Credit Suisse Consulting Project: Managerial Suggestions For Repositioning of The Academica Package

Analysis and suggestions for
repositioning of the “Academica”

package
Final Report
Supervisor: Prof. Filippo Carlo Wezel
Authors:
Bojic Amna
Huang Qingling
Matise Schubiger Daina
Nouri Meshkati Alireza
Zekiri Mensur
Executive Summary
Problem statement: the Academica package has been launched, but is not showing the
expected sales level in Ticino. This project aims at identifying the root causes of the
current unsatisfactory situation and making improvement recommendations of the
current market share.
The chosen methodology was designed to get an appropriate level of understanding of
the problem and designing relevant and applicable solutions. This was done by applying
the following tools: competition analysis with mystery shopping, exploratory interviews,
market size evaluation, questionnaire design and implementation, data analysis and
solution design based on the results of the obtained data.
The analysis of the results allowed us drawing the following conclusions:
 The primary problem is poor awareness of Academica in comparison to Credit
Suisse as such,
 The problem is not the product itself as it is among the best in class,
 The general attitude towards Credit Suisse is quite positive; presence in the
evoked set is rather good,
 Problem area is in taking clients’ needs and interests more into concern,
 Credit Suisse is not perceived as a bank for young people,
 Student segment is price sensitive.
To cover these areas of concern we have designed a set of managerial suggestions that
would help increasing the current market share in Ticino. The suggestions are based on
data and linked to theoretical frameworks. This implies the subdivision of suggestions
into three main groups; cognitive, affective and conative.
Cognitive group aims at making students aware and knowledgeable about Academica
thus we suggest that:
 The existing and future sponsorships to target group should mention the name of
Academica besides Credit Suisse.
Affective group of solutions aims at making students not only aware but also develop a
preference towards their product; hence we suggest to:
 Manage the presence on Social networks in an active way,
 Organize an event at USI/SUPSI with National soccer team player/s,
 Organize a campaign to all the high school graduates in Ticino,
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 Provide internal training program on the Academica package,
 Provide regular stage possibilities or/and field projects,
 Publish student testimonials on their positive experiences with Credit Suisse,
 Install “Academica scholarship” to best performing students,
 Do the sponsorship of Master Thesis binding.
Conative group aims at conviction and actual adoption of the product; hence we would
address it by:
 Friend brings a friend or referral,
 Help desk at University during the first week of the academic year,
 Material incentive to students that sign up for Academica.
We also suggest monitoring the above mentioned actions to identify the most effective
and efficient ones.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 2

1. Research Problem .............................................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Research phases ............................................................................................................................... 6
2. Methodology......................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1. Competition analysis and Mystery Shopping ....................................................................... 6
2.2. Exploratory research phase - Interviews with students.................................................. 7
2.3. Literature review ............................................................................................................................ 7
2.4. Questionnaire design ..................................................................................................................... 8
2.5. Sampling .......................................................................................................................................... 10
2.6. Implementation of questionnaire .......................................................................................... 10
2.7. Data analysis .................................................................................................................................. 11
3. Results.................................................................................................................................................. 11
3.1. Competition analysis .................................................................................................................. 12
3.2. Analysis of the competing product of main competitors ........................................ 12
3.3. Estimation of the target market size in Ticino ................................................................. 13
3.4. Exploratory interviews: description and results ............................................................. 14
3.5. Demographics................................................................................................................................ 14
3.6. Data analysis results ................................................................................................................... 15
4. Managerial implications; definition of possible strategic actions ................................ 19
4.1. Priority and cost estimate ........................................................................................................ 25
5. Limitations and suggestions ....................................................................................................... 25
6. Appendixes......................................................................................................................................... 27
6.1. Competition matrix ................................................................................................................ 27
6.2. Results from exploratory interviews............................................................................... 30
6.3. Target market size estimate outside Ticino.................................................................. 31
6.4. Demographics .......................................................................................................................... 32
6.5. Results tables............................................................................................................................ 39
6.6. Questionnaire (English version) ....................................................................................... 52
6.7. Content analysis of open ended questions.................................................................... 62
7. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 64
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1. Research Problem
This project aims at explaining the current situation in the segment of current accounts
for students. It particularly focuses on Academica account position within the market.
This product has been already launched and while in other areas of Switzerland it seems
to have gained a good market share, it is not so in Ticino. Our research therefore focuses
on understanding the current situation and the reasons behind it.
The strategic role of the Academica account is particularly important since potential new
customers in the students segment can be seen as a guarantee for regular increase of
customers in more profitable segments after end of the studies. This needs to be
supported by long term policies in the customer acquisition process. The role of
Academica within the overall offering framework can be illustrated in the chart 1 below.
The life cycle of a customer is of strategic relevance. Today’s students – not yet
necessarily profitable market area, are going to graduate and pass first to Academica
Plus and later on to other more profitable areas. Thus, the flow of customers from
Contact account to Academica has to be closely monitored. In addition, close monitoring
should be done to students of banks that have no follow up account for youths as in case
of Banca dello Stato.
The research problem thus focuses on how to improve the current market share and
provide a proposal of action plan that could help to gain the market share of Academica
in Ticino.
Chart 1 Offerings of Credit Suisse within the customer lifecycle framework
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1.1 Research phases
The phases of our field project were designed to tackle the research problem and
provide relevant solutions based on strong empirical findings. The table below
illustrates in a schematic way all the steps we went through. A more detailed explanation
is provided in each of the next sessions.
Chart 2 Project phases at glance
2. Methodology
2.1. Competition analysis and Mystery Shopping
This was the first tool used in order to benchmark the Academica product against other
competitors, as well as gather specific information on the content and features of the
Academica. We also aimed at identifying our direct competitors and the products
competing for market shares within the student’s segment. We acted as potential
customers at all the major banks in Lugano, collecting information about students’
offers, conditions and eligibility criteria to open an account, etc. Then the products were
compared using specific criteria. Mystery shopping resulted with a competitive matrix
(See Appendix 6.1. competition matrix), which is explained in details in the results
section. This tool helped us gaining good insights into the customer service offered by
different banks, considered a key factor in the overall evaluation of a service.
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2.2. Exploratory research phase - Interviews with students
The second tool which we used was exploratory interviews. Two sets of questions, for
Credit Suisse customers and non-customers were prepared. Both groups were asked
about the satisfaction level with their bank, why they chose that particular bank, how
they got to know about their current account and other options evaluated. We also
asked about the reasons for choosing their account as well as its advantages and
disadvantages. The purpose was to examine their satisfaction level, features considered
in choosing an account and to identify opinion leader in their decision making process.
Additional questions were asked to non CS customers to test their awareness about the
Academica, and how they got to know about it. Moreover, they were asked to describe
the ideal product for them that satisfy their needs. The aim of these exploratory
interviews was to identify the problematic patterns, as well as look for constructs which
we should further tackle and study during the second phase of the project.
2.3. Literature review
To tackle the problems identified in the stages of competition analysis and exploratory
interviews relevant papers addressing these issues were consulted. Our aim was to gain
a deeper level of understanding of the nature of the financial service products and find
applicable solutions to our case1.
At first, we thought of adopting the GLOVAL scale (Roig et al. 2006) used in the study of
“Customer perceived value in banking services”. This model was developed on the basis
of one of the most important scales – SERVQUAL, measuring the quality of service type of
goods (Parasuraman et al. 1988). However, finally we decided to adopt the most
relevant paper of our study as it met our research problem in a more precise manner,
namely the article “Western US college students: Banking preferences and marketplace
performance.“ conducted in United States of America by Pass (Pass, 2005). From this
1
We did select 34 relevant articles form scientific databases: Emerald Management Xtra, Isi Web of
Knowledge, Science Direct, Springer Link and Sage. 9 of the most relevant papers were used (Bibliography;
Articles) in our research and questionnaire design. The theoretical framework we designed concentrates
mostly on understanding the intangible and undifferentiated nature of the financial services (de
Chernatony, 2006) and searching for existing studies applicable to our case.
perce3ived perceived value in banking services” written by Roig (Roig et al. 2006). This model was
developed on the basis of one of the most important scales - SERVQUAL measuring the quality of service
type of goods (Parasuraman et al. 1988).
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study we selected the scales measuring the following constructs: Bank selection, Bank
switching, Customer service quality constructs of Empathy, Assurance and Tangibles.
We closely related the construct of Empathy to the affective stage of Lavidge-Steiner
model, which is particularly important for developing long term relationships. The
Lavidge-Steiner model, which we used to suggest the managerial actions was easily
applicable to our case to move the customers from the Cognitive through to Affective and
finally to Conative stages where the actual usage happens. The model (see the chart 3
below) suggests that if 90% are aware of the product, still only 5 % are going to adopt
the product. Therefore it is important to drive customers through all the three phases
from cognitive by raising the awareness and informing about the offering through
affective phase by creating positive attitude and preference to other products and finally
to conative phase by convincing to make positive decision and thus adopting the
product.
Chart 3. Lavidge-Steiner Model
2.4. Questionnaire design
The questionnaire was designed at measuring Bank characteristics such as bank account
ownership, awareness about banks and their offerings, bank selection and switching
mechanisms and the identity of Credit Suisse. Besides, we aimed at measuring Product
characteristics based on the Customer Service Quality dimension consisting of following
constructs: a) price, b) empathy, c) assurance and d) tangibles. We also included Product
Quality dimension that contains the importance of the product attributes and their
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respective usage rate. In addition, we included questions providing the information
about opinion leaders who are influencing the decision making process.
The sub-dimensions we aim at measuring are:
 Bank characteristics: we aim at understanding the degree of awareness, the
distribution of the market shares among competitors, as well as bank
selection and bank switching mechanisms.
 Product Quality dimension: examining how students rank different account
features and what their actual usage rate is. We aimed at identifying which
attributes of Academica match their needs and wants and what are the most
important characteristics a student account should have to suit their needs
and expectations.
 Price dimension: intends to understand how students’ perceive bank fees and
if they actively compare products when choosing an account and/or bank.
 Service Quality dimension:
 Empathy: here we aim at measuring the level of importance that students
put on the ability of a bank to focus on their needs and interests as well as
to what extent they perceive that their bank is giving them personal
attention and satisfying their needs. This construct is particularly
important for establishing and maintaining a long term relationship with
the customers.
 Assurance: here we want to measure the level of importance that students
put on the ability of a bank to establish a relationship based on trust, as
well as the extent to which their bank is actually reliable and trustworthy.
 Tangibles: here we want to measure how important for students are the
tangible aspects of a service (such as physical facilities offered by a bank
and the employees dress code), as well as how their own bank is
performing on those components.
To sum up, the aim of our questionnaire is to compare both students’ expectations and
performance of their banks in terms of Price and Service Quality (the latter encompasses
Empathy, Assurance and Tangibles constructs seen above), in particular to measure the
positive or negative gaps between the importance students assign to those dimensions
and their assessment of the actual performance of their bank. In other words, banks’
performance is compared to students’ expectations in each dimension and sub-
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dimensions: helpful in identifying gaps or areas of dissatisfaction, allowing us to focus on
the areas that would need further improvement.
2.5. Sampling
Based on the list of schools that Credit Suisse offers the Academica package, we
calculated the total number of students eligible for this account. The number is based on
precise statistics provided by each institution.
Based on the full-time students’ population accounting 5252 students, we decided to
interview a total sample of 153 students, reaching a confidence interval of 80%. To have
a representative sample, for each school we defined the minimum number of people to
be interviewed (see the Appendix 6.5, table 1), making sure that the distribution of the
students in our sample (Minimum Sample) corresponds exactly – in terms of
proportions/percentages – to the distribution of students in the population (namely Full
time students). This is the logic behind the allocation of the total sample of 153 students
to the various schools considered.
2.6. Implementation of questionnaire
Due to the intangible nature of the financial services we discarded the idea of the online
questionnaire and decided to conduct a face-to-face questionnaire (see the Appendix 6.6,
Questionnaire). In this way we could explain things which respondents did not
understand, clarify doubts, and give further instructions on how properly to fill the
questionnaire. As the questionnaire was slightly longer than expected, which usually
decreases the response rate, we decided to use a little incentive, a chocolate bar to
increase the response rate. Moreover, we did encourage the respondents to be as
objective and honest as possible in answering the questions as their concerns will be
taken into consideration and improve the product as well as the service to suit their
needs.
We managed to achieve the minimum sample which we assigned at the beginning,
though there were schools which we were not able to reach the appropriate number. In
our case, what matters most is to have a representative sample, a mix of students
randomly selected from different schools, origin, faculty, programme which we achieved
by any means. The table 2 (see the Appendix 6.5.) provides a clearer picture on the
effective sample according to the schools we aimed at covering before we started
implementing the questionnaire.
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2.7. Data analysis
Once we gathered 153 questionnaires, we did run a Statistical Analysis by using SPSS 18
software. The aim was to test and get results on the following:
- Gap testing for Empathy, Assurance and Tangibles. To this purpose we run a
Paired Sample T-Test within each bank students hold an account at. Once
importance and performance results were made (vertically) within each bank, a
second (horizontal) comparison between banks was conducted.
- Students’ stratification with products/services, according to: Geography,
Educational institution, Place of residence / origin, Bank account they hold.
- Validity and Reliability measures: Factor Analysis and both individual and overall
Cronbach’s Alpha.
Furthermore, we did run various tests by stratifying the sample in many different ways.
This allowed us to identify the most relevant areas of interest and differences among
strata that are included in the section of Results, data analysis.
3. Results
The results show that most of the students know about Credit Suisse, still the same
students are not aware that there is an account called Academica in their portfolio.
Findings reveal that UBS is market leader, mostly within the international group,
whereas among the local market PostFinance and Raiffeisen have the largest market
share. It is important to note here that Credit Suisse is largely participating in the
student’s evoked set; still there is lack of actual behavior.
Analyzing the identity, data reveal that Credit Suisse is not perceived as a bank for
youngsters, which is important in attracting this segment. On the dimension of
assurance and tangibles Credit Suisse together with the rest of the banks over perform.
However, on empathy the gap is quite high that should be seriously managed as this
dimension is important in order to build long term relationship, which is actually the
aim of the bank to retain the students to move to other beneficial accounts in the
lifecycle. The results are explained in detail in the following sections with actual tables
provided in the appendixes.
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3.1. Competition analysis
The segment of students is explicitly targeted by 3 major competitors and other minor
ones. The key players competing with Credit Suisse on Academica package are UBS, Post
Finance and Raiffeisen Bank, and they account for 39.7%、19.2% and 16.4% of the total
market shares respectively. Credit Suisse accounts for 13.7% of total market share.
3.2. Analysis of the competing product of main competitors
We have summarized the offerings of the major competitors in a detailed matrix

