in the UAE (Bank Report, 2000). It was the third largest bank in the UAE with total assets of AED 23 billion (US$6.3 billion) at the end of 1999. Second, the bank has a significant retail presence with a focus on the retail market, small businesses, agriculture, construction, real estate and domestic private companies; this is despite the fact that the public sector and the government remain important customers for the bank. The bank was established in 1985 and offers a wide range of products and services. The bank competes with a number of local as well as foreign banks in the country. Altogether, a total of 27 local and seven foreign banks serve the UAE population of 2.7 million people. In addition to this, 34 foreign banks maintain their representative offices in the UAE. However, despite this competition, the ADCB enjoys a competitive advantage due to its large size, strong retail presence and competitive pricing. The bank also has an Internet presence with the aim of offering a comprehensive range of information and Internet banking.
A questionnaire in English was designed which incorporated the measures mentioned above. A total of 200 questionnaires were randomly distributed to those visiting a specific branch of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in Abu Dhabi during the last two weeks of June 2000. Following the data collection procedures outlined by Gerrard and Cunningham (1997), the questionnaire was only distributed on every second day of each week. Furthermore, half of the questionnaires were distributed during the first half of the day and the remaining on the second half of the day. The procedure resulted in a sample of 167 completed questionnaires (83.5 per cent useable response rate).
Estimating procedures and model development
An index was constructed to measure customer satisfaction. The index can be presented mathematically as follows: x X Tx SI
t1
where: SI = customer satisfaction measured by overall service quality, meeting of expectations and satisfaction with the service; and Tx = level of satisfaction scored by customer x. The strength of association between customer satisfaction and the explanatory variables was measured by using a linear regression. It was recognised that the use of all explanatory variables to predict customers' satisfaction might give rise to some redundant variables and collinearity problems. A stepwise regression was therefore employed to remove a previously entered variable that became redundant. Thus, the following regression model was used to assess the effect of each of the explanatory variables on the level of customers' satisfaction:
Measures
Table I reports measures used in this study. Measures for the core, relational and tangible dimensions of service quality were adopted from previous literature dealing with service quality and customer satisfaction (Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Naser et al., 1999). Measures for product class expertise or expertise were adopted from the literature dealing with customer expertise (see for instance Alba and Hutchinson, 1987; Cowley, 1994; Mishra et al., 1993). Customer satisfaction in retail banking is based on the
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SIv Ix 0 1 CORE 2 RELATION 3 TANGIBLE 4 EXPERTISE 5 AGE 6 BUSTYPE 7 EDUCA 8 ETHNIC 9 GENDER 10 INCOME 11 ITPURCAS 12 OCCUPA 13 YEARS " where: CORE = core dimension of service quality. RELATION = relational dimension of service quality. TANGIBLE = tangible dimension of service quality. EXPERISE = expertise. AGE = age of the respondents. BUSTYPE = type of business if the respondents had a business account. EDUCA = education of the respondents. ETHNIC = ethnic back ground of the respondents. GENDER = gender of the respondents. INCOME = income of the respondents. ITPURCAS = purchases made by the respondents through the Internet during the last five years. OCCUPA = occupation of the respondents. YEARS = number of years respondents had been resident in the UAE.
A multicollinearity problem is likely to occur when explanatory variables correlate with each other. Consequently, the effect of each variable of the dependent variable becomes difficult to identify. Hence, variance inflation factors (VIF) for each explanatory variable were used to measure multicollinearity. Normally, a set of explanatory variables is highly correlated when VIF exceeds ten, thus presenting a multicollinearity problem. To analyse the impact of the demographic factors on the dependant variable, the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analysis was undertaken. The basic principle of this test is similar to other parametric tests such as the t-test, one-way analysis of variance and simple regression. In this test, the effect of the independent variables is identified taking into account the interaction among the demographic factors.
Data analysis
Respondents profile
The questionnaire included a section on customer's profile, as various demographic and other factors like the expertise were likely to influence the degree of customer satisfaction of products and services offered by the bank. Information on demographic features is also useful in formulating the bank's marketing strategy. A profile of respondents is presented in Table II. According to Table II, a significant majority of the respondents (90 per cent) were males, while females accounted for about 10 per cent.
