Consumer attitude and behavioural intention towards Internet banking adoption in India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the determinants of the customers’ attitude and behavioural intention to use Internet banking services, paying special attention to the role of perceived risk, trust, enjoyment, website design and social influence. Design/methodology/approach – A research model grounded on the technology acceptance model (TAM) reflecting the effects of trust, perceived risk, perceived enjoyment, perceived website design and social influence on TAM constructs is proposed. The structural equation modelling technique is used to analyse a sample of 697 individual Internet banking users in India through an online survey. Findings – The results of data analysis confirm some of the hypotheses drawn from the literature. Consistent with some of the other studies, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust and perceived enjoyment are found to be immediate direct determinants of customers’ attitude towards using Internet banking. Attitude, perceived risk, perceived enjoyment and trust determine the customers’ behavioural intentions to use Internet banking. Although the direct effect of perceived website design is significant only on perceived ease of use, its indirect effects are significant on perceived usefulness, attitude and behavioural intentions. Furthermore, perceived enjoyment exerts both direct and indirect effects on perceived usefulness but exerts only direct effect on perceived ease of use. Research limitations/implications – Generalizability of the research is a practical limitation in consumer research studies and the present study is not an exception to that. The current study focused only on some technological, behavioural and attitudinal factors, and many customer-specific factors and other psychographic and behavioural factors such as cost, perceived value, service quality and satisfaction, which can provide more significant insight into the adoption process, are not a part of the scope of the study. Practical implications – This research specifies the implications in three perspectives, viz., theoretical, methodological and managerial. Furthermore, this study provides the practical recommendations to enhance customer trust and guidelines to reduce perceived risk. The most significant implication for the banking sector is that apart from offering useful and user-friendly services, they need to build a trusting relationship with customers. Originality/value – This study extends existing body of Internet banking literature by incorporating trust and risk perceptions. The effects of website design and perceived enjoyment on Internet banking acceptance have been examined and were found to be significant in the Indian context. In addition, it enables us to contribute to the current literature on the emerging Indian Internet banking services (IBS) market, which is largely under-researched.