Introduction …1 [608083]
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………….1
Chapter 1 The customers and The Marketing Mix …….. ……………………………. .5
1.1 The customer and the Organization ………………………………………………. …5
1.2 The customer and the Marketing Mix ……………………………………………. ..15
1.3 The Marketing Services of Commercial Banks ……………………………….. .17
Chapter 2 Internet and E -commerce ………………………….. …………………………… 21
2.1 The Internet and the Banking System ………………….. …………………………… 21
2.2 Mobile Banking ……………………………………………………………………………. ..25
2.3 E-commerce and E -banking…………. ……………………………………………….. ..28
2.4 Online Reputation Management ………………………………………………………..30
Chapter 3 Customers’ reviews in the Banking System – BCR Case ……………… 33
3.1 BCR Customers and the market in the Banking System ………………………. 33
3.2 BCR – how to manage the online customers …………….. ………………………… 38
Chapter 4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..41
Bibliography
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
1 Introduction
Nowadays , is getting more difficult to be or to become a customer. It depends on the
market you target , the product you choose and how the market ta rgets you, as a potential buyer.
You want to buy a product? Very well. But, what happens when the product wants to be bought?
Or, how you’ll decide which one is the best for yourself and for your needs? As a willing point
of view, you – as one of the customers, need to pay attention once at the product specification,
second at the possibilities that the market offers you.
Marketers see today’s consumers as web -savvy, mobile -enabled data sifters who pounce
on whichever brand or store offers the best deal. Brand loyalty, the thinking goes, is vanishing.
In response, companies have popped up their messaging, expecting that the more interac tion
and information they provide, the better the chances of holding on to these increasingly
distracted and disloyal customers. But for many consumers, the rising volume of marketing
messages isn’t empowering —it’s overwhelming. Rather than pulling custome rs into the fold,
marketers are pushing them away with this kind of actions.
People react and their reac tion is not often what supplier companies expect . Large sums
of money are invested in this fight ju st to win in front of consumers and to attract this one to be
faithful . In the past it was the newspapers that supply most informations about a new comming
product, its characteristics and starting price. T oday , companies are no longer static, each
consumer can obtain information in real time about what it sells, like their top premium products
or how satisfied were other consumers.
This last part of the chain – the final consumer, has the big advantage in the sales process
through the reviews that can add on the companies website or sales websites. T he reaction is
often subjecti ve and even impulsive, and if he was dissatisfied with the product bought will
definitely convey further this view .
Businesses broadly misjudge what consumers want from them online. In particular,
marketers often b elieve that consumers interact with them on social media to join a
community and feel connected to the brand. But consumers have little interest in having a
relationship beyond the merely transactional. Their top reasons for connecting online: to get
infor mation and discounts, and to buy things.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
2 In today's digital age, how would you feel as a small business if you found out
that 90% of customers say that their buying decisions are influenced by online
reviews? Regar dless of where you fall on that spectrum, online reviews are important for a
number of reasons, and have major implications through their ability to affect:
the rankings in local search engines
which search results actually gets clicked on
consumers purcha sing decisions.
Typically, by the time someone has s tarted looking at reviews, they have already figured
out their need or what they want / search for , how a business might ideally fulfill that need/want
and are now in the process of selecting a business. The critical thing to note is that the mental
gap between reading a review and making a decision to purchase from a business is ridiculously
small, and typically results in a yes/no decision almost immediately. So , for a growing business,
the online reputat ion can directly influence its consumer purchasing decisions.
Product reviews and ratings are popular tools to support buying decisions of consumers.
These tools are also valuable for online retailers, who use rating systems in order to build trust
and reputation in the online market. Many online shops offer quantita tive ratings, textual
reviews or a combination of both. This project provides the acceptance and usage of ratings and
reviews in the con text of e -commerce transactions, along with the idea that the reviews and
ratings are an important source of information for consumers.
Howeve r, qualitative feedback from different survey s made throughout time , indicates
that the perceived helpfulness of rating systems varies. Especially the comparison of user
reviews is a very time consuming process for the customer, beca use of the unstructured nature
of textual user reviews.
Nowadays, more and more e -commerce platforms offer product reviews or product
ratings. In literature, the terms review and rating are often used interchangeably, but for our
work it is important to d istinguish these two terms. A product review is a textual review of a
customer, who describes the characteristics (e.g. advantages and disadvantages) of a product.
A product rating on the other hand represents the customer’s opinion on a specified scale. A
popular rating scheme in online shops is the star -rating, where more stars indicate better ratings.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
3 Product reviews and ratings are generated by the us er- the customer of an online shop
and published on the website of the retailer. Additionally, the rati ngs are aggregated to feed back
profiles and published . Due to the nature of product reviews, an interesting question is how
customers actually use this source of information for their buying decision.
Studies demonstrated that user reviews are very import ant for the decision making of
customers. But the more intere sting part is that a lot of customers compare positive and n egative
reviews with each other. In my opinion there are two aspects of user reviews that play an
important role. The first aspect rega rds the helpfulness of a written review . Customers read a
full user review and expect to find something like a pro list of features or opinions about a given
product to support their buying decision. Customers can often rate a review as helpful or not
helpful.
The perceived helpfulness of a review positively correlates with the length of the review,
which means that a long review text is usually more helpful than a short review text. But this
also means that a potential customer has to read more text to fi nd helpful information. This
brings us to the second aspect, namely the efficiency of user reviews .
Long reviews with a lot of information ca n be helpful, but they are not always efficient
for the customer. This is especially true for goal -oriented customers. Furthermore, it can also
be very difficult to compare long product r eviews, as lons as the decision making process is
divided into several phases. In an early phase, the customer wants to narrow down the products
to get an overview of the potential products that match his requirements. But reading a lot of
user reviews for several products is not very efficient in this early phase. Customers need
compac t and concise information about the products.
For the customer, a first indicator in the decision making process is often the user rating
of a product, which is frequently expressed as a notation of stars, where more stars indicate
better ratings. If a pro duct has for example 100 user ratings with an average of 1 out of 5 stars,
it is not very likely that the customer would even click on the product. But once customers enter
the product page, they are dependent on reading user reviews to find out if the pro duct matches
their requirements. Therefore we notice that there is a gap in current rating systems between
the user prod uct rating and the user review.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
4 One distinct feature of online reviews is that the information is available in high volume
as compare to that one can get from traditional offline sources. It also contains information from
many sources that is both positive and negative as compare to only getting either positive or
negative information from a single source at a time. Analysis has indicated that online reviews
are found in various forms and differ in terms of reach, scope, and source. A strategy that
marketers use to ensure that positive comments reach the users is that they make some online
reviews more easily accessible by placing them clos e to on line product ads.
But what happens when you do not have Internet access and thus you can not find the
information sent by other customers? You will no longer be a customer or choose unwisely the
product you need? T his is why I chose this topic for debate . Because we are all consumers,
some for finished product others just for information.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
5 Chapter 1 The customer and The Marketing Mix
1.1 The customers and the Organization
In general terms, a customer is a person or organization that a marketer believes will
benefit from the goods and services offered by the marketer’s organization. As this definition
suggests, a customer is not necessarily someone who is currently purchasing from the marketer.
In fact, customers may fall into one of three custom er groups:
1. Existing customers
2. Former customers
3. Potential customers
Existing customers – consists of customers who have purchased or otherwise used an
organization’s goods or services, typically within a designated period of time. Existing
customers are by f ar the most important of the three customer groups since they have a current
relationship with a company and, consequently, they give a company a reason to remain in
contact with them.
Additionally, existing customers also represent the best market for future sales,
especially if they are satisfied with the relationship they presently have with the marketer.
