A customer behavior study within the banking industry of Pakistan : evaluating the roles and inter-relationships of percieved service quality, corporate social responsibility, trust and continuance commitment on customer loyalty intentions | |
| Author | Khan, Zia Ullah |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.SM-15-04 |
| Subject(s) | Banks and banking--Customer services--Pakistan Social responsibility of business--Pakistan Customer loyalty--Pakistan |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. SM-15-04 |
| Abstract | Prior research , mostly with in developed countries , has identified that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can contribute towards customer behavior, yet, to date , researchers have provided limited specific information on if, and to what extent, CSR itself influence s service quality and loyalty relationships that serve to establish and maintain a firm’s profitability. Expanding the corpus, this research develops and empirical ly tests a conceptual framework which predicts the effects of CSR perceptions on a well - established customer behavior relationship path of Perceived Service Quality ( PSQ ) - trust - and loyal ty intentions . This research evaluates the explicit contribution of CSR towards customer perceptions and validates the relevance for expanding a customer behavior model to include CSR characteristics. Although, t his research is stimulated by a scarcity of customer behavior related empirical CSR re search with in developing countries, t he purpose of this research is three fold . These include (1) whether and to what extent CSR perceptions influence the well - established relationship path of PSQ - trust - loyalty intentions (2) whether and t o what extent this relationship path, i.e. PSQ - trust - loyalty intentions , remains valid in the retail banking industry of Pakistan , and ( 3) whether and to what exten t constraint - based relationship variables , such as perceived switching costs and continuance commit ment , affect customer loyalty intentions . F ive banks were selected as relevant for this research. They are considered active in CSR activities , and use CSR as a n explicit marketing tool . Using quota sampling with respect to these five eligible banks, 408 customers participated in the satisfactory completi on of a quantitative survey . The a nalysis verified t he relevance of the hypothesized model; tested primarily through Partial Least S quares base d Structural Equation Mode ling (i.e. PLS - SEM) . The results of this study contribute to the literature base by confirming CSR is perceived as serv ing as a relevant and important direct determinant of PSQ, trust and loyalty intentions within the context of the retail banking industry . CSR should therefore be fundamentally considered alongside core business values in order to develop customer retention strategies. This study highlights that CSR should be recognised a s a relevant consideration for marketing professionals who are seeking to enhance PSQ - loyalty relationships. Secondly, the outcomes of this study also confirm ed that the role of trust within the path of PSQ - trust - loyalty intentions is recognised as being significant w ithin the context of this industry. On the other hand, constraint - based relationship variables , such as perceived switching costs and continuance commitment , do not actually illustrate any significant impact on customer loyalty intentions . This implies that , with better perceptions of service quality and trust , constraint - based relationship variables such as continuance commitment and switching costs , do not appear to harm customer loyalty intentions . Therefore, this research suggests that const raint - based relationship marketing strategies can safely be strengthened simultaneously without necessarily damaging other customer loyalty benefits in Pakistan . |
| Year | 2015 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. SM-15-04 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ferguson, David |
| Examination Committee(s) | Supasith Chonglerttham ;Shivakoti, Ganesh |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Higher Education Commission of Pakistan |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2015 |