MANAGEMENT DISSERTATION PROPOSAL PROFORMA

1. Aim, objectives and feasibility of the dissertation
Retail is the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retail Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. Segmentation is the process of defining and subdividing a large market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, demand characteristics or buying behaviour. These identifiable segments could include Demographic, Geographic, Psychographic, and Behavioral divisions. Pickton and Broderick (2005 p.373) stated that in every market there are various kinds of individuals with different kinds of needs and expectations.
Segmentation helps an organization to sell the right value and address customer needs and not a one shoe fits all solution. Firstly product differentiation as segmentation enables the deployment of the appropriate solution based on the need, Secondly, appropriate pricing allows you to serve each segment at a price level its members can afford, Thirdly, sales promotion and campaigns lets you target members of each group regarding what is important to them, and the objective is to focus your promotional initiatives on those themes and issues Fourthly, Sales Channels as segmentation lets you decide how to offer a product or service to each group of consumers for maximum convenience. Lastly it also allows you to spot opportunities and threat as the market is rarely static: for instance, when customers become more affluent, they would seek new experience and develop new values which would see new segments.

Nigeria is a country with a population of more than 180 million people, there are about 22 commercial banks in Nigeria currently licensed, Chigozie (2006). The top 10 banks in Nigeria have a total assets base of about US$90 billion based on aggregate from the various banks financials the nation’s banks are operating in a very competitive space at the moment. The convenience of a bank’s services has become one of the keys to its success. As banking services became ubiquitous and customers more sophisticated, convenience either via branches or other alternate channels remained at the heart of customer interactions.
Nigeria has been plagued with the financial decline and challenges that have played a substantial role in the deterioration of native trust in banking institutions. To date customers demand more than diverse products and product mixes; they seek excellent customer service and pleasant experiences that excel their expectations and concurrently add value. For this reason the importance of forming effective strategies to attract customers has been presented. In the United States the banking industry has blossomed and flourished by focusing on behavioral aspects of its consumers.
EY (2014) reports customer treatment is the primary reason for selecting and remaining loyal customers to banking establishments, and the second significant motivator for customers is the rapport that they build with their financial providers. The third reason is economic solidity. Purchaser familiarity, suitability, costs, levies, and banking sites are also motives for forming and terminating accounts. On the other hand, tactical corporations can contribute and develop a niche, and creative tools to determine realistic concepts and elevate the banking marketplace.
First Bank Nigeria recently won the “The Best Retail Bank in Nigeria Award” at the 2016 Asian Banker Retail Services West African Awards and has sustained to lead the retail space with over 40% of the market share deposits while Union Bank won the Most Improved Bank in Retail Banking at the Business Day Banking Awards 2016. These two banks are among the dominant players in customer breakdown in the country when it comes to retail. We also have emerging companies such as Diamond Bank. However for the purpose of this research the scope would cover First Bank and Union Bank.
An extensive amount of research has been conducted that is relative to identifying the rationale behind market segmentation. On the other hand, limited research has been conducted that focuses on the unique cultural characteristics that contribute to customer decision making, customer loyalty, and bank selection. Aside from the products and services that are offered customer retention and customer loyalty are vital components that strongly influence market segmentation for banks in Nigeria. American banking institutions conduct telephone surveys, and customer satisfaction surveys to identify methods that effectively gain more customers (Onaolapo, Salami and Oyedokun, 2011). Nigerian banks have cultural differences such as diverse beliefs and practices pertaining to financial upkeep. Other differences that are presented in research when comparing segmentation practices of American and Nigerian banking institutions is the mistrust in banking facility. For this reason it is necessary to research customer loyalty and decision making based on customer preference.
Aim of Research:
The aim of this research will be to evaluate how demographics and customer satisfaction differs in the Nigerian and U.S bank sectors. It has been argued that for segmentation to offer any real effectiveness, a link must be found between benefits and general observable characteristics, such as demographics, customer loyalty, and customer decisions. To ascertain whether such a link exists, a primary study of individuals will be collected in Nigeria and United States of America banking institutions to understand the potential for changes in the product to gain more customers.
My Research Questions would be as follows:
What are the benefits that arise from customer loyalty, and buying behavior when comparing Nigerian and United States customer preferences?
Where have Nigerian banks looked to distinguish their service offering to meet certain demographics?
What factors have supported the banking industry in Nigeria?
The sample population for this qualitative study will include five different types of customers with varied characteristics. The principal group will be customers between the ages of 18-30 who frequently use the internet and focus on convenience and time. The subsequent group consists of customers from the northern part of Nigeria because of the culture and beliefs contributes to unfavorable views of bank products. The third group will be motivated entrepreneurs of successful small businesses. The fourth group would be customers above age 60 this group of customers are former captains of industries who have retired; their main concerns would be to see how their pensions and investments grow. The fifth group with be low-income customers.
The reasons for these groups are generally because each of these groups has different needs and would most likely respond in a similar way to a particular product or service.