Table I The measures used in the study Service quality Core dimension (five-point LT) When my ADCB promises to do something by a certain time, it does so My ADCB performs the service right the first time My ADCB provides its services at the time it promises to do so My ADCB performs the service accurately My ADCB tells you exactly when services will be performed Relational dimension (five-point LT) Employees in my ADCB are always willing to help Employees in my ADCB are consistently courteous My ADCB gives me individual attention Employees in my ADCB understand my specific needs I know very little about banking I am inexperienced I am uninformed I am a novice buyer Service quality Tangible dimension (five-point LT) The physical facilities of my ADCB are visually appealing Parking facilities provided to customers are adequate My ADCB personnel are neat in appearance My ADCB has convenient branch locations My ADCB offers a complete range of services My ADCB provides easily understood statements It is very easy to get into and out of my ADCB quickly My ADCB personnel have the required skills and knowledge Customer satisfaction (Five-point LT) After considering everything, I am extremely satisfied with my ADCB My ADCB always meets my expectations The overall quality of the services provided by my ADCB is excellent
Customer expertise (seven-point bi-polar scales) 1 ... ... 2 ... ... 3 ... ... 4 ... ... 5 ... ... 6 ... ... 7 1 ... ... 2 ... ... 3 ... ... 4 ... ... 5 ... ... 6 ... ... 7 1 ... ... 2 ... ... 3 ... ... 4 ... ... 5 ... ... 6 ... ... 7 1 ... ... 2 ... ... 3 ... ... 4 ... ... 5 ... ... 6 ... ... 7
I know a lot about banking I am experienced I am well informed I am an expert buyer [ 151 ]
Table II Personal background of the respondents Frequency Gender (n = 164) Male Female Age (n = 164) 20 or less 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61 and over Occupation (n=165) Businessman Banker Investor University lecturer School teacher Accountant Manager Auditor Other Education (n = 164) Less than O-level O-Level A-Level Graduate Masters or equivalent PhD Monthly income (n = 162) Less than Dh10,000 Dh10,000-20,000 Dh20,001-25,000 Dh25,001-30,000 Dh30,001-35,000 Dh35,001-40,000 More than Dh40,000 Ethnic origin (n = 166) UAE national Egyptian Syrian Lebanese Sudanese Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi European America Others Number of years lived in the UAE (n = 105) 1-3 More than 3 but less than 5 More than 5 but less than 10 More than 10 but less than 15 15 and over 148 16 1 22 67 61 12 1 85 3 6 7 7 9 29 1 53 28 14 8 59 52 3 19 33 36 26 15 17 16 70 10 5 12 3 20 18 4 14 6 4 3 14 34 33 21 Percentage 90.2 9.8 0.6 13.4 40.9 37.2 7.3 0.6 51.5 1.8 3.6 4.2 4.2 5.5 17.6 0.6 32.1 17.1 8.5 4.9 36.0 31.7 1.8 11.7 20.4 22.2 16.0 9.3 10.5 9.9 42.2 6.0 3.0 7.2 1.8 12.0 10.8 2.4 8.4 3.6 2.4 2.9 13.3 32.4 31.4 20.0
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This is not surprising given the fact that in a Muslim country like the UAE, it is the men who perform banking who are expected to carry out dealings with the banks (Naser et al., 1999). It is also clear from Table II that almost 92 per cent of the respondents were between 21 and 50 age range. In terms of the occupational background, Table II indicates that a large number of the respondents (52 per cent) were businessmen; this was followed by managers, who constituted almost 18 per cent of the total sample. This is due to the location of the particular branch of the bank where the questionnaire was administered; there was a large number of a variety of business outlets in the area. A significant majority (70 per cent) of the respondents were highly educated (graduates 36 per cent; postgraduates 32 per cent; doctorate 2 per cent). The remaining 30 per cent of the respondents were also educated up to the A-level. Table II also indicates that the respondents came from different income backgrounds; however, a majority of them (70 per cent) earned up to Dh 30,000 per month[1]. The questionnaire also included measures to capture the ethnic background of the respondents. According to Table II, the respondents came from diverse ethnic backgrounds; UAE nationals accounted for 42 per cent of the total sample. This is not surprising given the nature and structure of UAE society, which is mainly multicultural. On the other hand, the respondents who took part in the survey can be categorised into three main ethnic categories, namely Arabs (60 per cent), South Asians (25 per cent) and American/Europeans (15 per cent). The Arab category consists of UAE nationals, Syrians, Lebanese and Sudanese, whereas the South Asian category included Indian, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. The American/European category includes Europeans, Americans and the rest. In order to determine the impact of one's length of stay in a particular market environment on his/her level of satisfaction, the questionnaire included a question that addresses length of the respondent's stay in the UAE[2]. In this respect, the results appearing in Table II showed that a large majority of the respondents (64 per cent) had been in the UAE for more than five but less than 15 years. However, 20 per cent of the respondents had been in the UAE for more than 15 years; the rest were in the UAE for less than five years.
