Retail Bank's Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retail Bank's Marketing - Case Study Example Pricing is a very integral part of marketing. Decisions about price are those which determine profitability (Stephenson, 2005). It is also one of the factors which determine whether the customer will actually acquire the product or service. Customers base their purchase judgments based on price (Stephenson, 2005). Pricing of the financial products is one of the most crucial decisions. Some of the most common pricing strategies used by the marketers include both cost-based strategies and non- cost based strategies (Winston, 1986). Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual or group. These serve as guidelines as to what is the fair and right thing to do. Customers have the right to be informed, and it is the marketers' responsibility to ensure they are providing customers accurate and complete information about their products and services, i.e. they should disclose complete costs associated with financial services, but this is not always practiced(Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2003). Social responsibility is an important part of the marketing concept of any organization in any given industry. This is especially important for financial institutions since they serve the public. They need to not only focus on profits but also on the society as a whole. At times it is possible for a company to satisfy its customers yet fail to meet social responsibility. Despite the fact that banks and other financial institutions play a active role in the society, they still manage to conduct practices that abuse the environment discriminate in hiring employees, manufacturing unsafe products or engaging in misleading advertising or labeling. At times these organizations are still focuses on meeting their goals rather than meeting customer needs (Pezzullo, 1998). In the article 'Interest rate clustering in the UK financial services market' (2008), Ashton and Hudson explain through empirical evidence the price and interest rate clustering practices used by retail banks. In their study they explain how financial services marketers capitalize on the difficulties customers face in recalling and processing price information. They do this to maximize their revenue from deposits made by customers. Ashton and Hudson (2008) explain that price and interest rate clustering occur as a result of an individual's limited number recall.