wilson final project

8/6/2019 Wilson Final Project

1/36

The Wilson Group

The consequences of different paying methods towards financial advisors

Marketing Research project

Maastricht University

School of Business andEconomics

Maastricht, 12th of December

Study: International Business

Course code: EBC2009

Tutorial group: 12

Research group: C

Balashov, K. 6003043Es, van R.A.R. 569550Hoebert, M.J.J. 6001467 Staats, P.R.W. 6001760


2/36

2

Table of Contents

Executive summary ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................3

In troductio n ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..4

Research method a n d data collectio n ................................ ................................ ....................5

Research Questio n 1 (Compare payi ng methods) ................................ .............................. 6

Research Questio n 2 (Trust towards the payi ng methods) ................................ .............7

Research Questio n 3 (Trust a n d likeli n ess) ................................ ................................ .........8

Research questio n 4 (Fi n a n cial sector) ................................ ................................ .................9

Research Questio n 5 (Ge n der) ................................ ................................ .............................. 11

Research questio n 6 (Educatio n al level) ................................ ................................ ........... 12

Research questio n 7 (A ge) ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 14

Research Questio n 8 ( In come) ................................ ................................ ............................. 16

Research questio n 9 (Natio n ality) ................................ ................................ ....................... 17

Limitatio n s of the research ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 19

Con clusio n a n d recomme n datio n s ................................ ................................ ...................... 20

Literature list ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 22

Appe n dix A ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 23 Research Questio n 1 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 23 Research Questio n 2 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 23 Research Questio n 3 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 24

Research Questio n 4 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 24

Research Questio n 5 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 25 Research Questio n 6 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 27 Research Questio n 7 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 28 Research Questio n 8 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 31 Research Questio n 9 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 31

Appe n dix B ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 33

Appe n dix C ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 35


3/36

3

Ex ecutive summary

Thi research dea ls w ith the consequences for the f inanc ial adv isors of the governmen ts

policy to change the prov ision based pay ing me thod towards a pay ing me thod where the

cus tomers d irec tly pay the f inanc ial adv isor for the adv ice.

In order to research this issue, n ine research ques tions were deve loped and s tatistically tested

for s ignif icance. Subsequen tly was se t up w ith twe lve ques tions, this ques tionna ire (Append ix

B) was done by means of an on line ques tionna ire. A total of 141 par tici pan ts was ach ieved.

Our responden ts cons isted mos tly of two na tiona lities, name ly Du tch and German.

In this research there are severa l limitations. I t mos tly cons ists of young peop le, wh ich m ight

not be the mos t suited targe t group for f inanc ial adv isors in the shor t term. Add itiona lly, on lytwo testab le na tiona lity groups are cons idered. Th is is a weak aspec t, s ince the cu lture of

German and Du tch peop le do no t differ that much.

The f indings of this research are; f irst, peop le are more likely to turn to a f inanc ial adv isor in

the new case that he or she is pa id by the cus tomer, ra ther than by the prov ider of the f inanc ial

produc ts through prov ision. Second, perce ived trus t of the cus tomer towards the adv isor is

bigger in case the adv isor is pa id by the cus tomer, than pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial

produc ts. Th ird, if the perce ived trus t of a cus tomer towards a f inanc ial adv isor is h igh, thelikeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor is h igh as we ll. Four th,trus t towards the f inanc ial sec tor

is no t an inf luen tial var iab le concern ing the preference towards bo th pay ing me thods.F if th,

con trary, to the o ld s ituation, in the new s ituation ma les are more likely, than fema les, to turn

to a f inanc ial adv isor. S ixth, that educa tiona l leve l does no t make a s ignif ican t difference in

preference for any of the two pay ing me thods. Seven th, age of the cus tomer was an inf luen tial

var iab le in the o ld s ituation, bu t is no t anymore in the new s ituation. E ight, income was of

inf luence in the o ld s ituation as we ll, bu t not anymore. N inth, it is found that nationa lity does

not make a s ignif ican t difference in preference towards any of the two pay ing me thods.

To conc lude, the new po licy towards the f inanc ial adv isors does inf luence the sec tor in many

ways, d ifferen t cus tomers, probab ly more cus tomers, a chance to ex pand abroad, bu t the

Wilson Group shou ld pay spec ial to re tain and improve their trus t image.


4/36

4

Introduction

The W ilson Group, in the beg inning on ly an insurance company, was founded in 1976. S ince

then the company subsequen tly has deve loped from a one-man bus iness into a med ium-s ized

company w ith more than 5,000 acqua intances. Consumers can turn to the W ilson Group for arange of f inanc ial serv ices, such as assurances and mor tgages. In 2001, the W ilson Group

ex panded its bus iness range of ac tivities by acqu ir ing a broker s off ice. The broker s off ice

ar ised by an acqu isition of He ijloo&Mo lkenboer Van GerwenMake laars, in this way the

company ga ined d irec t ex per ience in this marke t and is therefore ab le to offer consumers

reliable and h igh qua lity adv ice/serv ices. (W ilson Groep)

The ma in prob lem the research dea ls with is new regu lations in the f inanc ial sec tor

concern ing f inanc ial adv ise in the Ne ther lands. A new po lice w ill be es tablished in 2013,

which enforces f inanc ial adv isors now to charge their cus tomers a paymen t per hour when

they prov ide an adv ice. (A l phen, van F., 2010) Whereby, the f inanc ial adv isors were pa id

prev ious ly by the prov ider of a f inanc ial produc t on a prov ision if the cus tomer chose the

spec if ic f inanc ial produc t as a consequence of the rece ived f inanc ial adv ice. The new po licy is

direc ted towards es tab lishing a more ob jective env ironmen t in the f inanc ial sec tor of the

Ne ther lands. Th is research assumes, this po licy of paymen t shou ld have an effec t on the

frequency of v isiting a f inanc ial adv isor for a cus tomer.