Getting these existing customers to purchase more is significantly less expensive and time
consuming than finding new customers, mainly because they know and hopefully trust the
marketer. Is is less work for the company to impress its existing customers, just because of the
trust that ex ists between the two parties: supplier and consumer. A company can not sell trust,
but its products can and will gain it, through quality and service after sale.
Former customers – this group consists of those who have formerly had relations with
the market ing organization typically through a previous purchase. However, the marketer no
longer feels the customer is an existing customer either because they have not purchased from
the marketer within a certain time frame or through other indications (e.g., a fo rmer customer
just purchased a similar product from the marketer’s competitor).
The value of this group to a marketer will depend on whether the customer’s previous
relationship was considered satisfactory to the customer or the marketer. For instance, a former
customer who felt they were not treated well by the marketer will be more difficult to persuade
to buy again compared to a former customer who liked the marketer but decided to buy from
someone else who had a similar product with a lower price.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
6 Pote ntial customers – the third category of customers includes those who have yet to
purchase but possess what the marketer believes are the requirements to eventually become
existing customers. As the experience will show us, the requirements to become a custo mer
include such issues as having a need for a product, possessing the financial means to buy, and
having the authority to make a buying decision.
A healthy business, which is willing to grow, is using the Locating Potential Customers
as an ongoing proces s for two reasons:
– Existing Customers may become Former Customers (e.g., decide to buy from a
competitor) and, thus, must be replaced by new customers.
– Existing Customers are the best source for future sales, it is new customers that are
needed in ord er for a business to significantly expand. For example, a company that sells only
in its own country may see less room for sales growth if a high percentage of people in the
country are already Existing Customers. In order to realize stronger growth the co mpany may
seek to sell their products in other countries where Potential Customers may be quite high.
For most organizations , understanding customers is the key to success while not
understanding them is a recipe for failure. It is so important that the co nstant drive to satisfy
customers is not only a concern for those responsible for carrying out marketing tasks ,
satisfying customers is a concern of everyone in the entire organization .
Whether someone’s job involves direct contact with customers (e.g., sa lespeople,
delivery drivers, telephone customer service representatives) or indirect contact (e.g.,
production, accounting), all members of an organization must appreciate the role customers
play in helping the organization achieving its goals.
To ensure everyone understands the customer’s role, many organizations continually
preach a “customer is most important” message in department meetings, organizational
communication (e.g., internal emails, website postings), and corporate training programs.
To make sure the employees understand the importance of customers, the managers
often present exemples of how customers impact the company , how to keep customers’
satisfaction and how to improve the relations hip that a customer has with the firm’s employees .
The central idea of these messages is in which way they can be affected and the result, based
on several examples:
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
7 Source of Information and Ideas – Satisfying the needs of customers requires
organizations maintain close contact with them. Marketers can get cl ose to customers by
conducting marketing research (e.g., surveys) and other feedback methods (e.g., website
comments forms) that encourage customers to share their thoughts and feelings. With this
information marketers are able to learn what people think o f their present marketing efforts
and receive suggestions for making improvements. For instance, research and feedback
methods can offer marketers insight into new products and services sought by their
customers ;
Affects Activities Throughout Organization – For most organizations customers not only
affect decisions made by the marketing team but they are the key driver for decisions made
throughout the organization. For example, customer’s reaction to the design of a product
may affect the type of raw mater ials used in the product manufacturing process. With
customers impacting such a significant portion of a company, creating an environment
geared to locating, understanding and satisfying customers is imperative.
Needed to Sustain the Organization – Finally, customers are the reason an organization is
in business. Without customers or the potential to attract customers, a company is not viable.
Consequently, customers are not only key to revenue and profits they are also key to
creating and maintainin g jobs within the organization.
For marketers simply finding customers who are willing to purchase their goods or
services is not enough to build a successful marketing strategy. Instead, marketers should
look to manag e customers in a way that will identify, create and maintain satisfyin g
relationships with customers.
By using marketin g efforts that are designed to maintain satisfying relationships
rather than simply pursuing a quick sale, the likelihood increases that customers will be more
trustin g of the marketer and exhibit a higher level of satisfaction with the organization. In turn
satisfied customers are more likely to become good customers .
For our work we define a good customer as one who holds the potential to undertake
activities that off er long -term value to an organization.
The activities performed by customers not only in clude purchasing products, also
include such things as:
offering feedback on company performance
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
8 making prompt payment
offering suggestions for new products
voluntari ly promoting the company’s products to others
These ac tivities along with many others, such as the profit obtained from the sales of
the product, represent the value an organization receives from its customers. In the case of
good customers , their potenti al for providing value should be a signal for marketers to direct
additional marketing efforts in building, strengthening and sustaining a relationship with these
customers.
The fact that we place the descriptive term good in front of customers should not be
taken lightly. Not all customers who currently have rel ationships with an organization, like
the ex isting or potential one, should be treated on an equal level.
Some of theme consistently spend large sums to purchas e products from an
organization. O thers do not spend large sums but hold the potential to do so; and still others
use up a large amount of an organization’s resources but contribute little revenue.
Clearly there are lines of demarcation between those in the existing customer category,
and as we shall see later, identifying this line is critical for marketing success.
Loyal customers are at the core of every business’ success —businesses have a 60 to 70
percent chance of selling to an existing customer, while the probability of selling to a new
prospect is only 5 to 20 percent. Maintaining customer relationships is no easy task, but if done
right, it can help set your company apart from your competitors.
The act of maintaining a relationship with your customers is an essential part of a
business strategy, and should be included in every business plan.
While on the surface the process for managing customers may seem to be intuitive and
straightforward, in reality organizations struggle to accomplish this. One reason for the
struggle is that no two customers are the same. What is appealing to one customer may not
necessarily work for another.
In today's business culture, customer satisfaction should always be a priority. Customers
today are more knowledgeable and have higher expectations than eve r before. To achieve
success, it is important for businesses to have an exceptional plan in place to be able to
adequately manage customer expectations. It can often be the defining factor that makes or
breaks a business. Quality customer relations practic es are crucial to the success of any
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
9 company. There are many facets that go into having a good plan for managing customer
expectations , based on several main points we present next.
1. Prioritize
In order to adequately manage customer expectations, it is important to prioritize the
needs of the client. Everyone should be on the same page with regards to what the client expects
of the business and what the business can promise to deliver. Every clie nt will be different.
Asking lots of questions is a great way to find out what the client is prioritizing as the most
important required service.
It is also good for the client representative to ask the customer what he/she expects from
the business relat ionship. One of the best ways to make prioritizing easier is to get to know the
client/customer. Customer services managers should try and understand the ins and outs of the
client. They should understand the values of the client, what they are buying, and why they are
buying it.
2. Effective Communication
Communication is the key when it comes to effective customer expectation
management. Having poor communication can be extremely frustrating for both : the customer
and the business. One great way to stay on top of communication is by establishing a set
schedule in which the client can expect to hear from the business representative . The customer
should know in advance how often the business will be in contact and during which times it is
most convenient to be in touch. Changes in the schedule should be noted to the client in a timely
manner.
Having good communication between customer and business ensures that everyone is
always on the same page, and it eliminates the possibility of negative surprises. It i s also
important to always be honest with the client. Even in circumstances where the service provided
by the business has run into a flaw, representatives should always be upfront with the client.
Owning up to mistakes and communicating a solution with th e client is a way to establish trust.
In some cases, establishing a call center is a great way to be available for the client.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
10
3. Consistency
Consistency is something that all customers expect. When services or goods change on
a whim, the client can be left feeling dazed and confused. It is also a surefire way to lose any
gained trust that has already been established.
Maintaining consistency with the client relations also helps the customer to manage their own
expectations , because they will always know what to expect. Listening to customer concerns
and complaints will help to determine where inconsistencies occur and what the shortcomings
are. Consistency builds trust and trust leads to long lasting business relationships.
