Market orientation and the MARKOR scale: A quantitative study measuring the degree of market orientation of Illinois banks 500 million in assets and less

The purpose of this study was to measure the degree of market orientation of Illinois banks $500 million and less in assets by using the MARKOR scale. The data were gathered from presidents and marketing managers of Illinois banks, $500 million in assets and less. The study administered a questionnaire to approximately 1,100 bank presidents and marketing managers within the state of Illinois. From the data collected, frequency distributions, cross-tabs and bank performance in relation to the degrees of market orientation were analyzed, among others. The data were also analyzed and synthesized as a comparison of bank asset size, years of experience of the respondents, and education level of respondents. The overall market orientation correlated from respondent banks equated to 3.15, which shows neither a lack of market orientation nor a strong market orientation. The overall finding of the study confirmed what may have already been known in that banks of small asset size do not rely on marketing as much as they do perhaps on personal relationships or sales. The results of the study showed little to no correlation among market orientation to the aforementioned variables of bank profit, asset size and education level of respondents. A wealth of opportunity exists in future studies from this conformity finding. Studies could be performed to discover why customers patronize a certain bank over the other. Another study based could be performed to discover the extent the sales effort plays in a bank’s success. An extension of this study could be performed to review the opportunities such banks have in the marketing realm to assist them in achieving their operational goals and stay competitive in the market place.