Market Research Proposal, With questionnaire (NO PRIMARY DATA Essay

Market Research Proposal, With questionnaire (NO PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION REQUIRED) - Essay Example A survey by Ernst and Young conducted amongst 23 matured and emerging market that were negatively affected by the credit crunch suggested that the customers of UK are seen to have low level of confidence on the banking system. About 63% has reported that their trust on the UK banks has completely fallen, whereas about 36% were completely dissatisfied (Flower, 2012). As all the banks generally deal with similar, undifferentiated category of products, so quality of the service becomes a primary weapon for winning the competition. The banks that display an excellent service quality are supposed to have a distinct marketing edge in terms of improved cross-selling rates, elevated revenues, better customer retention capabilities (Bennett and Higgins, 1988) and prolonged market share (Brown and Hedges, 1993). As defined by Ghobadian, Speller and Jones (1994) quality signifies how well the organizations cater to the requirement of the customers. The definition given by Deming (1986), Ishikaw a (1985), Feigenbaum (1986), and Juran et al. (1974) also fall under the same category. This approach suggests that the organization should first understand and determine the requirements of the customers and then meet unto them. The service quality can only be judged either during or after the consumption is made (Audhesh et al., 2005). The performance of the service provider is the primary source of value creation for the service that is signified as the service quality. It may be very trivial service performance by the service provider but is likely to create a huge impact on the perception of the customers about the service quality of the provider. Barclays Plc, one of the major banks of United Kingdom (UK) has been involved in the scandal of mis-selling of PPI due to which they had to pay huge compensation to the customers (PPI Claim Company, n.d.; BBC News, 2011). Lloyds Banking Group has also suffered problems with the Faster Payments System that is responsible for transferri ng of funds in and out of the accounts of the customers. This problem has given rise to a knock-on effect on the customers of the bank (BBC News, 2013a; Winch, 2013). Earlier in the year 2012 due to system failure the customer of Lloyds using TSB debit cards, online banking and ATM have also faced problem (BBC news, 2012b; Salmon, 2012). Same is the case with NatWest whose customers have also faced problems with online banking, cash withdrawal etc (BBC News, 2013b; Bachelor, 2013; Farrow, 2012). HSBC of UK has also reported the same problems in the year 2011 and 2012 (BBC News, 2012a; Rojas, 2012; Osborne and Bachelor, 2011). This situation has given rise to a growing concern for all these four banks that are eager to know what the expectations of their customers are. Thus the current study tries to find an answer to this question. Objectives The main objective of the research is to understand the perception of the customers towards banks as well as gaining knowledge about the wants of the customers. In this context the closely done study on the current status of the banking organizations suggests that the financial crisis as well as the recent