Organizational positioning in retail financial services

Abstract

The establishment of an effective competitive position is a key stage in any marketing strategy. Typically, positioning is examined in relation to products and their features, but, in financial services, the nature of the products are such that organizational positioning is of much greater importance than product positioning. Current positioning strategies in the retailing of financial services are examined from the customer perspective and the results suggest that despite the disappearance of the traditional distinctions between banks and building societies, consumers still tend to see the two institutional types as occupying distinct competitive positions.