Tóm tắt Luận án Research on the relationship among e-Banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in Vietnam

1 INTRODUCTION 1. Necessity of the topic The development of information technology in banking has remarkably changed business strategies of commercial banks. Instead of supplying traditional banking services, commercial banks has been taking advantage of information technology, especially internet, to provide customers with modern banking services (hereinafter referred to as e-banking). E-banking services bringvariousbenefits to banks such as decrease in number of banking staff and branches, and increase in number of transactions as well, thereby, banking cost will slump whereas profit will rocket. For customers, e-banking services help them to rapidly and conveniently make transactions, and their travelling time and transaction cost can be saved as a result. Thanks to a numberof benefits brought by e-banking services, commercial banks in Vietnam have been proactively investing in electronic infrastructure system to compete in this sector, however, they have not met higher and higher demand of customers and failed to satisfy customers as well as get loyal customers. On the other hands, to well compete in e-banking sector, banks should understand criteria used by customers to assess e-banking service quality and then make solutions to improve their service quality and customer satisfaction. In order to do this, it is vital to develop a research model to determine the relationship among assessment criteria fore-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty affected by other intermediate factors (switching cost, customer trust, etc.) as well as to make orientation for competitive strategies of the banks. Because of the above reasons, the topic named “Research on the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in Vietnam” is chosen as research topic of the thesis. 1.2. Research objectives - To research an overview of e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, switching cost, customer trust and the relationship among variables. - To develop a research model on the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty affected by intermediate factors including switching cost and customer trust in e-banking sector in Vietnam. - To test a hypothesis model to determine the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in commercial banks in Vietnam. - To propose some solutions for commercial banks in Vietnam to improve e- banking service quality based on the research result on the relationship among e- banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. 2 1.3. Research questions Based on research objectives, research questions include: (1) Is there a relationship between overall e-banking service quality and e- banking service quality? (2) Is there a relationship between overall e-banking service quality and electronic information system quality? (3) Is there a relationship between overall e-banking service quality and banking service product quality? (4) Is there a relationship between customer satisfaction and overall e- banking service? (5) Is there a relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction in e-banking service sector? (6) Does switching cost affect the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in e-banking service sector? (7) Does customer trust affect the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in e-banking service sector? 1.3. Research subjects and scope - Research subjects: the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Impacts of switching cost and customer trust on this relationship. - Research scope: in commercial banks of Vietnam, including state-owned commercial banks, private joint stock commercial banks and foreign commercial banks in Vietnam. Research data is collected from customers of commercial banks in Vietnam. 1.4. Research methodology • Research methodology: - Research methodology in this thesis is the combination of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. • Research methods: - Statistical and comparative methods; - Synthetic and analytical methods; - Regressive and correlative methods. 1.5. Thesis content Besides introduction, conclusion, list of reference documents, list of figures and appendix, the thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1: Overview of the research issues Chapter 2: Rationale Chapter 3: Research methods Chapter 4: Research results Chapter 5: Some conclusions, proposals and further research directions 1.6. New contributions of the thesis • Academic and theoretical contributions Based on a general research of over 170 related documents in e-banking 3 service quality sector, the thesis has made new academic contributions as follows: (1) Development of a new and comprehensive structural model to explain the relationship amongservice quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in e- banking sector in Vietnam. The previous works mainly focused on pair relationship. (2) Extended research of two intermediate variables including bank switching cost and customer trust to consider their impacts on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. (3) The thesis states a positive and close relationship between overall e- banking service quality and customer satisfaction and between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. However, unlike previous works, in the context of e-banking in Vietnam, intermediate factors such as switching cost and customer trust are stated to have no impacts. • New proposals drawn from research results (4) Descriptive statistics result shows that e-banking service users in Vietnam are young and highly qualified (higher education level) with good income. Thus, marketing strategies of banks should aim at such potential customers. (5) The research result shows that overall e-banking service quality has a positive correlation with online information system quality and banking service product quality and there is no basis to conclude that there is a correlation between overall e-banking service quality and online customer service quality. Thus, it is proposed that in order to improve overall e-banking service quality, banks should focus on strongly investing enhancing information system quality and developing new products to meet customers’ demands. (6) Customer satisfaction