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Abstract

During the pandemic of COVID-19, the customers who visit the bank should be sure about the safety measures taken by the bank which may result in a positive image. This study aimed to examine the influence of the efficacy of the screening system of COVID-19 placed in the retail banks in India on customer satisfaction mediated by the brand image. The influence will be checked under the moderating effect of the perceived threat of COVID-19 and the perceived health risk of the customers. The data from 224 customers were collected who have visited banks in India since March 2020. The data were analysed through the partial least square method of structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.2. The findings of the study suggested that the efficacy of the screening system of COVID-19 positively influences the brand image and customer satisfaction. The moderating role of the perceived health risk of the customers and perceived threat of COVID-19 has been confirmed between the screening system of COVID-19 and brand image. Further, brand image has strongly influenced customer satisfaction. The study will be helpful for the retail banks of India and worldwide to understand the need and importance of a screening system for COVID-19 symptoms in the banks to ensure the safety and well-being of its customers and employees.

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of life and is going to change the course of consumption patterns. The pandemic of COVID-19 started on 31 December 2019 after the World Health Organization (WHO) witnessed the first case in Wuhan, China. A global health emergency was declared on 30 January 2020 by WHO, the sixth such emergency in history. WHO declared this infectious disease as pandemic based on its spread all over the world. The fatality rate of this virus is comparatively low than previous pandemics; however, the infection rate of the virus is high. On this day, the total number of people infected by this virus is 104, 458, 203 across the globe and 10,778,206 in India,Footnote1 which stands second in the list after the USA. With the surge in the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 and its highly infectious nature, there has been a necessity for a safe and efficient screening system (Kwon et al. 2020). The screening system may consist of a questionnaire containing personal information, epidemiologic factors and declaration of related symptoms at the entrance gate, body temperature examination using a contactless thermometer or an automated temperature screening machine.

Human behaviour changes during outbreaks of the pandemic, and maintaining social distancing is one of those behaviours which is evident during infectious disease spread (Poletti et al. 2012).