(Appendix 6.1. Competition matrix). The offering attributes are indicated with
corresponding values per each competitor.
In addition to the most important attributes such as interest rate and fees that are
frequently evaluated and compared (Krishnan, M., S., 1998) we summarized all the
technical attributes of the competing products as in some cases these can play an
important role in taking the final decision, for example the costs of cash withdraw
abroad or at other ATM’s.
Additionally, we included the ease of use of the web page, the proximity of the banks and
a brief evaluation of the personnel during our mystery shopping sessions. In order to
have a clearly structured comparison among the products, we frame the strengths and
weakness of the product of four major competitors summarized below.
Credit Suisse’s Academica with the major competitor UBS’s Campus.
Key strengths of Credit Suisse Academica Key strengths of UBS Campus:
Attractive interest rate – 1% Good interest rate 0.875%
Free account management Free account management
Free maestro and credit card Free maestro and credit card
Cash withdrawal flexibility Cash withdrawal flexibility
Kind service Strong word of mouth
Account opening gifts – cinema cards Attractive partnerships with special offers UBS
Key points
Well designed and clear web page Attractive and simple web page
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Weaknesses: no loyalty rewards, less attractive Weaknesses: to be identified
special offers
Less strong, but still very well performing competitors are Raiffeisen’s Student account
and Post Finance’s Student account.
Key strengths of PostFinance student account: Key strengths of Raiffeisen student account:
Attractive interest rate – 1.25% Very high interest rate 1.375%
Free account management Free account management
Free postcard and credit card Free maestro and credit card
Proximity Cash withdrawal flexibility
Kind service No upper age limitations
Bonus program on credit cards Attractive partnerships
Very clear web page Weaknesses: Account management linked to

the branch
Weaknesses: post card with limitations in cash No English version of the web page
withdrawal
In addition to these four key players we did analyze also the offerings of BPS, Banca
Popolare di Sondrio, C.I.M. Banque Lugano and moneynet.ch student accounts since all of
them target our group of interest explicitly.
A general result of the analysis can be that Credit Suisse has a good product for students,
only on some dimensions the competitors can over perform it as in case of interest rate
at Postfinance and Raiffeisen. However, we did not identify any major lacking attributes
or exceeding performance on any of them.
3.3. Estimation of the target market size in Ticino
Based upon the constraints of the list of schools that Credit Suisse provides for Academica
package we calculated the total of the full time students that can apply for this offering.
This number is based on precise statistics provided by each institution, excluding the
Libera Università degli Studi di Scienze Umane e Technologiche as they did not provide
any information even after several phone calls, emails and on site visit. The number is an
approximate assumption based on the information found on their website.
In addition, there is an important number of students from Ticino that are currently
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studying in other cantons of Switzerland and in Italy. The number includes only the
students studying in Switzerland omitting those studying abroad as the education
department keeps no records of them.
The total number of students from Ticino studying in other cantons during the academic
year 2009/10 is 4436 divided in the following way:
 3'661 in other Swiss Universities
 775 in other Swiss Professional Universities
For more details please see Appendix 6.3. Target market size estimate outside Ticino
based on the data of academic year 2008/09.
3.4. Exploratory interviews: description and results
Exploratory interviews were conducted with 36 students aged between 20 and 30

