International Business and Management Vol. 2, No. 1. 2011, pp. 186-197 www.cscanada.net ISSN 1923-841X [PRINT] ISSN 1923-8428 [ONLINE] www.cscanada.org 186 The Impact of Branding on Customers’ Attitudes toward Banking Services (The Case of Iran’s Melli Bank) Mohammad Reza Jalilvand 1 Farhad Ebrahimabadi 2 Neda Samiei 3 Abstract: The aim of applying branding is to differentiate a product or service from others and creating a unique brand image of a certain product or service in the minds of target market. Furthermore, customers’ attitudes have been shown to influence and predict behavior. This research integrates consumer-based brand equity and the theory of planned behavior in evaluating the performance of Iran’s Melli bank in branding and measures the impact of branding on customers’ attitudes. A field survey was conducted on Iran’s Melli bank in Isfahan, the biggest national bank in Iran. Data are collected and analyzed from 314 prospective customers. Findings indicate that Iran’s Melli bank has performed unsatisfactorily in presenting a desired image to the target market. As a result, Melli bank needs to strengthen its brand loyalty by improving its quality of banking services and marketing communications. Key words: Branding; Brand equity; Attitude; Banking services; Iran INTRODUCTION Brand is a simple but very confused word with multiple meanings. Within this field, there are a number of generally accepted definitions. These variously refer to the brand as “a product or service, which a customer perceives to have distinctive benefits beyond price and functional performance” (Knox et al., 2000) or “a symbol serving to distinguish the products and services of one company from another” (Kapferer, 1997). A brand may have many other meanings depending on the role it plays, the value it has and more importantly, to whom it is related. To brand owners, a brand is mainly a differentiation device: the living memory and the future of its products (Kapferer, 1997). To brand users, a brand may create an emotional bond with them which turns the brand into an icon. In the most developed role, brands represent not only the products or 1 Corresponding author. Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Azadi square, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: mrjd_reza2006@yahoomail.com 2 Department of educational Sciences, University of Isfahan, Iran E-mail: farhadebrahimi2010@gmail.com 3 Department of Economic, University of Isfahan, Iran E-mail: nedasamiei@gmail.com *Received 5 December 2010; accepted 10 January 2011