The Turkish and Syrian Customers' Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Islamic Banking in Turkey

Abstract

Day after day, the Competition in the banking sector increases; the customer perspective became significant element in the banking sector. This shows how important it is to determine the point of view and perceptions of the beneficiaries of Islamic banks. The study aims to examine Turks and Syrian customers' preference and behaviors to find out the reasons affect their choosing between Islamic and conventional banks in Turkey. According to the findings; age, occupation, and monthly income influence both Turkish and Syrian customers in Islamic banking preferences. However, the gender does not affect either Turkish or Syrian customers in their selection. Education was found to be an influencer factor for Syrian customers, but not for Turkish. However, after comparing the results of Turks and Syrians, Islamic banking selection-related differences were found between Turks and Syrians with regards to gender, education level, profession, and monthly income, but no age-related differences were found. The research results suggest that there is an effect of bank reputation, customer awareness, service quality, and employee behavior on the customers' preferences toward Islamic banking, whereas the religion factor neither affect Turks nor Syrians. The mass media in Turkey, however, affects the Turks; but does not affect Syrians.