years, studying at Università della Svizzera Italiana. Besides Academica holders, we
interviewed some students having equivalent accounts from UBS, PostFinance,
Raiffeisen and BPS.
Results from interviews show that among non Credit Suisse customers 63% of them are
not aware of the Academica account and 17% had no answer, drawing a conclusion that
the main problem which didnt drive sales is lack of Product awareness.
The aggregated responses of both Credit Suisse customers and non-customer provide
evidence that the family influences most of students’ choices (36%) and another 31%
remarked the relevance of friends’ and other contacts’ advice in their decision making
process. Based on these results, word of mouth made by students’ friend, family or close
contacts seem to guide their purchasing behaviour. Please see the Appendix 6.2. Results
from exploratory interviews.
3.5. Demographics
Regarding the fact that the Academica account of Credit Suisse is meant only for students
of the age 18-30, all of the respondents fall within this range discarding those that were
not relevant.. In terms of gender, the biggest number of respondents was male,
consisting of 82 students making up 53.6% of the total number of respondents. Female
were 71 in number which is 46.4% of the total sample.
Out of 152, 128 (83.7%) of the students were residing in Ticino, including international
students that have a B permit, valid during their studies. The rest, 20 respondents
(13.1%) are residents of Italy, 3 (2%) from other Swiss cantons and 1 (0.7%) living
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abroad. In addition, considering the origin the picture is different, with Ticinesi making
up 67 or 43.8%, followed by 35 International students or 22.9 %. Next we had more
respondents originally coming from Italy 29 or 19.0% and the last group coming from
other Swiss cantons consisting of 21 students or 13.8%.
From the total number of 153 students, 79 or 51.6% are studying at USI, 40 students or
26.1% are studying at SUPSI and 11 (7.2%) are full time students at Franklin College.
The rest of the respondents belong to the smallest schools that contributed in small
numbers. Additionally, 88 (57.5%) students are studying for their Bachelor degree, 54
(35.3%) are master students and 10 (6.5%) students studying for a professional degree
which is lower in status compared to Bachelor and Masters. Majority of them study
Economics and Communication with 36 (23.5%) and 34 (22.2%) students respectively.
Informatics group consisted of 20 students or 13.1% of the total. Healthcare had 14
(9.2%), Architecture 12 (7.8%), Education Sciences and Social Support had 8 (5.2)
students each. The smallest number of students were studying Tourism and Music/
Theatre Arts with 7 (4.6%) and 6 (3.9%) students respectively.
In terms of income, 45 or 29.4 % of the students have regular incomes compared to 106
(69.3%) with no income. Those receiving regular income, 3 (6.8%) of them income
range is above 2000 CHF. 16 (36.4%) earn 1000 to 2000 CHF and the rest, 25 (56.8%)
have an income of less than 1000 CHF. Regarding expenditures, 105 (68.6%) of them
spend below 1500 CHF, 33 (21.6%) fall within the range of 1500-2500 CHF and only 2
(1.3%) of them had monthly expenditures of more than 2500 CHF. We had 13 (8.5%)
students that provided no answer to the question or the case was missing. (For more
details see the Appendix 6.4. Demographics).
3.6. Data analysis results2
3.6.1. Bank characteristics
Out of 153 respondents, 130 (85%) had an account opened with any of the banks,
whereas, 23 (15%) had no account. Among Italian students (see the Appendix 6.5, tables
2
The overall reliability is 0.773 and it ranges from .566 to .841 whereas the overall KMO index measuring
validity was 0.648 loading on 9 factors, explaining 71.86% of total variance. In both cases the results were
surely negatively affected by translation of the questionnaire to Italian which was mostly used.
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4 and 5) out of 31 students 29 own an account, only 51.7% did actually possess an
account in Switzerland, as they are daily commuters.
As to the general market share, UBS is the leader with 58 (39.7%) students customers
followed by Post Finance with 28 (19.2%) accounts and Raiffeisen third with 24
(16.4%). Important to notice here is the fact that Credit Suisse is fourth with 20(13.7%),
lagging even behind Post Finance and Raiffeisen considered main competitors to Credit
Suisse in the race to win more customers (see the Appendix 6.5, table 6).
Checking the evoked set, 94 (26.2%) of students were able to recall Credit Suisse
followed by UBS with 89(24.8%) students mentions. The third and fourth place belong
to Raiffeisen and PostFinance with 57 (15.9%) and 31 (8.6) mentions respectively (see
the Appendix 6.5, tables 7 and 8). Ranking alternatives in the evoked set is important, as
the first recall has significantly more influence in their decision. UBS is ranked as first
option in 59 cases, whereas Credit Suisse ranks second very well position in respect to
Raiffeisen and PostFinance.
Regarding the evoked set for students account provided by banks, UBS students account
is well known with 73 (34.4%) mentions, followed by Credit Suisse with 39 (18.4%)
mentions (see the Appendix 6.5, tables 9 and 10). The third and fourth place belong to
PostFinance and Raiffeisen with 29 (13.7%) and 26 (12.3%) mentions respectively. It is
important to notice that in the evoked set Credit Suisse quotes high compared to the
actual market share, meaning they know Credit Suisse provides students account,
though not familiar with the name Academica, still there is lack of actual behavior,
people opting for the Credit Suisse’s student account. In ranking students account within
the evoked set UBS is still a leader mentioned in 58 cases as first option, but the direct
competitors PostFinance and Raiffeisen are much closer to Credit Suisse.
The results on awareness show that high awareness about the bank contrast the low
awareness about the product, Academica (see the Appendix, tables 11&12). 147 (96.7)
of the respondents know about the Credit Suisse, compared to 37 (24.2) students that
have actually heard of the Academica account including 20 students already having an
Academica account.
Regarding their current accounts, 68 (53.1) students consulted their families compared
to 41(32%) seeking an advice from friends in their decision making process (see the
Appendix 6.5, tables 13, 14 and 15). Internet, direct contact by the bank and other media
do not play an important role in the first step of the process of decision making. This is
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confirmed by the fact that only 39 (27.1%) of the students have evaluated other options.
Just as an illustration would mention a case of a student during that for few years has
been paying fees for account maintenance though he is eligible for having free of charge
Academica account. PostFinance is mostly evaluated in 9 cases, Credit Suisse 7, UBS 6
and Raiffeisen 5 times.
In deciding to chose a bank results show that products and services are most important
criteria in selecting a bank (Mean 5.92) (see the Appendix 6.5, table 16). Interestingly,
Raiffeisen and UBS seem to have picky customers in choosing a product (mean of 6.21
and 6.17 respectively). Convenience follows next with an overall mean of 5.53, and
customer service with a mean of 5.49. There seems to be unanimous agreement that the
image of the bank (mean 4.74) is not an important criteria when students search their
banks to open an account.
We found out that 20.3% (31) of the students actually did switch their bank; products
and services together with unsatisfactory customer service are the main reasons of bank
switching. UBS product seems to have attracted more switchers as 34.6% assigned for
their product (see the Appendix 6.5, tables 17&18).
3.6.2. Product Quality & Price Dimension
The dimension of the importance of the product attributes (see the Appendix 6.5,
tables19 & 20) shows few significant differences in the strata of the faculties. Apparently
students of the economics faculty assign more importance to the saving feature (5.72, st.
dev. 1.43) and loyalty gifts (5.28, st. dev. 1.54) than the rest. In terms of programme,
master students appreciate more on line banking feature (6.02, st. dev. 1.32).
The actual usage rate of each of the attributes (see the Appendix 6.5, table 21) revealed
only few significant differences; master students using more credit cards (3.64)
compared to bachelor students (2.67). Italians students mostly end up with a negative
balance (2.72) in comparison with Ticinesi (1.88). Additionally, Italian students have
higher credit card usage rate (3.78) and lower usage of loyalty gifts (1.82) compared to
overall scores of 3.06 and 2.42 respectively.
The mean score of price dimension is low (see the Appendix 6.5, table 24), meaning that
students do not actively seek and compare the prices and nor pay attention to
advertisements. This suggests that banks should actively promote their prices and
inform the potential customers via more direct channels, e.g. directly at University,
through email etc. The only group that stands out from the rest are Italian students that
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seem to be more price sensitive.
3.6.3. Identity of Credit Suisse
The identity of Credit Suisse (see the Appendix 6.5, tables 22 & 23) did not present any
relevant differences among the strata of the type of University. However, there are some
significant differences. On average the identity of Credit Suisse is better perceived among
students form Ticino. Important to mention that the question implying customer
satisfaction can be realistically evaluated solely by customers of Credit Suisse having a
direct experience with this type of service. Moreover, the data also show that CS is not
perceived as one of the most admired banks (4.67) and a bank for young people (4.49),
important to this segment of the market.
3.6.5. Empathy
Analyzing the results (see the Appendix 6.5, table 25) we get a clear picture on the
performance of Credit Suisse on the dimensions of empathy. We can also compare it to
how the other banks perform, to attract unsatisfied customers and to also improve our
performance to retain customers from moving to better performing banks.
An important conclusion we could draw is that Credit Suisse customers seem to have the
feeling that the employees of the bank and the bank itself do not know their needs. In
addition, CS customers evaluate that their bank doesn’t really care about their interests,
where the gap is remarkable. CS performance is much worse compared to UBS, the main
competitor. They also think that operating hours are not convenient to them. To sum up,
by looking at the overall score and the difference between the expectation and
performance we can see that Credit Suisse performance is lower compared to its
competitors. Likewise, to build a long term relationship, improvements on the dimension
of empathy are more than necessary.
3.6.6. Assurance & Tangibles
In terms of assurance (see the Appendix 6.5, table 26), Credit Suisse performance is
excellent. The customers feel secure in transactions with CS and they trust the
employees of the bank, which is important when involved in financial transactions.
Credit Suisse performs better than competitors, however, expectation scores show that
their customers are more demanding and expect more regarding the dimension of
assurance.
18
The data (see the Appendix 6.5, table 27) also show that all the banks over perform in
the dimension of tangibles. The customers think their bank’s employees follow the dress
code and the arrangements within the bank are in line with the service provided. This
might be due to low expectations and attention that students pay to tangibles as we deal
with a price sensitive market. CS performs better than the rest of the banks, only the
market leader UBS has lower score in on the dimension of Assurance , -0.83 and -0.61
respectively. Still there is no negative performance among other competitors, which tells
that there is no need to really waste time, energy as well as additional resources on these
dimensions.
3.6.7. Other results
We examined the usage of social media among the students segment. Findings (see the
Appendix 6.5, table 28) show that Facebook is clearly the most preferred social media,
with 128 (69.9%) followed by Twitter with 21(11.5%) and MySpace with 13(7.1%).
Considering shopping preferences relevant for future promotions, the data (see the
Appendix 6.5, table 30) show that books, discounts for travelling, music and clothes are
the goods students usually prefer to buy. Sports related goods, fitness subscriptions,
electronic entertainment goods and beauty/cosmetics seem to be less attractive options
for students.
Considering if they would recommend their bank to others, 90% of the Credit Suisse
customers would do so (see the Appendix 6.5, table 29), whereas only in the case
PostFinance the uncertainty is higher with more “do not know” answers.
The content analysis of the open ended questions shows that interest rate has the
highest score followed by low fees of account management and ATM proximity. The
saving account feature seems to be a perceived necessity after graduation. (see the
Appendix 6.7. Content analysis on open ended questions).
4. Managerial implications; definition of possible strategic actions
Based on the results of data analysis we have designed a set of managerial actions that
are aimed to improve the current market share of Credit Suisse in the students’ segment
in Ticino. The suggestions are structured according to the three stages of Lavidge Steiner
model, namely Cognitive, Affective and Conative stages (chart below).
19
Chart 4.Lavidge Steiner model
Cognitive stage
This stage aims at increasing awareness of the existence of Academica as well as the
level of knowledge about it. Currently the knowledge about Academica is lower
compared to competitors’ products (see the section 3.6.1.). To improve the awareness
level as well as to gain knowledge about Academica we propose the following actions:
1. Response to poor product awareness: all the existing and future sponsorships to
target group should include the name of Academica.
Credit Suisse has been already doing much sponsorship to student events,
USISUPSI Sport3 and student association Lepontia4 to name some of them. In
many cases only the awareness of Credit Suisse is increased, though not the
product awareness of Academica. The data support (see the Appendix 6.5, tables
11&12) that awareness of Credit Suisse is already very high (96.7%), not so the
awareness of Academica (24.2%).
According to Lavidge Steiner model (see the Chart Lavidge Steiner model) even if
90% of the population would be made aware only few of them would arrive to
actual usage of the product. Thus Credit Suisse should first increase the
awareness of Academica among students.
The stage of knowledge of the model is linked to the evoked set (see the
Appendix 6.5, tables 7 and 8) where Credit Suisse is well positioned together with
3
http://www.sport.usi.ch/
4
http://www.lepontia.ch/
20
main competitor UBS (26.2 vs. 24.8%). Yet, when the evoked set of student
accounts was checked (see the Appendix 6.5, tables 9 and 10), Credit Suisse was
performing much worse than UBS (18.4 vs. 34.4%). The final goal is to make the
students aware of Academica and let them know what this offering contains.
Affective stage
As to the liking and preference stage the aim is to gain a more positive attitude towards
Credit Suisse as well as make it to become a first choice among the competitors.
Currently UBS is clearly mentioned as the first choice both in general evoked set as well
as in the evoked set for student accounts.
However, Credit Suisse seems to be performing well when recommendation of the own
bank was examined (see the Appendix 6.5, table 29). 90% of the Credit Suisse customers
would actually recommend their bank to a friend; still the main competitors UBS and
Raiffeisen are not too far away, 83.9 and 87.5% respectively. Only PostFinance seems to
be performing poor on this dimension - 59.3%.
For this stage a very important role is played by the service quality, particularly the part
of Empathy. Data indicate that Credit Suisse seems to have a problem in the area of
taking customer’s needs into serious concern (see the Appendix 6.5, table 25, pairs 3 and
4). Since this dimension is particularly important for long term relationships the scores
should be definitely increased. The benefit of doing so would be twofold: increase
positive Word of Mouth and link the existing customers in a more affective way. This way
the likelihood of a committed and long term relationship would be dramatically
increased. To tackle this issue we would suggest the following actions:
1. Credit Suisse should manage their presence on Social networks in an active way.
We know from data that 69.9% of the students 69.9% is regularly present on
Facebook (see 3.6.7.) that could be a good channel for promotion of Credit
Suisse image towards young people.
It would allow appearing as attractive and oriented towards young people
and enable communicating with the existing customers as well as use this
channel for promoting Academica. This channel of promotion allows reaching
the students in a very precise and tailored way.
At the moment, the average score on orientation of Credit Suisse towards
young people is 4.49 (see the Appendix 6.5, table 22). This could be improved
21
by managing the presence of Credit Suisse on Social networks. Unfortunately,
the current Facebook profile of Credit Suisse is much less attractive than the
competitors’ (UBS).
This approach could be quite costly (ranges from 50.000 to 100.000 EUR),
thus should be evaluated at a more global level than just Ticino. According to
Lavidge Steiner model this would allow Credit Suisse to move to the stage of
liking and preference.
2. Credit Suisse could take advantage of the existing sponsorship of the Swiss
National Junior soccer team and organize an event at University where gadgets
could be distributed with a signature of junior national soccer players. This
would raise the awareness among potential customers, as well as develop
liking thus hit both cognitive and affective stages.
3. Provide internal training program on the Academica package to the employees
working with it, so that their knowledgability would be increased and they
would be able to respond to the needs of customers in a more prompt and
tailored way. As already mentioned the biggest gap to be addressed is the
concern about the needs of the customers as well as taking their interests at
heart (see the Appendix 6.5, table 25). As we could notice during our mystery
shopping and the interviews with the students not all the employees could
understand their current needs. The training program should also tackle the
importance of the student customers within the customer lifecycle, so that
students would be actually seen as future profit and employees could feel
more enthusiastic serving them.
4. Provide regular stage possibilities or/and field projects. This approach could be
helpful by regular contacts with the target audience as well as raise the
awareness and positive attitude. During our field project the working
experience was surely positive and many of our peers know it. The data show
us that friends are important opinion leaders and positive word of mouth is
easily spread in such a closely related environment. As we could conclude
from the interviews and more detailed data analysis this seems to be one of
the key strength of the main competitor UBS.
5. Provide student testimonials on their positive experiences with Credit Suisse. A
positive story telling is a potential tool to increase the positive attitude.
22
Additionally this is a very cost-efficient tool. An example could be considered
a sponsored interview on the student journal “L’Universo”.
6. Prepare a campaign to all the high school graduates in Ticino. A great
advantage of this approach is that this would allow addressing also the
numerous future students that have decided to continue their studies in other
parts of Switzerland or in Italy (see the section 3.3). Particularly to the first
group of the students the benefit of nationwide service should be promoted
since not all the competitors can equal on this dimension (Raiffeisen).
The idea is to write a letter to all the high school graduates explaining in
detail all the benefits that Credit Suisse is able to provide to them. A
Nationwide service, free account management, free credit and maestro card
could be some of them. The text should provide the feeling of interest and
care about their necessities: independent cash management, travel and
accommodation arrangements could be some examples. This letter could
include a voucher (material incentive that relates to conative stage) of xx
francs in case of the opening account at Credit Suisse to make it more
appealing.
For this type of campaign a close collaboration with local high school
authorities would be a must.
7. Install “Academica scholarship” (5000 chf could be an example) for best
performing students at USI or/and SUPSI. As we know the student segment is
price sensitive, for this reason a scholarship would be much appreciated. The
scholarship would have only direct cost; still it could be mentioned on local
journals and relevant web pages, which surely would improve the image of
Credit Suisse among students.
8. The sponsorship of Master Thesis binding could be a good way of increasing the
scores on Empathy dimension (see the Appendix 6.5, table 25, pairs 3&4) and
strengthen a long term nature of relationship that is of particular importance.
This step would allow following the customer into the next stage or
Academica plus (see the section 1) and increase the overall positive attitude
by advertising this issue.
23
Conative stage
The last stage of the model is the most important as is actually drives the decision
making into the final stages of conviction and adoption or use. This most relevant stage
can be decisive and thus should be carefully evaluated. A positive attitude is a necessary
premise, yet at times not sufficient. For this reason we suggest the following actions:
1. Friend brings a friend or referral would be a valid and simple way of attracting
new customers. As we know from data, friends are relevant opinion leaders,
hence could be used for the final stages of conviction and usage. Data indicated us
that only 27.1% of the sample did actually evaluate an alternative before opening
the account (see the Appendix 6.5, table 14), so if promptly informed by a trusted
source, a friend, the likelihood of positive decision would be large. For this reason
the existing customers should be informed in this regard and a reward for
bringing a new customer should be offered in form of mostly appreciated
shopping goods such as books, music or discounts on travelling.
2. Provide a material incentive to the students that actually sign up for Academica. A
good idea would be to introduce the element of “last chance” or further benefits if
opening an account within a certain time range. This would make it appear as
something more valuable. Based on our data the most appealing type of shopping
goods would be books, music, discounts on travelling and clothes that could be
used as rewards. This would allow to convert the positive attitude to actual
behavior and thus to have an immediate increase of the market share.
3. Install a help desk at the entrance of USI Lugano and Mendrisio during the first
days of the semester (for SUPSI the implementation is rather problematic as they
have decentralized locations, though still is feasible).
The data show that Credit Suisse is not really perceived as a bank for young
people (see the Appendix 6.5, tables 22 and 23) and that the needs and interests
of students are not of a major concern to the bank. With this approach the
opposite could be shown, a bank that comes to the customers when they need
one. This would imply providing one knowledgeable employee presence during
these days. However, the return on this investment would be twofold: the
24
assistance would surely be appreciated especially by non local students and the
curiosity and thus awareness would be increase among other students.
4.1. Priority and cost estimate
Hereafter we propose the table of summary classified by respective priority. Regarding

