THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF CORPORATE IMAGE: THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE QUALITY AND TRUST ON PURCHASE INTENTION

ANISA AISYA BINTI KHALILBACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WITH HONOURS MARKETINGFACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENTUNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARAPERLISEMAIL: aesya06@yahoo.comABSTRACTThe main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of service quality and trust on purchase intention and to examine the moderating effects of corporate image in the influence of trust on purchase intention of GETSB. Customers of GETSB aged over 18 were taken as the research sample. Primary data were collected through convenience sampling. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The main findings are; service quality partially influences on trust and reliability has the most significant influence on trust followed by assurance and tangibility; trust has a significantly positive influence on purchase intention and the influence of trust on purchase intention in high corporate image situations is greater than in low corporate image. The research will only focus on customers of GETSB as research objects. Therefore, the sample night involve some bias. The implications of this study include different types of service quality will have different levels of influence on customer trust. There is a need to support the previous study that trust has a significantly positive influence on purchase intention. The moderating effects of corporate image between the influences of trust on purchase intention must be examined. This research finding reveals the need and importance for all Takaful businesses to improve their service quality continuously which will leads to customer trust. This research indicates the need to emphasize the nature and importance of moderating effect of corporate image. This research discuss about the relationship of service quality and trust on purchase intention using the moderating effects of corporate image. Researcher hopes this research can contribute to the Takaful industry in increasing and maintaining the performance of service sector in Malaysia.Keywords Service quality, Trust, Purchase Intention, Corporate image

1.0 INTRODUCTIONA number of researchers have been conducted on the purchase intention and the factors influencing purchase intention. Consumer purchase intention is the decision making process used by customers relating to a market deal in the form of purchase of products and services from one seller or group of sellers (Khan, 2012). There are different of decision criteria when making any purchase decision such as brand, prices, quality, performances, features, convenience and user friendly. Previous studies on purchase intention have focused on investigating factors influencing purchase intention which includes corporate image, relationship marketing and trust (Long and Ching, 2010). This study will examine the purchase intention of GETSB.

In respect of insurance industry, it has been one of the key drivers to services sector. A statistics proved that the countrys finance and insurance industry anticipated expanding from 6.3% in 2011 to 6.8% in 2012 as well as the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) which increased from 11.8% in 2011 and 12.0% in 2012. Moreover, it is expected to remain a major contributor to economic growth in the years to come (Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, 2012).

Services sector performance (2010 2012). Source from Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad.Change (%)Share of GDP (%)201020112012201020112012Intermediate servicesTransport strorage6.95.16.73.83.83.8Communication8.57.97.94.24.44.5Finance and insurance6.46.36.811.711.812.0Real estate and business services7.86.85.75.55.65.6

According to Wang and Sha (2000), competitive advantage within the service industry can be obtained with the existing of high quality services becomes one of the factors for a successful operation. Takaful industry was a phenomenal in the past several years. The explosion growth of Takaful business was generally attributed to new innovative Syariah-based products that were introduced over the years. Today, Takaful business has become one of main attraction in the industry and one of the companies that hold Takaful program is GETSB. Thus, the competition is getting more and more vigorous so it is vital for the company to well prepare. With a strong customer trust and improvement in service quality will build up companys corporate image which helps gain competitive advantage.

Corporate image helps consumers obtain a better understanding of the products offered by specific corporations and further ease their uncertainty while making buying decisions (Robertson and Gatignon, 1986). When customers have to choose from so many insurance agencies offering the same services, they will tend to look for the best corporate reputation. Therefore, GETSB has to develop a superior distinctive image to achieve a quality product differentiation. According to Berens and van Riel (2004), they suggested identifying three main factors in assessing corporate brands or corporate reputation which are social expectations, trust and personality. They obviously mentioned that corporate image is related to trust. Based on Groenland (2002), a positive corporate reputation has a positive influence on consumer trust in the respective company. Therefore, strong or weak purchase intention of customers is influenced by the corporate image and customer trust. Other than that, Yu Ying Huang et al., (2011) proposed that service quality has positive and direct influence on both customer satisfaction and purchase intentions.

Based on the above background, it is necessary to investigate and discuss how GETSB should strive to keep the customers and win new customers through service quality, trust and corporate image.

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

In todays competitive business environment, managers should value service quality to enhance corporate image and use of customer trust to strengthen the positive attitude of corporate image thus, lead to higher purchase intention (Long Yi Lin, 2011). As mentioned earlier, economic growth is in fast phase and competition is growing rapidly. In the past, the insurance industry has avoided pressures mainly because insurance is a very complex product which only a few could understand (Zalina Sungip and Affiaine Ahmad, 2008). This was probably the reason why the majority of the insurance consumers were quite ignorance about insurance. However the situation has changed and the insurance industry has become the target of consumer especially the one that has Takaful policy.

