The Relationship Marketing on Customer Patronage of Money Deposit Banks in Port Harcourt (a Case Study of Zenith Bank Ph City)
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
This study primarily aims at:
- To find out how regular Zenith Bank Port Harcourt engages in relationship marketing.
- To evaluate various relationship marketing techniques adopted by Zenith Bank in Port Harcourt town.
- To assess the relevance of such relationship marketing approaches within the context of socio- economic realities of Port Harcourt people.
- To examine people’s perception of such relationship marketing approaches.
- To determine the overall influence of such relationship marketing approaches on customers’ patronage of Zenith bank products and services.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Focus of Review
This chapter shall focus on the conceptual and empirical review of literatures related to the study.
Also, the contents of other related studies will be reviewed. They will include findings of both published and unpublished works relevant to this study. Ndagi (1999:18) consented to such a step when he advised that, “in order to set up a useful research scope, it is very important that the researcher gets familiar with the findings of previous studies”. Thus, the review will contain conceptual and empirical studies. Ndagi noted further that the review is expected to be selective. This means that the researcher must discriminate in the types of literature reviewed. Therefore, this review will examine the following issues:
Perception of Relationship marketing and its Influence on Organizational Corporate Image.
Relationship Marketing Techniques.
Influence of relationship marketing on Customers’ Patronage.
Relationship marketing within the context of socio-economic realities.
Sumary of the Review
Theoretical Frame Work
Perception of Relationship Marketing and its Influence on Organizational Corporate Image.
No doubt business organizations including banks intermittently carry out corporate image research efforts which aim to find out : how the organization is being perceived by the relevant publics of the organization’s reputation, how well it is known, the public’s likes or dislikes about the organization and how the organization stands in the face of competition (Omenugha , 2003:76).
Hence, public perception of the organization according to Omenugha (2003:77) is as important as the growth of the organizations. This is premised on the fact that potential customers are likely to patronize organizations they perceive as good. The term good may derive from the quality of service delivery or its public relations activities in the face of stiff competition. The situation however becomes of more concerned for banks which more or less have nothing to sell but services.
Since everyone in a community is a prospective customer, it therefore as common sense dictates that efforts should not only be made but strengthened at retaining customers so as not to lose them to competitors while struggling to win the patronage of more prospective customers. This stance obviously gains support from the research findings of Kotler and Armstrong that defensive marketing typically costs less than offensive marketing because it requires a great deal of effort to hire satisfied customers away from competitors ( Kotler & Armstrong 2009: 580).
To keep the customer satisfied therefore, the organization must intermittently evaluate its service delivery mechanism to ensure that the customer needs are qualitatively satisfied, not once, not twice, but as a continuum.
According to Arens (2006: 331) It is only such that would arguably make the customer to resist the temptations from other organization competing for his patronage. In some cases, cents –off promotions, rebates and their like are used for relationships marketing. Cents-off promotions are short –term reductions in the price of a product in the form of cents-off packages, According to Arens (2006: 331) It is only such that would arguably make – cent-sales; free offers, and boy top refunds while rebates are larger cash refunds on items.
Such offering among others keep the customers informed of the organizations care and attention on their well being. This underscores why Adiukwu’s study (1990: 265) revealed that banks should focus their activities at:-
- a) Understanding and interpreting customer needs and wants.
- b) Offering a maximum of services to satisfy these customers.
- c) Informing the community that these services are being offered.
- d) Demonstrating that these services are superior to those offered by any other competing institutions and
- e) Providing these services in such a manner that the customers are satisfied and that the bank has developed a package of profitable operations.
Media Mix and Relationship Marketing Techniques
It is one thing to offer qualitative services and yet another to announce it to the public. Public relations is a technique in relationship marketing which according to Nwosu (1990:279) is 90% doing and 10% is talking. According to him, ‘we must communicate what we have done so that people will get to know about them.’ The relevance of this derives from the fact that people only discuss, opinionate and form attitude on what they know and understand. In fact, the quality of opinion or how a customer would perceive an organization derives from the quality and quantity of information such customer has about such organization.