4. Realistic Promises
Companies should not offer goods/se rvices that they cannot deliver or do not have the
promised/ presented characteris tics. It is important that a business understands how to say no
to a customer. It is important to explain why the an swer is no and communicate the reasoning
behind the answer. The company does far more damage to their trust and reputation by agreeing
to provide a s ervice that cannot be delivered or which is significant different. It is much better
to under -promise and o ver-perform in order to keep the best level of customer expectations. A
A stable and respectable company makes promises that are realistic and achievable, and then
involve s steps by which to go the distance to over -deliver on the promise.
The customer will feel as if the business goes above and beyond for them, rather than
feeling like a promise has come up short. It will feel like the relationship the company has built
will be a lasting one, based on mutual trust . There is a very thin line between what you can offer
to a customer based on what he wants and what you actually perform, and this line can be easily
crossed, and finaly lose the client for ever, because you lost it’s confidence.
5. Organization
Staying organized will make all of these other tips easier to accomplish. Have a detailed
list of all clients and needs in an easy to access place. The list should be easy to understand and
kept up to date. The more organized the business is, the easier it will be to follow up with client
needs, expectations, and deliverables.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
11 The list should also be coordinated with a time schedule so that agreed upon
communication contact dates and times are never missed. The schedule will also help to ensure
that goods or services are delivered at the appropriate and agreed upon time.
More information received from customers can be lost forever if their organization is
not done effectively , and so all the work done previously to collect this information, contacting
custo mers and gain their trust will be lost and with it, the exhaustion of certain resources .
As we can see in the graph below, the company establish its the role of each employee /
department for each structure , in order to contribute for the client management.
Fig 1.1. Managing customers
In order to put into practice the above steps a company must take into account how it
interacts with a customer and how they can improve these resources. The customers may
interact with organizatio ns at different contact points – the method a customer uses to
communicate with a company.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
12 For instance, consider the different ways customers may interact with an organization:
In-Person – Customers seek in -person assistance for their needs by visiting retail stores
and other outlets, and also through discussion with company salespeople who visit
customers at their place of business or in their home.
Telephone – Customers seeking to make purchases or have a problem solved may find it
more convenient to do so through phone conta ct. In many companies a dedicated
department called a call center handles all incoming customer inquiries.
Internet – The fastest growing contact point is through the Internet. The use of the Internet
for purchasing ( called electronic commerce or e -commerc e) has exploded and is now the
leading method for purchasing certain types of products. The Internet is also a key area
where customers loo k for help with their purchases or informations provided by other
customers/ users.
Kiosks – A kiosk is a standalone, interactive computer, often equipped with a touch -screen,
that offers customers several service options including product information, ability to make
a purchase, and review of a customer’s account. Kiosks are now widely used for airline
check -in, retail job applications, and banking. This last one increased its percentage for the
presentation of products and servi ces, human resource being eliminated slowly , the future
will be of these devices.
Financial Assistance – Customer contact may also occur through company personnel who
assist customers with financial issues. For instance, credit personnel help customers arrange
the necessary funds to make a purchase while personnel in accounts receivable work with
customers who are experiencing payment probl ems.
To effectively manage customers , marketers must be concerned with the entire
experience a customer has with a company and its relationship cylce (presented in Fig 1.2) .
While much of the value sought by customers is obtained directly from the consumpt ion or use
of goods or services they purchase, customers’ satisfaction is not limited to direct product
benefits. Instead the customer’s buying experience covers the entire purchasing experience and
is a mix of product and non -product benefits.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
13
Fig 1.3. Customer relationship cycle
When it comes to managing customers, an important non -product benefit that affects
customers’ feelings about a company is customer service , which is defined as activities used by
the marketer to support the purchaser’s experience with a product.
Customer service includes several activities including:
Training – services needed to assist the customer in learning how to use a product
Repair – services needed to handle damaged or malfunctioning products
Financial Assistance – services needed to help customers with the financial commitment
in purchases or using the product
Complaint Resolution – services needed to address other problems that have arisen with
customers’ use of a prod uct.
In many industries customers’ experience with a company’s customer service can
significantly affect their overall opinion of the product. On the other hand, many companies
Understand the
needs of the
customers
Differentiate
according to
characteristics,
needs and
customers behavior
Develop
products,
services and
contact points
according to
customer
preferences
Interact with
customers and
prospects
Deliver a more
relevant service
to customers
Get customers and
prospects
Retain high value
customers
Custome r
relationship
Management
Cycle
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
14 compete not because their products are superior to their competitors’ but becau se they offer a
higher level of customer service.
In fact, many believe that customer service will eventually become the most significant
benefit offered by a company because global competition makes it more difficult for a
company’s product to offer uniq ue advantages.
Customer service manifests itself in several ways, with the most common being a
dedicated department to handle customer issues. Whether a company establishes a separate
department or spreads the function among many departments, being respons ive and offering
reliable service is critical and in the future will be demanded by customers.
Companies that maintain a customer service staff have found that these people not only
can help solve customer problems but they may also be in a position to convince customers to
purchase more. Many companies are now requiring sales training for their customer service
personnel. At a basic level customer service representatives may be trained to ask if customers
are interested in hearing about other products o r services. If a customer shows interest then the
representative will transfer the customer to a sales associate.
At a more advanced level the representative will shift to a selling role and attempt to get the
customer to commit to additional product purch ases.
Within customer service, improvements in computer hardware and software, as well as
rampant adoption of the Internet as a prime channel for connecting with customers, has lead to
numerous innovative methods to address customer needs.
For example, c ompanies are finding value in using Internet chat as a way to address
customer questions. Whether presented as a separate window or contained within a regular
webpage, online chat sessions are undertaken in real -time with customers and company service
peop le exchanging text messages.
More advanced chat technology called collaborative browsing or co -browsing allows customer
service representatives to manipulate a customer’s browser by sending webpages that contain
relevant information.
As we can see in the next figure (Fig 1.3), it is less expensive to use live chat instead of
others methods for obtaining informations and advices. Chart includes the percentage obtained
on a sample of 100 customers who were interviewed about the reasons in order seeking furt her
information when they bought a product / service.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
15 Most of the customers are now familiar with this type of service and see it as the way
the company gives respect and safety. The fact that the interaction is done directly with another
person and not an answering machine, humanizes the seller -client relationship .
Fig 1.3 Top reasons why customers need to chat
1.2 The customer and the Marketing Mix
Philip Kotter (1960), defined marketing as the human activity directed as satisfying
needs and wants through exchange process. Thu, marketing is concerned with the background
of a dynamic characteristics of the environment in which the matching takes place. These
include direct competition, economic uncertainties, legal and political constraints and
institutional patterns. The matching is typically organized by a formalized department headed
by a marketing executive at board level. He plans, coordinates and controls the productions and
the place where it is going to be made available.1
1 Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Cunningham, P.H. (2005). Principles of Marketing. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada. pp. 67 -70
36%
27%6%19%12%Reasons for customers to chat -after purchase
how do I track my order
copy of my receipt
account information
delivery policy
return policy
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
16 William J. Stanton (1981) also defined marketing as the creation and delivery of a
standard of living which involves finding out what customers wants, planning and developing
a product or services. In all the above definition, the customers are the focus. All company
activities must be devoted to find out what the customers want and then, satisfy those wants
profitably. The marketing concept is the company’s commitment to the time honored concept
in economic theory known as customer sovereignty. In line with this, Philip Kotter (1980) posits
that the determination of what is to be produced should not be in hands of the companies or in
the hands of government but in the hands of customers.
The company should produce what customers’ wants and in this way maximize
customer welfare and earn their profits.
The marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that a company
uses to produce a desired response from its target market . It consists of everything that a
company can do to influence demand for its prod uct. It is also a tool to help marketing planning
and execution.
The marketing mix can be divided into four groups of variables commonly known as
the four Ps:
1. Product: The goods and/or services offered by a company to its customers.
2. Price: The amount of m oney paid by customers to purchase the product.
3. Place (or distribution): The activities that make the product available to
consumers.
4. Promotion: The activities that communicate the product’s features and benefits
and persuade customers to purchase the prod uct.
Each of the four Ps has its own tools to contribute to the marketing mix:
Product: variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, services
Price: list price, discounts, allowance, payment period, credit terms
Place: channels, coverage, assortments, locations, inventory, transportation, logistics
Promotion: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations.
An effective marketing strategy combines the 4 Ps of the marketing mix. It is designed
to meet the company’s marketin g objectives by providing its customers with value. The 4 Ps of
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
17 the marketing mix are related, and combine to establish the product’s position within its target
markets.
The four Ps of the marketing mix have a number of weaknesses in that they omit or
unde remphasize some important marketing activities. For example, services are not explicitly
mentioned, although they can be categorized as products (that is, service products). Another
key problem is that the four Ps focus on the seller’s view of the market. The buyer’s view should
be marketing’s main concern.
The four Ps of the marketing mix can be reinterpreted as the four Cs. They put the
customer’s interests (the buyer) ahead of the marketer’s interests (the seller).
customer solutions , not products: customers want to buy value or a solution to their
problem s, of course the solution can be a product
customer cost , not price: customers want to kn ow the total cost of acquiring
convenience , not place: customers want products and services to be as con venien t to
purchase as possible
communication , not promotion: customers want two -way communication with the
companies provider .
1.3 The Marketing Services of Commercial Banks
Bank marketing in general and Customer Relationship Ma nagement (CRM) in
particular have a vital importance for Romanian Banks , particularly in the current context when
banks are facing tough competition from other agencies, both local and foreign, that offer value –
added services.
The Role of marketing in the banking industry continues to change. For many years the
primary focus of bank marketing was public relations. Then the focus shifted to advertising and
sales promotion.
The marketing concept recognizes that the objec tives of the banks are customer
satisf action at a profitable level.
The characteristics of bank marketing must be born in mind, service marketing,
marketing in banks involves the input and the output end. Philip Kotter (1980) defined a product
as anything that can be offered for attention, acquisition, use or consumption. It includes
physical objects, services, personalities, place, organization and ideas.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
18 Banking services according to Kotter , are the products with certain characteristics which
make their marketing different from that of tangible product. Characteristics inherent in
marketing services are as follows:
intangibility : service cannot be seen, felt or experienced by sense. As a consequently,
marketing effort tends to stress the benefits of the services;
inseparability : services cannot be separated from their sources or sellers. An important
marketing implication is that direct sales or personal contract is an important channel of
distribution. For example, a customer cannot open a current account unless he/she goes to
the bank.
heterogeneity : This refers to the fact that through many service outlets (i.e bank branches)
may be delivery being dispensed is not homogenous from one outlet to the other.
The Role of marketing in the banking industry continues to change. For many years the
primary focus of bank marketing was public relations. Then the focus shifted to advertising and
sales promotion. That was followed by focus on the development of a sales culture .
Although all the elements of the marketing concept – customer satisfaction, profit
integrated framework and social responsibility – will remain important, customer satisfaction
must receive the greatest emphasis in t he years ahead. The chief concerns of most bank
executives still focus on legal and regulatory iss ues, according to most surveys; another concern
pertains to technology – both presented in fig 1.4.
Fig 1.4. Bankers concerns – near and long term 1995
•maintaining profitability
•credit portfolio management
•services quality
•regional economy
•cost management/expense
reduction
•market/ customer focus
•capital adequacy
•stock market value
•industry overcapacity2015
•service quality
•maintaining profitability
•market/ customer focus
•operation/system/technology
•credit portfolio management
•productivity improvement
•investment to stay competitive
•stock market value
•asset management
•electronic banking
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
19 When this n ew system – electronic banking was first proposed, access to the Internet was
very new and few banks had the resources and knowledge to set up their own direct -access lines
for customers. Customers have shown a growing interest in online banking services, a nd banks
have responded by quickly putting in place proprietary sites on the World Wide Web and
offering PC banking. With 24 -hour access to either automated information or live operators,
customers do everything from check their accounts to apply for a loa n. Bank executives also
identified PC banking as having the most promise for the future, followed by Interest a ccess
and broad function kiosks (ATM and MFM).
Principal aspects of Bank Marketing
Customer Oriented Services
Services offered by the banks are to be worked out in such a manner that they fulfill the
needs of the customers. Traditionally, bankers have been accustomed to think in terms of what
banks can offer and not what customers want. However, bank marketing con cept requires them
to change this orientation, and start working out schemes and services by keeping changing
customer needs as the focus of their new and novel products.
In order to design and deliver customer needed services, the banks must learn to see k
information about the existing and potential customers, and their perceived and latent needs on
a regular and systematic basis.
Design & Delivery of Such Services
The word design implies that good marketing services need to be properly designed and
crafted so as to suit a particular well -defined group of clients. Moreover, such properly designed
services must be properly traded. The quality of delivery is to be ensured not only through
focused advertisement, but also through proper customer services offe red at the bank's retail
outlets.
Customer satisfaction is a dynamic process and it is necessary to keep pace with rising
expectations of the customers. Further, the development of IT and spread of Internet are opening
up newer mechanisms of customer cont act and services .
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
20 Consumer Behavior and Segmentation
Banks deal with individuals, group of persons and corporate, all of whom have their
likes and dislikes. No bank can afford to assess the needs of each and every individual buyer
(actual or potential). Segmentation of the market into more or less homogenous groups, in
terms of their needs and expectations from the banking industry, provides a solution to this
problem.
This involves dividing the market into major market segments, targeting one or more of
this segments, and developing products and marketing programs tailor -made for these
segments.
Customer Relationship Management
The marketing strategy consists of a very clear definition of prospective customers and
their needs and the creation of marketing mix to satisfy them. A recent development in this
regard is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) . It is a business strategy to learn more
and more about customer behavior in order to create long term and sus tainable relationship with
them .
Under CRM, acquisition of customers is done through personal visits, media
advertisement or word of mouth from existing customers. Customer retention is carried out
through data warehousing and mining tools, customer service and call services, and improved
customer value is obtained through cross -selling and up selling to the retained customers.
The customer information gathered by the bank in their day -to-day banking operations
is often sufficient for effective data storage. However, many times, it needs to be supported by
data collected from outside sources and agencies .
Bank Marketing has become a necessary survival weapon and is fundamen tally
changing the banking industry worldwide. The rise of Bank Marketing is redefining business
relationships and the most successful banks will be those that can truly strengthen their
relationship with their customers.
Technology innovation and fierce competition among existing banks have enable a wide
array of banking products and services, being made available to retail and wholesale customer
through an electronic distribution channel, collectively referred to as e -banking. Technology is
altering the relationships between banks and its internal and external customers.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
21 Chapter 2 Internet and E -commerce
2.1 The Internet and the Banking System
Internet has changed very much the rules of the gam e in the past years . The banking
area of the economic sector was impacted by those changes as well. Customers requests for
quick access and no matter the location at their bank accounts, or at financial/banking
transactions, all of these have determined the banking instituti ons world wide to adopt the
Internet as the optimal solution for the pre sented demands.
Through the Internet network banks are able to connect front -end (front -office)
applicati ons with back -end (back -office). Based on such advantages, Internet Banking
applications were created. The evolution of bank presence on Web from simple, static
applications, to complex, dynamic applications with numerous tr ansactions, is presented in next
figure:
Access type
Time
Fig 2.1. System Evolution based on Internet Access
Until 2000, Internet Banking applications could have been accessed mostly in the United
States of America, or in European countries such as: United Ki ngdom, Spain, Italy and France.