Consequen tly, the prob lem s tatemen t of this research is:

Whet her t he buy i pre f erence o f cos t umers changes, if t heir adv i sor charges t he cus t omer

per hour opposed t o by prov i sions pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t.

To inves tiga te this s tatemen t nine research ques tion have been deve loped. These research

ques tions w ill dea l with the issue of whe ther peop le are more w illi ng to go to a f inanc ial

adv isor when he is pa id by the hour or by a prov ider. Severa l other var iab les like educa tion,

income, trust and age are tested, in order to know if they have a s ignif ican t impac t. To be ab le

to ge t the necessary da ta to s tatistically answer the research ques tions a ques tionna ire was

conduc ted, wh ich is included in the append ices.

Each of the n ine research ques tions are dea lt with in the fo llowing manner. F irst, there is a

br ief e x plana tion why it is impor tant for the research to have this research ques tion. Second,

the A lterna tive and the Nu ll Hypo thes is are presen ted. Th ird, a listing of the accord ing


5/36

5

ques tionna ire ques tions and their measuremen t sca le is prov ided. Four th, the used s tatistical

test is s tated. F if th, the s tatistica l out put is descr i bed and last, the ou tcome is d iscussed and a

shor t conc lusion based on the ou tcome is drawn for the spec if ic research ques tion.

R esearch method and data collection

For a marke ter there are two d ifferen t types of researches ava ilable to ga ther the necessary

informa tion. Secondary research is the use of da ta wh ich has been prev ious ly co llected, bu t

for ano ther prob lem (So lomon e t al., 2009). S ince the da ta does no t have to be co llected this

research me thod can save a lot of money and time. Th is research d id no t have the chance to

use secondary da ta; consequen tly, this research so lely cons ists of pr imary da ta. Pr imary

research means that the da ta needed is spec if ically co llected for this purpose. Pr imary

research is d ivided into three ca tegor ies: f irst, ex plora tory research, second, descr i ptive

research, and last, causa l research. Th is research is us ing the descr i ptive research me thod,

since it uses much larger samp le s ize than the o ther two me thods. A lso, mos t of the da ta

collected w ith this me thod is of quan titative na ture and therefore, more accura te to use.

Descr i ptive research is divided into two ca tegor ies cross-sec tiona l design and longitudina l

des ign. Long itudina l des ign mon itors responses made from the same person over a per iod of

time. Th is was no t poss i ble for the research. Hence, this research uses a cross-sec tiona l

des ign, wh ich is charac ter ized, by the use of a consumer survey instrumen t to sys tema tica lly

collect the responses (So lomon e t al., 2009).

For this research the consumer survey instrumen t was an on line ques tionna ire. These

ques tionna ires have some huge advan tages for e xamp le they are bas ica lly for free, it is

comp letely free of interv iewer b ias, it can be used everywhere so it is no t limited in terms of

geograph ic and the da ta is instan tly ava ilab le and ready to use. On the o ther hand there are

also some d isadvan tages. The researchers can no t comp letely con trol who is par tici pa ting and

thus can no t be sure if the responden ts do unders tand every ques tion in the r ight way.


6/36

6

R esearch Question 1 (Compare paying methods)

The governmen ts introduc tion of the new paymen t policy in the f inanc ial adv isor sec tor may

resu lt in the change of cus tomer`s behav iour in regard to v isiting a f inanc ial adv isor. A

poss i ble reason for the change m ight be, that in the case the f inanc ial adv isor is pa id by the prov ider, the consu lt is free of charge in a d irec t way and, thus lowers the boundary to go to a

f inanc ial adv isor. I t can a lso be reasoned in ano ther way, s ince the f inanc ial adv isor pa id by

the cus tomer, m ight be more independen t and, thus cus tomers cou ld be more likely to go to a

f inanc ial adv isor. Th is research assumes that the last argumen t is s tronger and thus comes up

with the fo llowing research ques tion:

I s t he cus t omer more lik el y t o go t o a financ ial advi sor if he i s pa id by t he cus t omer, t han t o

go t o a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

From the research ques tion the fo llowing A lterna tive Hypo thesis can be s tated:

Ha: The cus t omer i s more lik el y t o go t o a financ ial advi sor if he i s paid by t he cus t omer,

t han t o go t o a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

Consequen tly, the nu ll hypo thesis s tates that there is no re lationsh i p between likeliness to go

to a f inanc ial adv isor.

H0: The cus t omer i s l ess lik el y t o go t o a financ ial advi sor if he i s pa id by t he cus t omer, t han

t o go t o a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

For the input, the research s tated two ques tions in the ques tionna ire, name ly ques tion 3 and

ques tion 4. (Append ix B) To check the hypo theses the research uses one tailed one-samp le t-

test for the s tated interva l ques tions. In order to f ind whe ther there is a s ignif ican t relationsh i p

in the inves tigated da ta, we take the popu lation mean of the ou t put from ques tion 4, name ly

4.6241, wh ich is app lied as the test value for the ou t put from ques tion 3. (Tab le 1.1 and 1.2,

Append ix A) Consequen tly, the test revea ls a s ignif icance level with a p- va lue of 0,000,

therefore it prov ides s trong ev idence for the a lterna tive hypo thes is.