In credence to this, Belch and Belch (2007:9) noted that customer’s perceptions of a company and/or its various brands are a synthesis of the bundle of messages they receive or contacts they have, such as media advertisement, price, package, design, direct marketing efforts, publicity, sales promotion, web sites point of purchase displays or even the type of store where a product or service is sold.
This also accounts for the media mix approach in relationship marketing. Moreso, the differing psychographic and demographic realities of the target market make the media mix approach imperative. Lending support to this is the fact that each mass medium has its peculiarities which dictates the use of different media appeal for different audience categories and members. A firm understanding of these realities has given rise to five Ms (5Ms) known as Market, Money, Media, Mechanics and Methodology elements which refer to the overall strategy of selecting and scheduling media vehicles to achieve the desired message weight, reach, frequency and continuity objectives ( Arens 2006:288).
Using the right medium to achieve the goals of relationship marketing is necessitated by the fact that it is difficult to create and sustain relationship but very easy to destroy them. Hence, various organizations should jealously guard and protect business relationship through relationship marketing lending credence to this is the empirical findings of Morak and Joseph, {1990) that, “reducing customer defections by even 5 percent can improve profit potentials by 25 to 85 percent and the longer customers stay with a company, the more willing they are to pay premium prices, make referrals, increase their annual buying and demand less holding. (Morak and Joseph 1994: 49).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter provided relevant details including the research design, population, sample size and the sampling technique used in the study. In addition, the instrument used for the collection and analysis of research data were also stated in this chapter.
Research Design
The researcher used the survey research design for the purpose of this study. The choice of this design is to enable the researcher, study a representative sample of the target population. The relevance of the survey research method in this study, could be found in the words of Isaac and Michael “to answer questions that have been raised, to solve problems that have been posed or observed, to assess needs and set goals, to determine whether or not specific objectives have been met, to establish baselines against which future comparisons can be made, to analyze trends across time, and generally, to describe what exists, in what amount, and in what context.” (Isaac & Michael, 1997, p. 136). In survey research, independent and dependent variables are used to define the scope of study, but cannot be explicitly controlled by the researcher (Glasgow, 2005). The Researcher’s decision to use survey as this study’s research design was also informed by the fact that Surveys are capable of obtaining information from large samples of the population. They are also well suited to gathering demographic data that describe the composition of the sample (McIntyre, 1999, p. 74).
Population of the Study
The population for the study was in two segments: The Zenith bank customers’ population and the Zenith bank staff population. For the customers’ population, the estimated population of the study is 2663 which is the number of all the academic staff of the College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt Campus. (Source: Registry Department). However, the target population of this study is 1452. This represents the total number of staff in the selected academic departments of the College of Health Sciences, Uniport, Port Harcourt who are perceived to be more educated and better enlightened to patronize Zenith bank like others in Port Harcourt town. Also a cross section of business men was studied. Out of the estimated population of 2568 traders (Source: Population Study, Port Harcourt market), the target population for the study was 1500. This represents traders on eight (8) lines in Port Harcourt market. The population of the Zenith bank staff at the mega branch is 30.