Hence, it is necessary for the GETSB to survey and discuss on how to be the best among competitors and create customers loyalty. As mentioned by Kwok (2007), companies have to adapt to the changing value of consumers and seek for a long term relationship with customers in order to survive and grow because consumers value is changing in society over time. By means, the companys view has to switch from business level to community or society level.

The research proposed aims at in-depth analysis of how trust and service quality can influence the purchase intention of GETSBs products using the moderating effects of corporate image. It aims at answering the question of how the implementation of those factors affects the customers behaviour and perceptions. Previous literature mainly focused on the influences of corporate image on consumers purchase intentions (Grewal et al., 1998), while few studies have discussed the influence of corporate image on consumers trust. Other than that, few companies use service quality to relate with trust. Many scholars have published papers on service quality or corporate image in the past while few explored both at the same time.

The principle aim of this research is to investigate the purchase intention of GETSB. The specific aims are as follows:1. To determine the influence levels of reliability on trust.2. To determine the influence levels of tangibility on trust.3. To determine the influence levels of responsiveness on trust.4. To determine the influence levels of assurance on trust.5. To determine the influence levels of empathy on trust.6. To determine the influence of trust on customers purchase intention.7. To determine the moderating role of corporate image towards a company on the influence of customers trust on customers purchase intention.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF PURCHASE INTENTION

Watson (1913) was an important contributor to classical behaviourism which had a major impact on American educational systems. He identified observable behaviour as the proper subject matter for psychology and he stated that all behaviour is controlled by environmental events. He then proposed out the stimulus-response psychology that started the movement called behaviourism. This behaviourism emphasises on external behaviour of people and their reactions on particular situations rather than the internal which is the mental state of those people. In his opinion, the evaluation of behaviours and reactions was the only objective method to get understanding in the human actions. This point of view combined with the ideas of determinism, evolutionary continuum, and empiricism has contributed to what is now called radical behaviourism. It was this new point of view that he said would lead psychology into a new era.

Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) wrote that in the early days of attitude research, most investigators accepted that human behaviour is guided by social attitudes. They also proposed a theory of reasoned action (TRA) which is trying to estimate the conflict between attitude and behaviour. This TRA was about voluntary behaviour. Later on, behaviour appeared not to be 100 percent voluntary and under control then resulted in the addition of perceived behavioural control. Because of that, the theory was called the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The theory of planned behaviour is a theory which predicts deliberate behaviour which means behaviour can be deliberative and planned. The diagram below constructed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) shows the conceptual model of TPB:

Attitude toward the behaviour Behavioural beliefs

Behaviour IntentionSubjective normNormative beliefs

Actual behavioural controlPerceived behavioural controlControl beliefs

Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that a person's behaviour is determined by his or her intention to perform the behaviour that this intention turned a function of his or her attitude toward the behaviour and his or her subjective norm. The best predictor of behaviour is intention which Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined it as the cognitive representation of a person's readiness to perform a given behaviour. This intention is determined by three factors which are their attitude toward the specific behaviour, their subjective norms and their perceived behavioural control. Meanwhile, the TPB stated that only specific attitudes of that behaviour can be expected to predict that particular behaviour. In order to measure attitudes toward the behaviour, peoples subjective norm (their beliefs about how people they care about will view the behaviour) should be measured. As an addition, perceived behavioural control can influence intentions. Perceived behavioural control is people's perceptions of their ability to perform a given behaviour. These predictors lead to intention.

Marketing managers regularly use purchase intentions data to make strategic decisions related to both new and existing products and the marketing programs that support them (Vicki et al., 2006). Besides that, during the introduction of a new product, purchase intentions help the manager decide in which geographic markets and customer segments the product should be introduced (Carla and Carlos, 2009). According to McQuitty et al. (2000), customer satisfaction has a strong connection between intention to purchase and switching brand barriers. Therefore, when some level of satisfaction exists after purchase a particular product, the purchase intention will be positive meanwhile, if there is dissatisfaction, the purchase intention will be negative. Furthermore, in different perspectives which are mentioned by Wang and Tadisina (2008), if customers are willing and happy to purchase a certain products means they have purchase intention.

In addition, consumers brand cognitions will influence the brand attitudes and also influence their confidence in evaluating brand. Confidence of a consumer will determine their purchase intentions (Laroche and Teng, 2007). There have been few attempts to assess the consumer brand decision making process across cultures (Vicki G.M et al., 2006).

Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) mentioned that if one wants to know whether or not an individual will perform a given behaviour, the simplest most efficient thing one can do is to ask the individual whether he intends to perform that behaviour. While, Nelson Barber et al. (2012) stated that another way to examine consumers behavioural intentions is to assess their willingness to pay.

Vicki, Joel and Alok (2006) suggested the use of four dimensions related to the specifics of the research environment which include the level of product specificity for which consumers were asked to provide intentions (brand level, sub-brand level or product category level), the type of study (experiments versus surveys, academic versus commercial) and the type of respondents (consumer versus business). They also suggested the three dimensions related to measurements which on how intentions were measured, how behaviour was measured and the length of time between the two measurements.

