Key motivations for bank patronage in Ghana

Purpose: Banking in Ghana is now an intensely competitive proposition. In a competitive environment, it becomes imperative not just to attract customers, but also to design strategies aimed at maintaining these customers. Drawing on data from over 2,000 retail bank customers in Ghana, this study aims at understanding the key motivations for maintaining accounts with banks in respect of Ghanaian bank customers. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from customers of 22 retail banks in Ghana. A two-stage sampling technique was adopted in obtaining the sample. First, for each of the banks, two branches were randomly selected from the list of all functionally operating branches. In the second stage, customers of the selected branches were randomly intercepted in the banking halls and the survey instrument administered to them. A total of 2,000 respondents were attracted. Logistic regression modelling was employed in analysing the data. Findings: Overall bank customers view proximity/accessibility as the most important factor in the opening and maintenance of accounts with banks in Ghana. Recommendations by friends appear to be the least important factor in Ghanaian bank consumers' decision to open and maintain a bank account in Ghana. The findings were strange to the extent that word-of-mouth marketing has been lauded as one of the most potent marketing communications tools in services marketing but the empirical findings from the study did not support this. Practical implications: To the extent that proximity is a key factor in the opening and maintenance of bank relationships in Ghana, distribution management must be given a more strategic imperative in bank management in Ghana. Bank branches must be sited in catchment areas with the highest propensity to attract and maintain an existing profitable bank clientele. Originality/value: The study is one of the few on bank marketing in Ghana that draws on a large bank consumer data set and utilizes robust statistical analysis to reach its conclusions.