CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the study

It is believed that the goal of every organization is to meet the needs and the requirements of its stakeholders. Meeting the needs and the requirements of the stakeholders will not only ensure the survival of the organization but also allow it to flourish. Customers are presumed to be one of the most important stakeholders in any organization because without them, organizations are not likely to succeed. Hence, marketers emphasize on research in the area of consumer behaviour and particularly behavioural intention. Knowledge of consumer behaviour will go a long way in ensuring effective marketing policies towards the interest of customers which will eventually facilitates positive customer attitude towards the organizations. More especially, since customer behavioural intention is a strong indication of his actual behaviour

As a result of financial sector liberalization in Nigeria in the 1980s, the banking sector experienced a boom. Low entry requirements by the regulatory authority and the high premiums that could be earned through foreign exchange business led to the quick entry by new players into the lucrative banking industry. Between the period of 1985 and 1993 the number of licensed banks rose astronomically from
41 to 120 (Central Bank of Nigeria, 1995). And this led to the increase of the sector’s contribution to GDP and employment. Given that banks are important constituents of the sector, it can therefore be argued that banks in Nigeria contribute significant percentage of the country’s GDP in the recent past. (Adeoye, 2007). For instance, the sectoral reconstitution of service industry to the growth of GDP for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 were 8.8, 8.0, 9.2, 9.9 and 10.5 respectively (CBN, 2009) The importance of the Nigerian banking sector does not limited to Nigeria alone but also spill over to most. This significant contribution of the services industry and specifically banking sector in Nigeria really warrant investigation in order to enhance the sector’s continuous growth which will eventually result in the better performance of the economy It is however noted that one of the ways through which banks can meet the expectations of their customers who are the back-bone of the banks’ business is via the understanding of the customers’ behaviour.

The customer service unit has become important in many ways for most organizations, but the general view is that many organizations do not take it too seriously. Customer service may be provided by a person, group or by an automated means called “Self Service”. The customer service management is a compulsory section of the bank. Commercial banks form the largest and are the country’s most important group of financial institutions. With stiffer competition among domestic and foreign banks, therefore it is important for the commercial banks in Nigeria to improve the quality of their services. The growth of competition in banks has led to the customer being stronger because he or she has many options to choose from. It is those banks that have excellent customer satisfaction levels that succeed in this environment of hyper competition. Success of a service provider depends on the high quality relationship with customers which determines customer satisfaction and loyalty. The corporate objective of any bank which is “maximization of shareholders wealth” can only be achieved if customers are retained and satisfied. This is in line with the perception that the key to successful marketing of financial services is identification and packaging of customers’ needs to their satisfaction.

Customer service therefore involves the means through which there would be a mutually beneficial satisfaction of non-tangible product needs of the people who have a will to satisfy these needs. It’s focused on the predicted upon concept which involves a proper identification and understanding of needs of potential and actual consumers as well as adaptation of organizational operations to deliver the right customer service more effectively and efficiently

1.2   STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Over the years in developing economy like Nigeria banks are faced with the problem of distress lack of public confidence, inability of banks to meet up with customer’s satisfaction in terms of granting of credit facilities spending an average time in the bank halls for transactions, inadequate capital base, etc. In Nigeria, the customer service unit is more effective in the banks than in all other organizations of the economy. Yet, the banks still have a long way to go in order to satisfy the customers of banks worldwide. The banking business today has gone beyond arm- chair banking era where the customers had to look for the banker to transact business. It is now the era of highly competitive business among banks. These financial institutions now engage in aggressive search of the customer to patronize their products and services.

The researcher is of the view to carry out an investigation into these remote causes of banks inability to meet up with customers’ needs and requirements and how this had affected the banks performance over the years, after this investigation the result from this study should be able to proffer to solutions to banks inability to satisfy their customers in Nigeria, hence how to impress its performance through total quality management.

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

i.      To ascertain the extent of relationship between service quality and bank performance

ii.     To examine if there is a positive relationship between customer’s level of loyalty and performance.

iii.    To find out how quality customer satisfaction affects bank performance

1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

In order to achieve the stated objectives of this study, the following hypotheses are formulated:

Hypothesis One

HO:   There is no positive relationship between service quality and bank performance

H1:    There is a positive relationship between service quality and bank performance

Hypothesis Two

HO:   There is no positive relationship between customer level of loyalty and bank performance.

H2:    There is a positive relationship between customer level of loyalty and bank performance

Hypothesis Three

HO:   There is no positive relationship between customer satisfaction bank performances.

H3:    There is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction bank performances.

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work will attempt to examine the performance of bank in Nigeria. The significance of this study is to examine the extent to which bank performance has geared up the growth of the Nigeria economy through loan and advances for investment.

Hence, the research is interested in the effect of the customer’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction, characteristics of service, assessment and measurement of customer’s satisfaction in bank for more clarity of the study.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study covers customer’s satisfaction in bank performance. A sample of one hundred and thirty three (133) was taken from the total population of the study. This study was conduct amongst staffs of a selected bank in Benin City to know how customer’s satisfaction has implication on bank performance for a period between 2010 - 2013.

In carrying out research work, a number of constraints have militated against this research work. Every human endeavour is said to be limited by some factor and this research work is not on exceptional to the rule. There was low response rate. There was difficulty in obtaining information from respondent as they often referred to height schedule and fatigue in fitting the questionnaire. This being that the researcher cannot administer the questionnaire to other respondent form other part of the country.

1.7      DEFINITION OF TERMS

Organization: This is a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals.

Stakeholders: These are persons or group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.

Customer’s Satisfaction: A business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer.

Brand Loyalty: When consumers become committed to your brand and make repeat purchases over time.

Profitability: This is the primary goal of all business ventures. Without profitability, the business will not survive in the long run. It is measured with income and expenses.

Competition: The existence within a market for some good or service of a sufficient number of buyers and sellers such that no single market participant has enough influence to determine the going price of the good or service.

Defensive Strategy: A management approach designed to reduce the risk of loss.

Service Quality: An assessment of how well a delivered service conforms to the clients expectations.

Reliability: The ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time.

Empathy: This is the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another sentiment or fictional being.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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