Generation Y consumers’ perceived brand personality of South African retail banks

Marko Van Deventer,Nkosinamandla Erasmus Shezi

doi:10.21511/bbs.16(3).2021.12

Marko Van Deventer, Nkosinamandla Erasmus Shezi

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.21511/bbs.16(3).2021.12

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Abstract

Successful management of a retail bank’s brand requires some form of brand image, such as brand personality. Creating a retail bank’s brand personality is effective in establishing attachment between customers and the retail-banking brand they choose to support based on self-identification. As such, this study’s aim is to investigate the bank identification and perceived brand personality dimensions of retail banks among the profitable and significantly sized Generation Y banking market. For this study, a non-probability convenience sample of 300 Generation Y banking customers was used. A self-administered questionnaire was developed for data collection. The results of the study suggest that Generation Y customers perceive their chosen retail bank as successful, sophisticated, sincere, rugged, community driven and classic. Moreover, the results showed that the brand personality dimensions of community driven and successfulness are mostly related to the identification of Generation Y customers with their retail bank brand. Customers who easily identify with their retail bank brand bring financial benefits to the bank, as these customers remain loyal to the brand. The results provide insights that can help retail banks to better understand their current brand personality perceptions, which is important given that brand personality can improve bank brand identification among customers.

Highlights

In today’s digital age, retail banks are fiercely competing for customers
The results showed that the brand personality dimensions of community driven and successfulness are mostly related to the identification of Generation Y customers with their retail bank brand
Customers who identify with their retail bank brand bring financial benefits to the bank, as these customers remain loyal to the brand

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In today’s digital age, retail banks are fiercely competing for customers. In an effort to gain the interest of customers and retain their loyalty, retail banks advertise heavily, regularly introduce additional products and services, and continuously add innovative technologies to appeal to technologically astute customers and improve banking efficiency. Ple, Eren-Erdogmus et al (2015) tested Aaker’s (1997) dimensions of brand personality on appar- To effectively market and position their brands, el brands among Turkish Generation Y consum- business and marketing managers, including those ers While their findings confirmed that sinceri- in retail banking, need to understand the concept ty, excitement, competence and sophistication are of brand personality (Braunstein & Ross, 2010). Businesses and institutions such as retail banks identification from a social identity theory permust dedicate time and effort in creating a positive spective is referred to as a perception of belonging brand personality to positively influence custom- to a specific group of people (Sallam, 2014). Brand, which, in turn, helps customers to preserve confidence towards the identified brand.” As such, it is imperative that retail banks carefully consid-

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