A dissertation Submitted to Mzumbe University School of Business as a Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Master of Business Administration
Degree (MBA-Corporate Management) of Mzumbe University
This study presents the most important factors influencing customers in respect of
selecting a bank by customer in Tanga City council in Tanga Tanzania. In particular, it
finds those criteria, which have become significantly important in motivating the choice.
There are more than five banks in Tanga which offer different services to the people of
Tanga. These banks have and continue to rely on the attrition of customers from other
existing banks and also sourcing for new ones in the market. This calls for a need to
improve customer retention techniques by establishing the factors that influence a
consumer choice of bank in the banks to avoid the existing customers from switching
to competition.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this study, responses given by
200 customers in Tanga City from different occupation (students, other employees, bank
staffs and businessmen), was employed in the analysis. A non probability convenience
sampling was used and data was factor analyzed to reduce the total variables in to
manageable way.
The Questionnaire was piloted so as to improve its validity. The collected data was
coded and analyzed by the aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientists and
Microsoft excels computer software and presented in tables and a narrative summary.
From the findings, consumer choice of a bank is very highly affected by economic
factors. The amount of income of an individual determines the amount he or she has
to save in a bank. Age and lifecycle stage, role and status and social class have a high
effect on consumer choice of a bank. Easy account opening procedures, operating
balance of an account and the ATM efficiency/technology also has high effects on
consumer choice of a bank. Culture, sub culture, and group‟s influences consumer
choice of a bank with a low effect. Personality, lifestyle and family have a very low
effect on consumer choice of a bank