The Impact of Branding on Customers’ Attitudes toward Banking Services (The Case of Iran’s Melli Bank)

Abstract

The aim of applying branding is to differentiate a product or service from others and creating a unique brand image of a certain product or service in the minds of target market. Furthermore, customers’ attitudes have been shown to influence and predict behavior. This research integrates consumer-based brand equity and the theory of planned behavior in evaluating the performance of Iran’s Melli bank in branding and measures the impact of branding on customers’ attitudes. A field survey was conducted on Iran’s Melli bank in Isfahan, the biggest national bank in Iran. Data are collected and analyzed from 314 prospective customers. Findings indicate that Iran’s Melli bank has performed unsatisfactorily in presenting a desired image to the target market. As a result, Melli bank needs to strengthen its brand loyalty by improving its quality of banking services and marketing communications. Key words: Branding; Brand equity; Attitude; Banking services; Iran