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The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying dimensions of trustworthiness of financial service providers in the Indian retail banking sector and to model trustworthiness as a set of second‐order factors. The study replicates and extends the work of Ennew and Sekhon in the Indian context.

Using the trustworthiness scale developed by Ennew and Sekhon this study identifies six first‐order factors of trustworthiness for retail bankers in India using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Then the study modeled trustworthiness as a set of three second‐order factors using second‐order confirmatory factor analysis.

The first‐order factors obtained for trustworthiness of retail bankers are customer orientation, integrity and honesty, communication and similarity, shared values, expertise, and ability and consistency. The second‐order confirmatory factor analysis resulted in three higher order factors namely, competency, openness and benevolence.

The various dimensions of trustworthiness should be viewed as levers for improving a bank's trustworthiness in the minds of its current customers. At the same time, these dimensions will help them in reflecting an image of trustworthiness in the minds of its potential customers. Establishment of trustworthiness as an element of corporate image will provide competitive advantage to the service firms and improve their financial performance.

The research tests for the reliability and validity of the trustworthiness scale of Ennew and Sekhon. This study provides a window to the dimensions on which retail bank customers in an emerging economy such as India perceive a retail bank's trustworthiness. Furthermore, this study is an attempt to model trustworthiness as a set of second‐order factors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine organisational learning as a mediator among small-scale manufacturing enterprises (S-SMEs) which comprise the majority of economic activity in an emergent/developing economy. This study offers further understanding regarding the mediating role of organisational learning in developing world economies, due to its potential regional influence.

A cross-sectional survey of Indian S-SMEs was undertaken from the District Industrial Center. The study employed a systematic sampling technique to contact owner/managers. Overall, 204 S-SMEs owners/managers participated in the study and 192 usable survey instruments were received.

The study offers novel insights to the following questions. First, the factors that prompt entrepreneurial orientation to achieve superior business performance, i.e. the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation? The results reveal competitor orientation is an antecedent of entrepreneurial orientation that leads to an S-SME’s business performance. Second, the outcomes of entrepreneurial orientation, i.e. the consequences of entrepreneurial orientation? The study reveals organisational learning and business performance are the corollary of entrepreneurial orientation. Third, the examination of whether organisational learning mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance? The findings found the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance are, in part, mediated by organisational learning.

Three study limitations are recognised. First, other strategic orientations, including technology orientation, production orientation and selling orientation are not included. Second, other constructs have a potentially significant relationship with market and entrepreneurial orientation, such as organisational capabilities, innovation and social context, were not considered. Third, the study is industry-sector specific and does not consider alternative sectors which also may play a potential role in economic development.

This study enhances the existing S-SME literature by identifying factors contributing to entrepreneurial orientation and its repercussions on business performance. For S-SMEs it adds credence to the role played by organisational learning in mediating the link between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance which potentially encourages owner/managers to dedicate increased time and resources towards creating and maintaining a conducive learning environment. The results support entrepreneurs in acknowledging the importance of competitor orientation during the emergence and development of entrepreneurial orientation, specifically in emerging economy contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to study the many manifestations of trust in the wealth management context in Finland. This empirical paper examines and contrasts how trust is perceived by financial experts and consumers in wealth management in general, and in the investment context, in particular.

Qualitative methods, focus group discussions and interviews were employed.

Financial experts and consumers emphasised different facets of trust. The level of trust towards financial service providers and financial advisors, and the level of involvement in investing served to differentiate the consumers into four distinct groups. These are presented and discussed.

Although the methods utilised were purely qualitative and the study was limited to Finland, the results offer interesting and new scientific knowledge about perceived trust, and how it can be used in market segmentation and developing customer service.

The four quadrant matrix can assist financial companies in building customer relationships and in improving customer service.

