Towards a universal model of internet banking adoption: initial conceptualization

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that customer readiness and web-channel readiness for internet banking (IB) adoption are the twin universal determinants of retail customers’ attitudes and intention towards IB-adoption. The paper delineates IB-readiness as the state of preparedness, ability, and willingness to engage in IB, and the authors argue that both the potential banking customer and the financial institution's web-channel must be equally ready before IB-adoption can occur. This paper presents the results of the initial test of the IB-readiness model with a sample of retail banking customers in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach – Nine customer-related and ten channel-related predictor-variables isolated from existing literature were tested for their effects on attitude and intention towards IB-adoption. Seven demographic mediators were also tested for their impacts on the effects of the predictor-variables on attitude and intention . A sample of 1,000 customers was surveyed. Multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were used to test the influence of the predictors and mediators. Findings – Of the seven mediators, only three were significant. Also, only eight of the original 19 predictor-variables were significant, with the impact of mediation, in determining customer attitude and intention towards IB-adoption. Practical implications – The results present some consumer behaviour and marketing communications implications for bank marketing. To convince potential customers to adopt and continue using IB, bank marketers must ensure that the eight predictors validated in this study are facilitated and sustained. Originality/value – A valuable contribution of the paper to the global IB-adoption theory is an equal evaluation model of potential universal antecedents of IB-adoption – the “EQUAEVAL” – which can be further-tested in future cross-national research.