Since 2000, online banking applications are commercial ized or created in Romania. Static web sites with
general information
about the bank Offline transactions –
based on email from
the clientInternet banking
services
Online transactions
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
22 The advantages of Internet Banking applications consist of: quickness; secured access
to sensitive data as accounts, personal data of customers, transactions; account management;
operating sale -purchase transactions in real time and at long distance; suppressing the stress
of staying in bank for a transaction; low costs for the maintenance of this kind of applications .
Internet determined also the appearance of firsts service -oriented architectures (SOA) .
This architecture can be used to interact on Internet or from an workstation to another (using
point -to-point protocols for data transfer – EDI, electronic data interchange). SOA is basically
built from software services. These services are independent one from each other and they run
protected on the working platforms (application servers): .NET or Java. These have the ability
to manage the memory, to create the synchronous or asynchronous links between different
components and to create the data mapping.
The architecture is presenting its elf as a summary of services, in Fig 2.2 presented
below:
Fig 2.2 SOA Model
SOA architectures helped banks by offering them the possibility to connect different
applications or to integrate big portions of software code in ad hoc applications. This is one of
the reasons why SOA became a key element in Internet Banking applications . Although there monitoring
process
services (Internet based services)
data services/ messaging
data abstractions
e
c
u
r
i
t
y g
o
v
e
r
n
a
n
c
e
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
23 is an increasing interest for Internet Banking usability, there are few case studies referring the
solutions which banks are using to create Internet Banking applications.2
Another point of view of the theme of this paper is based on the fact that Internet
Banking represents an interface of banking operations directly with the customers, which is
integrated with the back -end system of the bank.
Banking is now no more limited in going and visiting the bank in person for various
purposes lik e depositing and withdrawing money, requesting for account statement, stop a
payment, etc. You can do all these tasks and many more using the online services offered by
the banks. You can also keep a track of your account transactions and balance all the t ime. Now
getting passbooks updated to know the total account balance is a matter of past.
Along with the development of the Internet, banks needed to adapt their informatics
systems in order to answer to customers’ demands in an efficient manner. Therefore , there were
several services oriented architectures implemented, that could integrate existing back -end
applications completed by front -end applications, new from the building technology point of
view.
A key element of front office applications is Intern et Banking, because it allows remote
access, it is secured, flexible, permits online transactions, in real time, as if operations were
teller ones, without suffering from stress of queues. Due to high costs of complex informatics
systems, big companies and banks have started using SOA architectures (serviceoriented
architecture). SOA offers banks the possibility of connecting older applications to new ones,
including the integration of Internet Banking in the current customized system.
Online banking accou nt is easy to open and operate. The online services offered might
differ from bank to bank, and from country to country. To know about the various services,
always go through the welcome kit that you get at the time of opening the account. You also
get the password to access your online account, which you are supposed to keep with great care
for security reasons .
The common online services offered by banks are:
transactional activities like: funds transfer, bill pay, loa n applications and
transactions,savings
2 www. searchsoa.techtarget.com
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
24 non-transactional activities like: request for cheque book, stop payment, online statements,
updating contact information.
Customers are using this services and rang them when they have the opportunity to
express themselves.
Advantages of Internet Banking
Internet Banking has several advantages over traditional one which makes operating an
account simp le and convenient. It allows customers to conduct various transactions using the
bank's website or aplication provided by the bank and of fers several advantages. Some of the
them are:
Online account is simple to open and easy to operate.
It is quite convenient – customers can easily pay their bills and transfer funds between
accounts .
It is available all the time, i.e. 24×7 , the tasks can be performed from anywhere and at any
time; even in night when the bank is closed or on holidays. The only thing needed is to have
an active internet connection.
It is fast and efficient. Funds get transferred from one account to the other very fast. Through
this aplication can be manage d easily several accounts .
Through Internet banking, the customer can keep an eye on your transactions and account
balance all the time. This facility also keeps the safeness of the accounts.
It also acts as a great me dium for the banks to endorse their products and services. The
services include loans, investment options, and many others.
Disadvantages of Internet Banking
Though there are many advantages of internet banking, but nothing comes without
disadvantages and everything has its pros and cons. Same is with internet banking.
It also has some disadvantag es which must be taken care of, presented below:
Understanding the usage of internet banking might be difficult for a beginner at the first go.
Though there are some sites which offer a demo on how to access online accounts, but not
all banks offer this facility. So, a person who is new, might face some difficulty.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
25 You cannot have access to online banking if you don’t have an internet connection; thus
without the availability of internet access, it may not be useful.
Security of transactions is a big issue. Your account information might get hacked by
unauthorized people over the internet. Banks constantly make efforts to maint ain a high
level of security for the transactions made on the Internet .
Password security is a must, you can not login into the application if you do not know this
password. The newest security issues made banks to increase the security level and to
customize this password, and so the user wil l receive a message on your phone each time
they log into the application , with the password needed.
You cannot use it, in case, the bank’s server is down.
Another issue is that sometimes it becomes difficult to note whether your transaction was
successfu l or not. It may be due to the loss of net connectivity in between, or due to a slow
connection, or the bank’s server is down.
Internet Banking has definitely made the life easy for users by providing online access
to various banking services. It is a fast way to do banking, and a cheap one. As a customer, you
can have the bank right at your home, or in vacation. You are no longer dependent on the the
working hours of the bank branch or the crowd issue .
2.2 Mobile Banking
Banking technology has had to kee p up with customers whose lives are increasingly
demanding. While online banking has been around for quite a few years compared to mobile
banking, many people assume that they refer to the same thing – the two are closely related, but
there are some distinct differences between them.
Mobile banking allows to perform many of the same activities as online banking using
a smartphone or tablet instead of a desktop computer. However, simply accessing the bank’s
website on a mobile device is not the only m ethod of mobile banking. Mobile banking’s
versatility includes:
Logging into a bank’s mobile website
Using a mobile banking app (available on i.OS, Android and Windows Phone)
Text message (SMS) banking
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
26 While more banks are making their sites easier to use on mobile devices, mobile banking
is more commonl y associated with accessing accounts through an app .
Mobile and online banking provides convenience to customers who want to manage
their finances while on -the-go; both options allow a person to conduct fina ncial business from
outside a banking facility.
Customers interested in using either method of doing business should learn about both
their bank’s mobile banking app and online banking website to better manage their finances .
Although the number and v ariety of contemporary mobile financial services are
impressive, many of these are in an early stage of development and haven’t reached
the number of users which can ensure their success and survival. Unfortunately Romania's
situation is not encouraging when it comes to mobile banking .
Romania ranks last in Europe for the number of people who use mobi le banking, with a
share of 22 percent. In the Netherlands, the share of mobile banking users exceeds 60 percent ,
according to a survey c arried out by Ipsos for ING Bank. At European level, about 47 percent
of the people use the mobile banking service. In the United States, the share of people using
this service is 53 percent .
Despite the growing trend among EU citizens of using mobile banking services, over a
third of them still go to banks several times a year, even several times a month. This is true
particularly in France.
Eurostat states that in Romania, in 2012 only 3 percent of the Internet users were using
Internet Banking. The f act that only 46 percent from the total population questioned3 had used
the Internet in the last period denotes a serious issue with the electronic banking serv ices. Also,
the decrease from 4 percent in 2011 to 3 percent in 2012, suggest that our current market is not
attractive for consumers. The statistical data has the purpose to give an introductory overview
of the Romanian market.
Despite statistics obtained over the years and the low number of people using the internet
and transfer data via interne t, banks have made progress on how to present their products and
servi ces over the Internet banking and related applications .