Type and duration of banking
In order to investigate customer satisfaction with the commercial bank, it was important to explore where the respondents held their accounts. For instance, holding accounts in
more than one bank enables customers to make useful comparisons while evaluating bank service quality. It was also important to explore the different types of accounts held by the respondents with bank(s) and for how long. Details of the respondents' accounts are reported in Table III. According to Table III, a large number of the respondents (almost 66.5 per cent) held accounts in the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank only. The remaining 33.5 per cent, however, indicated that they not only held accounts with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank but also with some other banks. On the other hand, the questionnaire included a section that dealt with types of accounts held by the respondents and the length of time that they had held their accounts. The findings are summarised in Table IV. It can be observed from Table IV that a large proportion of the respondents (59.9 per cent) held personal current accounts with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. However, a reasonable proportion of the respondents (39.5 per cent) did hold both a business and a personal account with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. This was followed by 22.8 per cent who only had a business account with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. It is also obvious from Table IV that a large number of the respondents (62 per cent) had a business account with the bank (business account only, plus the business and personal account holders). Respondents were also asked to indicate the type of their businesses if they had a business account with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Table V reports the findings in relation to this question. According to Table V, the respondents who had a business account with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank came from a diverse business background. Table VI reports the findings in connection with the length of time that the respondents had held their accounts with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. It is evident from Table VI that a high proportion of the respondents (55 per cent) had held accounts with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank for more than three years, whereas almost 45 per cent had been with the bank for less than three years. This might imply a reasonable degree of customer loyalty and satisfaction. The bank can make use of this result by adopting a strategy that contains products and services of long-term nature (pension and saving schemes, long term financing and mortgages). This would help in diversifying products and facilities offered by the bank in the UAE.
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Table III Type of bank(s) in which respondents hold their accounts Value label (n = 155) The Abu-Dhabi Commercial Bank only The Abu-Dhabi Commercial Bank and some other banks Total Table IV Types of accounts held by the respondents (n = 167) Value label Current/deposit/investment account Business only F Per cent 38 22.8 Personal only F Per cent 100 59.9 Business and personal F Per cent 66 39.5 Frequency 103 52 155 Per cent 66.5 33.5 100.0
Some important antecedents of customer satisfaction
The questionnaire included five items to measure the core dimension, four items to measure the relational dimension and eight items to measure the tangible dimension of service quality (Table I). In order to facilitate comparability with earlier studies, it was decided not to use factor analysis as this can sometimes superficially cluster some original items into a less meaningful factor. In doing so, we have effectively imposed a factor structure rather than testing it for its existence. All of the three dimensions were, however, tested for reliability using Cronbach alpha scores. The core dimension with an alpha score of 0.87, the relational dimension with an alpha score of 0.84 and the tangible dimension with a score of 0.72 easily passed the minimum level recommended by Nunnally (1978) of 0.70.
Stepwise regression
It was felt that customer satisfaction could be modelled using a multivariate regression
Table V Type of businesses if the respondents had a business account Value label (n = 89) Manufacturing Agriculture/farming Retail outlet Renting/leasing Wholesale trading Importing/exporting Building/contracting Other Frequency 3 25 13 11 7 15 10 5 Per cent 3.4 28.1 14.6 12.4 7.9 16.9 11.2 5.6
