Trust as an influencer of the intention to use mobile banking smartphone application in Saudi Arabia

Alshamrani, Nada Saleh (2018) Trust as an influencer of the intention to use mobile banking smartphone application in Saudi Arabia. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to propose and test a trust-based model in the context of mobile banking smartphone application in Saudi Arabia. This research contributes to the limited body of knowledge on trust judgements in mobile banking in the smartphone application era, by highlighting the role of ongoing trust in the customer’s intention to use mobile banking application. Banking has long been an area in which trust between banks and their customers has been regarded as pivotal. Despite this, research on trust in mobile banking smartphone applications has received little attention. Furthermore, distinct from other studies that have measured ongoing trust as a single variable, this study takes as its point of departure a theoretical framework, developed by Gefen et al. (2003) and McKnight et al. (2002), which proposes four dimensions of trust: familiarity with vendor, situational normality, structural assurance, and calculative based trust. In addition, the proposed model also includes technology adoption factors, usefulness, ease of use and information quality. The relationships between the trust dimensions and adoption variables were included in the research model to explain their effect on the customer’s ongoing trust and how the ongoing trust articulated the customer’s intention to use as outcome variable. Mixed method research, including survey and interview, were used to achieve the aim of this study. A survey amongst the customers of two Saudi Arabian banks generated a dataset of 640 questionnaires, which was subjected to structural equation modelling (SEM). In order to gain further insight into the relationships in the research model, interview data was also gathered from Saudi students in the UK who used Saudi mobile banking applications. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The findings from the survey show that trust factors such as familiarity with vendor, situational normality, structural assurance, and calculative trust were the statistically significant factors in cultivating participants’ trust, which in turn influenced their intention to use the mobile banking application. In contrast, adoption factors such as usefulness, ease of use and information quality were not statistically significant for customers’ trust, although the ease of use and usefulness had considerable impact on users’ intention to use the mobile banking application. The interview findings confirm that trust dimensions are crucial to the participant’s decision to use the bank application, and offer some insights into how and why this is the case. In addition, the interview findings confirm that usefulness and ease of use are fundamental for the participants’ intention to use the bank application but not for their trust. In contrast with findings from the survey, the interview findings show and explain that information quality is one of the most important factors for the participants’ trust and use of banking application. This study contributes to knowledge by formulating and testing a trust-based model in a new type of mobile banking, the bank app. This study demonstrates the importance of trust types in the smartphone banking environment, and it is one of just two studies that combine the adoption variables and types of trust variables in a study on mobile banking. This study also contributes to the knowledge by exploring the decision-making processes associated with mobile banking through the use of a qualitative approach and examines trust in banking in Saudi Arabia. On the basis of the findings in this study, it is recommended that Saudi banks should consider customer trust as a multidimensional construct and seek to enhance the underlying factors and processes that contribute to the cultivation trust in mobile banking apps. Findings from the interviews are particularly useful in assisting banks to critically examine their clients’ perception of trust dimensions and adoption variable factors when they undertake further developments of their banking app.Banks should pay attention to the customers experience through all the bank’s online channels, as customer experience in one channel can affect the expectations and trust levels for another.