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Abstract:
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As of 1999. the state of Kerala has 3210 offices of scheduled
commercial banks (SCBS). In all, there are 48 commercial banks
operating in Kerala, which includes PSBs, OPBs, NPBS. FBs, and
Gramin Banks. The urban areas give a complete picture of the
competition in the present day banking scenario with the presence
of all bank groups. Semi-urban areas of Kerala have 2196 and urban
areas have 593 as on March 1995.“ The study focuses on the
selected segments ofthe urban customers in Kerala which is capable
of giving the finer aspects of variation in customer behaviour in the
purchase of banking products and services. Considering the
exhaustive nature of such an exercise, all the districts in the state
have not been brought under the purview of the study. Instead. three
districts with largest volume of business in terms of deposits,
advances, and number of offices have been short listed as
representative regions for a focused study.
The study focuses on the retail customer segment and their
perceptions on the various products or services offered to them. Non
Resident Indians (NRIs), and Traders and Small—ScaIe Industries
segments have also been included in the study with a view to obtain
a comparative picture with respect to perception on customer
satisfaction and service quality dimensions and bank choice
behaviour. The research is hence confined to customer behaviour
and the implications for possible strategies for segmentation within
the retail segment customers |