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The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that influence retail bank switching in the Ghanaian banking sector.

A detailed review of the extant literature and focus group discussions was used to identify 31 variables which were used to survey 419 customers of 18 retail banks in Ghana. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to identify the main retail bank switching factors.

The result of the study indicates that service encounter failures, pricing failures, electronic banking failures, service recovery failures and core service failures accounted for retail bank customer's decision to switch banks in Ghana.

The focus of the study on Ghana limits the generaliseability of the findings. Moreover, the five factor structure identified in the study could be replicated in other countries, thereby setting the stage for cross-country studies on retail bank switching.

The study concludes that factors that account for retail bank switching in developed economies are not essentially different from the factors accounting for retail bank switching in Ghana. The study is thus significant especially to foreign banks entering the Ghanaian banking industry as it provides insight into how to satisfy and retain customers.

The paper aims to investigate small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) bank selection and patronage behaviour in the Ghanaian banking sector.

A detailed literature review was used to identify five determinants of bank selection and other patronage factors which were used to survey 503 SMEs randomly selected from the data base of the National Board for Small Scale Industries in Ghana. Exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression and correlation analysis were used for the data analysis.

The study found price competitiveness, credit availability, perceived service quality, staff attributes and bank attributes as determinants of SME bank selection. In addition, loans and overdrafts, cash collection, transfers, bank guarantees, advisory services and training were among the core services patronized by the SMEs.

The study highlights the importance of factors considered important to the SME bank selection and patronage behaviour. It thus provides practical leverage to banks on how to attract, serve and retain SMEs in Ghana.

The study is the first of its kind that investigated both bank selection and patronage behaviour at the same time and provides important insight for banks on how to attract, satisfy and manage SMEs. It also makes a major contribution to the literature on SME banking behaviour especially in a sub-Saharan Africa and responds to the recent call for more studies on SME practices in emerging economies.

The paper aims to investigate the determinants of automobile brand choice in Ghana. Specifically, the paper seeks to hypothesize that consumers of automobiles make their purchases based on a multiplicity of factors.

A quantitative approach using questionnaires was adopted to survey 1,020 respondents drawn from various workplaces, churches and homes. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis.

The study established that the attributes of a car, emotional connection, external influences, awareness and accessibility make a strong and significant contribution to automobile brand choice in Ghana.

The study is one of the few of its nature in sub‐Saharan Africa. The new theoretical and empirical insights into factors influencing consumers' purchase decision of automobiles from the study will be significant to automobile manufacturers and dealers operating in developing countries such as Ghana.

Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has concluded a positive link between EO and firm performance and that relationship depends on several contingencies. The purpose of this paper is to derive insights from the absorptive capacity and contingency perspectives to introduce extra-organizational advice as a moderator of the relationship between EO and firm performance in a dynamic environment.

Using survey data from 340 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, the study examines the moderating influence of extra-organizational advice on the EO-firm performance relationship in dynamic environments.

The study’s empirical findings suggest that extra-organizational advice amplifies the EO-performance relationship in dynamic environments.

The cross-sectional design of the study does not permit causal inferences to be made regarding the variables examined. Future studies may use longitudinal design to examine the causal links of the variables. Limitations aside, the study helps to answer how extra-organizational advice translates EO into improved performance in an environment characterized by constant flux.

The results of this paper can assist entrepreneurs and policy makers in understanding the dynamics and processes involved in implementing a strategic orientation to achieve higher performance. For SME managers, firm performance is determined by high levels of EO and extra-organizational advice in dynamic environments. The understanding of this issue can promote the development and maintenance of entrepreneurial ventures.

The paper examines an important, but under-researched issue – the moderating effect of extra-organizational advice on the EO-performance relationship in dynamic environments. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study pioneers research in this area.

The aim of this paper is to identify the dimensions of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) service quality and to evaluate customers’ perceptions of the relative importance of these dimensions.

A structured questionnaire gleaned from the literature and focused group studies was used to collect data from 530 ATM customers of 15 banks in Ghana. Descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, as well as multiple regression, were used to identify the relative importance of the dimensions of ATM service quality.

The paper identified five dimensions of the “ATMqual” model. In order of importance, these dimensions are reliability, convenience, responsiveness, ease of use and fulfillment.

The variables of the ATMqual scale provide practical levers for bank managers to improve customer experience with ATMs. The relative importance of the factors identified in the study also provide managers with a guide as to which issues to focus on in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the ATMs.

The paper provides a theoretical basis for conceptualising ATM service quality. The resulting dimensions, referred to as the ATMqual, thus address the paucity of a robust research in conceptualising and testing the dimensions of ATM service quality. Apart from the improved theoretical insight, the dimensions identified also provide bank managers with better understanding of and means to better manage customers’ ATM experiences.

Previous scholarly studies have concluded that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) positively relates to firm performance and that relationship is dependent on several contingencies. The purpose of this paper is to show how managers’ passion for work and the external environment (i.e. environmental dynamism) within which firms operate interactively impact on EO-firm performance relationship.

This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 250 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Ghana.

The study’s empirical findings indicate that passion for work strengthens the EO-performance relationship in dynamic market environments.

The cross-sectional design of the study does not permit causal inferences to be made regarding the variables examined. Future studies may use longitudinal design to examine the causal links of the variables.

The study’s findings provide managers with a deeper understanding of how to achieve superior product firm performance, especially when firms are entrepreneurially oriented. The understanding of this issue can promote the development and maintenance of further entrepreneurial ventures in developing economies.

The paper has a strong theoretical value because to the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the moderating role of passion for work on the relationship between EO and firm performance in dynamic environments.

This study aims to offers a deeper insight into bank selection of Ghanaian students so as to offer bank managers the opportunity to tailor‐measure programmes aimed at attracting and retaining customers.

The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the problem. The “drop and pick” convenience sampling method adopted resulted in 223 completed questionnaires. The mean ranking and factor analysis methods were employed to identify the major factors that influence the respondent bank selection.

Over all, student customers consider image, attitude and behaviour of staff, core service delivery and technology‐related factors as the major issues that influence consumers' decision to open and maintain an account.

The limitation of the study relates to the student population used for the study, which limits the generalisability of the findings. The study, however, contributes to the academic knowledge of bank selection and provides insights into the critical factors considered by sample students in their bank selection decisions.

In a market where consumers respond differently to a marketing offer, market segmentation becomes a necessity and therefore differences in male and female consumers' selection criteria emanating from this study provide an excellent opportunity for the banks to adopt segmentation‐based strategies to serve the customers.

In this paper, gender and educational level provide a deeper understanding of bank selection criteria among the Ghanaian bank customers. The four constructs can be used by bank management as bases for designing marketing strategies to deliver efficient service, and engage in relationship marketing practices to attract and retain customers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of marketing in the economic growth and competitive strategies of Sub-Sahara African firms. It also seeks to offer a backdrop for the papers in the present volume of AJEMS.

It is based on a review of a selection of literature that highlights past and current perspectives of marketing’s contribution to economic growth and firm performance in developing economies.

The review suggests that trade liberalization in African countries since the 1980s has changed the competitive landscape of firms located in these countries and has compelled them to develop market-oriented strategies in order to enhance their performance. But the strategies adopted tend to target the growing middle income segments of the population in the urban areas and to ignore the poor.

It provides directions for future research into issues of inclusive marketing policies and strategies – i.e. strategies that embrace the bottom of the pyramid and transforms the production base of African economies.