Bank

2.2 Consumer Behavior in a Services Context

Stage 1: Pre-Purchase Stage

1.) Needs Arousal

- The consumer, or the individual, family, business, or organization realizes, discovers, or
is influenced by advice or marketing that they need to deposit or withdraw money, take
loans, apply for insurance, lend mortgages, etcetera from banks that can provide those
services.
2.) Information Search
- The customer will consult people experienced with banks or advisers while looking up
possible candidate banks to pick between.
3.) Evaluating Alternatives
- Once the many candidate banks are reduced to a few main choices, the customer will
now highlight desirable attributes that the banks show, along with their downsides and
expected services.

Service Attributes

Experience Attributes

- Banks seem to fall on experience attributes since most information on banks come from
what previous customers say about the bank’s services through reviews, academic
reports, and news report that can manifest itself in its applications, websites, customer
service, and customer support in the banking process.

Perceived Risks

 Functional – The customer may be afraid that the bank managers, employees, and advisors are
incompetent and would not handle their money wisely.
 Financial – The customer may be afraid that the bank would suddenly increase interest rates,
badly manage funds during recessions, or change bank policies, and inadvertently lose the
customer capital.

Service Expectations

 Predicted Service – The customer goes into the bank with its expectation shaped by the
statements of the bank in its commercials, websites, applications, and also what the customer’s
advisors say about the bank.

4.) Purchase Decisions

 A. Whether or Not the Avail the Service – The customer avails the bank of their
choice
B. Which Service Provider – The customer chooses between the chosen main
banks that are competing for their favor
C. When to Avail Service – The customer may decide on their bank choice based
on how fast they need their services.

Stage 2: Service Encounter Stage

 Moment of Truth – The customer will understand the quality of services the bank can offer the
moment they talk and ask bank reception, bank teller, banker, and the bank manager about
transactions and they answer precisely and professionally. They skills can also be measured
based on whether their advice and instructions are sound and logical.
 Low Contact Service – Banking transactions are often short and only go long if the bankers need
to talk about loans and major deals for a few days to months.
 Servuction System
A.) Service Operating System – Secure Banking Transaction System, Banking
Transaction Records, Professional Banking Training, Accounting
Certification, Capital Delivery System, IT consulting
B.) Service Delivery System – ATMs, Vehicle Parking, Customer Service,
Bank Tellers, Security Guards, Close Friends, Loyal Customers
C.) Service Marketing System – Websites, Advertisements, Newspapers,
Fliers, Television Channels, Slogans, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

Stage 3: Post Encounter Stage

Outcome 1: Customer is robbed outside the bank, bank teller and reception is disrespectful and
demands fee for consultancy, banker is manipulative and gives crippling load with high hidden interest
rates. Customer is not escorted by the security guard and is robbed later. The customer feels robbed.

Outcome 2: The customer goes to the bank and is respectfully lead by the teller and security guard. The
bank offers services comparative to their shown capabilities on television and on the internet. The loans
are given and work as promised giving way to a smooth transaction which will repeat without stopping
whenever the customer has needs. The customer feels that the bank shows no signs of possible
disservices and will support it as it is in the customer’s interest.

Outcome 3: The customer is astounded at the speed, efficiency, and guidance that the bank employees
show even before the customer steps into the bank. The website is ahead of its time, customer service is
succinct and responsive yet effective and respectful, the tellers and guards are protective, and the
bankers are considerate of the situation of the customer. The customer even gets a free massage. They
are sure to return with 1000 like them.
2.3 Positioning Services in Competitive Markets

Steps in Developing a Positioning Strategy

1.) Competitors Identification – The bank looks for as many possible competitors as possible,
ranging from foreign banks, up-and-coming local banks, and even mobile banking like GCash.
2.) Determining How Competitors are Considered – The banks tasks its researchers and analysts to
look at the competitors themselves, how people perceive them publically, and what they look
for in those competitors.
3.) Determining the Competitor’s Position – The next step is to look at how competitor banks
succeed in appealing to public demands along with how they create a demand for their own
banking transactions.
4.) Analyzing Customer Preferences – The bank’s customer population would now be classified
according to as many factors deemed necessary.
5.) Making the Positioning Decision
A.) Is Market Segmentation Useful?: Yes, due to the many types of people that ask for
loans, bank accounts, money transfers, investments, etc. You get families, students,
criminals, investors, entrepreneurs, homeowners, and many more in banks.
B.) Are Resources Available for Communication?: People probably need to be
communicated to, considering the tendency of people to only go to large banks, and the
varying sizes of banks that lead to large banks acquiring small banks.
C.) What is the Level of Competition?: Competition is small for large banks as people and
governments rely heavily on them, but small banks tend to be bought out of banking,
have to contend with a small amount of capital, and have to deal with many competitor
banks that are trying to survive.
6.) Monitoring the Position – The bank constantly sends surveys to be answered among common
people and monitors how other banks are doing in recessions and periods of economic success.

