Predominantly electronic or personal service delivery? a case in the wealth management context

Financial services have been a recurrent subject of a multichannel inquiry but investigation into the wealth management area is scarce. This paper intends to fill the gap and presents the results of a questionnaire directed at customers of a financial conglomerate. The objective of this research is to examine which variables influence consumers’ channel preferences in the wealth management context, and to find out possible differences between the customers who prefer predominantly electronic service or personal service delivery. Logistic regression and t-tests are used in the analysis. The perceived channel attributes of personalization, convenience and safety, relationship strength, and the internet and wealth management knowledge influence the channel preferences. Typical wealth management customers prefer multichannel service delivery; only 4 % of customers prefer pure electronic service, and 14 % of customers prefer pure personal service. There are several aspects that differentiate those customers who prefer predominantly electronic or personal service. The preference for the electronic channel indicated investments in shares, independent decision making style in wealth management tasks and reliance on electronic information channels. In addition, the customers who perceive relationship strength with the service provider as weaker prefer predominantly eservices, which should give impetus for action among the management in the financial service