Educating customers: its impact on consumer trust and implications for management consulting

The effectiveness of increased customer involvement in services selling is to a large extent dependent on the knowledge, expertise, and trust of customers. Successful consultants, therefore, need to be aware of the dynamic relationships between customer education, expertise, and service quality in driving customer trust. To test this notion, we use data collected from 1268 clients of a global financial services firm. Overall, the present study successfully models the multifaceted impact of customer education on the service qualitytrust relationship. Resultant implications point to new business opportunities in an increasingly competitive economic environment and, consequently, are of interest to consultants and researchers alike.