Conceptualizing Service Quality amongst Chinese Customers of Retail Banking

Purpose – To develop a framework identifying the critical dimensions and specific items considered when Chinese customers evaluate a banking service encounter. To contribute to the creation of theory that draws from the... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose – To develop a framework identifying the critical dimensions and specific items considered when Chinese customers evaluate a banking service encounter. To contribute to the creation of theory that draws from the literature to date and unifies it with culturally-grounded empirical evidence from China.

Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach using focus group was adopted in this study.

Findings – Chinese retail banking customers assess service quality along six dimensions encompassing thirty-six items. There remain core issues relating to items present in western studies which did not feature strongly in Chinese evidence here.

Research implications/limitations –Due to the qualitative nature of this study, further quantitative work is required to test the developed service quality framework on a large scale.

Originality/value – This study contributes towards expanding the existing knowledge in the area of service quality considered in cultural context. Any instrument developed can, it is hoped, be used by managers to measure the level of service quality delivered by them. The findings of the study could provide further insights for researchers in grasping the subtleties and intricacies of service quality, and its dimensions, in various cultural and service settings.