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1 The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: An Empirical Study of the Indian Banking Industry Sunayna Khurana* In today s intense competitive business world, the customer is educated and smart and commands satisfaction in all services. This paper makes an attempt to understand the dimensions of service quality which affect customer satisfaction in banking services. A sample of 200 customers of the top 10 performing banks in the state of Haryana were selected with the help of random number table. The responses of the customers were analyzed with the help of factor analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. The study found that customer expectations and perceptions towards the service quality dimensions of tangibility, competency and empathy have more impact on customer satisfaction. The findings of this study will be useful to banks to better shape and focus their positions in the market and also to provide maximum satisfaction to the customers. Introduction Banking is one of the numerous services in which customer satisfaction has an ever growing importance in the analogous research areas. This is basically because the banking sector is becoming more and more aggressive in their approach. Retail banks are pursuing this approach, in part, because of the complexity in differentiating based on the service offering. The causal relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been examined by a number of studies in service settings around the world. A review of literature revealed that the earlier studies on relationship of service quality and customer satisfaction were very few for the banking industry, more so in the Indian context. The topic therefore needs to be investigated and this research attempts to narrow this literature gap. Literature Review Rust and Zahorik (1993) provided a framework for assessing the value of customer satisfaction which enables managers to determine the greatest impact of customer satisfaction elements and the amount of money that should be spent to improve customer satisfaction elements. Author please check for any updations * Assistant Professor, Chandigarh Business School, Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran, Mohali , Punjab, India. sunaynak@gmail.com The 2014 Relationship IUP. All Rights Between Reserved. Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 1

2 Avkiran (1994) found that service quality and customer satisfaction have a positive link in banking industry. Levesque and McDougall (1996) investigated the influence of key determinants of service quality on customer satisfaction in financial institutions and found a substantial impact of service problems on customer satisfaction and their intensions to switch. Yavas et al. (1997) suggested that service quality is an essential determinant of customer satisfaction in banking industry. Gil et al. (2007) demonstrated that services encountered directly have a significant impact on the perceived service value, the final antecedent to customer satisfaction in the banking industry. The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is becoming crucial with the increased level of awareness among bank customers. Sureshchander et al. (2002) observed that the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has received considerable academic attention in the past few years. But the nature of the exact relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is still shrouded in uncertainty. Their results indicate that service quality and customer satisfaction are indeed independent but are closely related. An increase in one is likely to lead to an increase in another. They concluded that delivery of service, physical dimensions, staff interaction with customers, and trustworthy processes and procedures positively affect the quality of services delivered. Caruana (2002) conducted a study on a sample of 1000 retail banking customers and found that customer satisfaction played a mediating role in effect of service quality on customer loyalty. Author check please Nelson and Chan (2005) conducted a study to empirically evaluate the influence of the underpinnings of relationship marketing on the perceived quality of bank-customer relationship and on customer satisfaction in the Malaysian banking sector. The results show that five key dimensions competence, communication, conflict handling, trust, and relationship quality discriminate between customers in terms of perceived relationship quality and customer satisfaction. Tahir and Wan (2005) reported a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the banking sector. However, it is also reported that empathy is the least preferred dimension of service quality by the customers. Al-Hawari and Ward (2006) conducted a study to examine the relationship between customer perception of service quality and bank financial performance in Australia and to test for the mediating role of customer satisfaction in that relationship. The study proposed a mediated model linking service quality to banks financial performance through customer satisfaction in the context of the automated retail banking. Researchers found that customer satisfaction is confirmed as a mediator in the relationship between automated service quality and financial performance. They concluded that customer satisfaction plays an inter-mediator role in the relationship between service quality and financial performance of the banks. 2 The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

