CUSTOMERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE FACETS OF REPUTATION QUOTIENT OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN BENIN CITY, EDO STATE

ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to determine the customers’ perception of the facets of the Reputation Quotient (RQ) of commercial banks in Benin City, Edo State. Also, the study aimed to determine the significant differences between 10 commercial banks in Benin City, in terms of their overall reputation quotient and the different dimensions that make it up. Quota sampling technique was applied to determine the allocation of samples to each bank.
For the data analysis, mean, mode and standard deviation were used to determine the perception of customers; an RQ formula was adopted from Fombrun, Gardberg and Sever (2000) to calculate the RQ index. A one sample t-test found all scores and perceptions to be significant. Of the 10 banks, none had an excellent overall reputation score. The study concluded that the perception of customers of the facets of the RQ of their commercial bank to be positive. The six RQ dimensions were tested and emotional appeal emerged the most important and social responsibility the least important dimensions from the customers point
of view. It was also concluded that the reputation quotient produces a significant result when used to measure the corporate reputation of commercial banks. It is therefore recommended that banks should use the RQ as a tool to measure and manage their corporate reputation.