Banking Services and Customers Bank Selection Criteria (Evidence from Ethiopian Commercial Banks in Addis Ababa)

Abstract

To design a suitable marketing strategy to keep existing customers and for attracting new ones, commercial banks need to identify the criteria on which customers determine their bank choice decision. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the significance of bank selection criteria and how customers rank the factors based on their importance level to prioritize banks and banking services. It also intends to present an analysis of gender differences on the relative importance of choice criteria in respect of selecting a bank and to bring about the opinion of customers on any extra services needed to be offered by banks. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used, Based on responses given by 201 customers in Addis Ababa city from different occupations (students, employees, and businessmen), is employed in the analysis. A non-probability convenience sampling was also used. The finding from this study reveals that there are two most important bank selection criteria for customers are "convenience" and "service provision" for the entire customers while it is "bank's image" is the second most important factor for male customers. On the other hand, the least two important factors of bank selection for customers are "financial benefits/ technology", "reputation" and "promotion strategy" and "attractiveness” for female customers. Finally, it is recommended that hierarchical information integration is a potentially useful method for bank managers to study complex decision-making problems such as bank choice.