Abstract
Quick technological advancements have significantly reshaped service delivery in the retail banking sector, as banks increasingly rely on digital platforms to enhance efficiency and customer experience. Despite these developments, challenges persist regarding customer trust, acceptance, and the growing concern over the reduced human element in technology-driven banking services. These concerns are particularly pronounced in emerging market contexts such as South Africa, where customer expectations, service needs, and also technological readiness may differ from those in developed economies.
This study addresses the limited understanding of how technical and human factors jointly influence customer trust and the acceptance of live call support systems within the South African retail banking sector. While existing research has largely concentrated on automated banking technologies, comparatively little attention has been given to digital service solutions that reintroduce real-time human interaction as part of customer support.
The primary aim of this study was to examine the influence of selected technical factors, namely information quality, system quality, and service quality, alongside human factors including the need for human interaction, perceived security, and self-efficacy, on customer trust and intention to use live call support systems. The study also investigated the mediating role of trust and the moderating effects of privacy information transparency, perceived benefits, and the perceived attractiveness of alternative service channels.
Guided by a positivist research philosophy, the study adopted a deductive and quantitative research approach. Data were collected through a self-administered online survey distributed to retail banking customers in South Africa. The proposed conceptual model was empirically tested using statistical techniques grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, the information systems success (ISS) model, and consumer behaviour theory.
The findings reveal that while technical factors are generally viewed as baseline service expectations, human factors, particularly perceived security and self-efficacy, play a more influential role in building customer trust. Trust was found to have a strong direct effect on customers’ intention to use live call support systems. In addition, privacy information transparency and perceived benefits were shown to strengthen the trust–intention relationship, whereas the perceived attractiveness of alternative service channels weakened this relationship. Overall, the study extends existing technology acceptance frameworks to the context of live call support systems and provides practical insights for retail banks seeking to...