Making the brand appealing: advertising strategies and consumers’ attitude towards UK retail bank brands
| Date | 18 September 2017 |
| Pages | 531-544 |
| Published date | 18 September 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-07-2016-1285 |
| Author | Emmanuel Mogaji,Annie Danbury |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Making the brand appealing: advertising
strategies and consumers’ attitude towards
UK retail bank brands
Emmanuel Mogaji
Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism, University of Greenwich, London, UK, and
Annie Danbury
Department of International Business, Marketing and Tourism, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The present state of the financial services industry suggests the need for banks to appeal to consumers’ emotions with the aim of
improving their reputation; this study aims to explore how UK banks are using emotional appeals in their advertisements and how this shapes
consumers’ attitudes towards their brands.
Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis in a two-stage study – Study 1 analysed the content of 1,274
UK bank advertisements to understand how the banks convey emotional appeals, whereas Study 2 elicited consumers’ perceptions of these advertising
appeals and how they influenced their attitudes through semi-structured interview with 33 UK retail bank customers in London and Luton.
Findings – UK banks are using emotional appeals in their marketing communication strategies. The qualitative findings highlight the bi-dimensional
nature of feelings towards the advertisements and how this relates to the brand. There is a lacklustre attitude towards the brands; there was no
sense of pride in associating with any bank, even with though there are possibilities of switching; and consumers feel there is no better offer
elsewhere as all banks are the same.
Practical implications – Bank brands should present distinct values about their services to the target audience, endeavour to build relationships
with existing customers and reward loyalty. Importantly, financial brands need to engage in and highlight charitable activities and any corporate
social responsibility as this can help to improve consumers’ attitudes as they often consider bank brands greedy and selfish.
Originality/value – Qualitative research methodology was adopted to better understand consumers’ attitudes towards UK retail bank brands.
Keywords UK, Banks, Brand communication, Attitude to advertisement, Attitude to brand, Emotional branding
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The unprecedented turbulence and uncertainty experienced
in global economic and financial markets due to the credit
crunch has had a damaging impact on consumer confidence
(McKechnie, 2011). The global financial crisis of 2007-2008
has eroded the trust and credibility attached to UK banks as
safe places to deposit savings (MarketLine, 2014). UK banks
were badly affected by the crisis, resulting in major banks
needing government bailouts. Heinonen (2014) notes that in
the wake of the crisis, the banking sector have been
transformed, with new regulations and competition for
customers and profits. Unprecedented turmoil has been
witnessed in the European banking market as it underwent a
period of massive uncertainty and change during the financial
crisis (Saiz and Pilorge, 2010;Järvinen, 2014).
Banks’ engagement in various activities has also put their
customers at risk. Denning (2013) notes that bad profits were
achieved through practices by the banks that were shady but
not strictly illegal. These practices included the price fixing of
the London Interbank Offered Rates, abuses in foreclosure,
money laundering for drug dealers and terrorists, assisting tax
evasion and misleading clients with worthless securities, all of
which have further eroded consumers’ trust in the banks.
Barber (2014, p. 243) notes: “These days, bankers are widely
viewed as greedy, self-serving, amoral or actually dangerous.
Estate agents, even journalists, are held in higher regard”.
Moreover, Gritten (2011) notes that many of the bank
customers feel let down by a system and by institutions that
had promised, and often claimed to guarantee, to protect them
and their assets, suggesting the need for financial services
institutions to build constructive dialogue and long-term,
meaningful relationships with their customers once again.
The present state of financial services has suggested the
need to appeal to consumers’ emotions with the aim of
improving their reputation. To this end, an appealing
advertising strategy could work in this case: as Jones (1990)
suggests, advertising aims to increase consumers’ knowledge
and change their perceptions of different products and
services. Furthermore, the competition within the industry
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
26/6 (2017) 531–544
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-07-2016-1285]
Received 30 July 2016
Revised 29 December 2016
12 March 2017
Accepted 13 March 2017
531
To continue reading
Request your trial