THE INTERPLAY OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND E-SERVICE QUALITY IN SHAPING E-BANKING LOYALTY: EVIDENCE FROM NORTH INDIA

This study investigates the combined influence of customer engagement and e-service quality on customer loyalty in the e-banking sector, focusing on users across Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh. Utilizing a structured questionnaire and a sample of 600 valid respondents, the research employs advanced statistical techniques-including Exploratory Factor Analysis and MANOVA-to analyze the interplay of demographic and socio-economic variables with customer perceptions. The findings reveal that while state, gender, age, and locality do not significantly affect engagement or loyalty, occupation, education, and income are notable differentiators. Business professionals and highly educated individuals exhibit greater engagement and loyalty, while higher-income customers report stronger satisfaction with e-banking services. The study identifies nine key factors -Efficiency, System Availability, Fulfilment, Customer Support, Reliability, E-Satisfaction, E-Trust, Customer Retention, and Technical Issues-that collectively explain over 80% of the variance in customer perceptions. These results underscore the importance of fostering both engagement and high-quality digital service experiences to build enduring customer loyalty in the evolving landscape of Indian e-banking.