Qualitative research provides insights into consumers' thoughts that are difficult to obtain with quantitative data gathering and analysis. In this study, consumers expressed their opinions and thoughts in their own words. Furthermore, the dyadic comparison of opinions of consumers with experts' views about consumers' motives and behaviour contributed to a deeper understanding of the relationship between consumers and financial service providers.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and tests a service excellence model, thus providing a detailed understanding of the key antecedents of service excellence, from a customer ' s perspective. The model presented in this paper is rooted in cross-disciplinary literature and tested amongst customers of UK retail banking services.

Following a systematic approach to scale development, the paper draws on survey data from 260 consumers of retail banking products, with the data collected on national basis in the UK.

The theoretical framework was evaluated using a structural approach. Of the hypothesised antecedents, innovation has the greatest impact on service excellence while reputation the least, as far as customers are concerned.

The research was limited to one research domain, i.e. UK retail banking, and thus it is reasonable to hypothesise that other aspects of service excellence will be more or less relevant for other types of financial services or in other geographic regions.

Given the challenges faced by the retail banking sector, there are implications for practitioners because the authors identified the key antecedents of service excellence. The antecedents can be used by practitioners to help demonstrate excellence on their part and they could differentiate what are homogenous services at a time when the retail banks are going through a period of recovery following the crisis within the sector.

This work complements the understanding of service excellence and provides insight for scholars and practitioners by modelling services for a specific service sector.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of situation normality cues (online attributes of the e‐banking web site) and structural assurance cues (size and reputation of the bank, and quality of traditional service at the branch) in a consumer's evaluation of the trustworthiness of e‐banking and subsequent adoption behaviour.

Data were collected from a survey and a usable sample of 202 was obtained. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to test the model.

Traditional service quality builds customer trust in the e‐banking service. The size and reputation of the bank were found to provide structural assurance to the customer but not in the absence of traditional service quality. Web site features that give customers confidence are significant situation normality cues.

Bank managers have to realise that good service at the branch is a necessary condition for the promotion of e‐banking. They cannot rely on bank size and reputation to “sell” e‐banking.

This is the first study that examines how traditional service quality and a bank's size and reputation influences trust in e‐banking.

Numerous empirical studies on internet banking services (IBS) adoption have focused either on perceived risk or trust; but rarely have they combined these concepts and used empirical evidence to investigate the relationship. This study aims to contribute to this field by looking simultaneously at the roles of trust and perceived risk on consumers' IBS usage intention.

An integrated model explaining the interrelationships between trust, perceived risk and usage intention is developed. The research was conducted on a sample of 432 young Chinese consumers who can be classified as IBS early adopters. The quantitative findings are enhanced by the analysis of extensive qualitative data providing unique insights into this market.

Results indicate that there is a significant relationship between trust and perceived risk and that both are crucial in explaining the internet banking usage intention. Furthermore, trust in the bank is fundamental not only to reducing risk perceptions of IBS in general but also to building trust in the banks' competence in terms of IBS activity.

This research adds value to existing studies of online banking, which largely focus on trust and risk separately. In addition, it enables us to contribute to the current literature on the emerging Chinese IBS market, which is largely under‐researched.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cultural assimilation influence on family purchase decision making of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families living in China.

The data were collected from 200 respondents. In total, 100 families have been chosen from each of these countries. The data were collected by the snowball sampling method across 11 different products and four decision-making stages.

The results of this research show that cultural assimilation does have an influence on parental perceptions of teen's influence on family decision making. Chinese immigrants' teenage children in New Zealand were perceived as having more influence within the family than their peers in Chinese families living in China.

The research used a sample size of only 100 respondents from each country. Furthermore, it used snowball sampling and mid-income group families only.

These findings help marketers to gain a better understanding of the influence of cultural assimilation, and use specific marketing communication and promotion strategies.

The paper empirically demonstrates that Chinese parents living in China and Chinese immigrant parents living in New Zealand perceive their children's involvement in family purchase decision differently. Chinese immigrant parents perceive that their children are becoming assimilated with New Zealand culture. This is the first ever study done on Chinese Immigrant families living in New Zealand and Chinese families living in China by collecting and using the cross-culture data from New Zealand and China.