Using a multiple-attribute approach for measuring customer satisfaction with retail banking services in Kuwait

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to attempt to identify the most salient attributes that influence customer satisfaction with retail banks in Kuwait and to determine the level of the overall satisfaction of the customers of these banks. Design/methodology/approach - A multiple-attribute approach proposed by Shin and Elliott in 2001 was employed. This approach was applied in the analysis of data collected from a convenient sample of 863 actual customers of retail banks in Kuwait. Findings - The most crucial attributes for predicting customer satisfaction with retail banks in Kuwait were fast service, courtesy and helpfulness of employees and availability of self-banking services. The vast majority of the customers of retail banks in Kuwait (nearly 81 percent) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the services of their banks. Research limitations/implications - A number of very important attributes, such as those related to loans and credit cards, were not examined due to social reasons. The unavailability of lists of existing customers and their contacts made it not possible to draw a random sample from the target population of this study. Practical implications - To maintain a competitive edge in the market, the managers of retail banks in Kuwait need to be updated about technological advances and to invest in those that satisfactorily enhance technology-based encounters with their customers. These managers also need to focus on minimizing encounter failures in service delivery. For a retail bank in Kuwait, sufficient recovery efforts are needed so that dissatisfied customers do not end up defecting. Originality/value - Use of a single-item approach to measure customer satisfaction is common. This approach has been shown to suffer from inherent drawbacks, rendering its practical utility questionable. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the present study represents the first attempt to apply Shin and Elliott's multiple-attribute methodology to retail banking services in a different culture.