Most banking products do not lend themselves readily to trial.
Most banking products do not lend themselves readily to trial. It is not possible to try small sizes of a bank product or service at reduced prices. Potential buyers instead are forced to go through a cognitive trial of the new product where they imagine how the new product/service will benefit them or help solve a problem. Since trial is typically cognitive, bank promotional efforts at this time should aim at helping them try the new product/service. Giving substance to an intangible product/service like credit or discount brokerage services is one way this can be done. This involves thinking past the basic functional aspects of the new product/service and considering it as a bundle of benefits purchased by the consumer. Consumers do not buy brokerage services through a bank, they buy future educations for their children, vacations, retirement security, and a number of other benefits. Usually the product/service is nothing but a vehicle for achieving these benefits.
Adoption
The final stage in the process is the actual adoption of the product. Adoption comes about after a successful trial of the new product/service. An unsuccessful trial may encourage the potential buyer to do more searching and thus result in business for your competitor. Again, this is more problematic for the banking industry than it is for many consumer goods industries whose products lend themselves to easy evaluation and trial. Regardless of the difficulty of arranging an actual trial, it is extremely important to the adoption decision. Ancillary services and personal relationships within the bank can make this adoption decision even less worrisome for the potential buyer.
There are several aspects about the adoption process that are worthy of mention. First, some people take longer to adopt a product than others, and these individual differences can keep a person in one stage of the process a relatively long time. The promotional efforts of the bank have a similar effect. For example, providing adequate information to potential buyers early on in the process can hasten progress through the awareness, interest, an evaluation stages. Insufficient promotional support targeted toward this objective will retard individual adoption.
A second factor is that the bank’s promotional plan must compensate for the nature of the new product. For example, if concept tests show the product to be lacking in relative advantage and/or compatibility, promotional efforts must provide the necessary support in this area. Failure to do so may retard progress through the awareness and interest stage of the process.
Each new product is different and will generally dictate different adoption challenges to the new product planner. Awareness of the process, couple with knowledge about the diffusion of innovations, product life cycles, and portfolio considerations discussed earlier can provide some valuable guidelines for maneuvering the new product through the difficulties of introduction.
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