The Nu ll hypo t hesi s i s rejec t ed and t he Alt erna tive hypo t hesi s i s con firmed .

The f indings conf irm in conc lusion that the cus tomer is more likely to go a f inanc ial adv isor

if the f inanc ial adv isor is pa id by the cus tomer for the adv ice, instead of by the prov ider of the

f inanc ial produc ts. As s tated ear lier, a poss i ble cause m ight be the d ifference in perce ived trus t


7/36

7

towards bo th pay ing me thods. In order to research this, the com ing research ques tions dea ls

with this issue.

R esearch Question 2 (Trust towards the paying methods)

Due to the changes in the po licy towards f inanc ial adv isors as descr i bed in the introduc tion, it

is impor tan t to test whe ther there is a change in trus t in the f inanc ial adv isor. In case they w ill

be paid by the cus tomer and, thus whe ther the ob jective of the governmen t; to increase

trus twor thiness towards the f inanc ial adv isors, has been ach ieved. The research ques tion is:

D oes perce ived t rus t o f t he cus t omer t owards t he adv i sor increase, when t he adv i sor i s paid

by t he cus t omer, ra t her t han pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

In the research it is assumed that the trus t in a f inanc ial adv isor is b igger, in the case when the

f inanc ial adv isor is pa id by the cus tomer, opposed to by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t.

This is based on the assump tion that f inanc ial adv isors that are pa id by the cus tomer are more

independen t and ob jective. As a resu lt the A lterna tive hypo thesis is:

Ha: Perce ived t rus t o f t he cus t omer t owards t he adv i sor i s b i gger in case t he adv i sor i s pa id

by t he cus t omer, t han pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s.

Consequen tly the nu ll hypo thes is w ill be the oppos ite:

H0: Perce ived t rus t o f t he cus t omer t owards t he adv i sor i s not bi gger in case t he adv i sor i s

pa id by t he cus t omer, t han pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s.

The ques tions from the ques tionna ire used to test these hypo theses are 5 and 6, their

measuremen t sca le is interva l. (Append ix B) To test the ques tion a one-samp le t-test is used,

as the resu lt shows (Tab le 2.1 and 2.2 in Append ix A), the s ignif icance leve l is lower than

0,05 and, thus the nu ll hypo thesis can be re jected. S i g . 0,000 < 0,05 . Therefore it can be

stated that:


This wou ld implicate for the W ilson group that there is more trus t in a f inanc ial adv isor that is

pa id by the hour.So the new po licy is ac tually in favour of the W ilson Group. Therefore it can

be conc luded that the ob jective of the governmen t is ach ieved.


8/36

8

R esearch Question 3 (Trust and likeliness)

This research ques tion tr ies to de term ine whe ther or no t there is a s ignif ican t inf luence of trus t

on the likelihood to go to f inanc ial adv isor in genera l. I t is based on the assump tion that trus t

to any k ind of adv isor is qu ite impor tant. The ou tcome is impor tant for the f inanc ial adv isorsin order to know abou t the urgency for them to crea te a trus tful image towards the po tential

cus tomers and whe ther peop le are more likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor if he is pa id by the

cus tomer, s ince it can be conc luded from research ques tion 2, that the perce ived trus t is h igher

in that case. Therefore the research ques tion is as fo llows:

I s t here a re l ationsh i p be tween perce ived t rus t in t he financ ial advi sor and t he lik eliness t o go

t o a financ ial advi sor?

The research assumes that there is a re lationsh i p between perce ived trus t in the f inanc ial

adv isor and the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. Th is re lationsh i p is based on the

assump tion that peop le share more and w ill more eas ily accep t adv ice or informa tion who the

cus tomer trus t, ra ther than a person that is low in trust. Consequen tly, the a lterna tive

hypo thes is is as fo llows:

Ha: There i s a re l ationsh i p be tween perce ived t rus t in t he financ ial advi sor and t he lik eliness

t o go t o a financ ial advi sor .

Log ica lly ou t of the a lterna tive hypo thesis fo llows the nu ll hypo thes is that states that there is

no re lationsh i p.

H0: There i s no rel ationsh i p between perce ived t rus t in t he financ ial advi sor and t he

lik eliness t o go t o a financ ial advi sor .

The accord ing ques tions from the ques tionna ire are 1 and 2 (Append ix B) The measuremen t

sca le of these ques tions are bo th interva l. To check the hypo theses the research uses the two-

samp le t-test, to check the da ta and test if there is a s ignif ican t relationsh i p. In order to have a

suff icient test, the ou t put of ques tion two has been downgraded in the fo llowing manner:

Old va lue 1,2,3,4,5 turned into new va lue 1. (do no t trus t, or un likely)

Old va lue 6,7,8,9,10 turned into new va lue 2. (do trus t, or likely)

A f irst look a t the ou t put (Tab le 3.1 and 3.2, Append ix A) a lready revea ls qu ite a d ifference

for the two groups in terms of the mean likelihood to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. Fur ther

inves tigation of the ou t put revea ls that there is indeed a s ignif ican t difference be tween the


9/36

9

groups. S ince equa l var iances can be assumed it can be seen that the two tailed s ignif icance is

almos t zero and therefore lower than 0,025. Thus, it can be s tated that:


A p laus i ble ex plana tion for this ou tcome cou ld be, like s tated ear lier, that peop le share more

and w ill more eas ily accep t adv ice or informa tion from a person who the cus tomer trus t,

rather than a person that is low in trus t. Th is implicates for the W ilson Group that they have to

be totally aware of their trus t image and try to increase it and probab ly pu t in as a key

ob jective for the fo llowing years.

