Investigating Commitment as a Unidimensional or a Multidimensional Construct in a Retail Banking Setting

Abstract

The paper investigates the dimensional nature of commitment (affective and calculative) within a retail banking setting. The study tests two models that include antecedents and an outcome of commitment as a unidimensional and a multidimensional construct. The target population for the study included adult customers of retail banks residing in an emerging market. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were fielded purposively among respondents, with 599 usable responses being collected for analysis. The study highlights the irrelevance of the dimensional nature of commitment (unidimensional or multidimensional) on future behavioral intention within a retail banking setting and established the significance of perceived value, customer orientation, and information sharing on commitment.

Keywords:

• Affective commitment
• calculative commitment
• behavioral intention

Acknowledgements

Any opinion, finding, and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the authors and the National Research Foundation of South Africa does not accept any liability in this regard.

Ethical statement

Ethical clearance for the project was provided by the Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (GIBS) in Johannesburg, South Africa on 14 June 2018. No ethical clearance number was provided, but approval was granted by the chair of the research committee of GIBS, namely, Prof Gavin Price.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa under Grant [number 96188].