Customer Loyalty in the Banking Sector: A Meta-Analytic Study

This study aims to synthesize and integrate findings from diverse research on the antecedents and moderators of customer loyalty in the banking sector. Through a comprehensive meta-analysis, the research seeks to understand the primary drivers of bank loyalty and the potential cultural, economic, and social indicators that might influence these relationships. A rigorous meta-analysis was conducted, analyzing 275 studies with 1,365 effect sizes involving over 134,000 bank customers from more than 50 countries. The research evaluated the effect sizes of the main relationships between loyalty antecedents and consequences and assessed the influence of cultural, economic, and social moderators.
The study identified key antecedents of bank loyalty, with responsiveness, privacy, commitment, trust, and empathy being paramount. Cultural dimensions, such as individualism and masculinity, were found to moderate the relationships between trust and loyalty significantly. The Human Development Index (HDI) was also identified as a significant economic moderator, particularly influencing the relationship between satisfaction and bank loyalty. This research offers a holistic view of bank loyalty, bridging gaps from conflicting findings in prior literature. By examining a vast array of studies across diverse cultural and economic contexts, it provides empirical generalizations about bank loyalty behavior, offering valuable insights for both academia and the banking industry.