R esearch question 4 (Financial sector)

This research ques tion is based on the assump tion that, due to the curren t cr isis on the

interna tiona l f inanc ial marke ts, there has to be a reduc tion of trus t in the marke t and its

produc ts. Th is research tr ies to f ind ou t if this d istrus t plays a s ignif ican t role in whe ther a

client chooses to go to a f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the cus tomer h imse lf and/or to a

f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t e.g. the bank. Therefore

this research s tates the fo llowing research ques tion:

D oes t rus t t owards t he financ ial sec t or in fl uences t he buy ing pre f erence t owards financ ial

advi sors pa id by t he cus t omer and/or t o pa id by t he prov ider o f financ ial produc t s?

The assump tion is that trust in the f inanc ial sec tor inf luences the buy ing preference towards

f inanc ial adv isors pa id by the cus tomer. Consequen tly, this is s tated in the a lterna tive

hypo thes is.

Ha: Trus t t owards t he financ ial sec t or in fl uences t he buy ing pre f erence t owards financ ial

advi sors pa id by t he cus t omer and/or a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial

produc t s.

Therefore, the nu ll hypo thes is s tates trus t in the f inanc ial adv isor does no t inf luence the

buy ing preference towards f inanc ial adv isors pa id by the cus tomer.

H0: Trus t t owards t he financ ial sec t or does no t in fl uence t he buy ing pre f erence t owards

financ ial advi sors pa id by t he cus t omer and a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he

financ ial produc t s.


10/36

10

The accord ing ques tionna ire ques tions to answer this research ques tion are ques tions 3, 4 and

7. (Append ix B)A ll three ques tions have answer op tions so that the resu lting da ta is interva l.

Ques tion 7 is downgraded so that there is distrus t and a trus t group. Th is is ach ieved by

sor ting ou t the neu tra l answers, add up the answer cho ices mos tly d istrus t and somewha t distrus t to ge t the d istrus t group and add up the answer cho ices mos tly trus t and

somewha t trus t to ge t the trus t group. Th is is a necess ity in order to perform the

independen t two-samp le t-test, wh ich is the test the research uses to test for s ignif icance.

The f irst test exam ines the re lationsh i p between ques tionna ire ques tions three and seven.

(Append ix B) The ou t put shows that there are 51 par tici pan ts in the d istrus t group and 44 in

the trus t group. The means are 5,9804 and 6,3409, respec tively. Th is seems to suppor t the

alterna tive hypo thesis.

The Levene s test for equa lity of var iances sugges ts that equa lity of var iances can be

conc luded. (Tab le 4.2, Append ix A) Consequen tly, it can be conc luded from the da ta ou t put

that there is no s ignif ican t inf luence of trus t in the f inanc ial sec tor on the buy ing preference

towards f inanc ial advisors pa id by the cus tomer. The s ignif icance shown in the da ta ou t put is

0.457, in order for the resu lts to be s ignif ican t this number shou ld have been lower than or

equa l to 0.025. Therefore, the nu ll hypo thes is canno t be re jected. The same app lies for the

case if the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t pays the adv isor. In this case the s ignif icance

level is 0.994 this is aga in no t lower or equa l to 0.025 and therefore, no t signif ican t. (Tab le

4.4, Append ix A)

The nu ll hypo t hes i s can no t be rejec t ed and, t hus t he a lt erna tive hypo t hes i s can no t be

con firmed .

A poss i ble e x plana tion for this ou tcome cou ld be that a f inanc ial adv isor is no t perce ived as a

par t of the f inanc ial sec tor and consequen tly, the trus t in this sec tor does no t signif ican tly

inf luence the buy ing behav iour towards f inanc ial adv isors pa id by the cus tomer and/or

f inanc ial adv isors pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t. G iven this, it might be

recommendab le for the W ilson Group to ac tively work on the image that they are no t par t of

the f inanc ial sec tor, in a way that it harms them.


11/36


12/36

12

For the second par t, the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the prov ider of

the f inanc ial produc ts, the test is no t signif ican tS i g . 0,850 > 0,05 (Tab le 5.4 and 5.5,

Append ix A). So there is no s ignif ican t difference of the likeliness be tween ma les and

fema les, to go to a f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t.


The resu lts are s trong ly in favour of the initial idea of the research that men are ac tua lly more

likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. A poss i ble e x plana tion cou ld be that histor ically speak ing

the men was a lways in charge of the househo lds money. S ince f inanc ial produc ts

increas ingly become more and more comp licated, it is on ly logica l to see a f inanc ial adv isor

in order to ob tain he l p in this f ield. The f inding that there is no s ignif ican t difference be tween

men and women in the o ld s ituation can be e x plained when look ing carefu lly a t the ou tcome.

It can be seen that both genders are rea lly un likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor in the o ld

situation. Hence, it is no wonder that these low likelihood va lues are no t of s ignif ican t impac t.

From an h istor ical point of v iew it only seems logically that males are more likely to go to a

f inanc ial adv isor due to the fac ts men tioned above. Consequen tly, this new po licy is indeed a

huge improvemen t for the W ilson Group s ince their targe t segmen t, ma les, is now much more

likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. Th is can be e x plained by the increased trus t in the f inanc ial

adv isor opera ting under the new po licy.