3 Source: National Statistical Institute – Romania via Eurostat
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
27 Since the beginning of 2015, BCR has developed and improved a good deal of services
and products in the digital area.4Romanian Com mercial Bank (BCR) launched for the first time
in Romania, authentication solutions for internet banking and mobile banking the application
eToken BCR through using Touch ID option exclusively for Apple terminals.
Logging by TouchID is available through mobile banking application of BCR
(www.bcr.ro/mobilebanking), without the need to remember a password. (Fig 2.3 TouchID –
etocken BCR).
Fig 2.3. TouchID -etocken BCR5
BCR clients who have an iPhone 5S or later version s will be able to access, free mobile
banking application within seconds using fingerprint recognition technology . Thus, customers
no longer need to remember complicated passwords and can access their accounts, in seconds,
from m obile in a fast and secure way.
BCR has over 700,000 customers enrolled for services 24 Banking and in 2015 , the
number of those who use mobile banking service has doubled, from 100,000 users to almost
4 www.zf.ro
5 www.bcr.ro/mobilebanking
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
28 200,000. The growth is reflected in the number of over 60,000 downloads of mobile banking
only in the first half of 2015 (fig 2.4 -Internet banking and mobile banking users). 6
Also, the number of invoices paid through mobile banking BCR clients grew by almost
200% from 2014, reads the press release.
Moreover, 30 percent of mobile banki ng customers BCR user s are iOS (Apple) and the
rest use Android terminals. Average transaction value is 3,100 lei for iOS users, to 1,800 lei for
clients accessing services on Android.
Fig 2.4 . Internet banking and mobile banking users
2.3 E-commerce and E -banking
Electronic commerce , commonly written as e-commerce or eCommerce , is
the trading or facilitation of trading in products or services using computer networks, such as
the Internet or online social networks .
E-commerce businesses may employ som e or all of the following:
Online shopping web sites for retail sales direct to consumers
6 www. bcr.ro 400000500000100000200000
0100000200000300000400000500000600000700000800000
2014 2015BCR users of Internet Banking
Mobile banking
Internet Banking
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
29 Providing or participating in online marketplaces, which process third -party business -to-
consumer or consumer -to-consumer sales
Business -to-business buying and sellin g
Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media
Business -to-business electronic data interchange
Marketing to prospective and established customers by e -mail or fax (for example,
with newsletters)
Online financial exchanges for currency exchanges or trading purposes
As a specific case of E -Commerce, E -Banking is a typical service combining a
communication and a distribution channel. E -Banking applications have had a continuous
evolution over the time, from their apparition in th e context of innovation in the banking sector
to the relative standardisation of the states.
E-Banking developed and evolved rapidly during the last ten years. IT innovations like
web-commerce and secure information exchanges have been a trigging factor for E -Banking
appearance. E -Banking functionality is also evolving continuously driven by the necessity to
cover new client's needs and to procure more integration between electronically available
banking services. The evolution of demand in online services induces a continuous evolution
of the E -Banking applications.
Based on a research of PayU7, the market value of e -Commer ce in Romania reached in
2015 8.4 billion lei, up with 31 percent from the previous year, while most of the Romanians
(89 percent ) still opt for cash payments for products or ordered services, online payment
proces sor estimat es show PayU Romania (Fig 2.5. E -market in Romania).
The market investigation of online payments processor -PayU, shows that currently 10
percent of Romanian s pay by card (either standard payment or i nstallment payments) and only
1 percent chose other onlin e payment methods (wire, i Transfer etc.). Most buyers (89 percent )
choose to pay cash on delivery.
Also, the payment s using mobile devices, like tablet or smartphone, is still at an early
stage and only 3 of 10 Romanian s who choose to pay by card pay order from such a terminal.
7 www.agerpres.ro
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
30
Fig 2.5. E -market in Romania (data from 2015)
2.4 Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management refers to the assistance services of reputation of a
business on search engines (Fig 2 .6). It contributes to promoting positive comments and manage
the negative comments that may appear in Google results or other search engines .
Online Reputation Management can the company by :
increase positive content associated with your brand in the result pages provided by search
engines
wasting negative contents displayed by the search engines on searches that have used the
name brand or relevant keywords .
Online reputation management has become indispensable in the context of mobile
applications and websi tes allow potential customers and your competition to fill the Internet
with any type of information. This transparency is certainly a step in the right direction because
it gives the consumer the power he has lost, but – at the same time – allowing competitors of the
company to destroy its reputation with just a few clicks.
Any entrepreneur should know what customers think about the company he leads. But
many of them believe that an advertising campaign quality is more important in attracting 100 %
54 %
22 %19,9 milion people
live in Romania
9,2 milion use the
Internet*
3,8 milion are
e-buyers*
*excluding people age 0 -14
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
31 customers than the reviews, opinions, comments of former clients. In fact, these rev iews are
extremely important for a business.
Fig 2. 6. Online Reputation Structure
Half of the customers purchasing products or services online, attaches great importance
to the comments regarding the company from wich are preparing to buy. For these customers
reviews play a decisive role. An estimated 45 percent of a company's online customers read
reviews and recommendations of other buyers, while only 29 percent of them pay attention to
advertising actions and discounts.
Each customer is seeking information about the shop where they want to buy, about the
hotel where they want to accommodate about where they want to dine restaurant, etc., and if
their opinions concerning them are good enough, the client will look for alt ernatives with a
excellent reputation. Thus, companies that do not give due importance and disregard the
comments of former clients , have suffered the loss of other potential clients. Any information
about the company appeared on forums, blogs or social net works can significantly impact her
reputation. Opin ions are divided into 3 groups: positive, neutral and negative .
Online
Reputation
Management
Social
media
Blog Posts
Review
Sites
Forums
Press
Releases
Competitor
websites
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
32 Opinions are positive when customers praise the company and encourages people to buy
the products / services it offers. Neutral references are those in which only menti ons the
company name without expressing strong ideas. Obviously, negative references are the most
harmful and most often they are expressed by unsatisfied customers. Even only a dissatisfied
customer who posts a neg ative commentcan irreparably stain the reputation of a company.
The best way to avoid negative opinions is to res pect your customers. But what a
company can do when it can not avoid and already it is dealing with such comments? If a client
says is not satisfied with the quality of the services received, the most appropriate action is to
give him his compensation for the inconvenience. But if a customer brings offensive or
unfounded criticism, must be requested detailed explanations about its comments. I n this way,
other customers will notice that the company is paying attention to their views. I n such
situations an entrepreneur should not be a ggressiv e, to deny the facts or leave the case
unexplored.
Unlike other industries , where reputation scores more polarized, the financial and
banking system has the particularity of some indicators very close in value. The opportunity for
players in banking is out of the squad by strengthening the reputation, t hus more since it has a
direct impact on the financial performance of the company .
A major impact against the reputation of the banks in the Romanian banking system was
imposed by the economic crisis at the end of 2008. Banks were affected at the image and
reputation level , and communication with customers has fallen . There was the idea that the
banks have followed strictly short -term profit , without takin g into account the needs of their
customers .
An example of where reputation was affected , has in its cen ter the first bank in Romania –
BCR . The scandal started from the event held in 2013 , when a number of the 21 employees of
BCR Life Insurance, including five heads of branches, were suspected of tax evasion.
The situation has affected a period lo ng enough the bank's market image, image
however wich at that time there was not very good, after the economic crisi s clients showing
an aversion for the banking system .
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
33 Chapter 3 Customers’ reviews in the Banking System – BCR Case
3.1 BCR Customers and the market in the Banking System
Managing the quality of services is difficult as compared to the quality of goods due
toheterogeneity, perishability, intangibility and dimensions of services. All the players
ofbanking industry are providing more or le ss same services to customers. Banking
practitioners have to pay close attention to superior service provision because
servicequality does not only impact the customer decision -making process, but also influences
customer satisfaction, purchase retention, lo yalty and business survival.