costs, it was difficult for us to estimate the costs at exact level as we do not have the
information of internal costing of Credit Suisse, thus we limit ourselves at classifying
them into high, medium and low classes. Likewise, the suggestions are arranged
according to priority, which shows better what should be followed in what order.
Finally, after the implementation one or more actions a good practice would be to
measure how effective each of these actions is by asking newly acquired customers on
how they got to know about Academica and why did you decide to sign for it. This would
allow to fine tune this type of activities and optimize the resource spending.
TABLE 33: Cost and priority estimate
Suggestions Priority Cost ROI
Cognitive (Awareness & Knowledge)

Mention Academica on sponsorships High Low High
Affective (Liking & Preferences)

High school campaign High Medium High
Social media management High High Medium/High
Stage/field projects Medium Low High
Testimonials Medium Low High
Internal training Medium Medium High
Scholarship Medium Medium High
Soccer players’ event Medium Medium High
Thesis binding Low Medium Medium
Conative (Conviction & Use)

Help desk High Medium/High High
Friend brings a friend High Medium/High High
Material incentives Medium Medium High
5. Limitations and suggestions
The first limitation of this project is the fact that we do not provide an exact calculation
of the costs of our suggested actions, to avoid the request of internal and potentially
confidential information on direct costs at Credit Suisse. Also the calculation of external
25
supply costs could be only approximate, since we could not bargain the same conditions
as Credit Suisse could.
Second limitation is the length of the questionnaire affecting negatively the response
rate. Third limitation is the number of questionnaires collected, which is surely linked to
the previous limitation. With the total of 153 questionnaires we covered 80% of
confidence interval that could be improved by collecting more of them.
Fourth, we did not manage to collect useful responses from the students that study
outside Ticino. The on line survey was not the correct way of data collection as the
length and the confidential nature of the questions made it a failure.
Fifth limitation is the fact that we do not suggest a concrete example of Social Media
Management Company as we can’t take such important decision. It is however important
to choose a good supplier as they are given lot of power communicating with the
customers on behalf of Credit Suisse.
We could also suggest a field project on Social Media management for Credit Suisse as
well as replication of this project in near future.
26
6. Appendixes
6.1. Competition matrix
Banks Credit Suisse UBS Post Finance Raiffeisen BPS C.I.M. Moneynet.c
Criteria Academica Private Account Education Conto Privatkonto Banque h
Account Campus Account formazione/Ed Studenten University
ucation program
Interest Rate 1% 0.875% CHF 1.25% (CHF) 1.375% 0.75% From 1.5%
/1.50%(EUR) 5000CHF
CHF0.5 %
EUR 1.1%
Age 18 -30 Under 30 18-30ys 18yrs no upper 15-30 16-28 Btw 26-30
limit
Initial deposit (CHF 3000) Depends on 100 CHF 1000 CHF
country of origin
Account opening Free Free Free Free 10 CHF Free Free
Account opening Ciné card or two 20 CHF in points - - - -
gift vouchers for
cinema
Account closure Free Free Free 15 CHF Free Free Free
Educational At least 2 years Full-time Full-time Full time Full time Full time Full time
Program education students students students students students students
included/ program Certificate Certificate
excluded required required
Domicile/Residen Permit B up Permit B up Student permit Student permit Permit B up Permit B
ce
Monthly Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
Administration
Fee
Postage Charge for A or B Free Free Postage: postal Postage: CHF Postage 0.20 CHF
post expenses 1.00
Yearly closing Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
statement
Itemized Free Free Free Free Free - Free
Statetement
Overdraft interest 12.5% On request 9.5% 10% No possibility - 9%
rate of overdraft
Maestro card Free Free PostFinance Card Free Free only Travel cash Free
Free with regular card
income
Replacement of Free for Maestro Depending on For Visa 15 CHF for No info - CHF 25
card / CHF 25 for conditions classic/20 CHF Maestro available
Credit card
Blocking of card CHF 55 for Depending on Free CHF 20 for - - CHF 50/75
Maestro conditions Maestro
Master/Visa/Blue Free Free Free Free with CHF 100 CHF 150 Free
American Express regular income silver / 170 Prepaid
CHF gold Visa-CHF 50
Prepaid cards Travel cash card Suggested Possible