R esearch question 6 ( E ducational level)

The inquiry to research the d ifference in likeliness among groups w ith d ifferen t educa tiona l

background to go to a f inanc ial adv isor is a va luab le con tr i bution for the W ilson group, as it

can enhance the know ledge abou t its cus tomer base. I t is common know ledge that peop le

from d ifferen t groups of educa tion level have d ifferen t attit udes and maybe d ifferen t

stereo type percep tions towards the f inanc ial sec tor as a who le. For this reason in order to

inves tigate whe ther the new regu lation of paymen t policy m ight resu lt in d ifferen t percep tions

among d ifferen t educa tion groups the fo llowing research ques tion w ill be focused on:

D oes educa tiona l l evel o f t he cus t omer in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial advi sor

who i s paid by t he hour and/or a financ ial adv i sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial

produc t s?


13/36

13

This research assumes there is a re lationsh i p, between the cus tomers` educa tiona l level and

the preference to turn to a f inanc ial adv isor. Fur thermore this re lationsh i p is based on the

assump tion that peop le of d ifferen t educa tiona l groups w ill have d ifferen t preferences in their

cho ice of paymen t policy of the f inanc ial adv isor. Therefore, our a lterna tive hypo thesis isstated as fo llows:

Ha: Educa tiona l l evel o f t he cus t omer does in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial

advi sor who i s paid by t he hour and/or a financ ial advi sor, pa id by t he prov ider o f t he

financ ial produc t s?

Consequen tly the nu ll hypo theses w ill state that there is no re lationsh i p between the

cus tomers` educa tiona l level and the preference to turn to a f inanc ial adv isor in their cho ice of

paymen t policy.

H0: Educa tiona l l evel o f t he cus t omer does no t in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial

advi sor who i s pa id by t he hour and a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial

produc t s?

For the input, ques tion 3, 4 and ques tion 8 are used, (Append ix B) the independen t var iable

education level is recoded into three ca tegor ies w ith d istinctions into: modera te educa tion;

secondary schoo l, practical educa tion and higher educa tion, high educa tion is the former

undergradua te un ivers ity and h ighes t educa tion is post-gradua te un ivers ity. The dependen t

var iab le is the likeliness towards e ither of the pay ing me thods.

To test the hypo thes is the inquiry uses one-way ANOVA for the s tated ra tio ques tions. In

order to f ind whe ther there is a s ignif ican t relationsh i p in the inves tigated da ta, the var iance of

the educa tiona l level is taken and compared w ith the var iab ilit y w ithin each of the educa tiona l

groups, as presen ted in the descr i ptive ou t put table be low.

In order to test the hypo thes is the ANOVA test has been used. The ANOVA test has been

chosen, s ince the input is ra tio da ta, educa tiona l level, and the amoun t of groups is three.

Fur thermore, the three samp les are independen t of each o ther. I t is a one-way ANOVA

test,hence there is on ly one fac tor, educa tiona l level, inf luenc ing the preference towards the

two pay ing me thods ( the con tinuous dependen t var iab le).

The ana lysis of var iance conc ludes that there is no s ignif ican t difference in the likeliness to go

to a f inanc ial adv isor among d ifferen t groups of educa tion for bo th of the pay ing me thods.


14/36

14

S i g . 0,728 > 0,05 for the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor that is pa id per hour by the

cus tomer. (Tab le 6.2, Append ix A)

S i g . 0,098 > 0,05 for the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor that is pa id by the prov ider of

f inanc ial produc t. (Tab le 6.2, Append ix A)Therefore;

The nu ll hypo t hesi s can no t be rejec t ed and, t hus t he a lt erna tive hypo t hes i s can no t be

con firmed .

It can be conc luded that there is no s ignif icance d ifference be tween groups d ifferen tly

educa ted. The implications are probab ly advan tageous for the W ilson Group. The ou t put

shows that Wilson Group shou ld no t ex per ience any changes in their cus tomer base af ter the

introduc tion of the new paymen t policy. Fur thermore, these implications revea l that the

Wilson Group can crea te a d ivers if ication in their cus tomer compos ition, wh ich is based on

cus tomers of d ifferen t educa tiona l groups.

R esearch question 7 (Age)

This research ques tion dea ls with the impor tance of age concern ing the preference be tween

the two pay ing me thods for f inanc ial adv isors. The var iable age m ight be of some va lue for

the W ilson Group in order to be tter targe t their clients. To research the prescr i bed issue, the

following research ques tion w ill be inves tigated:

D oes age o f t he cus t omer in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial advi sor who i s pa id

by t he hour and/or a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

One can reason that age cou ld have a s ignif ican t inf luence on the preference of the two pay ing

methods. The f irst reason ing cou ld be that peop le, o lder than 40 years have a be tter income. I t

cou ld be argued that in the case in wh ich the adv isor is pa id by the cus tomer d irec tly, for this

age group this shou ld no t be an obs tac le, s ince they are no t that much limited in terms of

money. So o lder peop le will be more likely to turn to a f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the

consumer itself per hour, than younger peop le w ill . Ano ther reason m ight be that older peop le

are more likely to have had e x per ience in receiving f inanc ial adv ise. These e x per iences m ight

inf luence the preference as we ll, though depend ing on the e x per ience in wh ich way it


15/36

15

inf luences the dec ision. On ly based on common know ledge the fo llowing a lterna tive

hypo thes is can be s tated:

Ha: Age o f t he cus t omer does in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial advi sor who i s

pa id by t he hour and/or a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s.

The nu ll hypo thes is ex pec ts that the var iable age has no s ignif ican t inf luence:

H0: Age o f t he cus t omer does no t in fl uence t he pre f erence t o t urn t o a financ ial advi sor who

i s pa id by t he hour and/or a financ ial advi sor pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s.