has a very strong positive correlation with overall e-banking service quality and customer loyalty has a very strong positive with customer satisfaction as well. Thus, to get loyal customers, marketing strategies of banks should aim at customer satisfaction by enhancing service quality. (7) Intermediate variables including switching cost and customer trust have no impacts on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in e-banking sector in Vietnam. (8) Based on the research result, the thesis makes some proposals on business strategies to commercial banks in e-banking sector. CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ISSUES 1.1. Situation of researches in the world So far, there have been some research works in the world on customer service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Such works focus on developing an assessment model of customer service quality, the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, developing assessment criteria and measurement scale as well as using econometric methods to test the relationship among variables. 4 Gronroos (1984,1990)introduced a service quality model to research customer feelings based on three basic factors including distinction of functional quality (serving manners such as behaviors and acts of staff to customers) and technical quality (serving media such as computer system, technical and technological solutions); image played the most important part in service supply enterprises;overall feeling about quality was a mathematic function of customers’ assessment of service quality and difference between such assessment and their service expectations. The author generalized as follows: Service quality = Technical quality + Functional quality Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) introduced a service quality measurement model (called as SERVQUAL). SERVQUAL model was developed based on the concept that service quality was the comparison between expected value and experienced value of customers. According to the author, Service quality = Experienced value - Expected value Cronin & Taylor (1994) proposed a SERVEPERF model to assess service quality based on experimental research result in advertising industry in Australia and stated that this model was better than SERVQUAL model of Parasuraman. However, this is still in argument because such model result may vary depending on research contexts in research. Besides, there are some research works of other authors mentioning impacts of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Some works are in industries other than banking such as mobile information, advertising, tourism, etc.(Oliver, R.L 1993; Zeithaml, V.A., A. Parasuraman & A. Malhotra, 2001; Shankar, V., Smith, K., &Rangaswamy, A., 2003; Ting, D.H, 2004). Some researches are conducted in traditional banking context where direct contact between customers and banking staff is preferred (such asBloemer, J., Ruyter, K.,& Peeters, P, 1998; Caruana, A 2002; Jamal, A & K. Naser, 2002; Baumann, C.S. Burton & G. Elliott, 2005; Ehigie, B.O, 2006; Calik and Balta, 2006). Moreover, a few researches are conducted in e-banking context where the first distribution and contact channel are not via direct human contact (Jun & Cai, 2001; Broderick,A.J & S. Vachirapornpuk, 2002; Rotchanakitumnuai, S & M. Speece (2003); Jun, M., Z. Yang & D.S. Kim, 2004; Veloutsou, C., S. Daskou & A. Daskou, 2004; Jaruwachirathanakul, B & D. Fink (2005); Siu, N.Y.M & J.C.W. Mou, 2005; Pikkarainen, K., T. Pikkarainen., H. Karjaluoto & S. Pahnila, 2006; Maenpaa, 2006) 1.2. Situation of researches in Vietnam So far in Vietnam, there have been some research works on service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty as well as the relationship among variables. Such researches have chosen assessment model, determined assessment criteria of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty; used 5 econometric methods to test the relationship among variables, typically research of Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2006) on service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City; research of Nguyen Huy Phong and Pham Ngoc Thuy (2007) on comparison of SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, 1985) and SERVPERF (Cronin and Taylor, 1997) in retail supermarkets of Vietnam; research of Nguyen Thanh Cong and Pham Ngoc Thuy (2007) on factors affecting customer loyalty to cell phone brands; research of Nguyen Thi Phuong Cham (2008) on comparison of SERVQUAL and Gronroos on service quality and customer satisfaction to select the best model for Vietnam; research of Nguyen Thi Mai Trang and Tran Xuan Thu Huong (2010) on library service quality and comparison of functional/technical quality model and SERVQUAL; research of Nguyen Duy Thanh and Cao Hao Thi (2011) on e-banking acceptance and use model in Vietnam; research of Le The Gioi and PhD. Le Van Huy (2012) on the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in banking sector; research of Le Thi Tuyet Trinh (2012) on customer satisfaction with Viettel mobile telecommunication services in Binh Dinh; research of Pham Van Tuan (2014) on impacts of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and repeated purchasing behavior of customers in garment industry, etc. 1.3. Research gaps and research issues After studying research works in the world and in Vietnam, there are some research gaps to be researched as follows: - There has been no thesis comprehensively researching the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in e-banking sector. The previous researches in Vietnam only mention the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction or between service quality and customer loyalty. Such researches are not in banking sector (mobile information, tourism, etc.) or in traditional banking sector other than e-banking sector (retail banking service). Moreover, researches in e-banking sector focus on factors affecting the model adoption instead of the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. There are some researches on the relationship amongservice quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in traditional banking sector but they fail to consider impacts of intermediate factors such as switching cost and customer trust on the relationship among variables. - Previous researches have not developed an appropriate theoretical model to explain the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in Vietnam (with impacts of intermediate factors). - Analysis methods used in previous researches are limited and the most commonly used method islinear regression to test relationships and some researches use Structural Equation Model (SEM) but they fail to consider impacts of intermediate variables on relationships due to limited tools. 