Does customer sociability matter? Differences in e-quality, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty between introvert and extravert online banking users

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between e-quality, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty and test how these relationships vary across different levels of customer sociability in the UAE banking industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The relative importance of customer sociability in the relationships between e-quality, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty was examined. A self-administered questionnaire was developed, and data were collected from a final sample of 245 bank customers. The study’s conceptual model and four hypotheses were tested using AMOS18.

Findings

E-quality influences e-satisfaction, which, in turn, affects customer e-loyalty. This study’s findings confirm that the relationships between e-quality, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty are stronger if the online banking user is an introvert (less social) rather than an extravert (very social).

Practical implications

This study demonstrates how bank managers could use the sociability level of their customers to manage the relationships between e-quality, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty.

Originality/value

The key contribution of this paper is that it demonstrates how the customer sociability level might affect the relationship between customers and online banking services.

Citation

A Ahmad Al-Hawari, M. (2014), "Does customer sociability matter? Differences in e-quality, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty between introvert and extravert online banking users", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 7, pp. 538-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-02-2013-0036