Digital Trust as a Mediator between Digital Banking Service Quality and Consumer Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia
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This paper investigates how digital trust mediates the relationship between the important attributes of digital banking services and consumer satisfaction in Malaysia. Based on the Online/Digital Trust Theory, Expectation-Confirmation Theory, and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the research explores the impact of security, ease of use, speed, and technical support on consumer satisfaction based on digital trust. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional design, and a structured questionnaire was used to gather data on 543 digital banking users in Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed model. The results show that digital trust is positively influenced by security, ease of use, speed, and technical support, and consumer satisfaction is positively influenced by digital trust. Moreover, digital trust plays a significant mediating role in the relationships between security, ease of use, speed, and consumer satisfaction, but the mediating role of technical support is not supported. These findings underscore the fact that digital trust is a key factor that influences the results of satisfaction. The research adds to the literature by generalizing trust-based and post-adoption models and offers practical implications by highlighting the need to increase security, usability, and system performance to improve customer trust and satisfaction.
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