Deep Dive: Psychographic and Behavioral Profiles of Nigeria’s Financial Services Users

A new way of thinking about financial service customers

In the quest for financial inclusion and ultimately the improved financial health of Nigerian citizens, very little is known about the under-served, under-banked and unbanked segments who make up the core of the gap. A lot has been said and written about Nigeria’s high unbanked population which hovers in the millions.

However, there’s a need for additional facts beyond the absolute numbers. Beyond the basic demographic attributes, these are people with behavioral traits — wants and needs, daily habits and pyschographic attributes — hopes, fears and aspirations. The success (or lack thereof) of our financial inclusion efforts, especially on the supply side, rests primarily on understanding these marginalised populations.

While we believe that being financially included is beyond having an account (bank or wallet), deeper understanding/knowledge of the unreached segments by ecosystem actors will support and hopefully enhance the development of products and services, better suited at achieving product-market fit.

This deeper knowledge will also enhance above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL) marketing and communications efforts. Moreso, these detailed insights can enhance development actors and policy makers in their selection of beneficiaries for programme interventions and decision making in general.

As an initiative dedicated to enhancing the evidence base to catalyze financial inclusion, we have conducted some work to unearth the behavioral and psychological attributes of consumers; and combining this with demographic attributes, providers can develop and deploy more market-centric products and services.

The research work and findings culminated in a new report, The Customer Segmentation Framework, which details the new approach and new customer segments/profiles. The Customer Segmentation Framework presents a new way of thinking about financial services consumers, particularly those who have been marginalised or excluded by the ecosystem — the underserved, under-banked and unbanked.

The Customer Segmentation Framework contains six customer profiles.

These profiles provide illustrative descriptions of Nigerians within the marginalized segment, using their dominant gender, location, occupation and income sources. The profiles also highlight their current state of financial health (and behaviors) as well as other attitudes like disposition to financial services products like savings and credits. Readers will understand each persona’s coping mechanisms during periods of financial shocks and crises — the strength of their social networks and who they turn to for support, counsel and intervention.

The personas also illustrate psychometric attitudes like locus of control and self-efficacy and their level of importance. Furthermore, the digital prowess of the segments also provide insights into appropriate service delivery channels and mechanisms.

The report presentation is also unique in providing rich detail on selected profiles customers and their life’s “journey”. This feature offers a peek behind the curtain into their daily lives, by chronicling their major struggles and challenges, hopes, aspirations and desires.

Lastly, for each persona, the report presents a typical use case which proffers ways to leverage each of the consumer persona insights to aid financial service delivery, education and support. These design principles are the input of the product design and development process.

These insights are priceless because they can stimulate interesting ideas and lead to new products, innovations and even partnerships which would galvanise the reach and efficacy of financial inclusion efforts.

These initial 6 personas are the tip of the iceberg that will require further exploration, testing and refinement. Nonetheless, they are a step in the right direction towards closing that product-market gap. The adoption of these segments should result in a variety of new financial products and services that address lives challenges while fulfilling hopes and aspirations.

The Customer Segmentation Framework was launched on August 16, 2018 at the Lagos Business School campus and was complemented by an exquisite art exhibition which brought the six customer personas to life (pictures).

In the coming weeks, we will be testing and exploring these new segments, with case studies and industry engagements to develop real world case studies.

Download the Customer Segmentation Framework here (PDF).