Explaining the loyalty process of bank customers through customizing the services of Saderat Bank branches in Gilan province

Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A)

Human Resource Orientation

Abstract

In today's competitive and challenging environment, organizations emphasize more than anything else on creating stable and profitable relationships with customers. Traditional marketing in theory and practice has always emphasized attracting new customers and increasing sales; But today, this view has changed and new realities have been opened before the marketers of companies.

The general purpose of this research is to explain the loyalty process of banking customers through service customization. The research method is descriptive and its purpose is practical, and the method of collecting field data and its tool is questionnaire. In the current research, the statistical population of the case of the top (special) customers of Bank Saderat Gilan branches is 443 people. Considering the total number of the statistical population and according to Cochran's formula, the sample size is 206 people, and 240 questionnaires were distributed using non-probability sampling method. Finally, 216 questionnaires were collected from customers and the data was analyzed. By analyzing the data, it was found that service customization has a significant relationship with perceived quality, customer satisfaction and customer trust, but it has no significant relationship with customer loyalty. Also, the results showed that customer trust and customer satisfaction have no effect on strengthening or weakening the relationship between service customization and customer loyalty.

Introduction

In today's competitive and challenging environment, organizations emphasize more than anything else on creating stable and profitable relationships with customers. Traditional marketing in theory and practice has always emphasized attracting new customers and increasing sales; But today, this view has changed and new realities have been opened before corporate marketers. Modern marketing, in addition to trying to acquire new customers, guides companies to maintain and maintain current customers and create a permanent relationship with them. True loyalty requires a mature psychological relationship towards a brand, product or company (Hamidizadeh et al., 2018). In this regard, many organizations have developed customer loyalty programs as part of relationship development activities. Customer loyalty is a complex concept and refers to the willingness to buy again and price analysis of consumers. The growth of customer loyalty secures future income with current customers, based on this, customer loyalty is the ultimate goal of organizations and companies (Dick-Kunal, 2011). In the meantime, the banking industry is not exempt from this rule and they are looking for various management strategies to attract and retain customers. Nowadays, in view of the activation of private banks, in order to prevent customers from turning towards competitors, more than ever, bank managers must follow the needs and desires of customers (Khosh Sima; 2012).

Considering that the main goal of this research is to explain the loyalty process of bank customers through service customization, therefore, in this chapter, the problem is first stated, and then the importance and necessity of the research topic and the theoretical framework, and finally the proposed research model is discussed.

Statement of the problem

The survival necessity of any organization is to keep its customers and avoid wasting resources to attract customers again. The results of surveys show that banks usually lose nearly 20 to 40 percent of their customers every year. This statistic can be extended to other service organizations with a little change. The fact is that in today's highly competitive world, maintaining and maintaining current customers is much cheaper and easier than attracting new customers (Fattahi-Azami; 2018). Customer loyalty is having a deep commitment to repurchase or support a favorite product or service, which, despite the presence of situational influences and competitors' marketing efforts, will lead to repeated purchases of a brand or a set of products of a brand in the future (Brodie et al, 2009). If marketers offer customized services and products, what they get in return is more customer loyalty. So, service customization is actually a legal variable that every service provider can control their business according to and try to keep their customers by establishing their business policies based on it. Service providers can use customization as an effective tool not only to create more customer satisfaction but also to increase customer loyalty (Coelho-Henseler, 2012).In their research, Kolho and Hensler[1] consider service customization as one of the factors affecting customer loyalty. Customization means presenting the product to the customer in such a way that the customer can modify or adjust the basic elements related to the product and its makeup within the set of selected models that have already been defined under this brand or brand name (Mashbaki et al.; 2019). In their research, Kolho and Hensler (2012) examined the variables of customer satisfaction, customer trust and service quality as mediating variables in the relationship between service or product customization and customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction is a positive feeling that is created in a person after using a product or receiving a service, the desired feeling arises from the conflict between customer expectations and the supplier's performance (Brodie et al, 2009). Also, customer trust is defined as the belief or expectation that the seller's statement or commitment is reliable and the seller will not take advantage of the buyer's vulnerability (Basri et al.; 2013). In addition, there are basically two explanations for the relationship between service customization and service quality. First, customization itself is a sign of high quality (this means that customization plays the role of quality guarantor). Second, customization is a driving factor for service quality (Coelho-Henseler, 2012). Therefore, the perceived quality is a set of characteristics and specifications of a product or service that provides the needs and satisfaction of the consumer (Basri et al.; 2013). Many banks believe that the profitability of their customers follows the 80/20 rule, which means that 80% of the bank's profitability is provided by 20% of the customers, and the cost of attracting new customers is five times the cost of restoring current customers. In other words, the increase in the loyalty of bank customers is considered important because it reduces the cost of attracting new customers, thus leading to a competitive advantage and financial profitability of the bank (same source). This is: What is the process of creating the loyalty of bank customers through customizing the services of export banks in Gilan province? The necessity and importance of research Banking is one of the most competitive activities in the country and this competition has made banks and financial institutions aware of the demands and needs of customers. Therefore, customer loyalty is of particular importance in banks and financial institutions, so that creating and maintaining customer loyalty is considered a fundamental and key element in obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage for banks and financial institutions (Basri et al.; 2013).

Attention to the customer as the only factor in providing vital resources needed by economic enterprises, improving the quality and developing services according to the wishes and needs of customers should be permanently on the agenda of banks. In other words, all software activities and hardware equipment should reflect the customer's wishes and expectations. Customer loyalty is considered the key to business success, and loyal customers create more profitability, create higher repeat purchases, increase market share, and expand the company's introduction to others (Dick-Kunal, 2009). Considering the positive effects of loyalty for organizations and the role of banks, it is necessary for managers and officials of these types of companies to pay attention to this category and before the lack of loyalty or low customer loyalty is felt, identify the factors affecting customer loyalty and reduce their negative effects by strengthening these factors. Managers of these companies should give special importance to customer loyalty in their strategies and policies and use their efforts to retain customers. Because failure in this task leads to dissatisfaction, finally, he gives up going to the bank again, transfers his dissatisfaction to other customers, and the organization faces a decrease in market share. Since the cost of attracting a new customer is high, the cost of the organization increases with the increase of customer churn rate; These cases lead to a decrease in profitability and ultimately the survival of the organization is threatened. Considering the positive effects of loyalty for organizations and financial institutions and the role that banks play in the economy, it is necessary for banks to pay attention to this category and before the lack of loyalty or low loyalty of customers is felt, the factors affecting customer loyalty are identified and by strengthening these factors in the organization, their negative effects are prevented.