Ways of Positioning Services

1.) Positioning by Attributes, Features, or Customer Benefits – The bank appeals to the customer by
giving banking services, loans, and deals that are yet to be seen with other banks.
2.) Positioning by Price Value – The bank appeals to the customer by lowering interest rates,
transactional fees, fees for extra services, and banking fees.
3.) Positioning by Use or Application – The bank shows its use by showing the many banking
opportunities and services in its mobile applications, along with those in the bank itself.
4.) Positioning According to Users or Class of Users – The bank diversifies its services and
transactional options to appeal to as many people as possible.
5.) Position with Respect to Product Class – The bank differentiates itself from other banks through
giving notable and exemplary experiences that would never leave the customer and influence
them to come back, preferably with more people.
6.) Positioning Against Competition – The bank applies itself to the current prevailing method of
banking that brings in the most results which will give the bank enough space to design a
strategy to stand out from other banks if successful.
 7.) Positioning by Endorsement – The bank will show its financial and transactional services being
used by many types of known celebrities such as famous families, students, businessmen,
entrepreneurs, etc.
8.) Positioning by Quality Dimensions
A. Reliability – The bank shows its transactional services as financially stable in quality,
generous in lending loans, and unchanging in account management efficiency.
B. Assurance – The bank states in its contracts and receipts that it will always follow its
deals and never take from the accounts of its customers or silently increase interest
rates and loan payments.
9.) Positioning by Service Evidence
A. Positioning by Physical Evidence – The bank shows its ability to provide its financial and
transactional services by showing that their bankers, tellers, and external employees can
effectively handle the loan requests, account transactions, and investments as
requested by its customers.
10.) Positioning by Availability – The bank clearly shows its opening times and stays open as much as
legally allowed if it is open and available.
11.)Positioning by Comparison – The bank innovates through modern means for the populace that is
becoming increasingly tech-savvy and streamlines its current services for increased efficiency
and notoriety. The bank also creates insurance departments to expand to more markets.

Positioning of Service

Positioning’s Role in Marketing Strategy

A. What is our product (or service concept?) – The service concept of the bank
outlines its intention to handle financial services through providing accounts,
coordinating investments, and permitting loans to customer requests.
B. What do we want to become? – The bank intends to expand and set up new
branches in areas that would bring in even more money.
C. What actions must an organization take to get there? – The bank would
ideally improve its services through competitive and innovative means, but
also through catering to possible demand in bank-deprived areas.

Steps in Positioning of Services

1.) The bank realizes, understands, and shifts its focus to individuals and groups that may demand
financial accounts, financial transactions, investments, and loans.
2.) The bank focuses on giving out generous loans with low interest rates, accounts with policies
that emphasize safety in times of need, safe investment opportunities, and instructional
guidance for those interested in services.
3.) The bank hires individuals that are well versed in practical visual design while having their
employees work and learn from their hired partners in order to improve on their mistakes and
capitalize on their strengths.
 4.) The bank would do well to try to employ a comparative strategy at first due to the experience in
improvement of large competitors that may be helpful to emulate. It would, however be better
in the long-term for the bank to transition to a more differentiation-based strategy in order to
stand out from its fellow banks as an innovator and an institution that goes into yet unexploited
markets.
5.) If the bank is successful, it would be advantageous to use its success and capital to further
expand and innovate while refining its previously effective methods that lead to its success.
6.) Considering the previous success of the bank and its branches, it would be financially sound to
now expand before other banks catch up. It is advantageous to now provide services to even
more markets and dimensions of society previously unexposed to the bank.
7.) If the bank is successful and it uses its initiative to expand, it would have some results, but it
would also be wise to consider that other banks are trying to innovate and expand just like our
bank. If the bank does not cement its gains and expansion, it could stagnate and even lose it all
to competition.
8.) Using the new notoriety provided by expansionism and loyal customers can provide the bank an
opportunity with its newfound wealth, experience, and innovative techniques. Making the bank
more known socially and nation-wide would pave the way for more branches and money to
innovate and improve previous branches while coordinating new branches to be like previously
successful ones.

Types of Positioning

1.) Positioning by Features – The bank can use its innovative techniques and its comparatively
better services to attract new customers to its financial services.
2.) Positioning by Comparison – The bank can weigh its advantages over competitor banks
whenever it develops new improvements and can thus show its innate desirability to customers.
3.) Positioning by Benefit to Customer – The bank can show that it is able to provide cheap credit,
generous loans with low rates, safe accounts, and understanding employees in order to attract
more customers.
4.) Positioning as a Leader – The bank can show that it is capable of handling the bank-related
problems of its customers with its notoriety as an industry leader if it is successful in desirable
aspects.
5.) Positioning through Smart Tag-Lines – Just like BDO, the bank can design a line that Is so catchy,
so ingrained into the public psyche, in our daily subconscious, they would never forget the bank
until they pass on or at least first think of the bank whenever they have financial needs.