CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

The growing sophistication of consumer needs and wants amidst fierce

competition in the banking sector in Nigeria has made it inevitable for

customers to continually look out for service providers that could address and

satisfy their needs. It is believed that the goal of every organization is to meet

the needs and the requirements of its stakeholders. Meeting the needs and the

requirements of the stakeholders will not only ensure the survival of the

organization but also allow it to flourish.

Customers are presumed to be one of the most important stakeholders in any

organization because without them, organizations are not likely to succeed

(Babatunde & Olukemi 2012). However, with the development in Information,

and Communication Technology (ICT) customers are faced with myriad of

choices, in making selections between service providers. In the same vein

Oliver (1997) observed that it is not unusual for a customer to make

comparison between differences in perceived expectation and perceived

performance which is known as disconfirmation. As a result customer attrition

sets in, in which customers     may be engaged in switching back and forth

between product and service offering in a bid to get quality services that satisfy

their needs and wants.

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Satisfaction is a person‟s expression of pleasure or disappointment resulting

from comparing a service outcome in relation to the expectations (Schiff Iman

& Kanuk 2007). Hence, it implies that if performance falls below expectation,

the customer is dissatisfied. Where the performance matches the expectations,

the customer is satisfied. Peradventure the performance exceeds expectations;

the customer is highly satisfied or delighted. In other words, satisfaction is a

subjective concept based on the customer‟s evaluation of what he or she needs

or wants during an interaction process with a bank.