Commercial Bank Selection: The Case of Undergraduate Students in Malaysia

Although retail bank patronage have been a topic of interest to marketing researchers since late 1960s, the attraction between banks and undergraduate segment has received little interest from marketing academics. This paper analysed the factors considered important by undergraduates in Malaysia in selecting a bank and to examine whether undergraduates constitute a homogeneous group in relation to the way they select a bank. Results of the factor analysis for the total sample indicate that the bank selection decision is based primarily on nine selection criteria. ‘Secure feelings ’ was the most important factor in influencing the students in selecting a bank. ‘ATM service ’ was the second prioritized factor followed by ‘financial benefits’. The next three criteria, ranked fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, were ‘service provision’, ‘proximity ’ and ‘branch location ’ that can be grouped as moderate factors. By contrast, the students considered ‘non-people influential’, ‘attractiveness ’ and ‘people influences ’ which were ranked seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, did not play significant roles in influencing their decision in selecting the bank. It is interesting to note that the responses did not constitute a homogenous group since gender, stream of study, ethnicity and number of saving accounts held produced different prioritized factors in bank selection