2.1.1 VARIOUS DEINITION OF PURCHASE INTENTION

According to the definition provided by Laroche et al. (1996), purchase intention is individuals intention to buy a specific brand individuals who want to buy a specific brand which they has chosen for themselves after certain evaluation. Brand attributes play a very important role in consumers brand cognition which leads to certain degree of evaluation. As for McQuitty et al. (2000), purchase intention can be defined as consumers willingness to consider buying. While, the term repurchase is used by Wand and Tadisina (2008) and Philip et al. (2002) in describing purchase intention. It is referred to consumers intention or decision to purchase or repurchase.

However, Al-Ekam et al. (2012) have provided a new definition of purchase intention. It is defined as an individuals readiness and willingness to purchase a certain product or service. Based on Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), actual behaviour is a driver to a behaviour intention and perceived behaviour control. Moreover, they also mentioned that trust, advertisement and purchase intention influence the actual purchase. As stated in the dictionary of business management, it defined similar meaning of purchase intention which is the purchasing goods and services for personal consumption.

2.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF CORPORATE IMAGE

According to Valdez (2013), corporate identity is the theories of human personality which took in the 1930s as a starting point, defining personalities in terms of social stimulus value or the impression made on other people. Corporate identity has gone through further improvement along the decades. During the 1950s and 1960s, identity was customer-focused and combination of organizational designation, logos, house styles and visual assets into one. In the 70s, the focus broadened by including perceptions of stakeholders and during the 80s the effect of behaviour and communications was recognized. Nowadays, identity is seen as a strategic tool drawing on mind (decisions and policies), soul (employee affinities and internal image) and voice (communications, visual elements and symbolism).

Levy (1955) introduced the concept ofimage for marketing which he then concludes that consumers buy a brand for the meanings it has not just for the physical attributes. As for Barich and Kotler (1991), they proposed the concept of image that consists of three elements. First is thecorporate image which is the way people view the whole corporation. Second is theproduct image which isthe way people view a particular product category. Third is thebrand image which isthe way people view a particular brand that is in competition with other brands. Other perception mentioned by Johnson and Wilson (1993) which is images are formed from a collection of all past contact related to the firm. Several alternatives such as direct product experience, advertising, impressions from channel members, sales person contact and all related marketing programs bring an image of the firm (Barich and Kotler, 1991).

The corporate brand is a valuable asset that generates the vision, core values, image and actions (Shahri, 2011). According to Nigel, Pope and Voges (2000), there are two factors in examinations of corporate image which include markets that characterized by incomplete information and organizations that have multiple publics. Each of those factors has a different image of the organization and applying different criteria to determine that image.

Furthermore, a companys corporate brand can increases the profitability and sales, reduces the costs and creates a unique position in the marketplace by using a well organized promotion campaign with an effective corporate branding strategy. Thus, corporate brands need to effectively manage during the life of the company, not just during brand introduction. After the consideration of what needs to be managed being analyzed, a company should coordinate all the interface between corporate vision, organizational culture, and stakeholder images (Hatch and Schoultz, 2008).

Kennedy (1997) suggested that corporate image is classified into functional image and affective image. Moreover, he also stated that the corporations control the personalities and classified corporate image into six dimensions which include dynamism, cooperation, business intelligence, character, success and withdrawal. Whereas Walters (1970) classified corporate image into three elements which are institution image refers to consumers general attitude towards a company offering commodities or services (corporate image and store image), functional image refers to the attitude formed based on the functional activities carried out by a profit-making enterprise (service image, promotional image and price image) and commodity image refers to the attitude held towards commodities offered by a company (product image, brand image and brand-line image).

2.2.1 VARIOUS DEFINITION OF CORPORATE IMAGE

In the field of corporate image, various definitions are found. Martineau (1960) defined corporate image as peoples subjective recognition, feelings and impressions of enterprises.Gottlieb (2011) insisted that first impression of customers really count on what the service experience says about the company. Besides that, Dichter (1985) also uses the term impression to defined corporate image which is the total impression that the entity makes on the minds of individuals. Similar definition by Yuille and Catchpole (1977) defined corporate image as the opinions, feelings and previous experiences regarding an enterprise.

Yet, Leuthesser and Kohli(1997) provide a different definition of corporate image. It is referred to an intangible asset concerned with the essence of the organization and its external communication channels. Similarly, corporate communications apply to the various outbound communications channels utilized by organizations to communicate with customers and other constituencies (Balmer and Greyser, 2006).

According to Gatewood et al. (1993), corporate image can be defined as the image associated with the name of an organization. Meanwhile, for Nguyen and Lablanc (2001), corporate image was the overall representation of an enterprise to the public. Although differences of opinion still exist, there appears to be some agreement that corporate image refers to the impressions of the company that customer have in mind.

2.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF TRUST

According to Kwok (2007), both academicians and practitioners are trying to understand the determinants of customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty. He also mentioned that marketing managers are also keen to know what level of trust or loyalty will increases customer retention, supportable development and long term profitability.