The input for this test cons ists of ques tionna ire ques tions 3, 4 and 12. (Append ix B)

The measuremen t sca le for ques tion twelve is ra tio, for ques tion three and four it is interva l.

In order to be ab le to do the ANOVA test, the responden ts were pu t into 3 age groups. The

f irst cons ist of peop le that are 16-23 years o ld, ado lescen ts, wh ich of the ma jor ity s till studies.

The second group of peop le are 24-40 years o ld, in this group mos t peop le are gradua ted,

might have ch ildren and are mos t likely emp loyed. The last group cons ists of peop le that are

41-80 years o ld. They have the h ighes t incomes and ch ildren that are a lready somewha t older.

To test the hypo thes is the ANOVA test has been used. The ANOVA test has been used, s ince

the input from ques tions three and four is interva l and the responden ts are d ivided into three

age groups. Fur thermore, the three samp les are independen t of each o ther. I t is a one-way

ANOVA test, hence there is on ly one fac tor (age) inf luenc ing the preference towards the two

pay ing me thods ( the con tinuous dependen t var iab le).

It can be conc luded that there is a s ignif ican t difference, S ig. 0,011 < 0,05, in the preference

to go to a f inanc ial adv isor that is pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t among the

differen t age groups. (Tab le 7.2, Append ix A) There is no s ignif ican t difference in preference

in the new s ituation among the age groups, S ig. 0,257 > 0,05. (Tab le 7.2, Append ix A)


For the W ilson group it is probab ly more va luab le to know in wh ich age group the d ifference

occurs, ra ther than know ing that there is a d ifference.


16/36


17/36

17

All these ques tions have an answer op tion so that the measuremen t sca le is interva l. To check

for s ignif icance, a two-samp le t-test has been used. In order to use this test there had to be

formed two groups from the resu lts of ques tion e ight. One group w ith mon thly ne t income per

househo ld of under 3000 euro, wh ich represen ts the lower income c lass and one group w ith

more than 3000 euro to represen t the h igher income c lass. The s tatistical out put shows that for one case, the cus tomer pays the adv isor, curren t mon thly ne t income per househo ld is no t an

inf luential var iab le. (Tab le 8.1 and 8.2, Append ix A) For the case, the prov ider of the

f inanc ial produc t pays the adv isor, the ou t put conf irms the a lterna tive hypo thesis. S ince the

test is two-tailed the s ignif icance level on each s ide is 2,5%. The ou t put shows a s ignif icance

level of 1,1% wh ich s trong ly suppor ts the a lterna tive hypo thes is. (Tab le 8.1 and 8.2,

Append ix A) I t shows that the lower income c lass is s ignif ican tly more likely to go to a

f inanc ial adv isor who is pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t, compared to the h igher

income c lass. Therefore:


A poss i ble cause for this ou tcome cou ld be that the lower income group is ac tually in need of

f inanc ial adv ise, bu t can no t afford this k ind of serv ice if they have to pay for it direc tly.

Exam ining this ou t put fur ther revea ls a d ifferen t picture. Look ing a t the means of L ikelihood

to go to a f inanc ial adv isor, that is pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t it can be seen

that both groups are ra ther un likely to go, s ince they bo th are be low f ive on a sca le of one to

ten. W ilson group cou ld in order to dea l with this fac t, make their adv ice cheaper for poor

peop le that are mos t likely seek ing for bas ic adv ice, wh ich can be g iven by a f inancial adv isor

that is less e x per ienced and, thus less cos tly.

R esearch question 9 (Nationality)

The European marke t is ge tting more homogeneous due to EU regu lations. Therefore, it

might be interes ting for the W ilson group to ex pand abroad. Ano ther fac t that enhances this

poss i ble movemen t is the fac t that much Du tch peop le move to Germany c lose to the border

of the Ne ther lands. Hence, by hav ing an off ice it can serve this marke t as we ll. In order to

inves tigate the impac t of na tiona lity the fo llowing research ques tion is stated:

D oes na tiona lit y in fl uence t he buy ing pre f erence t owards financ ial advi sors pa id by t he


18/36

18

cus t omer and/or a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s pa id by t he prov ider o f t he financ ial produc t s?

This research assumes that there is a d ifference be tween the na tiona lities. Reasons m ight be

differen t culture, e x per iences or econom ic fac tors of the coun try. Consequen tly, this research

states the fo llowing hypo thesis: Ha: The na tiona lit y o f t he cus t omer does in fl uence t he buy ing pre f erence t owards financ ial

advi sors pa id by t he cus t omer and/or a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s paid by t he prov ider o f t he

financ ial produc t s.

The nu ll hypo thes is ex pec ts that nationa lity of the cus tomer does no t have an inf luence:

H0: The na tiona lit y o f t he cus t omer does no t in fl uence t he buy ing pre f erence t owards

financ ial advi sors pa id by t he cus t omer and/or a financ ial advi sor t ha t i s pa id by t he prov ider

o f t he financ ial produc t s.

To test the nu ll hypo thesis the research conduc ted a Ch i square goodness-of-f it test. The input

data are the answers on ques tionna ire ques tion 3,4 and 11. Answers on ques tions 3 and 4 are

interva l data, da ta rece ived from ques tion 11 is nom inal, name ly na tiona lity. (Append ix B)

The group ing var iab le is na tiona lity, the group o ther has been lef t out, since the s ize was

only 7 and, thus no t represen tative. The on ly two groups are Du tch and German .

In order to have a suff icient test var iable, there has a to be a new var iable. The new var iab les

are ca lled nationlikeph and nationun likeprov .