E-Banking (Direct Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
line/Direct Net )
Safekeeping Possible Suggested Suggested Possible Possible
accounts
Max deposit - - - 50’000 CHF - 50’000 CHF
amount
Cash withdrawal CHF 4.75 each + CHF 5 Not possible /in CHF 4.50 Not possible Same costs CHF 5.00
abroad 0.25% of the EUR - CHF 4 as in CH
amount
Cash withdrawal Free CHF2 / >10.000 CHF 2 CHF 2.00 Free 1% CHF 2.00
at other ATM’s Free /
Cash withdrawal CHF 500.000 15 000 CHF or No limitation 20.000 CHF (1 CHF 10.000 - - 10.000CHF; >
limit Above, 6-month specified by month notice); If 1 month 3 months
notice period consultant more, 3 months notice; > - 3 notice
months
notice
28
Payment abroad CHF 5/15 CHF 5 CHF 5/ CHF 5 / CHF 5 CHF 4- CHF 3.50 CHF 4-8
depending on CHF2 15/CHF 4
currency
Permanent Free 0.50CHF / free: Free Free Free Free Free
payments condition of
>10.000 or
mortgage by UBS
Newsletter Regular, when Download on Regular, when No No No No

subscribed web page subscribed
Usability/ High usability High usability Good, clear Very easily Difficult Very simple, *Poor
availability of standards Standards detailed info understandable accessibility pleasant accessibility
webpage design *Low-quality
web design
Proximity of banks Good Good Excellent Medium/good Rather poor Very poor Very poor
Website EN /IT/DE/FR EN /IT/DE/FR EN/DE/IT/FR DE/IT/FR IT / DE F/I/EN/RU DE/FR
Languages S/ESP/CHN
Personnel Very kind, not Kind, quite Very kind, Knowledgeable Snobbish Very kind, -
really knowledgeable knowledgeable knowledgea
knowledgeable ble
29
6.2. Results from exploratory interviews
Exploratory Interviews:
Distribution of the students interviewed
Raiffeisen
3%
CITI Credit Suisse
3% 17%
BSI
3%
Banca Stato UBS
5% 61%
PostFinance
8%
Chart 3 exploratory interviews - distribution of students
Table Results from exploratory interviews

Credit Suisse customers Credit Suisse Non-Customers
Non-Credit Suisse customers:
- awareness of Academica
yes no n/a
17% 20%
Are you aware of the account
offered by Credit Suisse called
63%
“Academica”?
Out of all the CS non-customers

interviewed, we’ve found out that
exactly 63% of them are not aware
of the Academica account. Further
17% did not provide the answer,
which increases even more the
unaware population estimate. Thus,
we came to a conclusion that the
main problem which didnt drive
product to selling is a lack of
Product awareness.
How did students get to know about their
bank? Aggregated results
other
Internet, 14% Family
How did you get to know Advertising 36%
about Credit Suisse / your or Media
bank? 19% Friends and
other
contacts
31%
The aggregated responses of both Credit Suisse customers and non-

customer showed us that the family is the one that influences the
most students’ choices: in fact, 36% of respondents mentioned their
family as the most important source of advice and introduction to the
bank that they actually chose, while another 31% remarked the
relevance of friends’ and other contacts’ advice in their decision
making process.
Based on these results, word of mouth made by students’ friend,
family or close contacts seem to guide their purchasing behaviour.
6.3. Target market size estimate outside Ticino
Institution Student number
University of Lausanne 777
University of Freiburg 699
University of Zürich 634
ETH Zürich 595
University of Geneva 290
Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale 234
Universität Basel 163
ETH Lausanne 159
Universität Bern 140
31
Universität Neuenburg 129
Universität St. Gallen 80
Zürcher Fachhochschule 77
Universität Luzern 65
Berner Fachhochschule 53
Fachhochschule Zentralschweiz (Hochschule Luzern) 26
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz 20
Fachhochschule Ostschweiz 13
Kalaidos Fachhochschule 3
Total 4157
*Data of academic year 2008/09
6.4. Demographics
6.4.1. Residence
Table Respondent's place of residence

Frequency Valid Percent
Valid Ticino 128 84.2
Other Swiss cantons 3 2.0
Italy 20 13.2
Abroad 1 .7
Total 152 100.0
Missing 1
Total 153
32
Chart 6.4.1 respondent’s place of residence
6.4.2. Origin
Table Respondent's place of origin

Valid Ticino 67 44.1
Other Swiss cantons 21 13.8
Italy 29 19.1
Abroad 35 23.0
Total 152 100.0
Missing 1
Total 153
33
Chart 6.4.2.Respondent’s place of origin
6.4.3. University
Table Respondent's university/school

Valid USI 79 51.6
SUPSI 40 26.1
Franklin College 11 7.2
ASP-DFA 8 5.2
SSAT Bellinzona 7 4.6
SSIG Bellinzona 1 .7
STA moda Lugano 3 2.0
LUDES 4 2.6
Total 153 100.0
34
Chart 6.4.3. Respondent’s University
6.4.4. Programme
Table Respondent's education programme

Valid Bachelor 88 57.9
Master 54 35.5
Other 10 6.6
Total 152 100.0
Missing 1
Total 153
35
Chart 6.4.4. Respondent’s study programme
6.4.5. Faculty
Table Respondent's faculty

Valid Economics 36 23.7
Communication 34 22.4
Architecture 12 7.9
Informatics 20 13.2
Education sciences 8 5.3
Music, theatre arts 6 3.9
Healthcare 14 9.2
Social support 8 5.3
Tourism 7 4.6
Other 7 4.6
Total 152 100.0
Missing 1
Total 153
36
Chart 6.4.5. Respondent’s faculty
6.4.6. Income and expenditure range
Table Respondent's monthly income

Valid Yes 45 29.8
No 106 70.2
Total 151 100.0
Missing missing 2
Total 153
Table Respondent's monthly income range

Valid Below 1000 CHF 25 56.8
1000-2000 CHF 16 36.4
Above 2000 CHF 3 6.8
Total 44 100.0
Missing 1
Total 45
37
Chart 5.4.6.a Respondent’s income range
Table Respondent's monthly expenditures

Valid Below 1500 CHF 105 75.0
1500-2500 CHF 33 23.6
Above 2500 CHF 2 1.4
Total 140 100.0
Missing 13
Total 153
38
Chart 6.4.6.b Respondent’s expenditure range
6.5. Results tables
TABLE 1: Sampling
Type of school Full-time Minimum

students sample
Scuola Universitaria Professionale

della Svizzera Italiana 1305(25.8%) 39(25.8%)
Univerasità della Svizzera Italiana 2427(46.2%) 71(46.2%)
Franklin College 434 (8%) 12(8%)
Libera Università degli Studi di Scienze
Umane e Technologiche 350(7%) 11(7%)
Alata Scuola Pedagogica-DFA Locarno 317(6%) 8(6%)
Scuola Superiore Alberghiera e del
Turismo Bellinzona 136(2.5%) 4(2.5%)
Scuola Superiore d’Informatica di
Gestione Bellinzona 80(1.5) 2(1.5)
Scuola Supriore Specializzata di
Tecnica e Elettrotecnica Bellinzona 69(1%) 2(1%)
Scuola Superiore Tecnica dell’Edilizia
e dell’Impiantistica Trevano 46(1%) 2(1%)
Scuola Superiore di Tecbica
dell'abbigliamento e della moda Lugano 51(1%) 2(1%)
Total 5252(100%) 153(100%)
39
TABLE 2: Sampling
Type of school Full-time Minimum Effective

students sample sample

della Svizzera Italiana 1305(25.8%) 39(25.8%) 40
Univerasità della Svizzera Italiana 2427(46.2%) 71(46.2%) 79
Franklin College 434 (8%) 12(8%) 11
Umane e Technologiche 350(7%) 11(7%) 4
Alata Scuola Pedagogica-DFA Locarno 317(6%) 8(6%) 8
Turismo Bellinzona 136(2.5%) 4(2.5%) 7
Gestione Bellinzona 80(1.5) 2(1.5) 1
Tecnica e Elettrotecnica Bellinzona 69(1%) 2(1%) -
e dell’Impiantistica Trevano 46(1%) 2(1%) -
dell'abbigliamento e della moda Lugano 51(1%) 2(1%) 3
Total 5252(100%) 153(100%) 153(100%)
TABLE 3: Target market size
Type of school Full-time

students

della Svizzera Italiana 1305
Univerasità della Svizzera Italiana 2427
Franklin College 434
Umane e Technologiche 350
Alata Scuola Pedagogica-DFA Locarno 317
Turismo Bellinzona 136
Gestione Bellinzona 80
Tecnica e Elettrotecnica Bellinzona 69
e dell’Impiantistica Trevano 46
dell'abbigliamento e della moda Lugano 51
Total 5252
40
TABLE 4: Bank account ownership
Answer Frequency Valid

percentage
Yes 130 85.0

No 242 15.0
Total 153 100.0
TABLE 5: Account ownership among Italian students

percentage
Yes 15 51.7
No 14 48.3
Total 29 100.0
TABLE 6: Market Share
Bank Frequency Valid

percentage
Banca Stato 6 4.1

BPS 3 2.1
BSI 4 2.7
Credit Suisse 20 13.7
Post Finance 28 19.2
Raiffeisen Bank 24 16.4
UBS 58 39.7
Migros 2 1.4
SZKB 1 0.7
Total 146 100.0
TABLE 7: Aggregate results: Which banks come to you mind when thinking of opening an
account?
Bank Frequency Valid

percentage
Banca Stato 26 7.2

BPS 16 4.5
BSI 31 8.6
Post Finance 31 8.6
UBS 89 24.8
Arner 1 0.3
Migros 6 1.7
41
SZKB 1 0.3
Coop 2 0.6
HSBC 1 0.3
Banka Corner 4 1.1
Total 359 100.0
TABLE 8: Bank rankings
Bank Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
UBS 59 21 8
Credit Suisse 39 41 13
Post Finance 12 10 5
Raiffeisen Bank 21 15 18
TABLE 9: What Swiss banks offer account for students?

percentage
Banca Stato 6 2.8

BPS 5 2.4
BSI 12 5.7
Post Finance 29 13.7
UBS 73 34.4
Migros 2 0.9
HSBC 1 0.5
Banka Corner 1 0.5
All the banks 6 2.8
Do not know 12 5.7
Total 212 100.0
TABLE 10: Students’ account evoked set
Bank Rank1 Rank2 Rank 3
UBS 58 14 1
Credit Suisse 16 20 3
Post Finance 16 14 2
Raiffeisen Bank 9 10 7
42
TABLE 11: Bank Awareness: Have you heard of Credit Suisse bank?

percentage
Yes 147 96.7

No 5 3.3
Total 152 100.0
TABLE 12: Product Awareness: Have you heard of the Academica account of Credit Suisse?

percentage
Yes 37 24.2
No 116 75.8
Total 153 100.0
TABLE 13: Opinion leaders: Where did you get to know about your bank account?