Trust involves an expectation that the other party will cause a positive outcome, although the possibility that the action may bring about a negative outcome (Lewicki, Mcallister, and Bies, 1998). Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003) found both trust and satisfaction to have strong positive effects on customer retention. Meanwhile, Kwok (2007) referred customer satisfaction as the probability of future renewal of service contracts and the probability for the customer changes patronage. Trust helps people to have faith of the action being taken because trust express feelings of security about the object of trust where one can move forward without fear despite the risks or uncertainties in a situation (Holmes and Rempel, 1989).

According to Wetzels et al. (1998), in social psychology, trust is considered to consist of two elements which include trust in the partners honesty and trust in the partners benevolence (courtesy or indulgence). Furthermore, honesty is defined as the belief that a partner stands by his word, while benevolence is defined as the belief that the partner is interested in the customers welfare and will not take negative actions on the customer. Morgan and Hunt (1994)also mentioned that brand trust leads to brand loyalty and commitment because trust creates relationships that are highly valued. Customers satisfaction is influenced by the trust that customers have on particular brand (Aaker and Keller, 1998). Furthermore, Lewis and Weigert (1985) pointed that trust consists of three dimensions. These dimensions are cognition, affection and behaviour.

However, Khodyakov (2007) argued that the relationship between trust in people and trust in institutions can go in both directions, because institutional trust can also promote, or hinder the development of interpersonal trust. He also stated that trust in institutions is often more important than interpersonal trust in a modern society. This is because institutions can have more resources to provide people with the means of achieving some of their goals. Long (2011) proposed that, in order to maintain long term relationship with customers, a company has to build up a good customers trust because when trust exist, both parties will do their best to obtain the greatest benefits for their relationship.

2.3.1 VARIOUS DEFINITION OF TRUST

A close analysis of the ways the term trust is used in the literature reveals a disagreement among scholars about the definition, characteristics, and even the nature of trust (Khodyakov, 2007). Most of the scholars have been using the term risk in defining trust. In the early 1950s, trust is defined as the expectation of the parties in a transaction and the risks associated with assuming and acting on such expectations (Deutsch, 1958). Similarly, Trust can be defined as a state involving confident positive expectation about anothers motives with respect to oneself in risky situations (Holmes and Rempel, 1991). Meanwhile, Kwok (2007) defined trust as the willingness to rely on another party in the face of risk. Moreover, Al-Ekam et al. (2012) have provided a new definition of trust with similar meaning which is trust is a factor that cannot be created overnight and entirely depends on the relation between the two parties. However, Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2002) argued that trust referred to the customers willingness to rely on the ability of the brand to perform its stated function. In this context, performance, service delivered and features of a brand are important that impact customers trust. 2.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVICE QUALITYService is an interaction, processes and performances of employees to customers (Bitner et al., 1996). Delivering a quality service is a necessary strategy for success and survival in todays competitive environment (Lawrence Ang and Francis Buttle, 2004). According to Parasuraman et al., (1985), early studies of 1980s focused on discovering what service quality meant to customers and developing strategies to meet customer expectations. A study on service quality has attracted the attention of researchers all over the world (Chowdhary and Prakash, 2007) which most of the research has focused on measuring service quality using the SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

Parasuraman et al., (1988) stated that the factors for assessing service quality could be categorized into five dimensions which include tangibility (the physical evidence of the service such as physical facilities and appearance of personnel), reliability (consistency of performance and service dependability), responsiveness (the willingness or readiness of employees to provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence) and empathy (caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers).

In addition, many researchers have used two methods in measuring service quality (Juanita et al., 2005). The first method that was pointed by Parasuraman (1985) is that purchase intention is determined by service quality which is service quality should be measured by comparing perceptions with expectations. On the other hand, the second method mentioned by Cronin and Taylor (1992) is that purchase intention is determined by perceptions alone which is known as performance based approach. As for Grnroos (1990), he proposed that the service quality is perceived by customers with two dimensions. First is functional dimension (process) that focuses on how and considers issues like the behaviour staff with customer contact and the speed of service. Second is technical dimension (outcome) that focuses on what and considers such issues as the end result of service provision. Meanwhile, Rust and Oliver (1994) suggested three component models in customers evaluation of a service encounter. These components are the customer-employee interaction (functional or process quality), the service environment and the outcome (technical quality).2.4.1 VARIOUS DEFINITION OF SERVICE QUALITYMuch has been written on the concept of productivity and the complexities associated with service quality but Parasuraman (1985) has broadly stimulated understanding of potential conflicts and synergy between service quality and productivity. Then he defined service quality as consumers judgement about an entitys overall excellence or superiority. Similarly, it is the unique superior value of service being delivered.

Cronin and Taylor (1992) described service quality as a long run overall evaluation and a global assessment. This is because first impression of a good service quality will impact on the long run evaluation from customers. As for Fen and Lian (2007), they focus more on customer satisfaction. They defined service quality as the extent of how the service offered by a service provider that meets customer satisfaction.

