UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business ------------------------------ NGO TUAN TAI CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND SWITCHING INTENTIONS: A STUDY OF RETAIL BANKING MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) 1 Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business ------------------------------ NGO TUAN TAI CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND SWITCHING INTENTIONS: A STUDY OF RETAIL BANKING ID: 22110051 MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) SUPERVISOR: DR. LE NGUYEN HAU 2 Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude, special appreciation and thanks to my supervisor Dr. Le Nguyen Hau. I would like to thank Dr.
Hau for encouraging my research and for his valuable time and efforts in guiding me to complete this study. I would like to thank all members of International School of Business (ISB) – University of Economic Ho Chi Minh City for supporting and assisting me wholeheartedly. And also, my special thanks to Professor Nguyen Dinh Tho who provided me with the appropriate orientations of my study. I would like to thank to my friends who assisted me in distributing my questionnaires to the respondents and all respondents who spent their valuable time in completing my questionnaires.
I would like to thank the board of directors of Aardwolf Company, who sympathized with me and gave me facilities during the last two years enabling me to complete both my jobs and study. Finally, a special thanks to my family. It’s very hard to express how grateful I am to my mother, wife and son. They are always my great supports.
Ngo Tuan Tai Ho Chi Minh City, April 20, 2014 i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT There is an intense competition in the retail banking in Vietnam. To exist and develop in such intense competition, bank managements must develop customer-oriented strategies to maintain their bank’s market shares. In this industry, the retail banking products and services are closely identical, additionally their prices are competitive giving consumers an ability to purchase those financial products and services from various banks or financial companies. Subsequently, consumers are also more prone to change their current bankers.
Hence, how does a bank prevent their customers from switching to other banks? What is the distinction among the banks as a foundation for the banks to build up appropriate strategies to maintain the business relationship with their customer in such intense competition? The study assumes that perceived bank reputation is a distinctive factor among the various banks. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of various components of customer satisfaction on perceived bank reputation, and also determine the impact of the perceived bank reputation on customer intentions to switch. The data for this study was obtained from 198 retail banking consumers in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province. The analysis results revealed the perceived bank reputation is impacted by customer satisfaction of branches and image, and it plays an important role in lessening the consumer intention to switch the bank.
Key words: customer satisfaction, bank reputation, switching intentions ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Chapter 1: Introduction. Research objectives and questions. Scope of the study. 6 Chapter 2: Literature review, model and hypotheses.
15 Chapter 3: Research method. Qualitative test of measurement scales. Data analysis method. 24 Chapter 4: Data analysis and results.
Respondent profile and descriptive statistics. Exploratory factor analysis for the independent variables. Exploratory factor analysis for the dependent variables. 33 iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
The first hypothesis testing (satisfaction and bank reputation). The second hypothesis testing (reputation and switching intentions). Summary of hypothesis testing results. Discussion of findings.
43 Chapter 5: Conclusion, implication and limitation. 51 Appendix 1: Research questionnaire. 55 Appendix 2: Descriptive statistic. 59 Appendix 3: Results of cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis.
61 Appendix 4: First time of running exploratory factor analysis of independent variables. 70 Appendix 5: Total Variance Explained for the second time of running exploratory factor analysis of independent variables. 72 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.3: KMO and Barlett’s Test for independent variables .4: Rotated component matrix for independent variables .5: Two replacement constructs .6: Cronbach’s alpha of the two replacement constructs .7: KMO and Barlett’s Test for dependent variables .8: Rotated component matrix for dependent variables .9: Model summary of the first hypothesis testing .10: ANOVA for regression of the first hypothesis testing .11: Multiple regression analysis results of the first hypothesis testing .12: Model summary of the second hypothesis testing .13: ANOVA for regression of the second hypothesis testing .14: Multiple regression analysis results of the second hypothesis testing .15: Hypothesis testing results (summary). 42 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Conceptual model.
14 Figure 2: Research process. 19 Figure 3: Modified research model. 35 Figure 4: Bank reputation – Histogram. 36 Figure 5: Bank reputation – Scatterplot.
37 Figure 6: Switching intentions – Histogram. 39 Figure 7: Switching intentions – Scatterplot. 40 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Research background There are a large number of bankers in Vietnam that are categorized into three types: state-owned commercial banks, joint stock commercial banks and wholly foreign- owned banks (Vietnam banking technology report, 2012).
