Abstract
A critical goal of this paper is to analyse different articles and determine the most suitable approaches that are utilised to evaluate customer satisfaction in the banking segment. To discover this information, ten quantitative and qualitative scholarly publications were selected by using keywords such as “customer satisfaction”, “survey”, and “banking industry” in databases including Google Scholar (6 articles) and ResearchGate (4 articles).
The findings showed that researchers tended to prioritise questionnaires and other quantitative methods to measure customer satisfaction. Qualitative strategies were also used, and they attempted to provide valuable insights about factors affecting reactions of consumers with the help of interviews. This paper can be actively used by scholars to select the most suitable research paradigm to unveil the insights of the banking industry and discover the effects of different factors on consumer perceptions of brands. Thus, apart from the beneficial intentions of these approaches, it was revealed that generalisation and limitation of scope were the primary drawbacks. Consequently, it could be said that increasing the sample size and using mixed-methods (both quantitative and qualitative) can enhance the outcomes and eliminate the issues mentioned above.
Introduction
Today, banks play a critical role in everyday lives, as they offer various services and monitor financial transactions. Thus, the rivalry in this segment continues to intensify since the preferences and demands of the clients are changing (Sahu, Dash, & Kumar, 2017). This matter is one of the drivers for the rising popularity of customer satisfaction tools. In this case, many studies were conducted, and they revealed a connection between customer satisfaction and various factors such as quality of the provided services, employees, and consumer attitudes (Abdullah, Manaf, Yusuf, Ahsan, & Azam, 2014; Lee & Park, 2014). Nonetheless, these publications had critical limitations. This fact and a pivotal role of customer satisfaction in the service segment highlighted the essentiality of conducting additional research to discover the most suitable research methods.
In this case, the primary goal of the paper is to review various methodologies that are used to assess a level of satisfaction among customers in the banking industry. In the first place, a sequence of steps to select the most relevant articles will be discussed profoundly. Meanwhile, the following chapter will focus on the description of the selected articles and analysis of research paradigms. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarise the main findings of the paper.
Methodology
To conduct the research, ten articles covering consumer satisfaction were chosen based on the results from ResearchGate and Google Scholar. It was prioritised to find publications that attempted to evaluate a situation in New Zealand. In the first place, information was searched in Google Scholar with the help of keywords such as “customer satisfaction”, “survey”, and “banking industry” (56,000 results). After that, the concepts of sampling methods were applied, and the year was specified to “from 2013” (16,000 results). Subsequently, adding a keyword “New Zealand” revealed 16,800 articles. Similar manipulations took place with Research Gate (100 results).
In this instance, Google Scholar’s results were evaluated at first, and six articles were selected for the analysis since they were available and covered not only the topic but also the preferred geographical coverage (New Zealand). Other countries were also chosen, but only three articles from ResearchGate were selected due to issues with access.
Results
To discover customer satisfaction with banking services, ten articles with different research methods were selected. Table 2 portrays specifics of the methodologies used in these scholarly publications.
Table 1 Summary of research methods.
Quantitative Methods
The article by Abdullah, Manaf, Yusuf, Ahsan, and Azam is one of the brightest examples of quantitative publications in New Zealand. The survey questions covered demographics of participants and their satisfaction with banking services, and 120 questionnaires were selected for analysis (Abdullah et al., 2014). With the help of descriptive statistics and Structural Equitation Modelling Technique, the findings were analysed. The results of this study revealed that all three dimensions, including reliability, assurance, and enabling, were vital definers of customer satisfaction (Abdullah et al., 2014).
Abdullah, Manaf, Ahsan, and Azam (2014) also used a quantitative method to find a connection between customer perception, employee courtesy, and banking facilities, and the sample included 293 participants from both Malaysia and New Zealand. Both questions and scales were employed to measure satisfaction (Abdullah et al., 2014). The findings were analysed by using descriptive statistics and factor model. The results showed a correlation between the variables mentioned above and underlined that maintaining trusting relationships with the customers was essential.
Zeinalizadeh, Shoraje, and Shariatmadari (2015) utilised questionnaires to discover customer satisfaction and a possibility to use the artificial neural network. The findings acquired from 436 customers of the Iranian banking segment were analysed by using exploratory factor analysis and linear regression (Zeinalizadeh et al., 2015). The results underlined that there were many factors affecting customer satisfaction, such as quality of services, fees, and design.