However, recent studies focus more on customer expectation. For Chowdhary and Prakash (2007), service quality can be described as a form of attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction that results from the comparison of expectations with performance. Besides that, Huang (2011) stated similar definition which is on how well the service meets or exceeds the customers expectations on a consistent basis. Regardless, service type will differ based on some criterion so firm should expect the unexpected.

2.2 PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

2.2.1 THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE QUALITY ON TRUST

Customers are more likely to choose a brands they believe to be trustworthy and reliable (Delgado-Ballester, 2001). According to Auka et al. (2012), service quality is the consumers estimation of services overall quality. It is the differences between the expectation about a services and the perception of how the service has been performed that consumers have made. Meanwhile, Mcquitty et al. (2000) stated that a gap between expectations and perceived performance is the best predictor of satisfaction which impact on the level of trust among customers. Consumers will occasionally purchase different brands when they are not completely satisfied with the brand they last purchased or because they have high expectations for a different brand.

However, service quality is very sufficient when perceptions is equal or exceed to expectation (Auka et al., 2012). Based on Parasuraman (1985), service quality is a judgment relating to the superiority of the service at the attribute level. He then developed five dimensions in measuring service quality consist of reliability, tangibility, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. By referring to the discussions made by the scholars, the first hypothesis for this paper is developed as follows:

H1: Service quality has a significantly positive influence on trust.H1-1: Reliability has a significantly positive influence on trust.H1-2: Tangibility has a significantly positive influence on trust.H1-3: Responsiveness has a significantly positive influence on trust.H1-4: Assurance has a significantly positive influence on trust.H1-5: Empathy has a significantly positive influence on trust.2.2.2 THE INFLUENCE OF TRUST ON PURCHASE INTENTION

Trust has been defined in so many ways by so many different researchers and the various types of trust which are needed (McKnight et al., 2000). Trust has been found to be important to customer performance (Nelson and Cooprider, 1996). McKnight (2000) has defined a proposition of trust through his research which he defined it as the extent to which one displays a consistent tendency to be willing to depend on general others across a broad spectrum of situations and persons. He also constructs the proposition of trust into two sub-constructs. First is faith in humanity which is defined as underlying assumptions about people and one assumes others are usually upright, well-meaning, and dependable. Second is trusting stance that which is regardless of what one assumes about other people generally, one assumes that one will achieve better outcomes by dealing with people as though they are well-meaning and reliable.

With respect to marketing organization, consumer decision making is believed to be highly guided by high order mental forms such as customer satisfaction, perceived service quality, perceived value, trust and commitment (Johnson and Garbarino, 1999). Singh and Sirdeshmukh (2000) defined trust in two parts. First, trust relates to positive expectations about the intentions and behaviours of the exchange partner which ones beliefs that the exchange partner would act in a manner that is responsible. It is evidences righteousness and is potentially secure. Second, trust focuses on ones action tendencies toward exchange partners which relates to ones intentions to rely on the exchange partner in accepting the context of vulnerability. Based upon the discussion, the second hypothesis is developed as follows:

H2: Trust has a significantly positive influence on purchase intention.

2.2.3 THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF CORPORATE IMAGE BETWEEN THE INFLUENCES OF TRUST ON PURCHASE INTENTION

Berens and van Riel (2004) identify three factors in assessing corporate brands or corporate reputation which includes social expectations, trust and personality. Meanwhile, Walters (1970) categorized corporate image into three elements which are institutional image, functional image and commodity image.

Companies with good images can enhance customers purchase intention for their products and services in obtaining customers trust and good opinion. If companies establish better customer trust, they would conduct messages showing positive corporate reputation and products with guaranteed attributes and functions (Dodds et al., 1991). Long and Ching (2010) mentioned that consumers form their corporate image based on the information related to that corporation. They also mentioned that the contents received will influence the consumers thought about the corporation image.

Other than that, image can be transformed into trust in others through the mechanism of self-verfication (Burke and Stets, 1999). Consumers who develop a positive mental schema of a brand will tend toward high customer satisfaction (Alireza et al., 2011). Nevertheless, customer trust was a key factor when consumers make the purchase decision in practice (Long, 2011) and a company that practices good corporate image will attract consumers purchase intention (Keller, 1993). Based upon the discussion, the third hypothesis is developed as follows:

H3: Corporate image will moderate the influence of trust on purchase intention.

H3-1: The influence of trust on purchase intention in high corporate image situations is greater than in low corporate image situations.

3.0 METHODOLOGY3.1 CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE

Service QualityTangibilityReliabilityResponsiveness Assurance Empathy

Purchase IntentionTrust

Corporate Image

Moderating variable

Figure 1Figure 13.2 MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES

The main objective for this study is to investigate the influence of corporate image, trust and service quality on purchase intention towards GETSB. Keller (1993) stated that market leadership, awareness, profit, market share, company scale combined with perceived quality, innovation ability, expert skill, reliability and acceptance by consumers as the ten indices for the measurement of corporate image. Hence, level of corporate image will be measured using those elements developed by Keller (1993) in this study.

