Consumption trends of milk and dairy products in Slovakia and its comparison with other V4 countries

The article examines the competitiveness of Ukrainian banks influenced by economy digitalization, the dynamic spread of electronic payments and e-commerce, as well as innovative technologies aimed at providing digital services. When shifting to an Online Platform business model, a bank can expand its range of banking products, attract more customers, thereby forming a competition policy and gaining competitive advantages. The paper aims to assess the digitalization level affecting the general competitiveness of banks and its components based on Ukrainian banks. For this purpose, the following methods were used: standardized input statistical indicators, comparison and ranking, a cluster analysis, and a regression and correlation analysis. The cluster analysis confirmed the current role of digitalization as a competition driver that determines the competitive advantages of banks and creates additional opportunities to expand the customer base and the range of services. The correlation and regression dependence of the competitive position identified by the activity indicators of certain banks on the level of competitive digitalization confirmed a close direct impact on the competitive position of personal deposits arising from the development of digital banking technology; the pre-tax income, profiles of assets and personal loans, and corporate deposits are subject to a significant direct impact, while the weakest direct impact determines corporate loans. The foregoing substantiates the feasibility of large-scale introduction of innovative digital technologies by banks to maintain competitive positions in the banking sector of the economy. Applying the proposed approach based on certain regression equations, managers of Ukrainian banks will be able to assess the efficiency and make appropriate decisions concerning investing in digital tools and services.

Financial decision-making through social media blogs and opinions is an area not much explored by the researchers. This study intends to understand the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst individuals and groups based on demographic similarities and social parameters. This paper aims to understand the perception of various subgroups in society within the large population sample. The paper applies Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests to examine the proposed research questions from a dataset of 201 individuals residing in two most populated states in Northern India. The analysis reveals the differences between different groups categorized based on generation, financially dependent, educational background, occupation, and geographical location. In terms of social media’s perceived utility in financial decision-making, results suggest that segregated groups based on cohort generation and occupation have significant variations relative to others. Based on the educational context, all other segments, number of financially dependent, geographical location, were found insignificant. The novelty of the paper lies in investigating the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst various homogenous groups based on demographics in a developing country. The study outcomes can be useful for the financial service providers and social media platforms in comprehending consumer behavior to devise an innovative marketing strategy for financial products targeting specific segments through enhanced coordination between them.

Acknowledgment
This paper was supported by Internal Grant Agency of FaME TBU No. IGA/FaME/2019/002.

Commercial banks have many options when selecting an advertising medium. Where should a bank put its money in order to obtain the highest return? Should this medium change based on the target audience? This paper examines a number of different mediums for bank advertising and analyzes by age and by gender the efficacy of each. The authors administered a survey to over three hundred participants of varying ages asking them if they have seen bank advertisements on television, social media or the internet, billboards, traditional print media, or heard bank advertising on the radio. The survey, then, asks, if so, did it leave a favorable or unfavorable impression. Finally, the participants are asked to rank the mediums in terms of most favored to least favored. The authors find that television is the most effective medium. It reaches the broadest audience and the message is received favorably the largest percent of the time. The results show differences by age groups that can be beneficial to banks that are attempting to increase brand awareness and capture greater market share from particular age groups. For example, social media advertising works better for communicating with the younger age groups than the older age groups, however, it is still neither as effective nor as positively received as television.