The f irst var iab le has the va lues of 1 and 2, where 1 is Du tch and 2 is German. The numbers

only were ass igned to responden ts that were likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor (if case,

var iab le likphnew). (Append ix C)

The second var iab le is s imilar, bu t since the group that were un likely to go to a f inanc ial

adv isor that is pa id by the prov ider is b igger, the responden ts on ly rece ived a number in case

they were un likely to go, instead of likely in the var iable before. Because of this we had a

bigger group and, thus a more re liable test than in case we on ly looked a t the peop le that were

likely to go, s ince that group was sma ller.The test itself did no t prov ide ou tcomes that were

signif ican t for e ither of the pay ing me thods. F irst test: 0,719 > 0,05 (Tab le 9.1 and 9.2

Append ix A) and second test: 0,118 > 0,05 (Tab le 9.3 and 9.4 Append ix A). Therefore:

The nu ll hypo t hesi s can no t be rejec t ed and, t hus t he a lt erna tive hypo t hes i s can no t be

con firmed .

It can be conc luded that nationa lity, or a t leas t the na tiona lities Du tch and German do no t


19/36

19

make a suff icient difference for bo th pay ing me thods. The reason can be that the cu lture of

both coun tr ies is qu ite s imilar. For the W ilson group it means that for a poss i ble ex pans ion to

Germany d ifferences in the buy ing preference is no t a subs tantial prob lem.

Limitations of the research

This research has some limitations. The f irst and mos t impor tant one is that the samp le m ight

not be very we ll suited for this research. S ince the research dea ls w ith a qu ite narrow range of

produc ts, e.g. f inanc ial adv ise, it could be a p itfall that the samp le mos tly cons ists of younger

peop le, due to the fac t that this age group in mos t of the cases is no t in need of f inanc ial

adv ise, ye t. Also younger par tici pan ts might not have a lot of e x per ience w ith f inanc ial

adv isors. One of the reasons for the low mean age is that for ob taining the ques tionna ire

answers the research so lely re lied on on line ques tionna ires. Th is more or less e xcludes some

older age groups. The samp le no t only mos tly cons ists of younger par tici pan ts, bu t also

mos tly of we ll educa ted and low income par tici pan ts. Th is leads to the conc lusion that the

ma jor ity of the par tici pan ts are s tuden ts and this aga in m ight not be the mos t impor tan t group

for a research abou t f inanc ial adv ise. However, they are probab ly the fu ture cus tomers and,

thus impor tan t for the fu ture of the W ilson Group.

The samp le limits the research in two more ways. F irst, the vas t ma jor ity of the par tici pan ts

are e ither Du tch or German. These two groups accoun t for more than 95% of a ll par tici pan ts.

Since the Du tch and the German cu lture do no t differ a lot from each o ther it is no t a surpr ise

that nationa lity is no t a s ignif ican t inf luen tial var iable. To conf irm this ou tcome the research

shou ld be performed aga in with a broader range of na tiona lities. Second, there are less than

20 par tici pan ts in two of the three age groups. Consequen tly, the resu lts from the ANOVA

test are no t that powerfu l anymore. I t can be conc luded that there are severa l limitations, bu t

this research is still valuab le for the W ilson Group.


20/36

20

Conclusion and recommendations

Accord ing to this research the governmen ts po licy to change the pay ing me thod for F inanc ial

adv isors has much impac t on the f inanc ial adv ice marke t.

From the f irst research ques tion it can be s tated that peop le are more likely to go to a f inanc ial

adv isor if he is pa id by the cus tomer, ra ther than pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial

produc ts, wh ich they ask adv ice abou t. Th is is ac tually a pos itive conc lusion for the W ilson

Group. The second research ques tion conc ludes that peop le perce ive a h igher trus t towards

f inanc ial adv isors, that are pa id by the cus tomer, ra ther than pa id by the prov ider of the

f inanc ial produc ts. Accord ing to this there cou ld be a re lation be tween these two f indings and,

thus that higher trus t is pos itively corre lated w ith higher likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor.

The third research ques tion tests this issue. Indeed, it is corre lated. H igher trus t towards the

f inanc ial adv isor, does increase the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. Accord ing to these

three f indings, it can be conc luded that the ma in ob jective, name ly increase the trus t in the

f inanc ial adv isors had been accomp lished. Whe ther the f inanc ial adv isors are rea lly more

trus table and if they are more independen t will be seen in the fu ture. Therefore, this research

highly recommends the W ilson Group to pay a ttention to the perce ived trus t of the cus tomers

towards them and try to improve their trus t image.

In line w ith the issue s tated before, one cou ld wonder if trus t in the f inanc ial sec tor as a who le

is of impor tance to the W ilson Group. Con trary to this though t this research shows that trus t

in the f inanc ial sec tor does no t inf luence the preference for the two pay ing me thods and does

not change the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor. Tha t is a good message for the W ilson

group, s ince in the las t years the trus t towards the f inanc ial sec tor has dec lined, bu t accord ing

to the f indings of this research it had no effec t on the likeliness to go to a f inanc ial adv isor.

Therefore the W ilson group shou ld s tress the po int that they are no t a par t of the F inanc ial

sec tor that has the bad image, bu t that they are more w illi ng to adv ice you in an hones t

manner.