percentage
Family 68 53.1
Friends 41 32.0
Internet 6 4.7
Other media 6 4.7
Contacted by the bank 7 5.5
Total 128 100
Missing
Not applicable 23
Missing 2
Total 153 100.0
TABLE 14: Evaluation of alternatives

percentage
Yes 39 27.1
No 105 72.9
Total 144 100
Missing
Not applicable 6
Missing 3
43
Total 153 100.0
TABLE 15: Alternatives evaluated

percentage
BSI 1 3.4
Post Finance 9 31.0
UBS 6 20.7
SZKB 1 3.4
Total 29 100
Missing
Not applicable 113
Missing 11
Total 153 100.0
TABLE 16: Overview of bank selection based on bank strata
Items Overall Credit Suisse Post Finance Raiffeisen UBS
Convenience-eg.
waiting time,proximity 5.53(1.34) 4.95(1.70) 5.46(1.32) 5.37(1.24) 5.69(1.19)
Products and services 5.92(1.48) 5.70(1.87) 5.25(2.14) 6.21(1.18) 6.17(1.09)
Customer service 5.49(1.41) 5.00(1.75) 5.46(1.57) 4.83(1.55) 5.72(1.18)
Image of the bank 4.74(1.61) 5.05(1.64) 4.75(1.94) 4.29(1.52) 4.79(1.61)
Note. N = 153. All items are measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly unimportant), 2
(unimportant), 3 (somewhat unimportant), 4 (neutral), 5 (somewhat important), 6 (important) to
7(strongly important). The numbers represent the mean and standard deviation in brackets.
TABLE 17: Reasons for bank switching
Answer Mean Std. Deviation
Convenience-eg. waiting time,proximity 4.55 2.08

Products and services 5.35 1.60
Customer service 5.34 1.94
Image of the bank 4.84 1.92
7(strongly important).
44
TABLE 18: Bank accounts the respondents moved to

percentage
Banca Stato 1 3.8

BSI 2 7.7
Post Finance 5 19.2
UBS 9 34.6
SZKB 1 3.8
Total 26 100
Missing
Not applicable 5
Total 31 100.0
TABLE 19: Importance of the product attributes based on the origin
Items Overall Ticinesi Other Cantons Italians Abroad
Free ATM access 6.22(1.47) 6.26(1.38) 5.64 (2.16) 6.43(1.04) 6.35(1.44)

Free account management 6.10(1.49) 6.15(1.34) 5.54(2.11) 6.33(1.06) 6.16(1.64)
Free Maestro Card/Postcard 6.01(1.67) 6.07(1.55) 5.50(2.28) 6.23(1.16) 6.00(1.84)
Interest rates 5.81(1.50) 6.11(1.35) 5.36(1.53) 5.93(1.23) 5.40(1.83)
On-line banking 5.54(1.62) 5.40(1.60) 5.41(1.68) 5.77(1.43) 5.76(1.80)
Special offers
(gifts at special prices) 4.69(1.77) 4.74(1.86) 4.64(1.70) 4.47(1.59) 4.81(1.85)
No fixed deposit required 5.04(1.63) 5.09(1.68) 4.68(1.13) 4.63(1.81) 5.51(1.59)
Limited overdraft 4.82(1.57) 4.81(1.72) 4.73(1.20) 4.97(1.47) 4.70(1.56)
Credit cards
(Visa/Master card) 5.28(1.66) 4.96(1.77) 5.41 (1.44) 5.70(1.23) 5.59(1.66)
Telephone banking 3.76(1.77) 3.92(1.60) 3.64 (1.79) 4.30(2.04) 3.11(1.75)
Loyalty gifts; e.g. points
for using credit card 4.67(1.83) 4.78(1.95) 4.86(1.58) 4.03(1.69) 5.86(1.83)
Saving account feature 5.20(1.53) 5.62(1.38) 5.64(2.15) 4.77(1.38) 4.92(1.72)
45
TABLE 20: Importance of the product attributes based on the bank
Free ATM access 6.22(1.47) 6.25(1.58) 5.93(1.94) 6.04(1.61) 6.30(1.41)

Interest rates 5.81(1.50) 6.05(1.50) 5.55(1.69) 5.83(1.67) 5.55(1.55)
On-line banking 5.54(1.62) 5.65(2.00) 5.44(1.97) 5.17(1.70) 5.53(1.58)
Special offers
No fixed deposit required 5.04(1.63) 5.20(1.61) 4.93(1.66) 4.91(1.62) 5.30(1.58)
Limited overdraft 4.82(1.57) 4.85(1.95) 4.55(1.50) 4.83(1.67) 4.89(1.51)
Credit cards
(Visa/Master card) 5.28(1.66) 5.30(1.84) 4.89(1.67) 5.22(1.62) 5.48(1.69)
Telephone banking 3.76(1.77) 4.05(2.16) 3.63(1.76) 3.70(1.55) 3.53(1.70)
Saving account feature 5.20(1.53) 5.10(1.77) 5.22(1.74) 5.26(1.48) 5.20(1.52)
TABLE 21: Usage rate of the product attributes based on the bank
Free ATM access 4.40(0.91) 4.53(0.84) 4.48(0.70) 3.96(1.43) 4.48(0.76)

Interests on your balance 3.39(1.27) 3.31(1.67) 3.26(1.29) 3.18(1.26) 3.40(1.13)
On-line banking 3.35(1.55) 3.50(1.67) 3.30(1.68) 2.78(1.51) 3.41(1.44)
Special offers
If a fixed deposit was
required, how often did
you go under the limit? 2.11(1.45) 2.21(1.78) 2.26(1.53) 1.52(0.75) 2.15(1.41)
How often did you have
negative cash balance? 2.01(1.41) 1.95(1.54) 2.18(1.54) 1.36(0.90) 2.07(1.40)
Credit cards
(Visa/Master card) 3.06(1.55) 3.45(1.79) 2.52(1.55) 3.13(1.63) 3.20(1.46)
Telephone banking 1.68(1.23) 1.50(1.05) 1.81(1.49) 1.35(0.71) 1.66(1.24)
Saving account feature 3.45(1.38) 3.10(1.66) 3.85 3.43(1.37) 3.31(1.26)
Note. N = 153. All items are measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never used), 2 (rarel used), 3
(sometimes used), 4 (frequently used), to 5 (most frequently used). The numbers represent the mean and
standard deviation in brackets.
46
TABLE 22: Overview on the identity dimension (banks)
Credit Suisse is internationally

oriented 5.28(1.27) 5.40(1.50) 5.11(1.31) 5.52(0.95) 5.29(1.23)
Credit Suisse is one of the
most admired bank 4.67(1.39) 4.80(1.54) 4.37(1.55) 4.48(1.27) 4.61(1.38)
Credit Suisse is oriented
towards young people 4.49(1.26) 4.75(1.21) 4.41(1.05) 4.48(1.34) 4.38(1.43)
Credit Suisse takes customers
needs into serious concern 4.86(1.23) 4.80(1.67) 4.85(1.13) 5.04(1.02) 4.71(1.27)
Total 4.82 4.93 4.68 4.88 4.75

Note. N = 153. All items are measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (rather
disagree), 3 (somewhat disagree), 4 (neutral), 5 (somewhat agree), 6 (rather agree) to 7(strongly agree).
The numbers represent the mean and standard deviation in brackets.
TABLE 23: Overview on the identity dimension (origin)
Items Overall Ticinesi Non ticinesi
Credit Suisse is internationally

oriented 5.28(1.27) 5.44(1.10) 5.14(1.38)
Credit Suisse is one of the
most admired bank 4.67(1.39) 4.68(1.40) 4.55(1.42)
Credit Suisse is oriented
towards young people 4.49(1.26) 4.71(1.14) 4.29(1.33)
Credit Suisse takes customers
needs into serious concern 4.86(1.23) 5.01(1.17) 4.69(1.34)
Total 4.82 4.96 4.67

The numbers represent the mean and standard deviation in brackets
TABLE 24: Overview on the price dimension based on origin strata
Items Overall Ticinesi Other Cantons Italians Abroad
I find myself checking prices

even for small services like
current accounts 3.42(1.85) 3.31(1.85) 3.33(1.98) 4.21(1.79) 2.97(1.69)
I usually watch ads for
announcements of bank
promotions 2.97(1.77) 2.98(1.86) 2.86(1.65) 3.57(1.66) 2.59(1.67)
A person can save a lot
of money by shopping
around for current accounts 4.11(1.72) 4.05(1.85) 4.00(1.38) 4.68(1.81) 3.82(1.57)
I usually call several banks to
get price quotes before
deciding on a particular bank 3.90(1.96) 3.94(1.86) 4.05(2.13) 4.50(2.08) 3.31(1.87)
47
Total 3.60 3.58 3.56 4.24 3.17
Note. N = 153. All items are measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (rather disagree), 3
(somewhat disagree), 4 (neutral), 5 (somewhat agree), 6 (rather agree) to 7(strongly agree). The numbers
represent the mean and standard deviation in brackets.
TABLE 25: Overview on the dimension of Empathy
Pair 1
Expectation:
A bank should be expected
to give customer
personal attention 5.66(1.36) 5.00(1.62) 5.52(1.53) 5.52(1.56) 5.79(1.30)
Performance:
My bank tends to give
customers personal attention 5.20(1.28) 4.90(1.62) 5.08(1.25) 5.13(1.29) 5.32(1.16)
GAP -0.46 -0.10 -0.44 -0.39 -0.47
Pair 2
Expectation:
Employees of a bank are
expected to give customers
Performance:
Employees of my bank
tend to give customers
GAP -0.45 -0.55 -1.05 -0.26 -030
Pair 3
Expectation:
It is realistic to expect
employees to know the
needs of their customers 4.91(1.44) 4.45(2.04) 5.00(1.08) 4.56(1.27) 5.00(1.40)
Performance:
I have the feeling that
employees of my bank
know my needs 4.47(1.50) 3.75(1.55) 4.40(1.55) 4.30(1.49) 4.50(1.48)
GAP -0.44 -0.70 -0.60 -0.26 -0.50
Pair 4
Expectation:
It is realistic to expect a
bank to have its customers'
best interests at heart 5.02(1.59) 5.05(1.99) 5.12(1.30) 5.09(1.53) 4.96(1.64)
Performance:
I have the feeling that my bank
cares for my interest 4.54(1.54) 3.85(1.42) 4.24(1.71) 4.52(1.27) 4.55(1.60)
GAP -0.48 - 1.20 -0.46 -0.43 -0.61
48
Pair 5
Expectation:
A bank should be expected to
have operating hours
convenient to all customers 5.25(1.25) 5.45(1.57) 5.17(1.13) 5.41(1.44) 5.23(1.62)
Performance:
My banks operating hours are
convenient to all customers 4.49(1.50) 4.20(1.96) 4.71(1.33) 4.82(1.59) 4.54(1.37)
GAP -0.76 -1.25 -0.88 -0.57 -0.41
Total Expectation 5.28 5.05 5.35 5.15 5.30

Performance 4.76 4.29 4.66 4.74 4.82
TABLE 26: Overview on the dimension of Assurance
Pair 1
Expectation:
Customer should be able to
trust employees of a bank 6.01(1.22) 5.70(1.49) 6.00(1.02) 6.04(1.49) 6.07(1.07)
Performance:
Customers can trust employees
of my bank 5.45(1.14) 5.55(1.23) 5.65(1.23) 5.70(1.18) 5.24(1.17)
GAP -0.56 -0.15 -0.35 -0.34 -0.83
Pair 2
Expectation:
Customer should be able to
feel safe in their transactions
with bank employees 6.06(1.34) 5.55(1.73) 5.96(1.11) 6.13(1.51) 6.25(1.13)
Performance:
I feel safe in the transactions
with my bank’s employees 5.65(1.20) 5.80(1.50) 5.50(1.17) 5.70(1.22) 5.64(1.23)
GAP -0.41 +0.25 -0.46 -0.43 -0.61

