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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