Banking is one of the numerous services in which customer satisfaction has had an
increasing importance in the corresponding research areas. This is essentially because the
banking sector i s becoming more and more competitive. Retail banks are pursuing this
strategy, in part, because of the difficulty in differentiating based on the service offering.
Nowadays, banks are working in a dynamic business environment as they
experience the competition and the changes in customer demand, and a decrease in
profitmargins. Understanding the changing needs and expectations of customers is an essential
starting point for the financial sector. Thus, it is significan t for banking practitioners to focus
on service quality improvement.
The banks need to satisfy their customers, as customer satisf action plays an important
role in the relationship between service quali ty and financial performance. The b anks shoul d
focus on service quality as an input to customer satisfaction for long -term benefits and business
success.
By 1989, the banking system in Romania was virtually nonexistent in the economic
system . All decisions came directionally from party bodies, not leaving existing banks to f ulfill
the role for which there were established. NBR even have a modest role, without separate from
other commercial banks in the system.
Having these conditions, imposed after 1989 to shift building a modern, European
model and promptly respond to the requests for banking products and services , required by any
market economy .
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
34 Nationwide in Roamania the banking system is one of the important pillars in the
economy, and how the customers interact with the banks is th e most important aspect when is
wanted to increase the market share .
The number of customers of a credit institution shows the strength, visibility,
attractiveness and prestige of a bank and therefore the struggle to attract a larger number of
customers is fierce. Banks want a more co nsistent portfolio of clients because in this way , they
can multiply revenues through cross -selling.
Meanwhile, a mo re broad customer base can be the foundation stone for the success of
new products and services brought to mar ket. Also, the number of customers demonstrates the
evolution of indirect quality services and products provided that their client portfolio of banks
thins from year to year can be an element of concern and also alarm the respective managers of
credit inst itutions.
The financial crisis has put pressure on clients portfolios of the two largest banks in
Romania, BCR and BRD are credit institutions that have lost in recent years the largest number
of customers. BCR, the largest bank in Romania after the assets (Fig 3.1), that have the most
customers at the end of 2011 (3.7 million customers), dropped to second place after CEC Bank
in 2012, but resumed its position after that.
The situation of the Romanian banki ng system, depending on the number of clients is
shown in Figure 3.2. As we can see, i n the recent years , were the same top 5 banks which they
controlled the entire banking market and implicitly , its customers.
The n umber of active customers of a bank is one of the most visible barometer for the
activity and the evolu tion of the credit institution.
The presence of a growing number of customers at banks may reflect the quality of their
products and in reverse, decreasing the number of banking customers or their migration to other
credit institutions to the detriment of first choice bank is lending services weakest (such as
higher fees for some products, lower interest rates on deposits) .
Clients of a bank can be both active and passive. The active ones are those who use the
actives products of the b ank, such as financing products and trading services, and passive
products, such as saving and buying assets. At the same time, a banking portfolio includes a
large proportion of inactive customers: those who are registered in the bank's syste m but no
longer use any product, and have not updated their personal information for a long time.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
35
Fig 3.1. Market Share
Fig 3.2. Top banks – clients number
What interests the CEO is actually the number of active customers who have a bank
portfolio. Active clients are those who contribute directly and affect the bank's profitability and
the place it occupy s in top banks . 20,319,317,8
15,7
13,1 12,9
5,48,19
6 6,57,4
0510152025
2008 2012 2015Market Share (assets) %
BCR
BRD
Banca Transilvania
Raiffeisen Bank
3,43,22,2721,76
2,72,82,252,12,25
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4CEC BankBCRBRDRaiffeisen
BankBanca
TransilvaniaNumber of clients (mil)
2015
2014
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
36 BCR, the largest player in Romania, in December 2015 had almost three million
customers, 510 branches and about 7,000 employees and is ranked three of the seven countries
in which the parent bank Erste.
The volume of bank assets reached late last year to nearly 60 billion lei less than 4 billion
lei versus the end of 2008 when the cris is began to spread spectrum to the local economy.
BCR has managed to maintain profits in 2007 -2011, when he finished with record assets
of 74 billion lei . The largest bank in Romania has not managed to maintain profitability and
ended 2012 with losse s of 1.2 billion lei. BCR returned to profit in 2014 after huge loss (2. 6
billion lei at 2.8 billion lei bank and group level) due to higher provis ions for bad loans and
selling.8
BCR concluded financial year 2015 with a profit of 963.4 million lei acc ounting in accordance
with IFRS, data presented in Fig 3.3.
Fig 3.3. BCR – profit last 3 years
The fact that BCR has gained profit in 2015 after a big loss in 2014 demonstrates the
high quality of the management and the implementation of a long term vision to retain and
increase their customer portfolio and a healthy credit one .
8 www.bcr.ro ; www.bnr.ro ; www.zf.ro 600
-630215 141,5
-800-600-400-2000200400600800
2013 2014 2015 T1 2016Profit (mil eur)
profit
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
37 Although the bank has a total of about 3 million customers, of whom only about 1.2
million are active clients. Bank's vision is to increase this number because these are the ones
who can contribute to increase the profit and consequently the market share of the bank in the
Romanian banking system.
The banking system is going through a dark period after approval of the law "giving in
payment" loans in CHF terms, so customers are quite reticent regarding the relationship they
have with the banks . Internet i s now the main source of information in everything regarding the
correctness and how the banks have started every relationship they had with their clients .
Information are varied, some of them most often provided by people who have no
financial knowledge b ut tell of their own experience with a bank. The situation beca me even
more dramatic when the Go vernment decided to im pose a law that disadvantage some banks –
those that have in portfolio loans in CHF, and the rest of the customers or those who wish to
obtain a loan and became a customer.
Commissioning allow closing a mortgage payment by handing the mortgaged property
by the lender. The measure is recommended by the European Parliament for all Member States
and the European Union directive on mortgages all ow the estab lishment of such a procedure.
Member States may maintain or introduce more stringent provisions than those provided in
those areas which do not clearly state that harmonized maximum. If the debt remains to be
reimbursed after the enforcement pr ocedure, Member States shall ensure that measures to
facilitate reimbursement in order to protect consumers.
In recent months, bankers have announced they will tighten credit conditions and
increase the down payment for the housing loans. Some banks have already changed the system
of lending conditions. Therefore the most affected are the individuals who want to get a
mortgage to buy a home .
Release banks revolt against the law by imposing payment of advances on mortgages
minimum standard of 30 -35% in lei lasted only two months, while the high credit standards did
no more than to send new sales in freefall and imp licitly bankers revenues in this segment.
Almost all banks are thinking about how to get back into the market and examines the
possibility of reducing the advance, according to representatives of the Association of Banks
(ARB), and other like BCR and Pirae us have already made a step back.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
38 BCR, the largest local bank lowered the minimum down payment from 35% to 25% just
mortgaged buildings in 20 major cities of Romania, and Bucharest, Cluj -Napoca, Timisoara,
Iasi and Constanta.
BCR, which increased the adva nce in early May, before the entry into force of Law
Resolution Agency, said that the decision to reduce the advance came after a review of
developments in regional markets and customer needs.
3.2 BCR – how to manage the online customers
A survey commissioned by Erste Group and BCR reveals that the percentage of online
banking users in Romania increased in the last 3 years, from 2 percent to 6 percent and remains
on a clear upward trend.