Performance 5.55 5.67 5.57 5.70 5.44
49
TABLE 27: Overview on the dimension of Tangibles
Pair 1
Expectation:
A banks employeesShould
be formally dresses and
appear neat 5.28(1.61) 5.20(1.58) 5.35(1.67) 4.61(1.75) 5.45(1.52)
Performance:
My bank’s employees are
formally dressed and
appear neat 5.92(1.21) 6.35(0.93) 5.81(0.85) 5.56(1.27) 6.27(1.02)
GAP +0.64 +1.15 +0.46 +0.95 +0.82
Pair 2
Expectation:
Appearance of facilities
should be in line with the
type of service provided 5.47(1.44) 5.70(1.42) 5.50(1.48) 5.22(1.35) 5.57(1.40)
Performance:
Appearance of facilities of
my bank are in line with the
type of service provided 5.67(1.30) 5.80(1.32) 5.77(1.14) 5.57(1.27) 5.79(1.25)
GAP +0.20 +0.10 +0.27 +0.35 +0.22

Performance 5.79 6.07 5.79 5.56 6.03
TABLE 28: Social media used by respondents at least once a month
Social Media Frequency Valid

percentage
Facebook 128 69.9

Twitter 21 11.5
MySpace 13 7.1
Linked In 5 2.7
Flickr 8 4.4
Hi5 1 0.5
Msn 3 1.6
Xing 4 2.2
Total 183 100.0
50
TABLE 29: Would you recommend your bank to a friend
Answer Overall Credit Suisse Post Finance Raiffeisen UBS
Yes 110(75.9%) 18(90%) 16(59.3%) 21(87.5%) 47(83.9%)

No 8 (5.5%) 1 (1%) 3 (11.1%) 2 (8.3%) 2 (3.6%)
Dont know 27(18.6%) 1 (1%) 8 (29.6) 1 (4.2) 7 (12.5)
Total 145 20 27 24 56
TABLE 30: Respondent's attraction to this category of goods
Shopping preferences Frequency Valid

percentage
Books 74 15.2
Music 69 14.2
Events (cinema, concert tickets) 62 12. 7
Clothes 68 14.0
Discounts for travelling 69 14.2
Sports related goods 41 8.4
Fitness subscriptions/entries 40 8.2
Electronic entertainment goods 44 9.0
Beauty/cosmetics 20 4.1
Total 487 100.0
TABLE 31: Reliability coeficients
Construct Cronbach’s Alpha Number of Items
Bank selection 0.654 4

Bank Switching 0.566 4
Identity of CS 0.588 4
Attribute importance 0.841 12
Attribute usage rate 0.729 12
Price 0.737 4
Empathy: expectation 0.700 5
Empathy: performance 0.810 5
Assurance: expectation 0.793 2
Assurance: performance 0.775 2
Tangibles: expectation 0.750 2
Tangibles: expectation 0.750 2
Overall 0.773 58
51
TABLE 32: KMO and Bartlett's Test
Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .648
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Approx. Chi-Square 1186.611
df 325
Sig. .000
6.6. Questionnaire (English version)
We are a group of Master students from Università della Svizzera Italiana currently
working on our field project.
Our project aims at understanding the degree of awareness and product selection
mechanisms of different financial products designed especially for students as you are.
We would like to understand your expectations for such kind of products and welcome
further suggestions that might help to improve them according to your expectations and
needs.
First part is focused on the bank characteristics, namely Awareness and Decision
making pattern in selecting your bank.
The second part contains, on the other hand, questions on product characteristics:
Product Quality, Price, Customer Service Quality and Perceived Image & Attitude.
Finally, some questions on Demographics will be asked.
Bank characteristics
To start, we are going to ask you questions concerning Bank Characteristics: we aim at
understanding your degree of awareness about specific students accounts, as well as to
assess your own decision making pattern when evaluating different banks/student
accounts and when selecting your own bank among different alternatives.
Awareness and Decision making pattern
1. Do you have your own bank account in Switzerland? Yes No

2. If yes, which one?.............................................
3. Which Swiss banks come to your mind when thinking about the possibility to
open a current account?...............................................................................................................
4. Have you ever heard about Credit Suisse bank? Yes No
52
5. What Swiss banks that offer current account for
students?..............................................................................................................................................
6. Have you ever heard of Academica account that Credit Suisse offers to
students? Yes No
7. From where did you get to know about your bank account?
a. Family
b. Friends
c. Internet
d. Other media
e. Other.......
8. Did you evaluate any alternatives before opening your account?

Yes No
Which ones?
9. Bank selection: In case you would need to open a current account please
evaluate the importance of each of the attributes that you are going to
consider
Strongly Very
unimportant important
a. Convenience – e.g. waiting time, proximity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. Products and services (cards offered, ATM conditions, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

banking fees, interest rate)
c. Customer service 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d. Image of the bank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. Bank switching: Have you ever decided to change your bank? Yes No
If yes, what were the most important reasons?
Strongly Very
a. Convenience – e.g. waiting time, proximity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
53
b. Products and services (cards offered, ATM conditions, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
banking fees, interest rate)
c. Customer service 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d. Image of the bank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. When evaluating the alternatives for opening a current bank account what
would be the minimum criteria to take it into account? “Must have set”?
12. What would be an ideal bank account for you? What additional features would
attractive for you?
13. After your studies what additional features you might need?
14. Given the following parameters of Academica account at Credit Suisse:

 1% interest rate in CHF
 Free account management
 Free maestro and credit card (either MasterCard or Visa)
 Free on line banking
 Kind service
What additional changes should be made to make this product attractive for you?
54
Perceived image and attitude
15. Please indicate the degree to which you agree with the following statements
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. Credit Suisse is internationally oriented 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. Credit Suisse is one of the most admired banks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
c. Credit Suisse is oriented towards young people 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d. Credit Suisse takes customers needs into serious concern 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Product characteristics
We are now going to change the topic and move to the part of product characteristics,
asking you to answer specific questions related to Product Quality, Price and Customer
Service Quality.
Product quality
Importance
Now we are going to ask you to what extent the following product attributes are
important to you. Please try to link to your real necessities and expectations.
16. Please rank the importance that the following attributes play for you in any
current account you might be asked to evaluate:
Strongly Very
a. Free ATM Access 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. Free account management 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
c. Free Maestro card/ Postcard 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d. Interest rate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
e. On-line banking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
f. Special offers (gifts at special prices) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
g. No fix deposit required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
h. Limited overdraft 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
i. Credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
55
j. Telephone banking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
k. Loyalty gifts; e.g. points for using your credit card 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
l. Saving account feature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Usage frequency
Now we would like to know the frequency with which you actually use the following
attributes.
17. Please rank the usage frequency with which you use the following account
features
1 2 3 4 5
Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Most frequently
used used used used used
Never Most frequently

used used
a. Free ATM Access 1 2 3 4 5
b. Free account management 1 2 3 4 5
c. Maestro card/ Postcard 1 2 3 4 5
d. Interests on your balance 1 2 3 4 5
e. On-line banking 1 2 3 4 5
f. Special offers (gifts at special prices) 1 2 3 4 5
g. If a fix deposit was required; how often did you go under 1 2 3 4 5

the required limit?
h. How often did it happen to have a negative cash balance? 1 2 3 4 5
i. Credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) 1 2 3 4 5
j. Telephone banking 1 2 3 4 5
k. Loyalty gifts; e.g. points for using your credit card 1 2 3 4 5
l. Saving account feature 1 2 3 4 5
18. What additional features would you like to have?
56
Price
19. Please rank the degree to which you agree/disagree to the following
statements
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. I find myself checking prices in banks even for small 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
services like current accounts
b. I usually watch advertisements for announcements of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
bank promotions
c. A person can save a lot of money by shopping around for 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
current accounts
d. I generally call several banks to get price quotes before 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
deciding on a particular bank
Customer Service quality
a. Empathy
Importance
Now we would like to see how important for you personally is the empathy part
of the customer service.
statements
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. A bank should be expected to give customers individual 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
attention
b. Employees of a bank are expected to give customers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
personal attention
c. It is realistic to expect employees to know what the needs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
of its customers are
d. It is realistic to expect a bank to have its customers’ best 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
interests at heart
e. A bank should be expected to have operating hours 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
convenient to all its customers
57
Performance
Now you should evaluate your bank‘s performance on the same dimensions.
21. Please evaluate the performance of your bank on following attributes
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. My bank tends to give customers individual attention 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. Employees of my bank tend to give customers personal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

attention
c. I have the feeling that employees of my bank know my 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
needs
d. I have the feeling that my bank cares for my interests 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
e. My bank ‘s operating hours are convenient to all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

customers
b. Assurance
Importance
In this part we would like to see how important for you personally is the
assurance part of the customer service.
statements
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. Customers should be able to trust employees of a bank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. Customers should be able to feel safe in their transactions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

with bank employees
Performance
Now we would like you to evaluate your bank’s performance in terms of assurance.
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. Customers can trust employees of my bank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
b. I feel safe in the transactions with my bank ‘s employees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
58
c. Tangibles
Importance
In this part we would like to see how important for you personally is the tangible
part of customer service.
statements:
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. A bank’s employees should be formally dressed and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
appear neat
b. Appearance of facilities should be in line with the type of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
services provided
Performance
Now you should briefly evaluate your bank in terms of tangible performance.
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
a. My bank’s employees are formally dressed and appear 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
neat
b. Appearance of facilities are in line with the type of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
services provided
Demographics.
Age: ___________
Gender: ___________
What’s your place of residence?

Ticino
Other Swiss cantons
Italy
Abroad
What’s your place of origin?

Ticino
Other Swiss cantons
Italy
Abroad
59
You are currently a full time student at:
USI
SUPSI
Franklin college
LUSSUT
ASP-DFA
SSAT Bellinzona
SSIG Bellinzona
SSSTE Bellinzona
SSTEI Trevano
STA moda Lugano
Other____________
What is the education programme you are currently studying at?

