Relation between marketing expenses and bank’s financial position: Ukrainian reality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine relation between marketing expenses and bank’s financial position. Factor and cluster analyses were applied to unify different financial variables into financial clusters. Each cluster has specific long-term and short-term financial position and is allocated to appropriate rating position of new rating system. Using rating positions, it is possible to determine whether overall bank position is fragile or stable, and which financial position is vulnerable. Comparing marketing expenses with financial positions, it is possible to evaluate how effectively banks manage their financial resources, and what impact marketing activity has on the financial position. Design/methodology/approach Financial statements of Ukrainian banks for last five years are analyzed. Database of financial documents are reviewed. Coefficient, principal components, and hierarchical cluster analyzes are applied to elaborate new rating system. “Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity” and “Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy Test” validate input data. Box-and-whisker plots are used to describe graphically interaction between marketing expenses and bank financial positions. Findings The new rating system describes short-term and long-term bank financial positions. In their marketing activity, Ukrainian banks mostly have uneven distribution of marketing expenses in context of financial positions. Such pattern disrupts long-term stability of Ukrainian banking system. Each financial variable has different impact on marketing activity; however, the correlation level is insignificant. In general, Ukrainian banks do not consider financial positions in marketing planning. Practical implications New rating system can be used by the National Bank of Ukraine, the main supervisory bank of Ukraine, to determine fragile banks and to predict their bankruptcy. Banks may use findings to analyze their financial positions and to find optimal marketing expenses. Originality/value This paper contributes into the scientific literature in novelty of marketing-finance interaction in the Ukrainian banking system. New rating system of Ukrainian banks considers different aspects of bank financial stability: liquidity level, credit risks, deposit portfolio, and bank’s ability to attract additional financial resources on financial markets. Cluster analysis helps to allocate similar financial factors to different clusters and to evaluate financial risks in conjunctio