Promotional messages in multichannel banking: Attractive or annoying?

Abstract

Financial service providers possess a great deal of information about their customers. Customer information is used to serve customers and deliver right messages to right customer groups. Owing to the nature of financial services – that is, the need for credibility, long-term commitment, and involvement of sensitive personal information - the planning and implementation of suitable marketing is extremely important. Financial services are offered through multiple channels; but the electronic channels have increased in importance both for customer acquisition and retention purposes. In addition, electronic channels offer personalization possibilities that did not exist before. In this study, we examine, with the help of electronic focus group interviews, the kind of channels customers prefer when promotional messages include different types of personalization. In addition, the acceptance of promotional messages in the online banking context is explored. The results indicate that the channel preferences of customers diverge depending on the type of personalization used in the message. Furthermore, based on the opinions of customers concerning several authentic online banners, a personalization matrix was developed. The findings show that preferencematching personalization with informative content is accepted by the majority of customers. The article offers financial managers new perspectives on bank marketing in general, and online bank marketing in particular. Keywords: online banking; multichannel; personalization; marketing messages; electronic focus group