Feasibility
The scope would cover mainly random branches of the selected banks will serve as the focal point for the distribution of questionnaire which will be distributed to customers of the selected Nigeria banks. Data will be collected using quantitative method will be generated through questionnaires, conducted in these companies.
Initial permission has already been sort from the Retail Bank Heads of these companies with the in-depth explanation of the fruitful outcomes of the research. The data source for my research study highlighted below:
For each bank, I am hoping to get 100 respondents who would come to a total of 200 respondents.
I would also make allowance for scenarios where I have incomplete data and make a 10% provision for such so that I may end up with 180 participants providing the information for the quantitative analysis. I also intend to use Google Form, which is free, for some customer type, as it will provide me the data in Ms. Excel that reduces my time for data entry. Another benefit is that Ms. Excel’s file is accepted by IBM SPSS software which will be used for statistical analysis
2. Literature review
According to Kotler and Keller, (2009), market segments can be divided either by considering what the target customers prefer which either can be homogeneous diffused. They further added that homogenous preferences are used to define customers that have the similar characteristic and wants diffused preferences is used for target customers whose expectations differ. Pickton and Broderick, (2005) added that customers could be segmented based on the demographics, preferences, behaviours, wants, geography and social-cultural.
Kotler and Armstrong (2005) noted that market segmentation has to do with breaking down a total market into a smaller part that, with each target part, encompasses individuals with a similar requirement, needs and characteristics so that a particular types products or marketing mixes is generated for that specific segment.
According to Barrie and Furnham, (1992). Market segmentation is a very important element of modern marketing because it ensures that markets are broken down into different groups or segment using some factors like, demographic, geographic, psychological and behavioral factors to classify customers. They insist that this method enables organisations to focus more on their target customers by ensuring that they also have a positive customer experience in their dealings with the banks.
There are different methods of segmenting a particular market such as Demographic segmentation, behavioral segmentation, Age and life-cycle segmentation Kotler and Armstrong (2005), Gender segmentation, Income segmentation, Generation segmentation and Social Class segmentation Kotler and Keller, (2009),
Kotler and Armstrong (2005 p. 187) noted that demographic segmentation divides customers based on age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, social class and nationality and this is very popular among marketers as this characteristic makes segmentation of customers to be very easy. Barrie and Furnham, (1992 p.9) added that each of the demography variables is critical when breaking down a total market into smaller subunit.
Kotler and Armstrong (2005 p. 188) added that age and life cycle segmentation is another way of segmenting the overall market as most people believe that the requirements of customers differ with age. Barrie and Furnham, (1992 p.11) also pointed out that customers behaviour also affect age and life-cycle segmentation.
Geographic segmentation break-up customers into nations, states, regions, counties, cities or neighborhoods. Pickton and Broderick, (2005 p. 376) added that using this method to segment customers can be very dicey as information relating to geography can change at any time.
Tsoukatos and Rand (2006) opined that the best way for banks to satisfy their target company through market segmentation is by ensuring that the needs of these target customers are met and exceeded at all time. According to SAS (2015), customer experience can be said to be the experiences of a customer (whether positive or negative) in the cause of transacting business with an organization and this experiences may be a customer’s attraction, awareness, discovery, cultivation, advocacy and purchase and use of a service which is measured by the individual’s experience at all points of contact against the individual’s expectations. Thompson and Kolsky (2004) argued that for an organization/bank to be able to succeed in its segmentation, it must ensure that customer experiences are adequately taken care of.
Ateboh-Briggs(2014) indicated that the customer segmentation, economic conditions, and the credibility of the bank are key factors that play a substantial role in influencing customer buying decisions and customer experience. When compared to the customer segmentation and customer experience in United States of America retail banking market the techniques and strategies that are implemented is a secure cashless payment system that is based on electronic transactions. Customers reported that a heavy influence on customer buying decision was related to the bank’s security and financial transaction methods(Adeniyi & Olutayo, 2015). Differences in business conduct, transaction capabilities, and security are three segmentation areas that require more.exploratative.efforts. Limited research has been conducted.to decipher the differences between Nigeria bank customer segmentation and preferences, compared to the customer loyalty and banking decision in the United States of America.
3. Research methodology and methods
The theory that will be used in this study is the positivist theory. Positivism assumes that reality exists independent of the thing being studied. Macionis and Gerber (1999) believed that positivism has some philosophical backings to it since it relates to natural events and occurrences that happens and everything related to it. The reason why the researcher will employ the use of Positivism approach is that according to Sada and Maldonado (2007) the theory contains concrete information which contains valid truth.
Also, the philosophy of positivism argued that reality exists external to the researcher and must be investigated through the rigorous process of scientific inquiry. Urquhart-Yilmaz, (2008) was of the opinion that the theory of positivism could be described as a research strategy and approach, this was also reiterated by Bala and Venkatesh, (2007 cited in Willcocks,Sauer and Lacity 2015) are of the view They also believe that the theory of positivism is in line with the principle of ontology because they are concerned with the ideas, values and beliefs associated with investigation.
