The role of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth in the e-banking services Luis V. Casaló Carlos Flavián Miguel Guinalíu
Article information:To cite this document: Luis V. Casaló Carlos Flavián Miguel Guinalíu, (2008),"The role of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth in the e-banking services"If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
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AbstractPurpose -Customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) have been traditionally two main goals aimed at by managers. Focusing on the online banking, the importance of these concepts is even greater due to the increasing competence in electronic commerce. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to characterize both concepts in the e-banking context. Design/methodology/approach -The influence of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive WOM in the e-banking business were measured. After the validation of measurement scales, hypotheses are contrasted through structural modelling. Findings -This research showed that satisfaction with previous interactions with the bank website had a positive effect on both customer loyalty and positive WOM. In addition, website usability was found to have a positive effect on customer satisfaction and, as expected, loyalty was also significantly related to positive WOM. Practical implications -In order to develop customer loyalty and positive WOM, banks that operate in the internet should: prioritize ease-of-use in website development, and identify the needs of online customers (e.g. in terms of services offered) in order to offer them what they really want. Originality/value -Although the increasing competitiveness in e-business is motivating an exponential growth in the number of studies that analyze loyalty development and WOM in the internet, there is still a lack of studies that analyze the formation of both concepts in the e-banking context. Thus, this work represents a new contribution to the field of online banking, which has acquired a notable popularity in recent years.
Purpose
Considering the increasing impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on financial technology (FinTech), the purpose of this paper is to propose a research framework to better understand robo-advisor adoption by a wide range of potential customers. It also predicts that personal and sociodemographic variables (familiarity with robots, age, gender and country) moderate the main relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a web survey of 765 North American, British and Portuguese potential users of robo-advisor services confirm the validity of the measurement scales and provide the input for structural equation modeling and multisample analyses of the hypotheses.
Findings
Consumers’ attitudes toward robo-advisors, together with mass media and interpersonal subjective norms, are found to be the key determinants of adoption. The influences of perceived usefulness and attitude are slightly higher for users with a higher level of familiarity with robots; in turn, subjective norms are significantly more relevant for users with a lower familiarity and for customers from Anglo-Saxon countries.
Practical implications
Banks and other firms in the finance industry should design robo-advisors to be used by a wide spectrum of consumers. Marketing tactics applied should consider the customer’s level of familiarity with robots.
Originality/value
This research identifies the key drivers of robo-advisor adoption and the moderating effect of personal and sociodemographic variables. It contributes to understanding consumers’ perceptions regarding the introduction of AI in FinTech.
The webrooming purchase process (i.e. searching for information online and then buying the product offline) is the most extended crosschannel shopping behaviour. With the aim of offering a better understanding of this behaviour, this research relies on information processing and uncertainty reduction theories to propose that consumers use the online information to make the offline purchase with a higher degree of confidence. We examine the effects of a previous online interaction with a product on the preferences and decision at the physical store, as well as on the outcomes of the experience. In this path to purchase, we analyse how positive online customer reviews, as a specific form of electronic word of mouth, help the consumer to improve their experience, given their great potential to reduce the consumer's uncertainty in a purchase situation. In addition, the role of the motivation to touch the product is examined. The results of two studies show that the combination of an online search and an offline purchase improves the consumers' purchase experience in pre-choice variables (i.e. purchase intentions), choice and post-choice variables (i.e. search-process satisfaction and choice confidence). Moreover, reading a positive online customer review influences choice confidence, and all the variables considered in the research when it is received at the physical store. Finally, the results stress the importance of the motivation to touch when studying multichannel shopping behaviour, given its direct and moderating effects on the webrooming purchase process. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
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