Impact of Satisfaction and Reputation on Customer Trust during Financial Crisis “Lebanese Banking Sector”

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of satisfaction and reputation on customer trust toward Lebanese commercial banks during the financial crisis. And because satisfaction in the banking sector is mainly measured and predicted by service quality, we chose three dimensions of service quality that could be affected in times of crisis (tangible quality, personnel quality, and functional quality). Beside satisfaction, we took reputation as the second main independent variable, knowing that the reputation of banks can be directly affected in unstable and uncertain times. This is a quantitative nature of a study, which involved a structured, self-administered questioner based on a convenience sampling method gathering data from 350 customers of 28 different operating banks in Lebanon. The quantitative approach was applied to assess the relationship between satisfaction and reputation and trust in times of crisis. The study data were analyzed using SPSS version 28, and the reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) was established. Functional quality during the financial crisis had a significant impact on customer trust in Lebanese commercial banks. However, results showed that reputation variables (integrity during the financial crisis and financial strength during the financial crisis) showed a significant impact on customer trust towards Lebanese commercial banks.