For service quality, the idea proposed by Parasuraman et al., (1985) was being chosen. Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy acted as the dimensions for the measurement of service quality. Based on previous studies, trust is a very important factor in influencing consumer decision making and consumer behaviour. According to Singh and Sirdeshmukh (2000), trust is a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations of the intentions or behaviours of another. The role of trust also is to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with a brand (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001).

3.3 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNQuestionnaire uses in this study was divided into five parts. The first part is customers demographic information. The second part was designed to measure the customers perception level of GETSBs corporate image in responding to related scenarios. Questions developed by referring to Keller (1993). The third part was designed to measure customers perception level of GETSBs service quality. Questions developed by referring to Parasuraman (1985). The fourth part was designed for the measurement of customers perception level of GETSBs trust. Questions developed by referring to Kwok (2007). The fifth part was designed to measure the customers purchase intention. Questions developed by referring to Vicki (2006).

3.4 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS METHOD

In this research, the population for this study comprises the population of GETSBs customers in all over Malaysia which is approximately more than 150000 as in 2013. According to Roscoe (1975) the purpose of the rule of thumb for determining sample size that is a sample larger than 30 and less than 500 are recommended for most research. By that reason, the researcher has decided to select 150 respondents in carrying out this research.

The participants in this study are 150 individuals who are currently a customer in GETSB. This study will cover participants aged over 18 as research objects. The methods uses for the research are observation and questionnaire which the measurement of questions will be designed according to the variables. A five-point Likert scale will be used to measure respondents degree of agreement with those questions. The degree ranges from 1, definitely disagree to 5, definitely agree. The questionnaire will be either being distributed using face-to-face interviews or meeting or email or personal messages using social networking depend on the accessibility of that particular respondent. By this way, interviewers could pose any questions they have on the spot and helped enhance the questionnaire response accuracy. The data collection will take roughly one to two weeks. Convenience sampling was adopted for conducting the questionnaire survey.

This study will be using the statistical package software SPSS version 13.0 as a tool to analyze and compare the collected data. First, descriptive statistics were used to analyze and understand the basic information of the samples and then test their reliability and validity. Then, correlation analysis was used to understand the correlations between variables. Finally, regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

A pre-test was conducted before the formal survey taken place to review if there were any unclear words or sentences. A total of 31 questionnaires for the pre-test were distributed and the results obtained from the pre-test showed that the Cronbachs alpha value in each variable was greater than 0.70. Based on Sekaran (2003), reliability that less than 0.6 are considered to be poor while those that in the range of 0.7 are acceptable and those that are over 0.8 are considered good. The reliability of the questionnaire reached 0.917 which indicates high reliability. With such figures indicate that the dimensions of the questionnaire were highly consistent with each other.

4.0 RESULTS4.1 SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONA total of 150 questionnaires were distributed and 150 effective questionnaires also were collected. According to the results shown in Table 4.1.1, there were more female respondents (61.3 percent) than male respondents (38.7 percent). The respondents ages were mainly between 25 to 34 years old (44.0 percent) and their marital status were mainly married (84.7 percent). As for the employment status, most of the respondents were a full-time employee (78.7 percent) and most of them have a household income that reached RM1001 to RM3000.

4.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSISThis study used Cronbachs alpha value as a tool for reliability analysis. Based on approaches suggested by Osburn (2000), the higher the Cronbachs alpha value, the higher the internal consistency is. If alpha value was higher than 0.70, then it showed that the reliability of measurement was high. The analysis result of this study showed that whether pre-test of formal survey, Cronbachs alpha value in each variable was higher than 0.8, which means high reliability for the questionnaire. Table 1 shows the results of the reliability analysis.

Variable Dimensions Total Cronbachs alpha Constructs value

Corporate image 6-11 0.841

Service Quality Tangibility 12-16 0.870

Reliability 17-20 0.867

Responsiveness 21-24 0.838

Assurance 25-28 0.854

Empathy 29-32 0.917

Customers trust 33-35 0.853

Purchase intention 36-38 0.883

Table 1 Reliability Analysis for the Variables

4.3 CORRELATION ANALYSISIn order to examine the correlation of each variable, Pearsons correlation was adopted. According to Taylor (1990) the closer to the absolute value is to 1, the stronger the relationship and when the correlation coefficient is zero, it indicates that there is no linear relationship between variables. Sekaran (2003) suggested interpreting the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables are as follows:

1) 0.70 and above very strong relationship2) 0.50 0.69 strong relationship3) 0.30 0.49 moderate relationship4) 0.10 0.29 low relationship5) 0.01 0.09 very low relationship

According to the figures shown in Table 2, the highest correlation between variables was found in service quality and corporate image. The correlation coefficient was 0.786 followed by 0.701 presented between purchase intention and corporate image. With that figures, the relationship between variables in this study shows a positive correlation.

