Market research: Determinant of successful strategic marketing in financial organizations

Abstract

Market research provides an information inputs for business improvement by reducing risk of wrong strategic decisions in marketing area. Therefore, it presents significant competitive activity used as a base for the company's marketing strategies and business behavior. Business environment research and attitudes of clients above all, is particularly important in the financial services sector. Due to the specific attributes of financial services, which are reflected primarily in the intangibility (immateriality), variability (heterogeneity) and volatility of services, but also on account of durability and rate of expenditure and fiduciary responsibility that feature financial institutions, market research has a special dimension in this area. Thus the aim of this paper is to analyze the concept and process of market research in the financial services industry and point out the importance of market research as the basic activity that should provide inputs for making strategic marketing decisions related to: market segmentation, targeting and positioning of specific market segment. In addition, the paper presents the results of market research and provides the opinions of car insurance service users in Serbia, where the starting hypothesis was that the main factors in selecting companies for motor insurance were the following: the reputation of the insurance company, trust that the insurer will pay the damage when it occurs and the price of services.