Factors propelling the use of Islamic banking services: the moderating role of customer intimacy

Abstract: This study investigates factors propelling use of Islamic banking products and services. The present study develops an amalgamated model with the help of cognitive and emotional factors to investigate customer satisfaction and loyalty towards use of Islamic banking services. Data was collected from Islamic banking customers and empirically tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings reveal that customer satisfaction was jointly predicted by awareness, reputation, compatibility, complexity, trust and commitment and explained R2 78.7% variance in Islamic banking customer satisfaction. On the flipside customer loyalty was predicted by customer satisfaction and customer intimacy and depicted R2 20.6% variance in customer loyalty. Extending to this, the present study confirmed the moderating role of customer intimacy wherein positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty will be stronger when customer intimacy is higher. Finally, research limitations and future research direction are discussed.