Listening to bank customers: the meaning of trust

Abstract

In banking services, trust is crucial to any relational exchange situation. Using the example of Israeli banks, the main research question driving this paper is – What are the reasons for trusting or not trusting banks? To date, few studies have examined the reasons of ongoing low trust during so-called “normal times”. This paper is unique in approaching the study of customer trust in banks through qualitative analysis by using the interdisciplinary trust approach. The results offer important insights regarding situational normality, structural assurance and customers’ tendencies to trust the bank. The insights about trust derived from this complicated relationship between customers and banks reveals that customers grow dissatisfied and their level of trust consequently decreases when they perceive an imbalance in the exchange relationship with their bank. This study provides novel insights into hidden attitudes and feelings behind each component of trust beliefs in the bank–customer trust relationship through interdisciplinary trust perspective.