Customer service quality in the Greek Cypriot banking industry

Abstract

PurposeTo measure the service quality perceptions of Greek Cypriot bank customers and to examine the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth, in the light of changing bank market dynamics due to EU accession.Design/methodology/approachA total of 260 retail bank customers responded to a Greek translated version of SERVQUAL. After descriptive and factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis was used to estimate the impact of service quality dimensions on overall customer satisfaction and the impact of satisfaction on positive word of mouth.FindingsThe SERVQUAL scale proved to be of a three‐dimensional structure in this study. Results revealed that the expectations of bank customers were not met where the largest gap was obtained in the responsiveness‐empathy dimension. Reliability items had the highest effect on customer satisfaction, which in turn had a statistically significant impact on the positive word of mouth.Research limitations/implicationsThere were some difficulties in conducting interviews, which may have restricted the potential sample size. Future research could be directed at how the service is delivered by front‐line employees.Practical implicationsFindings of this study will help Greek Cypriot banks to redefine their corporate image to one that is customer‐focused and emphasizes service quality. The findings will also be important for other countries that need to restructure their banking system as a prerequisite to EU membership.Originality/valueThis study assesses the five‐factor fit of the much debated SERVQUAL instrument to a new country setting, that of Cyprus, whose already developed banking system has undergone significant restructuring prior to EU accession.

Functional Service Quality Satisfaction of Islamic and Conventional Credit Card Users in Malaysia

“…The present study reveals that the assurance dimension positively and significantly affects FSQ satisfaction for CCCU and ALL groups, but not for the ICCU and I/CCCU groups since the items from the assurance dimension fail to converge into their own dimension during the factor analysis. The positive results for the CCCU and ALL groups support the findings of previous studies, including Arasli et al (2005bArasli et al ( , 2005c in Turkey and Greece; Muslim and Zaidi (2008) in Malaysia;and Ladhari (2009) in Canada. However, Muslim and Zaidi (2008) find that the assurance dimension positively and significantly affects customer FSQ satisfaction in the case of Islamic banking.…”

“…Therefore, all five hypotheses (H1-H5) developed in the present study are accepted. The reliability dimension is positive, which is consistent with the findings of Parasuraman et al (1988) in the US; Levesque and McDougall (1996) in Canada; Han and Baek (2004) in Korea; Arasli et al (2005bArasli et al ( , 2005c in Turkey and Greece; Muslim and Zaidi (2008) in Malaysia;and Ladhari (2009) in Canada. The consistency of the reliability dimension affecting customer FSQ satisfaction across countries reveals that the accuracy and consistency of performance are vital for banks and credit card issuers in the context of the present study, including for Islamic credit card issuers.…”

“…Therefore, all dimensions except the assurance dimension have high internal consistency. The result is similar to Han and Baek (2004), Kumar et al (2009) and Arasli et al (2005c) who eliminated the assurance dimension because the original items in the assurance dimension do not converge.…”

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Impact of Total Quality Management and Service Quality in the Banking Sector

“…Leading academicians and researchers strongly believe that providing quality service to customers is not only the most important and effective factor for customer satisfaction but also the essential criterion that measures the competitiveness of a service organization like banks [1,[8][9][10][11].…”