PurposeThis paper presents an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) with concepts from the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and customers’ perceived risk, aiming to examine the factors affecting Greek customers’ intentions to adopt internet banking services. Furthermore, several individual differences are examined, with respect to their impact on the formation of customers’ attitude about the pros and cons of the new technology.Design/methodology/approachBased on an empirical study including off‐line banking customers that are familiar with the internet, the authors validate a causal model linking the constructs of the proposed service's compatibility, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security and privacy risk, customers’ demographics and IT competences, with customers’ intentions to adopt internet banking services in the future. Partial least squares procedure was used to analyze 212 cases collected from residential customers via personal interviews using a properly designed questionnaire.FindingsThe results indicated that service compatibility is the key factor, which mostly shapes customers’ behavioural intentions toward internet banking adoption, followed by TAM constructs and perceived risk elements. Moreover, TAM and perceived security and privacy risk constructs partially mediate the relationships between compatibility and customers’ behavioural intentions, while perceived usefulness partially mediates the relationship between perceived ease of use and customers’ intentions. Finally, in terms of the impact of individual differences on customers’ beliefs about internet banking compatibility, value and risk elements, younger, mostly male customers, with adequate previous IT experience who find themselves to be compatible with the new service, are a more promising target group to use internet banking, as an alternative channel to perform their financial transactions in the future.Originality/valueThis study explores the influence of an extended TAM model factors on internet banking adaptation behaviour of Greek customers. The proposed model has never been used in the internet banking context and could be utilised to provide a solid theoretical foundation of the internet banking acceptance case.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend the well-established nomological network of service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty by introducing service fairness – a distinct service evaluation concept. Specifically, the study aims to investigate the impact of service fairness on relationship quality as a complementary to service quality driver, and the direct and indirect effect of service fairness on customer loyalty in the presence of service quality and relationship quality in a no failure/recovery effort service context. Design/methodology/approach – A telephone survey of a random sample of 408 customers of auto repair and maintenance services was implemented using a structured questionnaire with established scales. Data were analyzed with partial least squares path methodology, a structural equation modeling methodology. Findings – Interactional fairness is the most important formative determinant of customers’ overall fairness perception, followed by procedural and distributive fairness. Relationship quality measured as a higher order construct, made of satisfaction; trust; affective and calculative commitment, is the main determinant of customer loyalty. Also, it partially mediates, along with service quality, the relationship between service fairness and customer loyalty and fully mediates the effect of service quality on customer loyalty. Finally, service fairness has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications – The sample is industry-specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect temporal changes. Practical implications – Interactional fairness is of utmost importance to customers of the investigated industry. So, customers should be fairly treated at every point of contact. Also, service quality is heavily affected by service fairness. Thus, fair service leads to high-perceived service quality. Third, service quality affects customer loyalty only through relationship quality. Only when service quality is coupled by long-term quality relationships, signs of customer loyalty appear. Finally, service fairness influences customer loyalty mainly through service and relationship quality and has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty. So, fairly treating customers is crucial for developing long-term relationships that lead to customer loyalty. Originality/value – The role of service fairness in the service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty chain is investigated and using a higher order construct for relationship quality.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the adoption of mobile self-service retail banking technologies, and the degree of influence of each factors leading their usage. Having mobile banking (MB) as the reference service and drawing on previous studies in the field, an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model is proposed and empirically validated to investigate the impact of technology, social, channel and personal factors on potential customers’ usage intentions. Design/methodology/approach On evidence drawn, through a dedicated research instrument, from 513 non-users in Greece, the effects of the extended UTAUT’s drivers on MB adoption intentions are assessed using partial least squares path methodology. Findings The results indicated that technology-related factors, expressing innovation expected performance, and social influence are the leading determinants of MB adoption intentions, followed by the two channel-related factors, expressing perceived risk and trust toward MB usage, and potential users’ inherent innovativeness. Furthermore, the consideration of service experience as a moderating variable has shown that there is a significant difference in the effects of social influence and perceived trust on adoption intention between potential users with high and limited service experience. Research limitations/implications The sample is country specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect the temporal changes. Practical implications From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that banks should consider, except of the technology-related factors of MB, the way that potential users perceive the channel-related factors as well as the individual differences in order to improve the MB acceptance level. Originality/value Although there are a few studies that use UTAUT to predict MB adoption, the proposed model is the first that combines four groups of MB adoption driving factors into a causal model in order to explain MB adoption intentions in a country which is facing severe financial crisis for the last eight years, Greece.

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Purpose Given its importance in the brand management of service firms, the present research initiative primarily concerns the investigation of the formation process of consumer-brand relationships in the service industry. By considering a chain of effects’ model, this paper aims to integrate two brand commitment paradigm’s perspectives with service evaluation theory, representing the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of the relationship building process, to better explain the way consumers relate to a service brand. The proposed conceptual model is tested in the context of mobile broadband internet services. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 573 customers of mobile internet services was conducted using a structured questionnaire with established scales. Data were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that brand loyalty is determined by relationship commitment, which, in turn, is influenced by the consumer-brand relationship components – trust, satisfaction, investment size and quality of alternatives – as well as by the service brand’s perceived value. Finally, the relationship quality components of the brand, trust and satisfaction to a large extent, and investment size to a lesser extent, mediate the relationships between service brand evaluation and brand commitment. Research limitations/implications The sample is industry-specific, and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect temporal changes. Practical implications From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that providers can improve their loyalty figures through the establishment of strong consumer-brand relationships as a result of the development and delivery of high quality, valuable services and other relationship-building tactics that support the consumer-brand binding. Originality/value Although there are previous studies that extend either the relationship investment model or the commitment-trust theory with the service evaluation theory, the proposed model is the first to combine the previous three research streams into one causal chain model, to explain the development and flow of events in the consumer-brand relationship process toward brand loyalty.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate which of four well-established theoretical models (i.e. technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB)) best explains potential users’ behavioral intentions to adopt mobile banking (MB) services. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from 931 potential users in Greece, the structural equation modeling method was used to examine and compare the four models in goodness-of-fit, explanatory power and statistical significance of path coefficients. Findings Results indicate that the best model is an extension of the DTPB with perceived risk (PR). Customers’ attitude, determined by three rationally-evaluated MB attributes (usefulness, easiness and compatibility), is the main driver of consumers’ intentions to adopt MB services. Additionally, consumers’ perceptions of availability of knowledge, resources and opportunities necessary for using the service, and the pressure of interpersonal and external social contexts toward the use of MB are the other two, less important, adoption drivers. Finally, PR negatively affects attitude formation and inhibits willingness to use MB services. Practical implications Findings can help marketers of financial institutions to select the more parsimonious model to develop appropriate marketing strategies to increase adoption rates of MB services. Originality/value This is the first study that compares the performance of four well-known innovation adoption models to explain consumers’ behavior in the MB context.

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