Search results

The article aims to elaborate on the importance of “managing reputation equity” in the banking industry.

This article has been derived in part from the reputation improvement plans of investment banks and in part from the author's own experience as a non‐executive director.

The most critical and strategic asset a bank possesses is its reputation. A “reputation improvement plan” is a critical document for the board of directors. In practice, reputation improvement plans vary enormously in terms of structure, format and content. This article summarizes what content should ideally be included. Furthermore, it is important to remember that reputation improvement planning is just one component of the process – the other components are implementing the plan, monitoring progress and auditing the reputation's situation. And, although the focus is often on the document, it is the process of drafting, discussing, agreeing and using it that is important. The document facilitates discussion and decision making and can then be used as a guide to action.

The process of producing a “reputation improvement plan” forces management to think through the issues related to a particular reputation and how to address them. The document itself summarizes the reputation's competitive position and guides the implementation of strategic initiatives. In banks (such as Goldman Sachs) that the board of directors with significant input from stakeholders (for instance, important customers), revised in a series of iterations with management before being agreed, and linked to other functional plans (e.g. operations, sales plans etc.) ensuring that all the bank's activities are focused on achieving common goals. A successful reputation improvement plan and program will only occur when at least the following combined forces are effective: a vision of something better (a clear target embedded in a plan) and a few practical first steps to achieve (to launch the process). Reputation is not a gift, but really hard work.

Reputational capital is a vital strategic resource. Reputations reflect a bank's relative success in fulfilling the expectations of multiple stakeholders. They are crucial because they “work” for banks. Therefore, establishing a great reputation is a key element of organizational strategy. Banks will become increasingly focused on managing their reputations over the next decade. The article is about unlocking the value of reputation through reputation improvement planning.

Even though scholars have proposed multiple dimensions to measure corporate reputation, the relationship between these dimensions and service provider selection has received a dearth of research. Moreover, the moderating role of brand image on this relationship has hardly been considered. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps in the literature.

The study employed a quantitative approach, collecting data from 540 retail bank customers using surveys. Results were analyzed using structural equation modelling in AMOS.

The study found out that emotional engagement, corporate performance, customer centricism and service quality directly predicted customer selection of retail banks in Ghana. The results further indicated that brand image moderates the relationship between social and ethical engagement, which was not directly significant and bank selection.

The findings of the study indicate that some of the dimensions of corporate reputation have a direct impact on bank selection by customers, and that brand image could also be used to improve social and ethical dimension of corporate reputation to ensure bank selection by retail customers. The study thus provides practical guidelines for managing corporate reputation to achieve retail bank selection in Ghana.

The paper provides support to some of the prior studies on corporate reputation in the retail banking sector. Thus, the study provides useful insights into how corporate reputation can be managed to ensure service provider selection by retail bank customers.

This paper aims to investigate the role of bank reputation (via its proposed dimensions) in influencing bank trust and its subsequent effect on the loyalty of the customer. The study has also explored the moderating role of bank type (public vs private bank) in the relationship between the dimensions of bank reputation and bank trust.

A total of 651 questionnaires were distributed to the customers of public and private bank, whereas only 375 usable responses were obtained. Questionnaires were given to the respondents through the visit of few interviewers to several private and public banks in Delhi and NCR region during December 2019 to February 2020. A screening question was included in the beginning of the questionnaire (i.e. Do you trust your bank?). Non-random sampling technique was used for data collection, and the research design was cross-sectional. The proposed framework was tested with the help of structural equation modeling.

The findings of the study show that all the proposed dimensions (i.e. service quality, stability, customer centricism and corporate performance) of corporate reputation/bank reputation significantly affect bank trust. Also, the effect of bank trust on loyalty was found significant. Bank type emerged as a significant moderator between the dimensions of bank reputation and bank trust. It shows that the effect of service quality, stability, customer centricism and corporate performance on bank trust significantly differs in public vs private banks. Customer centricism is perceived to be high in private banks, whereas all the other three dimensions are obtained to be higher in public sector banks according to the findings of the study.

The presented framework in the study has covered all the significant antecedents of bank trust and its subsequent effect on loyalty. The findings of the paper are useful to several stakeholders, including bank managers, regulators, investors and depositors. The study shows that bank reputation affects trust and loyalty in the long run. This relationship can be used by bank managers for gaining the trust of customers and building loyalty. It also helps in making strategies by banks for targeting customers. Stability is a very crucial factor for a developing economy. The bank regulators can use these results for ensuring the soundness of the banking system and for providing a stable environment for customers. Bank depositors and investors can also use the findings of the study for analyzing the factors that affect their bank selection decision.

