Service Quality of Conventional and Islamic banks in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this research study is to determine and compare the service quality of conventional and Islamic banks in Turkey. Design/Methodology/Approach - Stratified sampling method was used to select the sample of respondents for the survey. The data collection phase was carried out online via Google forms and data obtained from 524 participants was used for the analysis. A revised SERVQUAL scale for the banking sector was employed in the research. Findings and implications - The study found service quality expectations of bank customers to be very high, with neither bank type satisfying the expectations of their customers. While conventional banks satisfied 81.2% of their customer expectations, with that proportion falling to 77.8% in the case of Islamic banks, the perception of service quality by customers was found to be higher for conventional banks than for Islamic banks. Especially in the last 20 years, Islamic banking in Turkey has developed at an extremely fast pace. Turkey has become a highly attractive market, particularly for foreign banks focused on Islamic banking. However, although Turkey is a Muslim country, there is not a high preference for Islamic banking. The most important reason behind this is the quality of service offered by the country's Islamic banks to their customers. This study has demonstrated that the service quality of Turkish banks is unsatisfactory and that improvements to service quality especially by Islamic banks are required, more so than for conventional banks. This research study provides companies seeking to enter the Turkish banking sector with the necessary steps to satisfy the service quality expectations of Turkish customers. Limitations - The main limitations of this study are related to the timeframe and data collection. As service perception changes over time, the service quality of banks can be better evaluated through long-term data collection. This research focused on Turkish banks only, so its results cannot be generalized outside Turkey. Originality - Although certain studies have investigated the service quality of banks in Turkey, no study in the literature has compared the quality of service of conventional and Islamic banks.