Integrated Marketing Communication on Consumers Buying Decision in Commercial Banks, Nairobi County (Central Business District), Kenya

Abstract

The objective of the study was to establish the relationship between integrated marketing communications on Consumer Buying decision in commercial banks, Nairobi County (CBD) in Kenya. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is an integral factor in the success of any organization due to its great versatility to integrate and coordinate all the promotional tools. The objective of the study was to determine the IMC practices (direct marketing, personal selling, Social media marketing, advertisement, sales promotion and public relations used by commercial banks in Nairobi (CBD) in Kenya, on Consumer Buying decision. The target population was retail customers in selected commercial banks in Nairobi, CBD Kenya. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed to 383 retail customers of the commercial banks in Nairobi county CBD out of which 310 was returned representing a total of 80.9% response rate. Data was analyzed through descriptive correlation and regression analysis with the help of SPSS version 22.0. The descriptive analysis were presented through frequencies, and percentages. From the pilot test results, the study found that the instrument was valid and reliable since the Cronbach’s Alpha test for all structural variables were more than the recommended threshold of 0.7 whereas sampling adequacy was above 0.5. Significance was tested at 5 percent level. Most pairs of variables were moderately correlated. From the linear regression analysis, the study revealed that advertising, public relation and sales promotion significantly increased consumer buying decision respectively. Also, the study revealed that personal selling, direct marketing and social media marketing would increase the consumer buying decision significantly .It is clear therefore that integrated marketing communication plays an important role in developing sales and market share. Similarly other integrated marketing communication measure could be considered for inclusivity .The study could also consider looking into other determinant and players in the market like; commercial banks employees, organization performance, Government regulations, competitor influence, suppliers and service providers that widen the scopes of the study. Based on the findings, the study recommends for adoption and implementation of any of the integrated marketing communication channel by commercial banks in order to influence consumer buying decision in Kenya.