Bachelor
Master
Other____________
What is the faculty/school you are currently studying at?
Economics
Communication
Architecture
Informatics
Design
Education sciences
Music, theatre arts
Health care
Social support
Non informatics Engineering
Tourism
Other______________
Please indicate the number of years of your experience with banks (for how long have
you been having your own account?).
_______________
Do you have regular income? Yes No
If this is the case please indicate the monthly range:
Below 1000 CHF
60
1000 – 2000 CHF
Above 2000 CHF
Please indicate the approximate range of your total monthly expenditures
Below 1500CHF
1500 - 2500CHF
Above 2500CHF
Please indicate the social media you visit at least once a month
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Linked In
Flickr
Hi5
Other_______________
Where would you look for relevant information when looking for a new bank account?
___________________________________________________
Would you recommend your bank to your friend? Yes No Yes
Do not know
Which category of goods are you mainly attracted to?
Books
Music
Events(cinema, concert tickets)
Clothes
Discounts for travelling
Sports-related goods
Fitness subscriptions/entries
Electronic entertaining devices
Beauty/cosmetics
Other (please specify): _________________________
61
6.7. Content analysis of open ended questions
11. When evaluating the alternatives for opening a current bank account what would be the
minimum criteria to take it into account? “Must have set”?
Free banking fees II

Free cash withdrawal IIII
Security in money withdrawal (data IIIII
security)
account expenses III
ATM III
bonuses I
Free money at bankomat IIII
Good interest rate IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
account management free III
Access to money worldwide II
Incentive scheme for opening the account I
(free) e-banking IIII
On-line easy transactions I
Transfer charges I
Direct phone line to local bank I
No fixed deposit I
No permit required I
Bank /Bankomats proximity IIIIIII
The provenience of the bank itself I
Customer service III
Convenience IIIII
Money withdrawal everywhere III
12. What would be an ideal bank account for you? What features would you consider as the
most attractive ones?
62
Good interest rates IIIIIIIIIIIII
Free account management IIII
Special offers (ex coupons, bonuses, etc) IIIII
Low/No (additional) fees IIIIIIIII
Discounts on travelling I
No initial deposit II
e-banking IIIII
Overdraft facility I
Credit card facility I
Upgrade opportunity II
No limited overdraft I
Low international transfer charges IIII
Free cash withdrawal in the country and IIIIII
abroad
Customers service III
ATM at every important point (lots of III
stations)
13. After your studies what additional features you might need?
No limited overdraft III

Current account for salary I
Investement on the stock exchange I
Free account management I
Low/free account charges II
Loyalty benefits I
Low account charges II
Deposit account for salary (conto corrente III
di stipendio)
If working, an interest on the capital I
(free) E-banking III
Saving account IIIIIIII
Higher debt ability in my Mastercard I
Customer service (kindness, availability) III
Possibility to keep or upgrade my current I
account
Credit card I
An ideal account would provide me with advantageous mortgage for my first house, or my own
business. The account should grow with me taking into account the most important stages of my
life. It would be useful to have a personal advisor that could help me to arrange my investments
and keep under control my expenses.
18. Given the following parameters of Academica account at Credit Suisse:

 1% interest rate
 Free account management
 Free maestro and credit card (either MasterCard of Visa)
 Free on line banking
 Kind service
What additional changes should be made to make this product attractive for you?
63
Increase interest rate for students IIIIIIIIIIII
Interest rate = 0 I
No fixed deposit I
Quicker account processing I
Bonuses schema on card usage/ Special I I I I /I I
offers for students (ex coupons)
Discounts for students (ex. Shopping IIII
centers, Museums, restaurants, etc)
Low international transfer charges II
Free Bank gadget gifts I
Free cash withdrawal in the country and II
abroad
8. What additional features would you like to have?

- Facilitated cash withdrawal abroad (and with lower expenses)
7. Bibliography
Books:
Farris, P.. W., Bendle, N. T., Pfeifer, P.E., Reibstein, D. J. (2010). Marketing Metrics: The
Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance. Pearson Education, Inc., New
Jersey.
Gaur, A.S. & Gaur, S.S. (2009). Statistical Methods for Practice and Research: A guide to
data analysis using SPSS. Sage Publications, Inc., New Delhi.
Miller, R. L., Acton, C., Fullerton, D.A. & Maltby,J. (2002). SPSS for social scientists. Pelgrave
Macmillan, New York.
Morgan, G.A, Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W. & Barret, K. C. (2004). SPSS for introductory
statistics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, London.
Porter, M., E. (2008). On competition. Harvard Business Scholl Press, Boston.
Articles:
De Chernatony, L., Cottam, S. (2006). “Why are all financial services brands not great?”. Journal of
Product and Brand Management. Vol. 15, No. 2, pp 88-97.
Fandos, Roig, J., C., Sanchez, Garcia, J., Moliner, Tena, M., A., Monzonis, J., L. (2006). “Customer
perceived value in banking services”. Journal of Bank Marketing. Vol. 24, No. 5, pp 266-283.
Krishnan, M., S., Ramaswami, V., Meyer, M., C., Damien, P. (1998). “Customer Satisfaction for
Financial Services: The Role of Products, Services, and Information Technology”. Roos School of
Business Working Paper Series. Working Paper No. 99-004.University of Michigan.
64
Maas, P., Graf, A. (2008). “Customer value analysis in financial services”, Journal of Financial
Services Marketing, Vol. 13, No 2, pp. 107-120.
Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry (1988). “SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale
for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality.” Journal of Retailing. 64(Spring): 12-40.
Pass, M.W. (2005). “Western US college students: Banking preferences and marketplace
performance”. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Vol. 11, No 1,pp. 49-63.
Rootman, C., Tait, M., Bosch, J. (2008)Variables influencing the customer relationship
management of banks. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Vol. 13, No 1,pp. 52-62.
Soureli, M., Lewis, R., B., Kaarantinou, M., K. (2008). “Factors that affect consumers’ cross-buying
intention: A model for financial services”, Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Vol. 13, No 1,pp.
5-16.
Zeithaml, V.A. (1988). “Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value: a means-end model
and synthesis of evidence”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, July, pp. 2-22.
Web pages:
Alta scuola pedagogica Locarno: http://www.aspti.ch/jasp/ [12.3.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Basilea, Stab: http://www.lastab.ch/ [2.5.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Berna, Stib: http://www.stib.ch/ [30.4.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Bienne, ASTAB: http://www.astab.ch/ [30.4.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Friborgo, Lepontia: http://www.lepontia.ch/ [30.4.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Luceran, Iucium: http://www.iucim.ch/ [2.5.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Losanna, Stoica: http://stoica.ch/5672662/ [2.5.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Neuchâtel, Astan: http://www.astan.ch/ [30.4.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a San Gallo: http://www.sgoc.ch/ [2.5.2010]
Associazione studenti Ticinesi a Zurigo: http://www.astaz.ch/ [30.4.2010]
Banca Popolare di Sondrio: http://www.bps-

suisse.ch/it/contenuti/servizi_e_prodotti/conto_privato_studenti [5.3.2010]
C.I.M. Banque Lugano:

http://www.cimbanque.com/en/PrivateBanking/Currentaccount/Studentaccounts.aspx
[5.3.2010]
Product comparison Comparis web page: http://en.comparis.ch/comparis/banken.aspx

[4.3.2010]
Centro Professionale di Trevano: http://www.cpt-

ti.ch/cpt/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=13&Itemid=588 [12.3.2010]
65
Credit Suisse: https://www.credit-
suisse.com/ch/privatkunden/kontokarten/en/konten/young_people/index.jsp [1.3.2010]
Franklin College Lugano: http://www.fc.edu/content/about-franklin/facts [10.3.2010]
Money-net Internet bank of Berner Kntonalbank: https://www.money-net.ch/en/index/mn-

produkte-konten/angebot_eroeffnung_konten.htm?group=youth [5.3.2010]
PostFinance: http://www.postfinance.ch/pf/content/en/seg/priv/prod/young.html [4.3.2010]
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D3C12571F7003684CF [10.3.2010]
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Scuola specializzata superiore di tecnica dell'abbigliamento e della moda:

http://www.sta.ti.ch/sta/ [12.3.2010]
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http://www.supsi.ch/home/supsi/numeri.html [10.3.2010]
UBS: http://www.ubs.com/1/e/ubs_ch/private/lifecycle.html [2.3.2010]
LIbera Università degli studi di scienze umane e technologiche: http://www.uniludes.ch/

[10.3.2010]
Università della Svizzera Italiana: http://www.usi.ch/studenti-usi-it-12351.pdf [15.3.2010]
66

Credit Suisse Consulting Project: Managerial Suggestions For Repositioning of The Academica Package

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Analysis and suggestions for

repositioning of the “Academica”

Supervisor: Prof. Filippo Carlo Wezel

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 2

Chart 1 Offerings of Credit Suisse within the customer lifecycle framework

Chart 2 Project phases at glance

2.1. Competition analysis and Mystery Shopping

2.3. Literature review

Chart 3. Lavidge-Steiner Model

2.4. Questionnaire design

2.6. Implementation of questionnaire

3.2. Analysis of the competing product of main competitors

We have summarized the offerings of the major competitors in a detailed matrix

Credit Suisse’s Academica with the major competitor UBS’s Campus.

Key strengths of Credit Suisse Academica Key strengths of UBS Campus:

Attractive interest rate – 1% Good interest rate 0.875%

Free account management Free account management

Cash withdrawal flexibility Cash withdrawal flexibility

Kind service Strong word of mouth

Attractive interest rate – 1.25% Very high interest rate 1.375%

Free account management Free account management

Proximity Cash withdrawal flexibility

Kind service No upper age limitations

Bonus program on credit cards Attractive partnerships

Very clear web page Weaknesses: Account management linked to

3.3. Estimation of the target market size in Ticino

3.4. Exploratory interviews: description and results

Exploratory interviews were conducted with 36 students aged between 20 and 30

3.6. Data analysis results2

3.6.1. Bank characteristics

3.6.2. Product Quality & Price Dimension

3.6.3. Identity of Credit Suisse

3.6.6. Assurance & Tangibles

3.6.7. Other results

4. Managerial implications; definition of possible strategic actions

4.1. Priority and cost estimate

Hereafter we propose the table of summary classified by respective priority. Regarding

TABLE 33: Cost and priority estimate

Suggestions Priority Cost ROI

Cognitive (Awareness & Knowledge)

Affective (Liking & Preferences)

Conative (Conviction & Use)

5. Limitations and suggestions

Prepaid cards Travel cash card Suggested Possible

Newsletter Regular, when Download on Regular, when No No No No

Chart 3 exploratory interviews - distribution of students

Table Results from exploratory interviews

Out of all the CS non-customers

The aggregated responses of both Credit Suisse customers and non-

6.3. Target market size estimate outside Ticino

Institution Student number

University of Lausanne 777

University of Freiburg 699

University of Zürich 634

ETH Zürich 595

University of Geneva 290

Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale 234

Universität Basel 163

ETH Lausanne 159

Universität Bern 140

Universität St. Gallen 80

Fachhochschule Zentralschweiz (Hochschule Luzern) 26

*Data of academic year 2008/09