The present research shows that bank type moderates the relationship of the dimensions of bank reputation and bank trust in an emerging economy in Asia.

The concept of banking reputation has gained significant attention due to its relevance in the banking industry. A strong reputation has become crucial for a bank’s success, as it affects trust, credibility and stakeholders' perceptions. However, understanding and managing reputation in the banking sector involves several challenges. This study aims to analyze the field of banking reputation research through bibliometric analysis.

It explores the evolution of research in this area, identifies key journals, articles and authors, examines the main research streams, and identifies research fronts and opportunities for future advancement.

The findings reveal that banking reputation research has evolved over time, with multiple perspectives and viewpoints. Key journals and authors in the field are identified, and leading research streams are highlighted. The study also uncovers the conceptual and intellectual structure of the research domain, providing insights into the complex and multidimensional nature of banking reputation. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of corporate social responsibility, sustainability practices and gender diversity in shaping a bank’s reputation. These factors play a significant role in attracting and retaining customers, accessing financial markets and securing funding.

The results contribute to the existing body of knowledge and provide researchers and practitioners with valuable insights for further exploration.

The paper concludes by outlining potential avenues for future research in the field of banking reputation.

This study examines how potentially irresponsible banking operations affect organisational reputation. A moderated mediation model is applied to explain how major aspects of social irresponsibility affect the relationship between consumer awareness of allegedly irresponsible operations, blame and bank reputation. The empirical context is the Swiss franc mortgage crisis that affected the banking industry in most Central and Eastern European countries.

The research study uses data collected from a large survey (N = 1,000) conducted among Polish bank consumers, including those with mortgage loans in Swiss francs. To test the proposed model, the authors use Hayes' process macro.

The findings show that blame fully mediates the effects of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) awareness on organisational reputation. Three facets of social irresponsibility moderate this relationship. Specifically, the perceived harm and intentionality of corporate culprits cause people to be more likely to blame a bank for the difficulties posed by indebted consumers. At the same time, the perceived complicity of consumers in misselling a mortgage reduces the level of blame and its subsequent adverse effects on bank reputation.

Although a strong reputation is crucial in the financial industry, few studies have attempted to address reputational risk from a consumer perspective. This study helps to understand how potentially irresponsible selling of a financial product can adversely affect a bank's reputation.

Banks' service failures are a major determinant of bank customers' switching behavior, which ultimately affects the profitability and stability of banks. Guided by the expectancy violation theory (EVT), this study aims to examine whether and how bank reputation influences the relationship between service failure and customers' switching behavior in the Malaysian banking industry.

By distributing questionnaires to Malaysian bank account holders, the authors gathered 320 usable responses, which were subsequently subjected to explanatory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Logit regression, Probit regression and independent-variables T-test to identify and elucidate the relationship existent between the dependent and independent variables.

This study discovered that bank reputation affects the bank customers' switching behavior directly and indirectly via banks' service failure, thereby verifying the application of EVT in the context of customer management.

Although the profile of respondents in this study presents a reasonable representation of the Malaysian population, the use of convenience (non-probability) sampling method via online survey may not provide generalizable results.

This study empirically revealed that bank reputation plays a moderator role between service failure in banks and customers' bank-switching behavior. This observation offers useful insights to bank managers into the role of bank reputation in managing customers' switching behavior.

Customer loyalty is of growing interest to many service firms due to the many tangible and intangible benefits it offers them. However, building customer loyalty is challenging for many service firms. This study aims to examine the impact of corporate reputation on customer loyalty. It also assesses the moderating role of the firm's country of origin in this relationship.

Survey research design was used to collect data from 367 universal banks' customers. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings shed light on several crucial aspects of corporate reputation that influence customer loyalty. Specifically, signals of corporate social responsibility, corporate credibility, product attributes and relationship marketing were found to have a substantial impact on customer loyalty. Additionally, the study uncovers a noteworthy insight that the firm's country of origin plays a moderating role in the relationship between corporate reputation and customer loyalty, particularly in the context of the banking sector.