3 Objectives The major objectives of the paper are: To study the service quality of various facilities that banks provide; To study the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction; and To study the effect of various dimensions of service quality on customer satisfaction. Data and Methodology The study was conducted on the customers of 10 banks located in Hissar city of Haryana. A sample of 200 customers was selected using simple random table. For collecting the primary data, a structured questionnaire based on service quality model (SERVQUAL) was designed and validated. Statistical techniques like percentages, factor analysis and multiple regression were used for the analysis and interpretation of data. The secondary data was obtained from journals, newspapers and magazines. Hypothesis H 01 : There is no relationship between customer perception and customer satisfaction in banking services. H 02 : There is no relationship between customer expectations and customer satisfaction in banking services. Results and Discussion Table 1 presents the demographic profile of the respondents. It was observed that a majority of the respondents (79.5%) were males and an equal percentage of the respondents were married. 60% belonged to service class and 60% of the respondents annual income was more than 3 lakh. Factor Analysis The results of Bartlett s Test of Sphericity (approx. chi-square is 1.564, Degree of Freedom is 231, and significance is 0.000) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy (0.714) indicate that the data was adequate for factor analysis. Principal component analysis using varimax rotation was performed for extracting the underlying factors, and as shown in scree plot (Figure 1), overall seven factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were retained. Then the task of interpretation and naming of factors was done by identifying the variables having high loading on individual factors. For this purpose, rotated component matrix (Table 2) was used. Values close to 1 represent high loading and close to 0 represent low loading. Next, the naming of factors was done as shown in Table 3. The reliability coefficient of Cronbach s alpha was computed as 0.84 which indicates the high reliability of the present measure of service quality of banking. The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 3

4 Table 1: Demographic Profile of the Respondents Age S. No. Frequency Percentage 1. Less than 30 years years years and Above Total Gender 1. Male Female Total Marital Status 1. Unmarried Married Total Profession 1. Service Business Others Total Annual Income ( ) 1. Less than 1 lakh lakh lakh More than 3 lakh Hypothesis Testing Total H 01 : There is no relationship between customer perception and customer satisfaction in banking services. The multi-regression analysis was performed on the mean scores of customer perception and customer satisfaction collected from the respondents of the 10 banks. Customer satisfaction was taken as the dependent variable and service quality as the independent variable. Table 4 shows the results of multiple regression analysis between customer perception and customer satisfaction in banking services. 4 The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

5 Figure 1: Scree Plot 6 5 Eigenvalues Component Number S. No. Statements 1. The bank has modern equipments and fixtures. 2. The physical facilities at bank are visually appealing. 3. Materials associated 0.7 with the bank s service (such as ATM card, debit cards, catalogs, and statements) are visually appealing. Table 2: Rotated Component Matrix 4. The bank staff appears neat and clean. 5. The bank staff keeps their promise. Components The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 5

6 S. No. Statements Table 2 (Cont.) Components The bank staff takes sincere interest in solving customers problems. 7. When the bank promises to do something by a certain time, it does it in time. 8. The records and transactions of the bank are error-free. 9. The salespersons in the bank give prompt service to customers. 10. The bank staff performs services right the first time. 11. The bank staff tells customers exactly when the services will be performed. 12. The bank staff is always willing to help customers. 13. The bank staff responds promptly to the queries of the customers. 14. The behavior of the bank staff instills confidence in customers. 15. Customers feel safe and secure in their transactions with the bank. 16. The bank staff is friendly and courteous to the customers. 17. The bank staff has sufficient knowledge to answer the questions of the customers. 18. The bank staff pays individual attention to each and every customer. 19. The operating hours of the bank are convenient to the customers. 6 The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

7 Table 2 (Cont.) S. No. Statements Components The bank staff has the customers best interest in mind. 21. Personal attention is given The bank understands 0.63 the specific needs of the Note: Extraction customers. Method: Principal Component Analysis; and Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. Table 3: Naming of the Factors Factor Statement Factor Statement No. Name No. No. Name No. 1 Tangibility 1 4 Responsiveness Reliability 6 2 Competency Empathy Credibility Assurance R in Table 4 shows the values of the multiple correlation coefficients between the service quality dimensions like assurance, responsiveness, reliability, competency, empathy, tangibility, credibility (predictors) and customer satisfaction. In model 1, the multiple correlation coefficient value is which shows significant positive correlation between customer perception and customer satisfaction. Therefore, customer satisfaction can be significantly predicted by customer perception. R 2 shows the variability in the outcome accounted for by the predictors. For the first model, its value is which means that dimensions of customer perception account for 27.9% of the variation in customer satisfaction. The adjusted R 2 value is which is only less than R 2, and that means the model is fair. The shrinkage in R 2 means that if the model is The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 7

