SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DEFINED MARKETS USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE SALE OF CONSTRUCTION FINANCING IN RURAL AREAS

Private mortgage lending business is an important business segment for retail banks. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the comparatively low risk. On the one hand, because many years of experience in this segment enable optimal risk management. On the other hand, the financed properties also provide optimum security. Due to the small size of this business segment, private construction financing was unattractive for major banks for a long time. On the other hand, this division was a core business for regional banks and savings banks. However, as a result of the banking crisis in 2007 and 2008 and the ECB’s ongoing low-interest policy, the private mortgage lending sector is now attractive to all market participants. This is reflected in fiercer competition. The importance of customer communication has therefore also increased in the advertising for new business. Since financial and personnel resources are limited, corporate communications are faced with the challenge of addressing potential customers as efficiently as possible. Communication science has already developed a number of concepts for optimal, integrated communication. These are based on average consumers. Against the background of possible regional deviations in media usage and consumer behaviour, this work explains that banks and savings banks with a regionally defined business area should set different priorities within the communications mix than suprare­gional providers. To this end, a field study was conducted in rural areas of the Nuremberg metro­politan region and analysed using a chi-square test. The study revealed the continuing importance of branches and personal advice, despite increasing digitalisation. At the same time, the necessity of closely networking stationary sales and online offers in rural areas becomes clear.