Bank selection criteria and perceived bank switching costs of student population

Prema najjednostavnijoj definiciji, marketing predstavlja filozofiju privlačenja i zadržavanja potrošača. Iako je ovakva definicija marketinga naizgled vrlo jednostavna, marketing zahtijeva od banaka ulaganje velikih napora i provedbu mnogih aktivnosti kako bi postale uspješne na tržištu. S obzirom na stalni porast broja studenata u Hrvatskoj posljednjih godina oni mogu predstavljati zanimljivo ciljno tržište za banke. Banke moraju utvrditi njihove potrebe i istražiti kako ti potrošači ocjenjuju snage banke u odnosu na konkurente. Vrlo velik postotak studenata po završetku studija i zapošljavanju odabiru da će ostati klijenti iste banke, stoga bi poslovne banke u Hrvatskoj upravo u tržišnom segmentu studenata mogle prepoznati značajnu poslovnu priliku. U današnje vrijeme, potrošači žele znati više o poduzećima čije proizvode i usluge koriste i sukladno tomu, tragaju za sve većim brojem informacija, kako bi znali kakve sve alternative postoje i za sebe pronašli najbolju opciju. Troškovi promjene banaka su posljedica nekoliko čimbenika: cijene, neuspjelog susreta s uslugom, etičkih pitanja, administrativnih procedura, nemogućnosti realizacije usluge i sl. Stoga je cilj rada bio istražiti koji su to kriteriji ključni prilikom odabira banke i percepciju troškova promjene banke kod studentske populacije. Istraživanje je provedeno on-line anketom, a rezultati istraživanja pokazali su kako studenti kao ključne kriterije odabira banke definiraju: dostupnost bankomata, preporuke roditelja, prijatelja, poznanika, kvalitetu i imidž banke. Također, rezultati upućuju kako studenti najviše percipiraju ekonomske i troškove gubitka osobnog odnosa u bankarskim uslugama.Marketing is a philosophy of attracting and retaining consumers. Although this definition of marketing is seemingly very simple, marketing requires banks to make great efforts and carry out many activities to become successful in the market. Students represent an interesting target market for banks because of their abundance. Banks need to identify their needs and investigate how these consumers evaluate the bank's strengths relative to their competitors. A very large percentage of students, after completing their studies and hiring, choose to remain clients of the same bank. Therefore, commercial banks in Croatia could recognize a significant business opportunity in the student market segment. Nowadays, consumers want to know more about the companies whose products and services they are using and accordingly, looking for more information, to know what alternatives are available and to find the best option for themselves. The switching cost of changing banks is consequences to several factors: price, an unsuccessful encounter with the service, ethical issues, administrative procedures, inability to provide theservice, etc. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate what choice criteria are crucial in selecting a bank and the perception of the bank switching cost in a student population. Research was conducted using an online questionnaire, and results show that students define as key choice criteria: availability of ATM, recommendations from parents, friends, acquaintances, service quality and image of the bank. Also, the results indicate that students mostly perceive the economic and cost of losing their personal relationship with the bank