IMPACT OF EFFECTIVE PUBLIC RELATIONS IN MARKETING EXPANSION OF BANKING SERVICES IN ENUGU METROPOLIS (A CASE STUDY OF ALL STATES TRUST BANK PLC)

ABSTRACT  The study focuses on the impact of effective public relations practice in the marketing expansion of banking services in Enugu metropolis. a case study of All State Trust Bank Plc operating in Enugu state. It aims at identifying the areas of potential problems in order to enable corrective measures to be taken. Although All States Trust Bank plc maintains a corporate affairs department that performs public relation functions, yet the management is not happy because the bank does not have good image, in the opinion of it’s customers.  It was based on this that the research decided to embark on the present study, with the following objectives in mind;  i)To determine whether All State Trust Bank considers as important the public relations policy of the organisation as strategic.  ii)To determine whether All States Trust Bank plc communicates effectively major policy issues to its publics.  iii)To ascertain and discuss whether public relations activities of the bank has any significant impact on the existence, growth, profitability and survival of the bank.  iv)To make appropriate recommendations based on the findings.  Both primary and secondary data were used. Some high – ranking executives of the bank were interviewed. The information gathered from the were quite helpful in pursuing certain areas of inquiry and which later formed the basis for construction of the questionnaire and the formulation of hypothesis.  The questionnaires was meant for two categories of respondents as follows: the staff and management of All States Trust Bank, the customers of the bank. The questionnaire was structured to contain both the multiple choices and the open – ended questions.  Major findings of the study were:  a)The management of All States Trust Bank does not considers as strategic the impact of public relations on its customers.  b)There is no effective communication between All States Trust Bank and its customers.  c)The public relations department of All States Trust Bank is not adequately funded.  d)The company does not meet the expectation of its customers in services delivery.  Base on the findings the following recommendations were made  i)The management should consider the public relations practice of the bank as a strategic decision.  ii)The public relations departments should be adequately funded.  iii)The bank should organized on regular basis customers forum/meeting so as to meet the expectation of the customers.  The study occludes that effective public relations is a necessary ingredient for the survival and continued relevance of an organisation.     
  TABLE OF CONTENT  Title Page II Approval page III Dedication IV Acknowledgement V Abstracts VI Table of content IX
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION  1.1Background of the study 1 1.2Statement of problem5 1.3Objectives of the study 7 1.4Significance of the study 8 1.5Formulation of hypothesis 9 1.6Scope of the study 10 1.7Limitations of the study  10
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW  2.1Introduction 12 2.2Historical background and definition of public relations 13 2.3Public relations function and business expansion 27 2.4Public relations as a marketing tool 36 2.5The public relations in banking operations 38 2.6Factors that influence the functions of public relation department in banking operations. 41 2.7The implication of public relations in all States Trust Bank. 42
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  Research design 45 Area of study 46 Population of the study 46 Sample size and sampling procedure 46 Sources of data collection and instrumentation 47 Validation and reliability of instrument 50 Method of data analysis 51
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS OF DATA AND TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS  4.1Introduction 4.2Analysis of data  4.3Discussion of results 
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDING, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION  5.1 Summary of findings 90 5.2 Recommendation 92 5.3 Conclusion 93  Bibliography 94 Appendix 96