Sense of community: an exploratory study of US consumers of financial services

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to develop and test a sense of consumption community measurement scale. The concept is examined in an exploratory study in the context of the perceptions of customers of financial services firms. Design/methodology/approach - This research consults the marketing, banking, psychology, and public policy literature. A sense of consumption community scale is tested for validity via exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Scale reliability analysis is also conducted. Findings - The result is a second-order construct composed of the first-order constructs, camaraderie and communality, and social capital. The construct is found to be a means of measuring the strength of consumers' perceptions of consumption community. Additional evidence of its practical value is demonstrated in four findings. First, partial support is found that men perceive a greater sense of community than women. Second, there is a positive relationship between age and perceived sense of community. Third, no significant relationship was found between the various types of financial institutions and customers' sense of consumption community. Fourth, an identical finding was obtained for the relationship between sense of community and longevity. And fifth, this research also documents limitations of the Sense of Consumption Community Construct due to the exploratory nature of this research effort. Originality/value - The scale formulated in this research is the first to measure a sense of community among the customers of financial institutions.