Study on marketing strategy for Islamic banking industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Islamic banking is a growing industry in Sri Lanka and many other countries as well. The study is to empirically analyze the present situation of Sri Lanka by using the theoretical framework of mainly porter’s five competitive forces for Islamic banking industry in Sri Lanka. Marketing strategies must be analyzed and tackled carefully for any newly growing industry in order to get sustainable development. The main purpose of the research work is to explore and pinpoint some marketing strategy issues which can be helpful for new investors and old stakeholders in the sector of Islamic banking in Sri Lanka in order to penetrate in the market successfully. And also the aim of the study is that how Islamic banking can grow in an environment where conventional banking sector has deep roots. The target groups are one Islamic bank and four Islamic banking windows in Sri Lanka. The common marketing strategy is followed by all branches the Islamic bank and Islamic banking windows. This study is based on Qualitative approach. Data was collected from primary and secondary data methods. The study provides useful information for the top management of Islamic banks. Findings indicate that the competition is very high in the industry and Islamic banks could take more market share by introducing the more innovative products with less price as compared to conventional banks and by widening their branch network to all small and big cities of Sri Lanka. The study is important to the banking solidarity in the country as banks may know the marketing strategies which Islamic banks can adopt to attract new customers. The policy makers can obtain knowledge of the marketing strategies that are used to attract and thus use the information in designing appropriate policies that is regulating the industry.