6.4.3 Recommendation 3
The commercial bank should take note that within the Baby Boomer cohort, a large percentage prefers using traditional communication tools, as opposed to modern communication tools. When the bank designs a communication strategy for these clients, it should have a fine balance between traditional and modern communication tools because a very high percentage of the respondents indicated that they make use of both communication tools.
6.4.4 Recommendation 4
With regard to Generation Y, clients of this commercial bank can make use of both traditional and modern communication tools when communicating with them. There is no significant gap between the respondents that prefer traditional communication tools to the users of modern communication tools.
It is important that the bank should focus on which specific modern or traditional communication tool to use.
6.4.5 Recommendation 5
To have effective communication with Generation Y the bank should make more use of WhatsApp/WeChat and Twitter. The other communication tools are not utilised as much by this generation.
Baby Boomers use Facebook more than any other modern communication tool, so this commercial bank should invest in having more effective Facebook messages to effectively communicate with this group. The other modern communication tools are also used by this generation, but not to a large extent.
6.4.6 Recommendation 6
As indicated by the Baby Boomer respondents, the bank should use all of the traditional communication tools equally when communicating with these clients because there is no big difference between the use of these traditional communication tools. Generation Y respondents indicated to a large extent that they utilise the telephone more. So effective communication with these clients should be done with the telephone and to a lesser extent mail and Email.
6.4.7 Recommendation 7
When the bank has a message to communicate the most effective traditional communication tool would be the telephone, since both these cohorts spend a lot of time using it, while the same can be said for the WhatsApp/WeChat in modern communication tools for both generations. However, the bank should not neglect using SMS and email for Generation Y because they spend a large portion of time using both these tools.
6.4.8 Recommendation 8
WhatsApp/WeChat is the most popular modern communication tool for Generation Y. The bank should focus more on using WhatsApp/WeChat as a tool of communication because Generation Y clients utilises it throughout the day.
With regard to Facebook, there are peaks in a day that Generation Y uses it, therefore the bank should make use of those peak times for relevant messages. The telephone seems to be the most popular with Generation Y with regard to traditional tools of communication and its usage is also consistent throughout the day.
The bank should utilise the phone during the course of the day to communicate with Generation Y. Both Email and SMS have peak times in the day and the bank should focus on those times to make use of during the day.
6.3.9 Recommendation 9
There is a significant statistical difference in the mean of all the specific modern and all the specific traditional communication tools. This bank should work on a clearly defined communication plan, emphasising the individual tools preferred by both the generations.
All of the tools of communication in this study are clearly important to these generations, even if it is not in equal measure. The bank should structure their marketing messages and the communication tool accordingly.
6.4.10 Recommendation 10
There has been a large increase in the amount of time spent in all the modern communication tools in the less-than-an-hour time period for both generations.
However, to have an effective communication strategy, this bank should focus on the WhatsApp/WeChat because these tools are consistently used across the day by both generations.
6.4.11 Recommendation 11
A large amount of respondents from both generations spends most of their time using the telephone for most of the day, followed by SMS and email.
This bank should focus on increasing their communication using the telephone as a tool to deliver their messages. The bank should not disregard any of the traditional communication tools completely since they are being utilised in a similar manner by both cohorts across the time periods given.
6.4.12 Recommendation 12
Even if there are small differences between the actual and preferred tools of communication, this bank should make more effort to use the preferred communication tools.
They can engage more with the Baby Boomer clients, either face to face or with questionnaires, to investigate which tool of communication would yield the best communication results.
6.4.13 Recommendation 13
This commercial bank is clearly not ustilising the traditional communication tools that Generation Y respondents prefer.
The bank should engage more with Generation Y clients by inviting a controlled study group to investigate what they would prefer. They can also do more research either in branch questionnaires or using the telephone as a tool to extract more information.
6.4.14 Recommendation 14
Once the bank has identified the preferred communication tools of the two generations being investigated, they can engage in sending out more marketing information that deals with their pricing structures. They can also use this as a marketing opportunity to educate their clients on which products to use that will fit their financial needs better.
6.4.15 Recommendation 15
Even if a large majority of the Baby Boomer respondents indicated that they are loyal to this commercial bank and that they will not move their accounts if the bank does not utilise their preferred tool of communication, it would still be a good idea for the bank to get more information regarding this generational cohort.
By increasing their knowledge about Baby Boomer clients the bank will know more and will be able to serve this generation better, thereby increasing loyalty. If this commercial bank would like to do more business with Baby Boomer clients it should focus its marketing and communication efforts on gathering more information on these clients.
Generation Y will be replacing the Baby Boomer generation soon as the largest client group. The information can help to satisfy the needs of Generation Y clients and improve their loyalty level for this bank.
The diagram below illustrates the communication tools that this bank should use to get their message across effectively to both the generations. It gives a clear distinction between the modern and traditional communication tools for each generation.