Why was the 1960s, and in particular the year 1964, crucial for progression in American society and the cause of the Civil Rights Movement?

Why was the 1960s, and in particular the year 1964, crucial for progression in American society and the cause of the Civil Rights Movement?

1. Introduction and Background

Customer loyalty can be defined as the adherence of customers to a company. Even if businesses make mistakes, loyal customers will not leave. The economy in the United Kingdom has been greatly affected by the recent economic recession and financial crisis. Changes in consumer preferences were observed, the income of families declined, and unemployment increased. After observing these changes, it is interesting to investigate whether customer loyalty has changed after the recession also. In particular, it is valid to explore customer loyalty within the context of the banking industry since the economic recession impacted greatly on it.

The term customer loyalty was widely researched in the 1990s but considerably fewer investigations were conducted in later periods. However, the present business environment is characterised by the increase in rivalry and globalisation (Cahill,2007:6).

Kincaid (2003:10) defines customer loyalty as “a consumer behaviour, built on positive experience and value, which leads to buying products, even when that may not appear to be the most rational decision” (Kincaid, 2003:10). Furthermore, the concept was later divided in to behaviouristic and neo-behaviouristic dimensions where the latter focuses more on the underlying causes of customer loyalty and attitudes of consumers (Peppers and Rogers, 2004:57). So, in the investigation of customer loyalty, it is valid to explore two fields: the behaviour of consumers and their intentions (Schweizer,2008:8). The problem of customer loyalty is important to investigate in the context of the banking industry because there are rather few empirical evidences available on the effect of recession on customer loyalty and even fewer on the effects of recession on customer loyalty in the banking sector. Hence, this research will provide an important contribution  to this area.

2. Aims and Objectives
The aim of the research is to find out the impact of economic recession on customer loyalty to banks in the UK. The following objectives are pursued:

• To discuss the theoretical framework of customer loyalty;
• To discuss the changes in the financial sector after the recession;
• To assess customer satisfaction with the banks and their loyalty to them;
• Assess how customer loyalty patterns have changed in the post-crisis period and provide a forecast based on the trends identified;
• To make recommendations on how banks can improve customer loyalty.

The scope of the research is mainly focused on current accounts and the investigation will show to what extent the loyalty of consumers to their banks has changed since the economic recession.

3. Review of Literature

Research into customer loyalty during economic recession with implementation of primary data was conducted by Chung et al. (2011:14). Chung et al. (2011:14) have found out that changes in the economic environment have had a negative impact on customer loyalty in the context of the retail stores in China. They also found that many marketing strategies were implemented by retailers to increase customer loyalty. For instance, changes in the distribution channels were made. However, it is also valid to note that the researchers failed to provide practical recommendations to the companies on improving customer loyalty. However, it was only conducted in the context of the retail sector in China. They used both interviews and questionnaire methods of primary data collection. The conclusions achieved by Chung et al. (2011: 14) appeared to be consistent with the previous investigation conducted by Uncles et al. (2003: 249). In both cases, the researchers agree that both external factors and individual factors affect customer loyalty.

Lee et al. (2011: 150) revealed that the number of ads published by banks was reduced during the economic recession. This was one of the reasons that allowed the researchers to conclude that advertising and customer loyalty were related. According to Lee et al., (2011: 150) companies use advertising to popularise the brand image, which in turn stimulates consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour then determines whether customers become loyal to the brand or not. However, it can be argued that the number of ads fell because the banks and other companies attempted to cut their expenses and remain profitable.

The main limitation of Chung’s et al. (2011: 14) and Lee’s et al., (2011: 150) studies is that the researchers were focused on the shift in customer loyalty during 2008-2009, while no attention was given to the post-crisis period. This limitation was overcome by Bennett and Kottasz (2012:128) who established the antecedents of changes in public attitudes towards financial services institutions following the r