Factors Affecting Oral Promotion in Banking Industry

Because of undeniable importance of oral or word of mouth promotion in marketing، especially in financial services، studying the underlying factors affecting it، is necessary. The main purpose of the present research is studying effective antecedents of oral promotion in banking industry. Methodologically، this research is an applied and causal survey. In order to investigate the relationship among various components of the research model، structural equation modeling was used. The population consists of private banks’ customers in the city of Arak in 2011. For data gathering purposes، 425 questionnaires were distributed، but only 386 questionnaires were returned for analysis. Meanwhile، construct validity and factor analysis were applied. Except for the hypothesis regarding the impact of trust on oral promotion، four other hypotheses were supported. Theresultsofthestudyindicatethatthedimensionsofrelationship quality consisting of satisfaction، commitment and trust directly affect persuading customers into oral promotion; however، shared values have an indirect relationship with oral promotion through bank customers.