Customer defection: a study of the student market in Ireland
Abstract
Relationship marketing stresses that relationships, and not just transactions, should be the focus of marketing strategy. Part of the rationale for this lies in retention economics which are thought to be particularly powerful. Recent literature suggests that reduction of the defection rate can increase profits far more than growth in market share, better margins and other factors usually associated with competitive advantage. This paper reports the findings of a detailed analysis into the defection rate of university student accounts from financial service organizations throughout Ireland. University students’ accounts are a particularly illustrative case study since, a priori, their lifetime value, in terms of future revenue streams, have the potential of being greater than that of many other customer types. This paper then discusses defection issues and then presents evidence from the survey. Finally, the policy and strategic implications are examined.
Keywords
Citation
Colgate, M., Stewart, K. and Kinsella, R. (1996), "Customer defection: a study of the student market in Ireland", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 23-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/02652329610113144
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1996, MCB UP Limited