Investigating the Social Media Potential to Attract Customers in the Banking Services Industry Using Fuzzy Delphi and Analytic Hierarchy Process

Customer attraction is a fundamental goal for most companies that cannot be seen as a simple process but as a complex mix of factors and decisions. The world of Social Media offers new ways and opportunities for customer attraction, allowing companies to showcase their products and reach clients. They also amplify word of mouth marketing, affect purchasing decisions and help raise brand awareness. In this paper, the way in which aspects of social media usage affect customer attraction were analyzed. The study was focused on retail banking services and was based on the opinions of bank marketing experts. The most important factors were initially identified through a Fuzzy Delphi process. A hierarchical model of the importance of each factor was then built using the Analytic Hierarchy Process Multi-Criteria Decision Method. The results showed that the provision of reliable information from the company’s side and efficient management of complaints were more important than the promotion of products and services and the acquisition of information on the customers’ views. It is crucial that through consistency and honesty, companies improve their reputation and gain potential customers’ trust, encouraging their active involvement.