The survey research design will be used in this study. The primary research would be gathered through the utilization of the research instrument (which is a questionnaire). Questionnaires will be used to collect primary data, while journals, articles and textbooks will serve as secondary sources of information. Questionnaires are doubtless one of the primary sources of obtaining data in any research endeavour. Richards and Schmidt (2002 cited in Shen, 2008) noted that the most important factor that the researcher should consider when drafting a research instrument is to ensure that the questions in the research instrument/ questionnaire are all “valid, reliable and unambiguous”.
The methodology would involve the use of quantitative analysis. Quantitative research provides a measure of how many people think, feel or behave in a certain way and uses statistical analysis to determine the results. Asika (1991) outlined a population is made up of all the conceivable elements, subjects or observations relating to a particular phenomenon of interest to the researcher. A survey population is defined as an aggregate of elements from which the sample is selected. Dixon-Ogbechi (2002) believes samples are usually drawn for easy examination of the characteristics of the population so that the researcher doesn’t spend unnecessary time with having to study the entire population.
After the questionnaire has been collected from the respondents, regression and Pearson moment correlation will be used in testing the hypotheses to verify whether there is a relationship between the dependent and independent variable.
Timing Milepost
Milestone Description Due Date Remark
1 Stage 1:Area of interest identified 2 Stage 2:Specific topic selected 3 Stage 3: Topic refined to develop 4 Stage 4:dissertation proposal 31 Dec 2016 5 Stage 5:Collection of data and information 23 Jan 2017 6 Stage 6: Analysis and interpretation 23 Feb 2017 7 Stage 7: Writing up 23 June 2017 8 Stage 8: Final draft prepared—submission of dissertation 24 June 2017 9 Stage 9 : Final Deadline 9 months form Module start date 28th July 2017 References
Adeniyi, A. A. & Olutayo, S. O., 2015. Cashless Policy and Customers’ Satisfaction: A Study of. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 6(2), pp. 37-47.
Asika,N. (1991)’ Research Methodology in the Behavioral Sciences, Longman Publisher Ibadan, Nigeria. 39-40. – Open Access Library. [Online] Available from: http://www.oalib.com/references/15058712 (Accessed: 23 Nov. 2016).
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Ateboh-Briggs, P. B., 2016. Market Segmentation and Customer Loyalty in Deposit Banks in. European Journal of Business and Management , 6(16), pp. 116-123.

Barrie,G & Furnham, A (1992) Consumer profiles : An introduction to psychographics Routledge, London.
Dixon-Ogbechi, B (2002). Research Methods and elementary statistics in Practice. Lagos: Phil Glad Publishers
Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2005) Marketing: An Introduction. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2009). Marketing management. 13th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Macionis, J. & Gerber, L. (1999). Sociology. Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon Canada.
Onaolapo, A., Salami, A. and Oyedokun, A. (2011). Marketing Segmentation Practices and Performance of Nigerian Commerical Banks. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences Issue, [online] (29), pp.33-40. Available at: http://www.dyane.net/linked/5.1%20Marketing%20Segmentation%20Practices.pdf [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Pickton, D. & Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated marketing communications. 2nd ed. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.
Sada, A. N., & Maldonado, A. (2007) Research Methods in Education. Sixth Edition- Louis C, Lawrence M and Keith M. (eds.) 55 (4), 469-470. [Online] Available from: doi:10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.00388_4.x (Accessed 23 Nov. 2016)
SAS. (2015). SAS Annual Report 2014/2015 – SAS. [Online] Available at: http://www.sasgroup.net/en/sas-annual-report-20142015/ (Accessed 23 Nov. 2016)
Scheffler, R.et al. (2007). The Global Market for ADHD Medications Health Affairs, Vol 26, no.2 pg 450-457 [Online]. Available from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/26/2/450 (Accessed 23 Nov. 2016)
Shen, M. (2008) EFL learners’ responses to extensive reading: survey and pedagogical applications .The Reading Matrix 8(2) [Online]. Available from: http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/shen/article.pdf (Accessed 12 Nov. 2016)
Sun,S (2009) ‘’An Analysis on the Conditions and Methods of Market Segmentation’’, International Journal of Business and Management 4(2) [Online]. Available from: www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/article/download/494/448 (Accessed 13 Nov. 2016)
Thompson, E. & Kolsky, E (2004) “How to Approach Customer Experience Management”. Gartner.com [Online]. Available from: https://www.gartner.com/doc/466017/approach-customer-experience-management (Accessed 20 Nov. 2016)
Tsoukatos,E. & Rand, G.(2006). Path analysis of perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty in Greek insurance. Managing Service Quality, 16,(5), pp.501-519. [Online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520610686746 (Accessed 12 Nov. 2016)
Urquhart-Yilmaz, M. (2008). Maternal role in the development of self-awareness in early infancy. Paper presented at the BPS Scottish Branch Conference, Clydebank. (Accessed 12 Nov. 2016)
Union Bank Internal Survey (2015)
Willcocks, L., Sauer, C. and Lacity, M. (2015). Formulating research methods for information systems. 1st ed. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. (Accessed 12 Nov.