analysis that links customer satisfaction to core, relational and tangible dimensions of service quality and a range of other variables such as expertise, age, business type, education, ethnic background, gender, income, Internet purchase, occupation, and number of years in the UAE. Hence a stepwise regression was performed. A stepwise regression is a useful tool when dealing with many explanatory variables. It is an attempt to find the best regression model without testing all possible regressions. In such a regression, variables are either added to or deleted from the regression model at each step in the model development process. The regression ends with the selection of the best fitting model where no variable can be added or deleted from the last fitted model. The stepwise regression results are shown in Table VII. It is evident from Table VII that model 6 is highly significant and explains 85 per cent of variations in customers' satisfaction. Table VII indicates that a positive and significant association exists between the degree of customers' satisfaction and CORE, RELATION and YEARS. On this basis of this we can conclude that there appears to be a strong relationship between the core and relational dimensions of service quality and satisfaction. In other words, customers who positively perceive the core and relational dimension of the service quality provided by a specific service provider are likely to feel satisfied with the service provider. These findings are in line with those reported by Levesque and McDougall (1996). On the basis of their research, Levesque and McDougall (1996) reported that customer satisfaction
Table VI Period of time the account(s) has/have been held (n = 167) Value label Current/deposit/investment account [ 154 ] Less than 1 year F Per cent 8 5.6 F 56 1-3 years Per cent 39.2 F 45 3-6 years Per cent 31.5 More than 6 years F Per cent 34 23.8
was driven by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, service quality dimensions. Our findings also point to the fact that the respondents who have been in the UAE for a longer period of time are likely to feel satisfied with the service provider. According to Table VII, however, a negative and significant association exists between the degree of customers' satisfaction and EXPERTIS, BUSTYPE, and AGE. It implies that as expertise level increases, the satisfaction levels are likely to decrease. Similarly, as the age levels go up, satisfaction levels are likely to go down. In order to see whether the average perceptions (of the issues or variables under investigation) were identical for all groups involved in this survey, the Kruskal-Wallis test was performed. The test was used to measure any significant difference in responses, since there were different groups involved in this survey. This nonparametric test is appropriate when measurement of the variables under investigation is in an ordinal
scale (Grimm and Wozniak, 1990). The results are shown in Table VIII. It can be seen from Table VIII that the respondents, regardless of their age, business type, ethnic background, gender, Internet purchases, occupation and number of years in the UAE expressed a degree of satisfaction towards most dimensions of the bank. The results, however, pointed to some differences between the educational background of the respondents and satisfaction. Similarly, differences existed between income levels and satisfaction. These differences can be clearly observed from the reported 2 . Also, the reported 2 indicated some differences between expertise and satisfaction. Similarly, the reported 2 indicated strong differences between business type and expertise, between education and expertise; between Internet purchases and expertise and between occupation and expertise. Some differences in the respondents' satisfaction were also reported between satisfaction and
Table VII Stepwise regression Model 1 2 Variable Constant CORE Constant CORE BUSTYPE Constant CORE BUSTYPE AGE Constant CORE BUSTYPE AGE RELATION Constant CORE BUSTYPE AGE RELATION EXPERTIS Constant CORE BUSTYPE AGE RELATION EXPERTIS YEARS Parameter estimate 4.00 1.03 0.17 1.09 8.60 1.00 1.06 9.90 0.19 0.63 0.84 8.20 0.21 0.29 1.57 0.87 8.30 0.20 0.25 0.17 1.26 0.88 6.70 0.21 0.30 0.17 0.11 t-statistic 0.09 8.80 0.41 10.00 2.97 1.96 10.34 3.57 2.57 1.29 6.90 3.15 3.06 2.78 2.56 7.52 3.38 3.13 2.45 2.34 2.11 6.71 2.69 3.47 3.01 2.48 2.16 Prob > T 0.93 0.00 0.668 0.000 0.005 0.058 0.000 0.001 0.014 0.204 0.000 0.003 0.004 0.008 0.015 0.000 0.002 0.003 0.019 0.025 0.042 0.000 0.011 0.001 0.005 0.018 0.037 VIF R2 0.66 1.00 1.03 1.03 1.05 1.07 1.05 1.75 1.12 1.06 1.69 1.78 1.12 1.07 1.75 1.04 2.00 1.25 1.07 1.86 1.04 1.20 [ 155 ] 0.72 F-statistic 77.51 50.75 Prob > F 0.000 0.000 Standard error 0.41 0.38
0.76
40.89
0.000
0.35
0.80
38.03
0.000
0.32
0.83
35.20
0.000
0.31
0.85
33.11
0.000
0.29
expertise, age and expertise, and the income variable and expertise.
MANOVA analysis
To shed more light on the effect of demographic factors on the dependent variable, a general factorial ANOVA analysis was carried out and reported in Table IX. It can be observed from Table IX that EDU, OCCUPA and INCOME are significantly associated with SATISFACT, while the table revealed that the association between SATISFACT and ETHNIC was marginally significant, whereas, the association between SATISFACT and each of YEAR and EXPEIS was insignificant.