Furthermore, Rod, Ashill, and Carrunters (2009) used a similar strategy to collect information about customer satisfaction with online banking services in New Zealand and factors that defined the desire of the clients to continue collaborating with a particular bank. The sample size included 300 online bank users, and data was assessed by using partial least squares (Rod et al., 2009). The outcomes revealed that the level of customer satisfaction with online banking services was highly influenced by the quality of internet banking and service.
In turn, Ling, Yeo, and Lim (2016) conducted a study to understand the central aspect that defined customer satisfaction with online banking services, as it was a substantial part of the banking industry. In this instance, they distributed questionnaires among 200 individuals in Malaysia (Ling et al., 2016). Linear regression was applied to analyse the findings and determine a connection between customer satisfaction and different features of services. In this case, the results revealed that matters such as convenience, the speed of response, and design had a vehement impact on satisfaction among customers and their desire to use online banking (Ling, et al., 2016).
Thus, Lee and Park (2014) also relied on quantitative methods such as various surveys and rankings to understand customer satisfaction. However, the authors used a different approach and organised experiments by using two groups and evaluating the impact of advertising exposure on customer satisfaction with the help of the Likert scale (Lee & Park, 2014). 38 and 45 participants took part in the first and second experiments, respectively (Lee & Park, 2014). With the help of descriptive statistics, it was revealed that advertising could be discovered as one of the factors that might boost customer satisfaction and increase brand recognition.
Chavan and Ahmad (2013) also relied on an empirical study to understand the factors defining customer satisfaction using questionnaires and descriptive statistics, and tangibility and fulfilment were discovered as defining aspects. Lastly, to determine the dimensions of SERVQUAL model and their impact on customer satisfaction in Malaysia, Lee and Moghavvemi (2015) used 789 questionnaires that were analysed with the help of descriptive statistics. It was revealed that empathy and security were the most critical matters.
Qualitative Methods
Nonetheless, some research studies relied on qualitative strategy when trying to evaluate customer satisfaction in the banking segment. Mandal and Bhattacharya (2013) developed a grounded theory to understand the effect of various aspects on the perceptions of customers about banking in India. The sample size consisted of 48 participants, while the data was collected with the help of focus groups and individual interviews (Mandal & Bhattacharya, 2013). This research attempted to fulfil the gaps displayed in the existent literature, but its findings were rather generalised and highlighted employees, facilities, products, and services of high importance.
Alternatively, to understand the principles of customer satisfaction and ways to increase customer retention to banks in Jordan, Alnsour (2013) collected information by conducting in-depth interviews with less than 100 participants and decoded it. It was revealed that banks had to pay vehement attention to trust, commitment, and transparency since these aspects determined customer satisfaction and desire to continue a relationship with a bank (Alnsour, 2013). Nonetheless, the study had some limitations, and it is necessary to conduct subsequent research to understand the application of these findings.
Sample Size
Due to the different approaches used, the sample size varied from 40 to 700 participants. For example, only forty took part in qualitative interviews, while larger samples entailed the application of quantitative methods because of the specifics of this methodology (see Table 2).
Table 2. Analysis of sample sizes.
Conclusion
In the end, it was revealed that different methods were used to discover specifics of this industry and provided valuable information about customer satisfaction in the banking segment in New Zealand and other countries. In this instance, one of the critical findings was the fact that quantitative methods, such as questionnaires with Likert-scales, were the most suitable approaches used in this context. At the same time, this strategy helped understand connections between variables. Thus, a qualitative approach was not discovered as vehemently important due to the need to cover large sample groups to understand a level of satisfaction.
Critical limitations of the research articles were their focus on particular geographical locations and a low percentage of participants. These drawbacks restricted the application of the research results and implied a high level of generalisation. In turn, selecting only ten articles did not provide a full image of the most suitable research strategies. Nonetheless, these findings could be actively used to unveil insights about various research methodologies, appropriate sample size, and analytical models to discover a degree of satisfaction among consumers in the banking segment. Based on the outcomes indicated above, the main recommendation pertains to expanding a sample size when conducting similar research to evaluate methodologies. Meanwhile, practitioners operating in the banking industry could use mixed strategies to avoid bias and generalisation.
Reference
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