The researcher used purposive sampling technique to select only those who are detailed to carry out relationship marketing efforts. It therefore means that cashiers and other staff are exempted from this. The total number of staff that engage in Relationship marketing efforts in Port Harcourt (mega) branch are 6 out of a total banking staff of 30. It therefore suggests that the number that go for relationship marketing constitute one fifth (1/5) of the total number of staff there. This shows the degree of importance attached to relationship marketing efforts.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Description of Sample
The sample size for the study was 371 from an estimated population figure of 2663 which is the total number of staff of College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt Campus, Rivers State. There were three departments from the 21 departments that make up the Faculties of Medicine, Health Sciences and Technology and Basic Medical Sciences, It therefore suffices that three departments were selected from each of the three faculties, and the population of staff in those selected departments were studied as representative example of all the departments that make up such faculty. However, out of the 371 copies of questionnaire distributed, a total number of 360 copies of questionnaire were returned and found usable based on certain criteria like illegibility of response and double responses. Therefore, a mortality rate of 11 (3%) and a survival rate of 360 (97.0%) was recorded. Out of 300 copies of the questionnaires distributed to business men 200 were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
The nature of business competitiveness in a capitalist economy like Nigeria and Port Harcourt in particular, has obviously necessitated the application of certain techniques by banks in a bid to sustain customer patronage, remain in business and outwit competitors. As studies showed, customer-firm relationship is a vital factor in this dynamics. Thus, relationship marketing has become a household factor in the literature and several researches aimed at proffering solution to the challenge of sustaining customers’ patronage by business organizations. As a result, this study undertook the examination of the influence of relationship marketing in customers’ patronage of banks with focus on Zenith bank, Port Harcourt city branch. The survey research design was used to study a sample of the population of 371 and 200 business men from the Port Harcourt markets which is the population of academic staff of College of Health Sciences Port Harcourt campus. Respectively, a sample of 6 was purposely selected from a total number of 30 Zenith bank staff of Port Harcourt city branch. Questions were designed in the Likert scale format were used as major instrument for the collection of data while mean score was used for the analysis of research data.
In view of the analyzed data in the previous chapter, in summary, it is confirmed in the study that Zenith bank regularly carry out relationship marketing activities which among others, included face-to- face interaction with the target market on issues relating to not just the bank but the financial well being of the customers as it relates to the banks’ activities. This constitutes interaction which integrates the benefit of advertisement, publicity, public relations, personal selling derives from the fact that it is better and cost effective to retain a customer than to get new ones. As such, relationship marketing efforts of Zenith bank primarily aims at retaining the patronage of customers while using it as a basis to gain new customers for the bank. In view of this therefore the interaction holds sway in the popular comprehensive language in quasi formal or informal setting that do not insult the socio – cultural realities of the Port Harcourt people. It therefore is no surprise that the message content of such relationship marketing is understood by both parties which make room for believability and trust and thus accounts for the perception of the bank as a friend that keeps its promises thereby influence the customers towards patronage.
Conclusion
This study concludes that the relationship marketing activities of Zenith bank pays off, and that the need for relationship marketing has continued to be relevance since majority of organizations no longer depend solely on the media for information in view of the characteristic power vintage. These are taken care of by such factors as relationship marketing activities. Related to this is the seeming aggressive rural banking that characterizes the banking sector. Presently in Nigeria, the Zenith bank relationship marketing efforts also qualify as a right step in the right direction to retain old customers while gaining new ones. This accounts for why the bank extends its relationship marketing to staff of College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, even though the College does not use the bank as its official bank. The business developing confidence and trust in the bank.
In conclusion therefore Zenith banks’ regular engagement in relationship marketing efforts which aligns with the socio- cultural realities of Port Harcourt people has meaningfully helped at improving the corporate image of the bank which translates to increased patronage of the bank by its customers.
Recommendations
The researcher recommends that Zenith bank should increase their community social responsibility efforts in Port Harcourt by providing such facilities as soft loan for small and medium scale enterprises at accessible rate since Port Harcourt is the commercial nerve centre in Rivers state. This, coupled with its relationship marketing would endear Port Harcourt especially business men to the bank. In line with its relationship marketing efforts, the bank should intermittently hold /organize lunch with various stakeholders like market women or Christian mothers with a view to further gaining their patronage.
. For the purpose of further studies however, efforts should be focused on the relationship marketing efforts of other banks as basis for a comparative analysis of different banks relationship marketing efforts and their impact on customers’ patronage.
. Moreso, further studies should focus on other areas in Rivers state (not Port Harcourt) so as to measure the influence of differing cultures on the influence of relationship marketing efforts on customers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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