Abstract:

Deregulation in financial markets has led to explosive change in the structural make-up and marketing behaviour of financial institutions. This observation is critically important if we are to try to assess the future direction of marketing in this sector and hence, the issues up to which we as researchers will need to face in the short- and medium-term future. In particular, changes that have and are taking place are forcing all of us to take account of the consequential changes in attitude and behaviour on the part of the customer in terms of his or her decisions as to which institutions to use, which types of service or package to favour. In doing so, a radical re-appraisal is necessary of the approaches and techniques that market research can and indeed should bring to bear in meeting financial institutions' needs. In this paper, we wish to contribute to this process of reappraisal.