The Corporate Reputation of Islamic Banks: A Measurement Scale

Abstract

During the last few years, the concept of corporate reputation has received considerable attention from marketing academics and practitioners alike. This is not surprising in view of the concept enormous practical implications. Suffice it to say, that the market value of a modern company lies mainly in its intangibles assets. Corporate reputation embodies all of the intangible capital that a company may have. The current study describes an attempt to develop and validate a scale to measure the corporate reputation of Islamic banks. The operational definition of the construct draws mainly on its attitudinal and perceptual nature. To tap into the different dimensions of the target domain, an initial item pool of 42 statements was developed following a comprehensive review of related literature. Successive stages of revision, editing, rewriting and face and content validity reduced the initial item pool to 29 statements. These were put to a convenient sample of 150 bank customers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The resultant data set was factor analyzed. A Principal Component Analysis extraction method suggested a two factor solution. Between them,the two factors explained 55% of the total variance in the factor model. Items that loaded poorly on any of the two components were eliminated from the analysis. 17 items made up the final version of the scale. The Cronbach alpha coefficients revealed that the two subscales and the overall scale were reliable. The inter-item correlation coefficients, the variance extracted, the factor communalities, and the Cronbach alpha coefficients do all point to the validity of the construct: that all the items in the scale seem to measure an underlying theme, in this case the corporate reputation of Islamic banks.

The Mediating Role of Ethical Brand Equity: A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling in Moroccan Islamic Banking

“…Seventhly, the ethics of the Islamic banking brand could be the solution to consider in order to expand the market share of these institutions in Western financial markets, even where consumers are not Muslim. This is in line with Almahy et al's (2014) contribution to the importance of Islamic finance in today's economy (Almahy et al, 2014).…”

“…The practice of usury, including bank interest, is forbidden, as is speculation (Ahmad, 2000). In line with Almahy et al (2014), Islamic banking can be seen as an alternative to the crises of conventional debt-based financing models promoted by Western financial institutions. It represents an alternative financial system, in line with Islamic principles, proposing interest-free finance, promoting justice and helping to strengthen social cohesion (Almahy et al, 2014).…”

“…Islamic banking is seen as a response to the crises of conventional debt-based financing models promoted by Western financial institutions. This alternative financial system, respectful of Islamic principles, offers interest-free finance, encouraging justice and fostering social cohesion (Almahy et al, 2014). Some conventional banks in Western countries have also adopted the Islamic finance model, adding so-called "Islamic windows" to their existing banking operations (Ranzini, 2007).…”

Customers’ Islamic ethical behavior: the case of Malaysian Islamic banks

“…Hence, it is essential to view reputation as a "collective representation" of images and opinions about a business, and not to view it as a "self-promoted message". This includes connections with all shareholders, and it may be gained, preserved and improved or diminished over time (Almahy et al, 2014). Ahmad et al (2015) studied customers' behaviors toward Islamic banks in Pakistan and they found that reputation was the main factors for customers when selecting a bank.…”

The Contribution of Perceived Brand Ethics to the Development of Consumer Trust: A Qualitative Study of Moroccan Islamic Banks

“…Islamic banking is seen as a response to the crises of conventional debt-based financing models promoted by Western financial institutions, an alternative financial system respectful of its Islamic principles, offering interest-free finance, promoting justice, and fostering social cohesion (Almahy et al, 2014).…”