Direct and Indirect Determinants of Customer Behavioural Intentions in Retail Co-operative Banks

Customer motivation and satisfaction have attracted the attention of bank management for a long time. The present study conceptualizes the impacts of service quality, motivation, satisfaction, and perceived value on customers’ behavioural intentions within the banking industry. This topic acquires particular relevance for small-sized banks, in which their local character, the traditional high retention rates, and the effects of the economic-financial crisis have a deep effect on the consolidated relationships with their customers. The study has involved the submission of a questionnaire to 600 customers of small-sized co-operative banks in Italy. The hypotheses were tested with SEM techniques.