Purpose The increasing number of banks in the Ghanaian banking industry has brought about intense competition in the industry. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to examine the factors that influence retail banking customers’ loyalty intentions. Design/methodology/approach In order to validate the proposed research model, the study adopts a survey design. Data were collected from 565 customers of the top performing banks in terms of customer deposits. Data analysis employed the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) using SmartPLS version 3. Findings Results from the PLS–SEM analysis indicated that satisfaction, service quality and trust had significant effect on loyalty, with satisfaction having the most significant effect. Interestingly corporate image was found to have a significant effect on both satisfaction and trust but not on loyalty. In all, the proposed model accounted for 63.3 percent of the variation in loyalty. Research limitations/implications The current study samples customers from only the top performing banks in Ghana. The use of cross-sectional data makes it impossible to study how customers’ perceptions change over time. Results from this study could, however, help managers of banks in designing strategies aimed at improving customer loyalty in order to consolidate their market share. Originality/value This paper adds to existing works that focus on loyalty in the retail banking sector, especially from the context of a developing economy. The study draws attention to the interrelationship among service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, image, trust and loyalty.

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The debate concerning the importance of adopting a market orientation in collaboration with market positioning strategies has gone on for years. Nevertheless, on their own, market orientation and market positioning do not guarantee profitable firm performance unless marketers employ and integrate both on a long-term basis. Achieving this synergy is somewhat problematic owing to focus on short-term operational exigency, as well as the lack of research identifying the relationship between the two concepts. This review fills the gap in the literature by answering two questions: What is the relationship between firm market orientation capability and firm market positioning strategies? How does this relationship impact the performance of organisations? The article sheds light on these issues and contributes to the debate by proposing relationships between positioning strategy and market orientation. Furthermore, the researchers propose how positioning mediates the relationship between market orientation and business benefits.

In spite of its acknowledged importance for the success of the organization, there is little evidence of studies into positioning in sub‐Saharan Africa. This research presents the results of an empirically based study that employed a mixed method of qualitative in‐depth interviews of managers, and quantitative method of exploratory factor analysis to the data from consumers of services in Ghana. The resultant typology has three positioning strategies: service reliability, social responsibility, and branding. Organizations that adopt these positioning strategies are likely to benefit from the increasingly competitive Ghanaian service market. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to undertake a comparative examination of the media types used in projecting positioning strategies of service brands, and to establish whether there is evidence of congruence/fit between managerial decisions, adopted communications and target audience perceptions of positioning strategies of the brands. The relative congruence among intended, conveyed and perceived brand positions is an important research task. Also, how to ensure such synergy and minimize incongruence is an important research question both to theory and to practice. Design/methodology/approach – Following extensive review of the literature, triangulation research method (face-to-face long interviews, survey and content analysis) characterized this study. Findings – The findings reveal that overall parity between the three media (TV; newspaper; and pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and billboards) is evident in terms of failure to translate managerial decisions into corresponding positioning messages. The findings also show that fit or congruence between managerial decision and communicated message fails to deliver the desired message in 19 per cent of the observations. Further 23 per cent of the adopted strategies are neither present in communications nor perceived by the target audience. Irrespective of a positioning strategy being adopted or not, there is total congruence/fit between messages in newspapers and target audience’s perceptions, while the corresponding results for TV and other media are moderate. Moreover, channels for positioning offerings can be multifaceted and they do not strictly have to occur via communications. Only “brand name” positioning strategy demonstrates total fit, while “top of the range” shows high frequency of failure to translate managerial decisions into appropriate communication messages. Originality/value – This paper offers useful insights into the overall differences between the three media (TV; newspaper; and pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and billboards) in the positioning of service brands. The study is a step forward in the diagnosis of the congruence/fit or coherence in the positioning activities between managers, firm practices and consumers’ perceptions. Without this knowledge, executives may encounter difficulties and challenges in their efforts at establishing, maintaining or reframing market “positions” for their offerings.

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