Spring 2007 Research Issues

New Research Highlights
Key Financial Trends & Competitive Update
Market Segmentation
Delivery Channels
Online Banking
Checking Accounts
Deposit and Investment Services
Loan and Mortgage Products
Small Business

• What is the best way to allocate media dollars to attract potential business?

• What is the relationship between satisfaction, likelihood to recommend and actual recommendation?

• Do national or statewide quality ratings for financial services affect purchasing decisions?

• Who participates in a rewards program and how has it changed their account behavior?

• Is an expedited bill paying service a fee-generating possibility?

• To what level do “strings” attached to premiums prevent account acquisition?

• What would the deposit product of choice be for consumers with $10,000?

• Which Internet site should your organization advertise on?

SPSG sets the stage by reviewing key economic statistics affecting the marketing of financial services.  Competitive information concerning the most recent marketing strategies and tactics being employed nationally will be examined.  Following this introduction, consumer responses to questions in the following areas will be explored. 

• How do deposit, loan and investment product usage and product balances differ among RFG’s eleven mutually exclusive consumer segments?  What is the current product demand among these segments? 

• Which segments are the best targets for individual products? 

• What is the appropriate marketing message for three key lifestyle segments: loyalty conscious, price conscious and technology conscious?  How can we use their financial profiles to better target their needs? 

• What value propositions are best suited for differing lifestyle segments?

• Which type of media do consumers use to gather financial product information and how do they rate the importance of each?

• How are consumer channel preference patterns and usage frequency changing? 

• What is the relationship between consumer satisfaction with their PFI, their likelihood to recommend it to another and actually having done so?

• What type of financial institution did consumers most recommend and what prompted the recommendation?

• What level of influence do national or statewide quality ratings (like J. D. Power, Consumer Reports, etc.) have on consumers?  Are consumers aware of, and have they been influenced by such ratings assigned specifically to a financial institution?  How helpful do consumers find these quality ratings?

• Do consumers have a channel preference that differs by the type of product they are purchasing?

• What is the consumer reaction to keep-the-change-type programs?

• What type of rewards programs are consumers currently involved in (account specific or enterprise-wide), and has participation altered their product usage?

• In a world of tradeoffs, when choosing a new deposit account comparing different combinations of attributes, what relative values do consumers place on Balance Requirements (none to high dollar amount), Interest Rate (3.5% to 5.0%), Check Access (none to unlimited), and FDIC Insurance (insured to uninsured)?

• Which Internet only savings account providers do consumers use?  Do consumers have more than a single-service relationship with these providers? 

• What is the competitive interest rate that would cause consumers to move their savings from a traditional financial institution to an Internet only bank? 

• What is the interest rate differential that caused consumers to move their CDs to another institution? 

• If consumers received $10,000 today, what would they do with the majority of the money?  If they had $10,000 to save or invest today, what financial product would they choose for the majority of those funds?

• In the next two years, how prevalent will retirement plan payouts be?  What type of institution do these consumers plan to roll their retirement funds into?  Do they currently have other accounts there?

• Do consumer PFI’s offer insurance products?  What type of insurance products have consumers purchased from their PFI?  What insurance products would they consider purchasing from their PFI?

• What transaction channels do consumers normally use when purchasing insurance products?

• What percent of a consumer’s monthly household income is typically consumed by a mortgage payment?  What affect do consumers feel a rising interest rate environment would have on their ARM in the next year? 

• In the current interest rate environment, what type of equity lending product do consumers prefer most?

• What loan/line product features are consumers looking for when choosing a lending institution for an equity product and what features do equity product owners currently have on their equity product?

• What is the interest level among consumers in a reverse mortgage (for themselves or for parents/relatives)?  If used, how would consumers be likely to use the funds received from reverse mortgage payouts? 

• What business products and services do small business banking customers use?

• What is the current demand for deposit, loan and investment products among small business segments?