Market Segmentation in the Banking Industry Based on Customers’ Expected Benefits: A Study of Shahr Bank

Nowadays, the analysis of customer behavior is necessary for active organizations in the field of banking which deal with many customers with different characteristics. In recent years, Shahr Bank of Iran has faced many problems because of poor customer-orientedness and customer services. Therefore, to solve the existing problem, the current study concentrated on segmenting the customers of Shahr Bank based on their expected benefits. This study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey research in terms of data collection and analysis. To achieve the research objectives, through field studies and exploratory interviews with customers and banking experts, 165 benefits were extracted. Then, using expert questionnaires, the number of these benefits was reduced, and through factor analysis, nine factors were identified as the most important expected benefits. Moreover, using cluster analysis, four customer segments were extracted, namely benefit-oriented, peace-oriented, interest-oriented, and moderate ones. Finally, a suitable marketing solution was provided to the bank consistent with the most important features of the segments. For bank managers, this paper provides an appropriate view to identify customers' preferencesas an important factor in customer-orientedness and bank profitability.