The strong competitive trends in banking products and services on financial markets have increasingly urged not only the small and medium joint stock commercial banks, but also the state-owned commercial banks to renew and continue to have effective customer policies, strategies and services towards the customers in order to maintain and increase their bank’s market shares. The state-owned commercial banks have great advantages of finance capabilities, larger branch networks, greater supports from the government, etc. over other commercial bankers enabling them to build up reliability and safety, portraying a respectable image in the eyes of consumers, thus they have accounted for a large percentage of the bank’s market shares in Vietnam and have gained satisfaction of the consumers. Nevertheless, those banks are enduring intense competitions from the following financial banks and companies: The new established commercial banks in recent years, those banks just recently participate in the market, thus they have important advantages such as they learn from experiences of the existing banks to build up appropriate strategies, they 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com have all information about the market, and importantly they have great ambitions and thirst for gaining the market share.
The current commercial banks are growing up such as Sacombank, Techcombank, ACB bank, etc. Those banks are competing intensively in gaining the consumers and increasing market shares. The foreign-own banks such as HSBC, ANZ, etc. with advance technologies, strong financial capability and professional services have been overtaking the retail banking market.
Those banks have an advantage of having their foreigner clients whom have a trusting relationship in there home countries. They especially have a resilient advantage with worldwide branch networks aboard that enable them to offer unique banking products and services, which are far more superior against the local banks. The financial companies such as Prudential Vietnam, AIA, etc. are offering many distinct financial products attracting the consumers.
Hence, the consumers now have a wider range of choices in purchasing the financial products. Due to such competitions above, consumers now have the ability to purchase closely identical financial products provided from various banks or financial companies. Subsequently, consumers are more prone to change their current bankers if they realize any changes among the banks, even it’s just a minor change. For instance, due to a difficulty in lending funds resulted from economic recessions, plus a surplus in cash deposit, the state-owned bankers have lowered the deposit rate since the beginning of May, 2013.
Typically, Vietcombank cut its monthly deposit interest rate for the VND to 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.5% lower than the ceiling rate stipulated by the State Bank of Viet Nam, whereas most other banks currently apply a rate of 7.5 per cent for deposits fewer than 12 months, and 10 per cent for 12 months or more (Vietnamnews, May 08, 2013). In this situation, it found that numerous consumers preferred to deposit their fund’s in the stated-owned banks due to the high trust in those banks, but they had to consider switching to other banks due to such a low deposit interest rate that they were receiving. Obviously, when the consumers perceive a reduction in their benefit from a service provider, they are prone to switch to another service provider. Bank’s deposit rate cut can be considered to be a banking service price increase.
A number of studies have supported that price increases make customers feel unfair resulting in switching actions such as Clemes et al. (2010) revealed the price is an important factor influencing the marginal probability that customers will switch banks. Regarding the case above, although the consumers might switch to other bankers due to price increase, there were still financial experts’ optimistic opinions about the significant bank deposit rate cuts of the state-owned commercial banks. For example, National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council member, Mr.
Cao Sy Kiem said that the classification of interest rates was positive as it reflected the banking system's health. He added: "Healthy banks can attract depositors even when they cut deposit rates and this will create conditions for them to lower lending rates and boost credit growth. The weak banks won't be able to lure more borrowers by raising deposit rates” (Vietnamnews, May 09, 2013). Nguyen Xuan Thanh, the Vietcombank general director, said that economic conditions still leave room for the State 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Bank to further reduce the ceiling deposit rate, with inflation being controlled at 6-7 per cent and the consumer price index increasing 2.4 per cent in the first four months of this year (Vietnamnews, May 08, 2013).
Thus, apart from the price factor, the consumers still take other factors into their considerations of switching or staying current banks. Nowadays, almost financial service providers trust that a conscientious customer service will be more important for consumer satisfaction than lower prices in those activities (Molina et al, 2007). The competition in banking industry in Vietnam is extremely intense. Almost the consumers realize and assume that products, services and qualities of banks in Vietnam are now very closely identical.
Indeed, a new banking product that is launched by a bank will be almost immediately copied and launched by other banks. Hence, how does a bank prevent their customers from switching to another banks? What is the distinction among the banks as a base for the banks to build up appropriate strategies to maintain the business relationship with their customer in the intension competition? The distinction among the banks in Vietnam can be considered to be the reputation, because reputation is valuable, distinctive, difficult to duplicate, non-substitutable and provides the foundation with sustainable competitive advantages (Wang, Lo and Hall as cited in Wang et al, 2003). Reputation plays a particularly important strategic role in service market because the pre-purchase evaluation of service quality is necessarily vague and incomplete (Wang et al. Thus, the argument is if the consumers feel satisfied with a banker, how they will perceive the bank reputation? A good reputable bank can lessen their customer intentions to switch to other bankers? 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Research objectives and questions: The research is to investigate the effects of various components of customer satisfaction on perceived bank reputation, and also determines the impact of the perceived bank reputation on customer intentions to switch.