Service quality Customer trust Purchase Corporate Intention image

Service quality 1

Customer trust 0.534** 1

Purchase Intention 0.595** 0.399** 1

Corporate Image 0.786** 0.384** 0.701** 1

Table 2 Correlation Analysis Result for the Variables4.4 HYPOTHESIS TESTINGRegression analysis was adopted to test the hypotheses where the statistical significance can be examined and form of the interaction term.

4.4.1 THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE QUALITY ON TRUSTThe results of the regression analysis for the influence of service quality on trust are shown in Table 3. The test results indicate that the service quality could interpret 34.0 percent of variance towards customer trust. Also given that, adjusted R with 31.7 percent which indicates that 31.7 percent of the variation in the service quality can explain the variation in trust in the study while another 68.3 percent is explain by other variation variables that is not included in this study. The value of adjusted R indicates that the model fit the data but more concern towards other variable that should be taken into consideration so the model may explain the variation in dependent variable (customer trust) much clearer .Table 4.5.1 was equipped with explanatory capacity where, F= 14.832, p= 0.000 showing that it has reached a statistical significance.With = 0.276, t= 2.067, p= 0.041 for tangibility, = 0.482, t= 3.239, p= 0.001 for reliability and = 0.302, t= 2.416, p= 0.017 for assurance show that it have reached statistical significance. Which also shown that tangibility, reliability and assurance have a significant positive influence on trust. Therefore, H1-1, H1-2 and H1-4 were supported. Whereas, for responsiveness was = 0.034, t=0.265, p= 0.791 and for empathy was = 0.050, t= 0.384, p= 0.702, which both dimensions were without statistical significance showing that H1-3 and H1-5 was not supported.

Dependent Service quality Regression t value p valuevariables coefficient ()

Customer trustTangibility 0.276 2.067 0.041

Reliability 0.482 3.239 0.001

Responsiveness 0.034 0.265 0.791

Assurance 0.302 2.416 0.017

Empathy 0.050 0.384 0.702

R= 0.340 ; Adjusted R= 0.317 ; N= 150 ; F= 14.832 ; p= 0.000

Table 3 Regression Analysis Result of Service Quality and Trust

4.4.2 THE INFLUENCE OF TRUST ON PURCHASE INTENTIONRegression analysis for the influence of trust on purchase intention is shown in Table 4. The test results indicate that the trust could interpret 15.9 percent of variance towards purchase intention where F= 28.029 and p= 0.000 showing that it has reached statistical significance. Also given that, adjusted R clarify with 15.4 percent score. It indicates that purchase intention is explained by trust at 15.4 percent and 84.6 percent left unexplained. The model fit the data but more concern towards other variables or factors. Furthermore, with = 0.399, t= 5.294 and p= 0.000, show that the influence of trust on purchase intention has reached a statistical significance which means trust has a statistically positive influence on purchase intention. Thus, H2 was supported.

Independent Dependent Regression t value p valuevariable variable coefficient ()

Customer trust Purchase 0.399 5.294 0.000 Intention

R= 0.159 ; Adjusted R= 0.154 ; N= 150 ; F= 28.029 ; p= 0.000

Table 4 Regression Analysis Result of Trust and Purchase Intention

4.4.3 THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF CORPORATE IMAGE BETWEEN THE INFLUENCES OF TRUST ON PURCHASE INTENTION

The proposed moderator and the interaction term (mean for trust corporate image) was adopted in order to test the moderating effects of corporate image between the relationship of trust and purchase intention. The proposed moderator was in nominal form so a dummy variable was created. Then, low level of corporate image was coded as 1 and high level of corporate image was coded as 2. The test results are shown in Table 5. The data could interpret the variance of 27.4 percent with F= 27.742 and p= 0.000 showing that it has reached a statistical significance. Also given that, the adjusted R was 26.4 percent which indicates purchase intention is explained by both trust and dummy variables at 26.4 percent and 73.6 percent is left unexplained. The model fit the data but more concern towards other variables or factors. With = 0.392, t= 4.821 and p= 0.000, the moderating effects of corporate image between the influences of trust on purchase intention has reached a statistical significance. Which shown that there is a positive moderating effect. Therefore, H3 was supported.

Figure 2 shows the comparison of high and low level of corporate image between the relationship of trust and purchase intention. It shows that when a customer has a high level of corporate image towards a company, the influence of trust on purchase intention will be strengthened than that with a low level of corporate image. Hence, H3-1 was supported.

Dependent Variables Regression t value p value variable coefficient ()

Purchase intentionCustomer trust 0.597 7.335 0.000

Customer trust 0.392 4.821 0.000 XCorporate image

R= 0.274 ; Adjusted R= 0.264 ; N= 150 ; F= 27.742 ; p= 0.000

Table 5 Regression Analysis Result of the Moderating Effects of Corporate Image between the Influence of Trust and Purchase Intention.