8 Table 4: Model Summary of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Perception and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model R R 2 Adjusted R 2 Std. Error of the Change Statistics Estimate R 2 F df1 df2 Sig. F Author please check: b is not represented in Table a Note: a b Predictors: (Constant), Assurance, Responsiveness, Reliability, Competency, Empathy, Tangibility, Credibility; and Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction. Table 5: ANOVA of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Perception and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Author please check: b is not represented in Table 1 Regression a Residual Total Note: a b Predictors: (Constant), Assurance, Responsiveness, Reliability, Competency, Empathy, Tangibility, Credibility; and Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction. derived from complete population (all the bank customers of Haryana) rather than the sample, it would account for approximately 2.6% less variance in outcome (customer satisfaction). Table 5 shows the value of F-test (10.564) which is highly significant (p ), indicating that the model is significant. In Table 6, the B value tells us about the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer perception. Here all the B values are positive, indicating that there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer perception. It is consistent with the findings of the previous literature. There are a number of studies conducted by Jabnoun and Khalifa (2005); Al-Hawari and Ward (2006), Nelson (2006), Tahir and Wan Ismail (2005) and Razak et al. (2007) that reported a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the banking sector. The Beta value is highest (0.185) for the empathy dimension of customer perception; that means empathy alone leads to customer satisfaction of up to 18.5% if the affect of all the other six dimensions of service quality are kept constant. T-test associated with B value is also significant in the case of tangibility, competency and empathy dimensions of service quality. It means that these dimensions are significant predictors of customer satisfaction, and out of these three dimensions, empathy has more impact on Author please provide the references for the underlined 8 The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

9 Table 6: Coefficients of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Perception and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity Coefficients Coefficients T Sig. Statistics B Std. Beta Tolerance Error 1 (Constant) Tangibility Competency Empathy Responsiveness Reliability Credibility Assurance Note: Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction. Vif customer satisfaction. The empathy dimension includes statements like the salespersons in the bank give prompt service to customers; bank staff performs services right the first time; and bank understands the specific needs of the customers. The results are in line with the results of Nelson and Chan (2005). They suggested that employees commitment to deliver quality services, handling of conflicts skilfully and efficient delivery of services resulted in satisfied customers in the long term. H 02 : There is no relationship between customer expectations and customer satisfaction in banking industry. The multi-regression analysis was performed on the mean scores of customer expectations and customer satisfaction collected from the respondents of 10 banks. Customer satisfaction was taken as the dependent variable and customer expectations of service quality was taken as independent variable. The results of multiple regression analysis are shown in Table 7. R in Table 7 shows the values of the multiple correlation coefficients between the service quality dimensions like assurance, responsiveness, reliability, competency, empathy, tangibility, credibility (predictors) and customer satisfaction. In model 1, the multiple correlation coefficient value is which shows significant positive correlation between customer expectations and customer satisfaction. This result is consistent with those of the literature. There are a number of studies conducted by Jabnoun and Khalifa (2005), Al-Hawari and Ward (2006), Nelson (2006), Tahir and Wan Ismail (2005) and Razak et al. (2007) that reported a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the banking sector. R 2 shows the variability in the outcome accounted for by the predictors. For the model, the value is 0.145, which means that the dimensions of customer perception account for 14.5% of Author please check these statements are same for perception and expectation as well Author please check is it customer expectations? The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 9

10 Table 7: Model Summary of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Expectations and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model R R 2 Adjusted R 2 Std. Error of the Change Statistics Estimate R 2 F df1 df2 Sig. F Author please check: b is not represented in Table a Note: a b Predictors: (Constant), Assurance, Empathy, Responsiveness, Reliability, Competency, Tangibility, Credibility; and Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction. the variation in customer satisfaction. The adjusted R 2 value is which is only less than R 2, and that means the model is fair. The shrinkage in R 2 means that if the model is derived from complete population (all the bank customers of Haryana) rather than sample, it would account for approximately 1.4% less variance in outcome (customer satisfaction). Table 8 shows the value of F-test (4.625) which is highly significant (p ), indicating that the model is significant. Table 8: ANOVA of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Expectations and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression a Residual Total Note: a b Predictors: (Constant), Assurance, Empathy, Responsiveness, Reliability, Competency, Tangibility, Credibility; and Dependent Variable: Customer satisfaction. Table 9 shows the standardized beta coefficients which explain the impact of different variables on the dependent variable. The Beta value is highest (0.195) for competency dimension of service quality, indicating that competency alone leads to customer satisfaction of up to 19.5% if the affect of all the other six dimensions of service quality are kept constant. T-test associated with B value is also significant in the case of tangibility and competency dimensions of service quality. It means that tangibility and competency are significant predictors of customer satisfaction, and out of these two dimensions, competency has more impact on customer satisfaction. Tangibility dimension of service quality includes statements related to bank s physical facilities, location, equipments and fixtures. Competency dimension of service quality includes statements like staff of the bank appears neat and clean, keeps their promise, and has the customers best interest in mind; personal attention is given; and operating hours of the bank are convenient. 10 The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

