Abstract
There is growing interest in how Internet specialized banks that provide the Internet as a major customer channel can change the paradigm of the banking industry by securing a niche market in competition with existing banks that have a multi-channel strategy. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the choice attributes of Internet specialized banks affect attitudinal loyalty and intention of continuous use, and to identify the moderating effect of gender. A structural equation analysis was performed using 215 respondents. They have experience using Internet specialized banks in South Korea. The results of the empirical analysis are as follows. First, information, transaction, and safety of choice attributes in Internet specialized banks have a positive effect on attitudinal loyalty. Second, information, transaction, and safety of choice attributes in Internet specialized banks have a positive effect on intention of continuous use. Third, attitudinal loyalty has a positive effect on intention of continuous use. Fourth, the gender moderating effects between information, transaction, safety and attitudinal loyalty, and intention of continuous use are rejected at the significance level of 0.05. It is found that information, transaction, and safety, which are choice attributes of Internet specialized banks, are the main factors that improve attitudinal loyalty and intention of continuous use. Contrary to expectations, the gender moderating effect between the choice attributes, attitudinal loyalty, and intention of continuous use is not significant, but there is a difference in the degree of influence between men and women. Therefore, in order to improve the performances of attitudinal loyalty and intention of continuous use in Internet specialized banks, the choice attribute should be managed from users’ perspective. The management of successful choice attributes that customers want will be the foundation for Internet specialized banks’ sustainability.
Highlights
In April 2017, Korea’s first Internet specialized bank, K-Bank, was launched, and in July 2017, Kakao Bank was launched
The results are shown in Table 3. χ2 = 18.903, df = 70, p = 0.000, χ2/df = 1.699, GFI = 0.933, AGFI = 0.886, RMR = 0.046, TLI = 0.961, CFI = 0.974, and RMSEA = 0.057, the goodness-of-fit indices of the measurement model, which mean that the model is generally suitable
The results of the reliability test showed that the Cronbach alpha values of all five constructs used in this study exceeded the minimum requirement for reliability of 0.70, which indicated that multiple measurement items were highly reliable for measuring each construct [57]
Summary
In April 2017, Korea’s first Internet specialized bank, K-Bank, was launched, and in July 2017, Kakao Bank was launched. The two banks have shown remarkable growth since their launch, and as of September 2018, the total assets of domestic Internet banks amounted to 17.7 trillion won (14.5 trillion won for Kakao Bank and 2.5 trillion won for K-bank). Domestic Internet specialized banks have provided savings/loans interest rates to consumers through launching and growth, and have promoted competition in the domestic banking industry. The companies have contributed to increasing their users’ convenience by expanding non-face-to-face transaction services and strengthening Internet/mobile channels. New competitors, which have not appeared for 24 years, have entered the banking industry to strengthen consumer benefits and services, and contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of domestic banks. There is a growing expectation for Internet specialized banks to bring about this change
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