This research stands out due to its utilisation of signalling theory, making it one of the pioneering works in the bank brand management literature. It presents a comprehensive corporate reputation framework and its profound implications for customer loyalty. Furthermore, the study underscores the significance of considering the strength of the country-of-origin effect in shaping customer loyalty relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL) from the perspective of the customers and its relationships with perceived overall SERVQUAL in retail banking and also investigate the relationships between perceived overall SERVQUAL and customer trust, customer satisfaction, and bank reputation.

A survey questionnaire was constructed, and data were collected from 375 regular customers of local banks. The convenience sampling method was employed to collect data from existing customers of local banks operating in the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. Structural equation modelling was applied to analyse the data.

The results of the study indicate four key dimensions of SERVQUAL – tangibles, empathy, reliability and security, and internet banking – all of which are significantly and positively related to customers’ perceived overall SERVQUAL. Internet banking facilities are another significant determinant of the perceived overall SERVQUAL. The results are indicative of the strong and positive effect upon customer satisfaction, their trust in the bank, and, finally, a bank’s reputation.

This study has presented and tested empirical study of perceived overall SERVQUAL model in the banking industry, particularly in the Malaysian context. This research identified the dimensions of SERVQUAL (i.e. tangibles, empathy, reliability and security, and internet banking) that influence the overall perceived SERVQUAL, and how these overall perceptions will eventually influence customer trust, customer satisfaction, and bank reputation is valid and reliable in retail banking industry. This study, however, only focussed on the banking industry. Given the diversity of the service industry, these findings may have to be tested for the applicability to different service industries in future studies.

This research is useful to bank managers as it helps them improve SERVQUAL to protect and expand their respective market share in a highly competitive industry. Banks could utilise the results of this study to improve their service tangibility, empathy, reliability, and security, which will affect both customer trust and satisfaction, and enhance a bank’s reputation.

The findings of specific dimensions of SERVQUAL will contribute to customer perception of banks’ image and reputation, and strengthen trust and satisfaction. Moreover, assisting customers towards the understanding of how they should received high quality of services with regard to quality should be perceived as emphatic, reliable, secured and tangibility of service.

The findings of this study highlight the specific dimensionalities of SERVQUAL in influencing the perceived overall SERVQUAL. This study will increase the understanding on the impact of perceived overall SERVQUAL on consumer trust, customer satisfaction, and a bank’s reputation. Specifically, it reports an empirical study of a model of perceived overall SERVQUAL that simultaneously considers the direct effects of perceived overall SERVQUAL on customer trust, customer satisfaction and bank reputation.

The present study aims to propose and validate a model to measure certain variables that may contribute to increasing the bankarization rate (uptake of retail banking services) among developing-economy populations characterized by poor financial literacy and low income levels.

A quantitative empirical study is carried out in the retail banking sector of a country with low-bankarization rates. Using a self-administered questionnaire distributed online, structural equation modeling is applied to analyze the relationships between value co-creation, brand experience, brand equity and reputation.

The results show that brand equity is an antecedent of reputation that values co-creation, and brand experience positively influences brand equity and that values co-creation that positively influences brand experience.

The bankarization rate of a developing country is generally taken as an indicator of the socioeconomic wellbeing of its population. Where there is a low-bankarization rate, this renders it more difficult for financial institutions to build their reputation to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Strategies are, therefore, proposed to improve the reputation of financial institutions in such settings and, thus, contribute to increasing the bankarization rate.

The findings of this study provide an original perspective that offers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that enable banks operating in low-bankarization markets to enhance their reputation through strategies based on customer–company interaction and branding (with the variables of brand equity, brand experience and value co-creation).

In this study, the authors examine how a retail bank's positive, neutral, and negative prior ethical reputations influence customers' perceptions and attitudes, leading to their bank selection decisions and also analyze whether there is a trade-off between a bank's negative prior ethical reputation and its functional benefits to customers.

The authors followed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods research design with two studies. The authors’ first study was qualitative, in which the authors conducted interviews and focus groups with banking customers in Pakistan. The results of this study were used to generate hypotheses that were tested in the second study using random choice experiments.

The results indicate that positive and neutral prior ethical reputations do not significantly impact customers' choices; however, a negative reputation does affect selection. The results also show that customers punished negative reputations, even when the associated functional benefits were higher than the alternatives.

This is one of the first mixed-methods studies in an emerging economy context to consider the impact of ethical reputation on consumer orientation and bank selection decisions.