ONLINE COMMUNICATION AND SALES PERFORMANCE: A SURVEY OF MONEY DEPOSIT BANKS IN PORT HARCOURT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Before 1987, there was little or no competition because the government restricted entry with the concentration of activities on the four largest banks (First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Union and International Bank for West Africa) (Redasel,1989, 1990). Later, developments in the economy witnessed series of business transactions and the emergence of banks became very desirable. The desirability aided the proliferation of many new banks and the rapid growth of existing ones.

The market became more aggressive and competitive. This competition was further exacerbated by the emergence of finance houses, mortgage banks and community banks in the late 80’s and early 90’s, all competing for the same deposits in varying forms (Abdulqadir, 2010). Another phenomenon in the banking industry in Nigeria, which posed serious challenge to the sector is the issue of financial distress in the banks.  Communication is a major important activity within organizations because profits and survival of these organizations are inevitably tied to the satisfaction of consumer wants and needs. Online communication has become a major consideration in the present day service industry as a result of dynamism and competitiveness of the economy. Competition in this sector of the economy grows more intense and steadily more professional especially in the banking and other financial institutions. The age of specialization in the banking industry has changed to one where most organisations offer a wide range of services in competition with each other (Abdulqadir, 2010). It has, therefore become essential to use all the resources and techniques that marketing offers to survive and succeed in the ever changing business environment in the world with reference to our country Nigeria (Bale &Akpan, 2009). Thus marketing communication comes into consideration as it is intended both to communicate with and to sell to customers. (Ajibade,1984). Resulting from deregulation and liberalization in the Nigerian banking industry, the industry environment has changed in many ways.

Some banks extended their marketing communications with the idea that customers should be made more aware of products and services they need, who might supply them and the benefits which both products, services and suppliers can offer. Marketing communications now need to move beyond the product information model and become an integral part of an organization’s overall communications and relationship management strategy (Groonroos, 2004).

Statement of the problem

Today, ICT acquisition and implementation is facing a lot of problems. This research work is being conducted to expose some of the inhibiting factors that are hindering the impact of online communications in Nigerian money deposit banks.

According to Kang (2004) many service delivery errors and problems can occur and that is not beneficial for the reputation of the organization. Ha and Jang (2009) argued that service failure occurs when customer perceptions do not meet customer expectations. The problem with service failure is that it may lead to a destroyed relationship between the customer and the organization. Some of the factors hindering the impact of online communications on Nigerian money deposit banks include the huge capital investment in the purchase of hardware, software and standby generators due to epileptic power supply and the lack of technical know-how are some of the problems encountered.

Objectives of the study

This study was undertaken majorly to investigate the importance of introducing online communications the sales performance of money deposit banks.Specifically, the study intends to:

1. Identify the association between Email and Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State
2. Identify the association between Online payment service and Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State
3. Identify the association between Forums and Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State
4. Identify the association between Instant Messaging and Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State

Research questions

During the course of the study, the researcher seeks to provide suitable answers to the problem following the questions below:

1.     To what extent does Email affect and Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State?

2.     To what extent does online payment service affect Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State?

3.     To what extent does Forums affect Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State?

4.     To what extent does Instant Messaging affect Sales performance of money deposit Banks in Rivers State?

Research hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated for the guidance and advancement of the research study:

H0: There is no significant impact Between Email and Sales Growth in money deposit banks.

H1: There is significant impact Between Email and profit  in money deposit banks.

H0: There is no significant impact Between Online Payment Services and Sales Growth in money deposit banks.

H1: There is no significant impact Between Online Payment Services and Profit in money deposit banks.

H0: There is no significant impact Between Forums and Sales Growth in money deposit banks.

H1: There is no significant impact Between Forums and Profit in money deposit banks.

H0: There is no significant impact Between Instant Messaging and Sales Growth in money deposit banks.

H1 : There is no significant impact Between Instant Messaging and Profit in money deposit banks.

Significance of the study

The findings from this study will help to highlight how online communication is very important in improving the sales performance of money deposit banks. It would also address those areas where there are problems with the use of online communications and how it will be of great benefit to the money deposit banks and their customers.

The results of this study would hopefully be significant in the sense that it would enable the management of money deposit banks to better understand how the use of online communication channels could be harnessed to improve and sustain sales performance.

Scope of the study

This research work is on online communications and sales performance of money deposit banks in Port Harcourt. This study will be limited to selected money deposit banks in Port Harcourt.

Definition of terms

Online Communication:These are numerous ways people communicate with each other over the Internet, including e-mail, instant messaging, feedback on blogs, contact forms on Web sites, industry forums, chat rooms and social networking sites.

Sales performance: Sales performance can indicate the rate of customer loyalty to the business or a specific employee
Sales growth: The increase in sales over a specific period of time, often but not necessarily annually.

Profit: money that is made in a business, through investing, etc., after all the costs and expenses are paid : a financial gain

Money Deposit Banks:These are resident depository corporations and quasi-corporations which have liabilities in the form of deposits payable on demand, transferable by cheque or otherwise usable for making payments.