11 Table 9: Coefficient of Multi-Regression Analysis Between Customer Expectations and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Services Model Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity Coefficients Coefficients T Sig. Statistics B Std. Beta Tolerance Error 1 (Constant) Conclusion Tangibility Competency Empathy Responsiveness Reliability Credibility Assurance There is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer perception. It is consistent with the findings of the previous literature. Out of the seven dimensions of service quality, customer perception toward only three dimensions of service quality has a significant impact on customer satisfaction for banking services. The results show that customer perception toward the dimension of empathy has the greatest impact on customer satisfaction, followed by competency and tangibility. Responsiveness, reliability, credibility and assurance dimensions of service quality have negligible impact on customer satisfaction. Customers perception regarding the prompt service rendered by the salespersons of the bank, bank staff performing services right the first time, and banks understanding the specific needs of the customers have a great impact on customer satisfaction. These findings are similar to the findings of Nelson and Chan (2005). They suggested that employees commitment to deliver quality services and handling conflicts skillfully, resulted in satisfied customers in the long term. The study also found that customers perception regarding the appearance of the staff, staff keeping their promises, operating hours of the bank, bank staff having customers best interest in mind, personal attention, bank s modern equipments and fixtures, the visual appeal of the physical facilities at bank, visual appeal of the materials associated with the bank s service (such as ATM card, debit cards, catalogs, and statements) and the bank staff being friendly and courteous to the customers, have moderate impact on customer satisfaction. The study found that there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer expectations. Out of the seven dimensions of service quality, customer expectations toward only three dimensions have significant impact on customer satisfaction for banking services. The results show that customer expectations toward competency has the greatest Vif The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 11

12 impact on customer satisfaction, followed by tangibility. Responsiveness, reliability, credibility, empathy and assurance have negligible impact on customer satisfaction. Customers expectations regarding staff appearance, staff keeping their promises, operating hours of the bank, bank staff having customers best interest in mind and personal attention have highest impact on customer satisfaction. The study also found that customers expectations regarding equipments and fixtures, visual appeal of the physical facilities at bank, visual appeal of the materials associated with the bank s service (such as ATM card, debit cards, catalogs, and statements) and the bank staff being friendly and courteous to the customers have moderate impact on customer satisfaction. Customers expectations and perception related to responsiveness, reliability, credibility and assurance dimensions do not have any impact on customer satisfaction. Suggestions: In order to give better customer service and more satisfaction to customers, it is suggested that banks should concentrate on the following important points: salespersons should give prompt service to the bank customers; bank staff should perform services right the first time; bank should understand the specific needs of the customers; bank staff should appear neat and clean; bank staff should keep their promise; the operating hours of the bank should be more convenient to customers; personal attention should be given; bank should have modern equipments and fixtures; the physical facilities and materials associated with the bank s service (such as ATM card, debit cards, catalogs, and statements) should be visually appealing and the bank staff should be friendly and courteous to the customers.h References 1. Al-Hawari M and Ward T (2006), The Effect of Automated Service Quality on Australian Banks Financial Performance and the Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp Avkiran N K (1994), Developing an Instrument to Measure Customer Service Quality in Branch Banking, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp Caruana A (2002), Service Loyalty: The Effect of Service Quality and Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36, Nos. 7 & 8, pp Gil S M, Hudson S and Quintana T A (2007), The Influence of Service Recovery and Loyalty on Perceived Service Quality: A Study of Hotel Customers in Spain, Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp Levesque T and McDougall G H G (1996), Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking, The International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 7, pp Nelson N O and Chan K W (2005), Factorial and Discriminant Analysis of the Underpinnings of Relationship Marketing and Customer Satisfaction, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 23, No. 7, pp The IUP Journal of Bank Management, Vol. XIII, No. 4, 2014

13 7. Rust R T and Zahorik A J (1993), Customer Satisfaction, Customer Retention and Market Share, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp Sureshchander G S, Chandrasekharan R and Anantharaman R N (2002), The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction A Factor Specific Approach, Journal of Service Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp Tahir I M and Wan Ismail W-Z (2005), Service Quality in the Financial Services Industry in Malaysia: The Case of Islamic Banks and Insurance, International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp Yavas U, Bigin Z and Shenwell D (1997), Service Quality in the Banking Sector in an Emerging Economy: A Consumer Survey, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp Reference # 10J xx-01 The Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: 13