The Effect of Riba Avoidance and Product Knowledge on the Decision to Become a Customer of Islamic Banks

Abstract

The objective of this study is to find out the impact of riba avoidance motivation and product knowledge towards decision to be Islamic banks customers. Previous studies found that Muslim societies chose Islamic banks because they are interest-free. However, other studies also found that most Islamic banks customers do not have sufficient knowledge about Islamic bank products. Using the quantitative method, this study surveyed the effect of riba avoidance and product knowledge towards intention becoming Islamic bank costumers. There were thirty respondents who were chosen accidentally. Questions were distributed manually to the Islamic banks' customers. Our study found that riba avoidance and product knowledge significantly affect the decision to become a customer of Islamic banks in Palu City. This is proven by the sig-F value of 0.000, which is smaller than Alpha 0.05. At the same time, partially, the motivation to riba avoidance and product knowledge has a significant effect on the decision to become a customer of Islamic banks. Our findings highlight that Islamic banks should focus on providing more free riba products to attract more Muslim customers. In addition, customers' knowledge of Islamic banks' products should also become the banks' focus for improvement.