Assessment of the Banks’ Reputation in Romania - The Demand-Side Perspective

Abstract

Reputation is a crucial concern in any market and industry, but even more in the banking sector. Credibility and trust are indispensable factors, as commercial banks operate on the basis of funds attracted from public. The consequences of the global financial crisis triggered in 2007 have strongly affected reputation and trust in banks. Starting from these premises, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the Romanian banks’ reputation from the retail customers’ perspective. After an in-depth assessment of the reputational dimensions in the banking sector, the paper explores the reputation of the Romanian banking sector starting from the evidence of the National Authority for Consumer Protection and the local media content analysis. It also evaluates the social responsibly practices targeting financial education programs, as a tool to increase banks’ reputation. A distinct section is devoted to the examination of banks’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conclusion of this research is that customers’ satisfaction is a key determinant of banks’ reputation in Romania.

Keywords

• reputation
• banking sector
• trust in banks
• financial education
• romania