BCR, thanks to the large number of customers, is in fact the largest community of users
of digital banking / e -banking, with over 250,000 active users. The difference between the banks
and large banks is addressing specialized services. Basically digital literacy in Romania is
provided by the banks with large portfo lios of clients, as is the BCR. In terms of digitization,
BCR priority is the transfer of cash from operations to non -cash payment services by providing
modern and simple f or the every type of customer.
When it comes to interaction with the bank, almost on e fifth of all Romans banked relies
on a mix of service using online banking or mobile b anking and a visit to a branch. 69 percent
of those who already use banking products most often self service area which makes payments,
make deposits and withdrawals, t rading channel which is used most often.
Fast counseling area is used by 60 percent of customers for the trading operations. 28
percent of users of Internet banking use this channel to make payments without cash, money
orders or to check their account sta tus.
In case of BCR, 26 percent of customers aged 30 -49 own a smartphone, 14 percent a
tablet, 47 percent have a PC and 41 percent have a laptop / notebook. 47 percent of smartphone
and tablet users use internet banking site on phones or tablets to ma ke pu rchases and orders,
and 41 percent use a browser for the checking accounts and balance.
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
39 Internet penetration in Romania increased exponentially in recent years and currently
nationally are the 8.8 million users, of which 6.5 million every day, reveals a st udy by the
Romanian Audit Bureau Transmedia (BRAT) . From a total population of 19,7 mil people,
almost half of them have access to the internet, most of them being locate in urban areas (Fig
3.4).
Fig 3.4 Distribution of Internet users – from total users
70 percent of the urban population and 44 percent of the villages in Romania are using
the Internet. In urban areas, the daily consumption of internet for age segment 14 -64 years has
increased more than seven times from 2002 to the present, from 8 percent to 56 percent.
Moreover, 56 percent of people living in rural households have Internet access. From
this point of view, the Internet is the second utility, after electricity , to the rural residents who
have access and who can afford it.
Depending on the c onnectivity choice, 91 percent of rural Inte rnet users use the
computer, 18 percent tablet and 59 percent smartphone. In urban areas, 95 percent of Internet
users use the computer , 15 percent tablet and 45 percent smartphone (Fig 3.5).
In an environment co nsidered elitist predilection accessed by educated youth in large
cities, the Internet has become a medium accessible to a popula tion increasingly wider. The
number of populat ion using the Internet being on the rise, banks must align theire products to
the market requirements.
64%36%Internet users
urban rural
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
40
Fig 3.5. Access based upon equipment
At the level of the entire adult population of Romania , banking products are very little
known, most popular being the debit card and bank credit. Of course, exists well trained
customers who are informed. This type of clients wants speed, privacy and safety provided by
its personal bank. Even among users, there are a significant number of people who know li ttle
or not hing about products, 14 percent for internet banking site and 30 percent for store credit.
Only 4 out of 10 users have compared several offers to purchase the last banking product, this
behavior is more associated with urban or persons with higher educatio n.
Despite these information about how users use the Internet and how they transmit
information to one another, bank customers have demonstrated an aversion against banks and
exhibited their the standpoint online. They used the most appropriate communicati on channels:
web site of the bank, the comment section provided by the bank, profile sites, and not least , the
social sites, among which most notably facebook .
Unsatisfied customers for a particular product or service they have become accustomed
to associa te in different discussion groups on facebook, and t hus to explain each of them his
own experience, many of theme being subjective. T he image of the bank will be affected for
long term, because the comments cannot be deleted and will not be lost in time.
It is enough for a person to give a simple search on google, and he will receive hundreds
of web pages that contain the keyword, and so he will obtaind lots of informations, many of
theme offered by persons without financial knowledge, just ordinary custom ers who are
unhappy.
951545
911859
0 20 40 60 80 100PCTabletaSmarthphoneType of equipment used for internet access (%)
rural urban
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
41 Chapter 5 Conclusion
Present paper aimed to present an ensemble image of how commerce market is
presented in the year 2016 , how it was built and its shift toward online commerce, and not least,
the means used by companies. The last ones have proposed as much as they can to come in
front of the customers and develop new channels of communication with them and new methods
of sale.
The situation is one unpredictable when we discuss about the banking system.
Customers include t he Bank as it is the only solution and even consider them an ally when they
are rushing to buy one thing. The image changes when the client is dissatisfied with that thing,
even repulsion can straighten the bank.
If more banks in the banking system in Rom ania whould have had a proactive attitude
in recent years , and more and more banks had taken voluntarily to relocate based on centers of
humanization, emp athy customer relationships, and voluntarly relocate the cus tomer relations
in recent years, then certainly the public perception would have been better .
A Romanian of 12 may have trust in the banking system in 201 5, their number dropping
a lot compared to 2009, when a Romanian of 5 declare distrustful of banks . According to them,
the poor opinion the y have against banks, is based on three main pillars : communication,
transparency and financial literacy , pillars that are part of the structure of bank -client
relationship, and were not developed enough.
The first one is the communication , which should lead to the strengthening of the
relationship that the banking industry should have with the media. The communication s hall be
disclosed in periods of calm. I believe that, at present, the banking system is trying to
communicate better, even against the background of a lack of credibility.
A second pillar is transparency . In the area of transparency, we talk about customer
information, standardization and simplification messages to customers. The customer must feel
that he is receiving accur ate and relevant information for him. The customer must feel that the
bank gives exactly the service they need, not just a product it wants to sell .
My opinion is that banks should explain more, focus more on communication in the
sense of explai ning the b asics. They must begin , each time a new relation with a customer based
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
42 on normal and natural elements , to explain them what happens when a commercial bank is
operating normally.
The reputation which have created the banks and how customers communicate their
opinions through online, relies heavily on the mistakes made in the past and the poor
management of these reviews .
The share of clients who are intend ing to change t heir bank is increasingly , now being
able to control more the relationship with banks . Thus, customers are becoming less loyal the
main bank and are more willing to work with several credit institutions -non banking
institutions , although largely are happy with the one they currently have a relation.
Customers want the flexibility to use di fferent channels for different types of
transactions or interactions with the bank, at different times during the week and appreciate the
comfort of interaction with the bank rather than access through a particular channel of
distribution.
Because of the a ccessibility at any time and comfo rt offered, the Internet banking and
Mobile Banking are increasingly popular among customers who make simple transactions.
However, the access to agents and advisers of the banks remains essential for the overall level
of satisfaction of customers, especially for the complex transactions.
Such approach shows that customization means not only a better use of customer data
in order to adapt the product s offered for his needs, but also the technology to offer more control
over how and when they interact with the bank. Perhaps , in the coming years , we shall see an
evolution in the approach of banks in terms of distribution channels, from the mu lti-channel to
omni -channel .
However, customers expect more, an overwhelming the majority believes that the use
of three or more products from the same bank should attract enhanced services, lower fees or
interest rates , better on savings accounts . Consume rs greatly appreciate the information and the
advice given by the people they know. Globally, most of the consumers rely on personal
recommendations to get information about the banking products and services.
Moreover, increa singly more consumers resort on online communities or social
networks for an advice, reason why their opinion is so important concerning the decision to
purchase a product or a service .
The Role of Customers’ Reviews in Acquisition Decision -Making
43 Bibliography
Books
1. Kotler, Keller, Koshy, J ha (2010), Marketing Management , Pearson Education Inc ,
New Jersey .
2. Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2004), Principles of Marketing , Pearson Education Inc , New
Jersey .
3. Proctor, T (2000), Strategic Marketing: An Introduction , Routledge, London .
4. Lazer, W (1971), Marketing Management: A Systems Perspective , John Wiley & Sons ,
New York.
5. Avadhani V.A.(1999), Marketing of financial services and markets , Himalaya
Publishing House, Delhi.
Websites
www.wikipedia.com
www.zf.ro
www.wall -street.ro
www.wsj.ro
www.bcr.ro
www.bnr.ro
www.agerpres.ro
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