Discussion
There has been a great deal of discussion in the previous literature regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. The current research contributes to this discussion by demonstrating that conceptualising different dimensions of service quality into two
Table VIII Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA test 2 SATISFAC COREASP RELATION TANGIBLE AGE BUSTYPE EDUCA ETHNIC GENDER INCOME ITPURCAS OCCUPA YEARS 75.562 62.683 18.368 5.582 8.843 10.033 1.890 0.372 10.810 0.174 4.784 3.108 SATISFAC Significance 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.349 0.264 0.074 0.596 0.542 0.094 0.677 0.780 0.540 2 8.123 6.048 1.278 1.020 10.814 26.123 27.128 8.857 0.394 11.298 12.919 35.604 4.196 EXPERTIS Significance 0.087 0.109 0.734 0.600 0.055 0.000 0.000 0.031 0.530 0.080 0.000 0.000 0.380
Table IX General factorial ANOVA test F Intercept AGE EDU ETHNIC GENDER INCOME OCCUPA YEAR EXPEIS 182 1.453 1.979 1.807 1.058 2.381 2.056 0.905 0.115 Sig. F 0.000 0.220 0.086 0.149 0.306 0.033 0.075 0.463 0.989
Note: Dependent variable: SATISFACT [ 156 ]
overriding dimensions increases our ability to explain the relationship in a better way. This proposition is tested in the current research utilising data from the retailbanking sector in the UAE. The results indicate that both core and relational dimensions of service quality appear to be linked to customer satisfaction. We suggest that these results indicate that customer satisfaction is based not only on the judgement of customers towards the reliability of the delivered service, but also on customers' experiences with the service delivery process. In other words, customers who appreciate the core and relational dimensions of service quality provided by a service provider are likely to be satisfied with the services offered by that service provider. These findings are in line with those reported earlier (see Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Naser et al., 1999). A great deal of discussion has also occurred in the service literature regarding the significance of the tangible aspect of service environment on customers' affective responses and behaviour intentions. The research reported here, however, could not establish a relationship between the tangible dimension of service quality and customer satisfaction. This might be due to the fact that tangibility is already part and parcel of the relational dimension of service quality. A growing body of services literature has acknowledged the fact that there can be potentially many antecedents of customer satisfaction. The current research contributes to this literature by attempting to explore the relationship between customers' expertise and customer satisfaction. Our findings suggest that expertise is negatively related to satisfaction. In other words, as expertise levels of customers go up, they are less likely to feel satisfied with service providers. This might be due to the fact that expert customers might have raised expectations about service quality. Our findings also indicate that there is a strong relationship between one's length of stay (i.e. number of years) and satisfaction. Furthermore, our findings indicate that there existed some demographic differences in the way respondents expressed their satisfaction with the bank. These findings are in line with those reported earlier (Goode and Moutinho, 1996; Moutinho and Goode, 1995; Naser et al., 1999). In their study, Naser et al. (1999) reported demographic differences in the degree of customer satisfaction towards an Islamic bank in Jordan. In our study, respondents belonging to different education and income groups expressed their differences towards satisfaction with the
bank. On the basis of this, we suggest that education levels and income levels are important factors in determining customer satisfaction.
Managerial implications
Many service firms, including retail banks, have been measuring customer satisfaction and service quality to determine how well they are meeting customer needs and requirements (Dabholkar, 1995). Understanding the causal relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is of significant value to service and bank managers, as both satisfaction and service quality are predictors of customer behaviours, such as purchase intentions and word of mouth advertising (Dabholkar, 1995; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). The current research contributes towards an understanding of the direction of the causal relationship between service quality and satisfaction. Our findings imply that the core and relational dimensions of service quality are causal antecedents of customer satisfaction. This is in line with empirical findings reported earlier (Woodside et al., 1989; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). The significance of the core dimension of service quality means that the bank management has to make sure that things are done right the first time and they have to ensure that the promises are kept in terms of service delivery. As far as the relational dimension is concerned, the bank management has to make sure that the employees are properly trained so that the employees are not only courteous, pay attention and are willing to help customers, but also are experts in their field so that they understand specific customer needs. Although our findings are in line with those reported by Parasuraman et al. (1991b), marketing managers must not ignore the tangible dimension of service quality as customers are likely to make inferences about the overall service quality on the basis of tangible cues that surround the service delivery environment (Dabholkar et al., 1996; Wakefield and Blodgett, 1999). Our findings imply that expert customers are different from novice customers in that they may have higher expectations in comparison with the novice customers. This means more hard work for the bank managers, as they have consistently to outperform demands and expectations of customers who are increasingly making their own financial decisions. Also, bank managers cannot ignore customers'
expertise, as strong differences were found concerning the expertise of the respondents and different business types, education, Internet purchases and occupational groups. It might be that different people have different expertise levels due to the nature and type of business types they are engaged in, their different educational and occupational levels and the fact that they have made purchases through the Internet. Thus the bank can embark upon a strategy of targeting specific business type customers with specific education and occupational levels to improve the quality of its services in the eyes of its customers. Also, the bank has to look into the needs of the different education and income groups in order to meet their expectations and ultimately satisfy them. Our findings suggest that one's degree of satisfaction increases as per increase in one's length of stay in a particular marketplace. This means that bank managers in the UAE can segment their market according to the number of years their clients have lived in the country.
Notes
1 1 sterling Dh 6.5. 2 The assumption here is that the degree of customer's satisfaction varies with the length of stay.
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