Does trust in the bank build trust in its technology-based channels?

INTRODUCTION

Over the last two decades, the financial industry has undergone dramatic changes due to the integration of technology into its operations. New technologies are expected to provoke important changes both in customer behaviour^{1, 2} and in the channel structure of banking distribution system.^{1, 3 and 4}

Specifically, the use of voice, electronic and network technologies have opened very promising opportunities for financial service companies to add alternative distribution channels, like phone, mobile, television or internet banking, in addition to the already well-established ATM channel. These channels constitute a key means of differentiation ⁵ and the channel mix decisions are considered complex but also critical marketing decisions.^{4, 6}

Research focusing on the adoption of such technology-based channels by customers has underlined the important role of trust in the acceptance and use of these channels.^{7, 8, 9 and 10} In spite of the growing literature on this role of trust in the context of electronic and innovative channels, however, little attention has been paid to the specific construct of trust in a channel as well as to its antecedents.

Particularly, when studying trust towards new, technology-based channels of an existing company, which is not a pure online player, one should consider trust in the channel as a different and distinct construct from trust in the company. Furthermore, trust in the existing, well-known to the customer, offline company could be hypothesised as a variable influencing the trust in a new channel of this company, as one could expect a 'transfer' of trust from the company towards its new channels.

To our knowledge there is very limited research that has addressed the issue of this relationship, or transfer, of trust from a company level to a channel level, especially in the context of technology-based distribution channels. A relatively recent e-banking study ¹¹ has measured the variables of trust in the electronic channel and trust in the bank, however the latter variable was tested as a predictor of the adoption of e-banking and not as an antecedent of trust in the e-channel. Based on this background and trying to fill the gap in the construct of trust towards a channel and its relationship to trust towards the 'parent' company, the objective of the present...