High level corporate Image Low level corporate Image 5.00

4.50

Purchase intention4.00

3.50

5.004.504.003.503.003.00

Customer trust

Figure 2. Comparison of the moderating effect of high and low corporate image

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION5.1 CONCLUSION

As a result of the analysis, this study has come up with the following conclusions. First, service quality is not statistically significant with trust. After further breakdown of the dimensions, it has been found that reliability has the most significant influence on trust followed by assurance and tangibility. Second, trust has a significantly positive influence on purchase intention. Third, the influence of trust on purchase intention in high corporate image situations is greater than in low corporate image situations.

5.2 DISCUSSION

This study verified that different dimensions of service quality will have different levels of influence on customer trust. Although the results for the influence of service quality on trust cannot successfully show as predicted, however, it does provide some insights for the coming research. Based on the results, it has been found that only reliability, tangibility and assurance has a positive influence on trust which the finding was not corresponds with and support the conclusion made by Mcquitty et al., (2000). He stated that the expectations and performance of the products and services will be reflected in the level of trust among customers which impact on the level of trust among customers. In Takaful business, the products are intangible and experiential product. They are providing services for customers so service quality was a key driven for trust.

Furthermore, many studies have established that customer trust helps companies improve their purchase intention (Johnson and Garbarino, 1999 and Singh and Sirdeshmukh, 2000). In this study, it is found that trust has a significantly positive influence on purchase intention which was as predicted.

Moreover, this study also has further found that corporate image moderate the influence of trust on purchase intention which is differ from what have been done by Kwok (2007). He cannot successfully show the moderating effect of corporate image between customer trust and customer loyalty. As to the moderating effect of corporate image, it is found that when a customer has a high level of corporate image towards a company, the influence of trust on purchase intention will be strengthen than that with a low level of corporate image. This important result will be valuable for academic reference as it has been through integrated analysis of purchase intention and part of literature review.

5.3 RECOMMENDATION

5.3.1 MANAGERS SHOULD ENHANCE SERVICE QUALITY TO INCREASE LEVEL OF TRUST WITHIN CUSTOMERS

In this study service quality is not significantly related to trust as a whole which means that the company is lacking in delivering service to customers. Responsiveness and empathy were found without relationship with trust. Based on Zalina and Affiaine (2008), a research on assessment of service quality in Malaysian Insurance where they give a perception on responsiveness and empathy. In term of responsiveness, many insurance companies are not performing as fast service during transaction where customer can fully depend or rely on employee because the employees are always busy to respond to customer immediately. It is managers have to always remind their sales representative on giving a prompt service to customers and have to be able to spare their time and never too busy to respond to the customers request. In term of empathy, Zalina and Affiaine (2008) stated that, employees did not understand the specific needs of their customers may be considered as the lack of individual attention by the insurance company personnel. In Takaful business, availability and accountability of sales representatives is very important. If a customer cannot get hold of the sales representative when they need to, the company could probably lose the customer forever because leaving the customer hanging will absolutely break their trust.

Furthermore, sales representative should value face-to-face interaction with customers because that is the time they get to know the customer better which help them in understanding the customers need. The customers that they know personally and keep in contact regularly will bring about stronger relationship and enhance level of customer trust.

5.3.2 COMPANY SHOULD CONSIDERED TO INCREASE LEVEL OF CUSTOMER TRUST IN ENHANCING PURCHASE INTENTION

Company may achieve a better level of purchase intention if they consider in increasing level of customers trust. According to Long (2011), to earn and maintain a long term relationship with customers, it is important for the company to build up a good customers trust.

Therefore, customers will tend to choose Great Eastern Takaful as their favourite brand. Therefore, there will be an increasing in level of purchase intention as well as repurchase intention.

5.3.3 STRENGTHEN THE CORPORATE IMAGE TO ENHANCE THE TRUST TOWARDS PURCHASE INTENTION

Companies with good images can help obtain customer trust and expand customers purchase intention for their products and services. It was proven that a high level of corporate image towards a company will strengthen the influence of trust on purchase intention. According to Dodds et al., (1991), first impression and messages delivered can help build the companys reputation which will transform into trust. With an effective corporate branding strategy, advertising and beneficial products attributes, corporate image will be strengthen as well as create a better position in market place and influence purchase intention.

Moreover, the company has to be competence in getting the job done which is better than the competitors. Keeping and attracting new customers is also vital in todays extremely competitive environment. Thus, it is suggested that the company should establish good corporate image in a long range planning.5.3.4 FUTURE RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONResearchers should expand the sampling because different brands or different industries will bring about different attributes. It is recommended that researchers doing future investigation should include other Takaful brands or brands in other industries for future discussion. The samples collected by this study only focused on the customers of Great Eastren Takaful Sdn Bhd (GETSB), therefore the sample was limited. It is recommended that following researchers should expand sampling. Other than that, it is recommended to increase the scope of the study and change the moderating variable or independent variable. There are many independent variables that can influence purchase intention which involve different criteria. Thus, it suggested that researchers conducting future studies cover other variables for more extensive study.

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