Determinants of reputation of leading Spanish financial institutions among their customers in a context of economic crisis

Abstract

This paper develops a bank reputation model, in an environment of economic crisis specifically marked by the nationalization of Bankia and the offer of financial rescue from the Eurogroup to Spain. From a study among four hundred bank customers, an index is developed reflecting the new configuration of reputation of the leading Spanish financial institutions and its effect on the behavior of the consumer. The conclusions of this research show that, in an environment where the financial system has been identified as the main cause of the new socioeconomic landscape, banks should focus their reputation strategies to convey reliability and to reinforce the leadership of their managers, paying special attention to consumer satisfaction and trust in order to achieve the maximum optimization of their reputation resources.