Automated service quality as a predictor of customers' commitment : A practical study within the UAE retail banking context

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of automated service factors, customer trust, and delight in customer commitment within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banking context. Design/methodology/approach – The relative importance of automated service factors to customer delight, trust, and commitment was examined. The paper then proposed a conceptual model of the relationship between automated factors, customer delight, trust, and commitment within the UAE banking context. A survey was designed and data collected through the mall intercept method. AMOS 6 was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings – Most of the automated factors have no direct relationship with customer commitment, but an indirect one through customer trust and delight. Automated factors have a direct and positive influence on customer delight, which in turn has a direct influence on both customer trust and customer commitment. Customer trust is also related positively and directly to customer commitment. Research limitations/implications – This research has been applied to the financial institutions in the UAE. Further testing of the proposed conceptual model across different industries and countries is needed to determine the generalizability and consistency of this study's findings. Practical implications – The proposed model of commitment prediction has the potential to help UAE bank managers to strengthen the customer‐bank relationship and, ultimately, to enhance customer delight, trust, and commitment ratios especially in the light of the credit crunch that most banks in the UAE are facing. Originality/value – This paper is a significant trial in showing the importance of automated service quality in gaining customers' commitment within the UAE retail banking context.