Customers' perception of bank service quality: The importance of employee service quality

Abstract

In financial services marketing, especially among banks, there is limited opportunity to impress the customer because services are becoming more automated. This paper reports the findings of a mail survey using self-administered questionnaires, conducted among a random sample of 1050 bank customers. From a usable sample of 190 respondents, it was found that the customers' perception of the overall service quality [SQUAL] is positively associated with their perception of the bank employees' service quality [EQUAL]. This implies that service firm managers need to understand what kind of employee behaviour most effectively serves to satisfY customers, and also discover ways to foster such behaviour by their customer contact employees. An agenda for future research is proposed.