Investigation of the factors affecting the preference of Arab national individuals for participation banks

Participation banking in Turkey has gained new momentum with the opening of three state-backed participation banks. It is observed that participation banks, which appeal especially to interest-sensitive individuals and businesses, are also preferred by people who come to Turkey from abroad and have the same religious sensitivities. In addition to the Arab Spring in the Middle East and the civil unrest in Syria, Turkey has been receiving intensive migration of people originating from Arab countries for reasons such as education, health, investment, etc. in recent years. In this study, it is aimed to examine the reasons why customers originating from Arab countries in the Middle East region prefer participation banks in Turkey. For this purpose, the personal information form prepared by the researcher and the "Reasons for Preference of Participation Banks Scale", the validity and reliability study of which was conducted by Apil (2009), were applied online survey to 396 people of Arab origin in the Middle East region who receive services from participation banks in the Marmara Region. The data obtained were analyzed in computer environment through SPSS 22.0 program. As a result of the research; the most important reason for Arab origin people to prefer participation banks in Turkey is "religious / environmental motivation", followed by "service / product quality", "image and trust", and finally "personnel quality". According to the descriptive characteristics of the participants in the study, it was determined that the reasons for choosing a participation bank did not differ according to the monthly income level, where they were originally from, the type of customer (individual, company and individual), the province where the bank is located, and the status of working with traditional banks as well as participation banks. It has been determined that there are differences in the reasons for the participants' preference for participation banks according to their age, marital status, gender, education level, being a citizen of more than one country, the way they are in Turkey, their history of working with participation banks, the number of different participation banks they have worked with, and the importance they attach to the participation bank providing services in their own language. As a result, it shows that the most important reason for the participants to prefer participation banks is religious sensitivities and religious environmental motivation. It was concluded that as the level of education increases, the effect of personnel quality and religious environmental motivation on participation bank preference decreases. This study is intended to guide participation banks in shaping their banking policies in line with the needs and desires of these customers mentioned in the study. It is also envisaged to contribute to the related literature.