Abstract
The role of trusted advisor has long differentiated the role of community banking from traditional national banks in its relationship with small businesses. This study serves two purposes. First is to confirm presence of a trusted advisor relationship and secondly, understand the impact of digital banking services on the community banker – small business owner relationship. Using data collected in a survey of community bankers and small business owners in five southeastern United States, this study assesses the viability of the trusted advisor construct by applying the Integrative Model of Organizational Trust (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995, 2007), trust-building behaviors (Maister, Green, & Galford, 2000), and the effects of communications on interfirm trust (Neu, Gonzalez, & Pass, 2011).
Unlike prior studies which typically examine general trust or satisfaction with financial institutions, our exploratory research adapts and applies three respective models to measure multiple latent dimensions of trust between community bankers and small business owners. Our findings show a transactional relationship instead of a reciprocal trust relationship. Transformation of banking through digital banking services is a double-edged sword: crucial for operations yet harming personal relationships. Although community banks remain financially strong, their trusted advisor role is weak. If a trusted advisor role is crucial to market differentiation, community banks will need to redefine the trusted advisor role in our increasingly digital and impersonal financial world.
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