6 Because of such research gaps, the topic named “Research on the relationship among e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in Vietnam” is chosen as the research topic of the thesis. CHAPTER 2 RATIONALE 2.1. Electronic commerce 2.1.1. Definition of electronic commerce There are various definitions of electronic commerce (e-commerce). According to World Trade Organization (WTO), “e-commerce includes production, advertisement, sales, distribution and payment of goods purchased and sold on the Internet but with tangible deliverables, including delivered goods and digital information via Internet.” According to Electronic Commerce Steering Group of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), "e-commerce relates to commercial transaction of goods and services conducted among groups (individuals) electronically via Internet-based systems.” According to European Commission, “e-commerce can be generally defined as purchase, sales and exchange of goods or services among enterprises, families, individuals and private organizations by electronic transactions via Internet or intermediate computer networks (online communication information). This term includes order and translation via computer network, however, final payment and transport of goods and services may be performed online or manual.” Zwass (1996) defined e-commerce as business information sharing, relationship maintenance and transaction making via Internet-based devices. According to Turban et al. (2000), e-commerce isa process of purchase, sale, transport and exchange of products, services and information via computer network including Internet. Jelassi and Enders (2004) defined e-commerce as the settlement of transaction problems, product sales and other online services. Based on the above definitions, we can seethat e-commerce definitions are used in both broad and narrow meaning, including Internet use for electronic communication and information exchange of products and services. However, e- commerce also includes business transactions related to order and payment via Internet (Lin, 2003). 2.2. E-banking service 2.2.1. Definition of e-banking service The State Bank of Vietnam defines e-banking service as modern and multi- functional banking products and services rapidly distributed to wholesale and retail customers (online, 24 hours per day and seven days per week, anywhere atanytime) via distribution channels (Internet and other terminal access equipment such as computers, ATM, POS, landline telephone, cell phones, etc.) Thus, it can be understood that e-banking services are banking services 7 supplied via electronic media and telecommunication network. 2.2.2. Benefits of e-banking services For banks: E-banking services create a new distribution channel for banking services. For customers:Using e-banking services with electronic media connected to telecommunication network enable customers to make their transactions anywhere and anytime. For society:E-banking services create a brand-new operation method and contribute to promoting economic activities, trade, services and tourism as well as facilitate the expansion of economic and commercial cooperation with the region and the world. 2.2.3. Distribution channels of e-banking services Nowadays, popular distribution channels of e-banking services include:
Internet banking
Home banking
Phone banking
Mobile banking/SMS banking
Call center 2.2.4. Electronic payment instruments To make electronic transactions, various payment instruments are used such as:
Digital payment
Digital cheque
Stored value smart card 2.3. E-banking service quality 2.3.1. Service quality There are various definitions of service quality by researchers such as definitions of European scholars (Gronroos 1982, 1984; Lehtinen & Lehtinen, 1982) and viewpoints of American scholars (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). According to Gronroos (1982, 1984), service quality must include three aspects including technology quality (technical) and performance quality (functional) and impacts of company image. Service quality = Technical quality + Functional quality According to Parasuraman et al. (1985), service quality is the comparison between expected value and experienced value of customers and the comparison can be shown in the following formula: Service quality = Experienced value - Expected value According to Zeithaml et al. (2002), e-service quality may be considered as a website to make purchase, sale and receipt of products and services more effective and convenient. According to this definition, service is comprehensive and includes pre-electronic services and post-electronic services. 2.3.2. E-banking service quality 8 Despite the importance of assessment criteria of e-banking service quality, there is only a few documents includingand studying typical characteristics of e- banking service quality. Such characteristics are mentioned in researches of Jun&Cai(2001); Polatoglu&Ekin(2001); Flavian, Tores&Guinaliu(2004); Jayawardhena (2004); Yang and Fang (2004); Bauer &Hammerschmidt(2005); Siu&Mou(2005);Maenpaa(2006); Pikkarainen et al. (2006), etc. Within research scope of this thesis, the author uses the definition of overall e-banking service quality (Jun&Cai, 2001; Yang et al., 2004). This definition generally assesses e-banking service quality based on three aspects including online customer service quality measured in availability, reliability, satisfaction and understanding (Jun&Cai, 2001); online information system quality (Jun & Cai, 2001) measured in ease of use, accuracy, confidentiality, contents and appearance; banking service product quality (the number of services, additional services, free utilities, necessary functions for customers, service characteristics that customers need) (Jun&Cai, 2001, Yang et al., 2004). 2.4. Customer satisfaction Satisfaction is a customer reaction when their demands ar