In order to prov ide some more informa tion abou t the cus tomer base for f inanc ial adv isors, this

research posed severa l ques tions concern ing demograph ic aspec ts of cus tomers, name ly

gender, educa tiona l level, age, househo lds ne t income and na tiona lity. Accord ing to the

resu lts, on ly educa tiona l level did no t show a s ignif ican t difference towards preference for the


21/36

21

two pay ing me thods. Fur thermore, it can be conc luded that nationa lity of the cus tomer does

not have an effec t either, though the test was on ly done for the Du tch and German na tiona lity.

Therefore, it is h ighly recommendab le for the W ilson Group to ana lyse the poss i biliti es to

ex pand their ac tivities to Germany, s ince the preference for the pay ing me thod is no t differen t

in Germany opposed to the Ne ther lands.Fur thermore, it can be conc luded that males are morelikely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor if the f inanc ial adv isor is pa id by the cus tomer. Th is means

that the W ilson Group shou ld even more focus their marke ting effor ts towards this targe t

group. O ther resu lts from the research are that peop le in the age-group 16-23 are more likely

to go to f inanc ial adv isor, who is pa id by the prov ider, than the age-group 24-40. Bu t both

groups are s till more likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor in the new s ituation and, thus the

Wilson Group shou ld no t pay spec ial attention to this f inding. Add itiona lly, the research

prov ides ev idence that peop le with lower incomes, opposed to peop le with h igher incomes,

are more likely to go to a f inanc ial adv isor, who is pa id by the prov ider. Th is is probab ly

because they are less likely to afford the f inanc ial adv ice if it has to be pa id d irec tly.

Therefore, it is recommendab le for the W ilson Group to make some spec ial tar iffs for peop le

from the lower income group, so the W ilson Group can a lso serve this segmen t. Probab ly,

their ques tions are less comp licated, s ince they are in need of on ly the bas ic produc ts. For

these consu lts, younger, less e x per ienced emp loyees can be used because they are less cos tly

and w ill have suff icient know ledge abou t the bas ic produc ts.

The ma in f inding of this research is that trus t plays a ma jor ro le in the likeliness to turn to a

f inanc ial adv isor and consequen tly shou ld try to pay spec ial attention to this issue.


22/36

22

Literature list

Al phen, van F. (2010).In 2013 verbod op prov isiehypo theken.Vo lkskran t. Re tr ieved 30 November

2010 from: h tt p://www.vo lkskran t.nl/vk/n l/2680/Econom ie/ar ticle/de tail/1032478/2010/10/12/In-

2013-verbod-op-prov isie-hypo theken.dh tml

Depar tmen t of marke ting & supp ly cha in managemen t, (2010), M ar k eting Research and Cases ( 4 thed).

New York: McGraw- H ill.

Solomon, M.R., Marscha ll, G.W., S tuar t, E.W., M itchell, V., Barnes, B., (2009). M ar k eting Rea l

Peop l e. Rea l D eci sions . First European ed ition, Pearson educa tion

Wilson Groep. Re tr ieved 11 December 2010, from: h tt p://www.w ilsongroep.n l/page/18


23/36

23

Append ix A

esearch Quest i n 1

Tab le 1.1

Tab le 1.2

esearch Quest i n 2

Tab le 2.1

Tab le 2.2


24/36


25/36

25

Tab le 4.4

R esearch Quest i n 5

Tab le 5.1

Tab le 5.2: Gender * Li

eliness to go to a f inanc ia l adv isor that is pa id by you per hour


26/36

26

Table 5.3: Gender * Likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by you per hour

Table 5.4: Gender * Likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial product


27/36

27

Tab le 5.5: Gender * Li

eliness to go to a f inanc ia l adv isor that is pa id by the pr ov ider of the f inanc ial product

R esearch Quest ion 6

Tab le 6.1

Tab le 6.2


28/36

28

R esearch Question 7

Table 7.1

Table 7.2


29/36


30/36

30

Tab le 7.4

Tab le 7.5


31/36

31


Tab le 8.1

Tab le 8.2


Tab le 9.1: Ch i-S uare Test, Frequenc ies


32/36

32

Table 9.2

Table 9.3

Table 9.4


33/36

33

Appendi x B

Questio nn aire Maastricht University

urvey:Before we s tar t, we wou ld like to thank you for your par tici pa tion in our survey. The da ta that we ob tain from you is anonymous and w ill not be used for o ther purposes than the Maas tr icht Univers ity survey.Ditonder zoekword tuitgevoerdvoorn iet -commerc iledoe leinden en kader t ineenonderw ijsopdrach t.

The W il son Group was f ounded in 1976 . I t st ar t ed as an insurance company . S ince t hen t hecompany has gro wn f rom a one-man bus iness int o a med ium-s ized company wit h more t han5,000 acqua int ances . Consumers can ma k e an appea l t o t he W il son Group f or d iff eren t

financ ial serv ices, incl ud ing assurances and mor t gages .

1.

On a sca le of 1 to 10, how likely wou ld you go to a f inanc ial adv isor? (P leasecirc le, 10 h ighes t likeliness)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. On a sca le of 1 to 10, how much do you trus t a f inanc ial adv isor? (P leasecirc le, 10 h ighes t trus t)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I magine your government is planning to change the policy towards financial advisors. I nthe old situation the financial advisors were paid by the provider of the financialproducts, in the new situation the advisor has to be paid by the consumer that is asking

for advice.

3. On a sca le of 1 to 10, how likely wou ld you go to a f inanc ial adv isor if he is pa id byyou for the adv ice? (P lease c irc le, 10 h ighes t likeliness)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. On a sca le of 1 to 10, how likely wou ld you go to a f inanc ial adv isor if he is pa id bythe prov ider of the f inanc ial produc ts that you ask adv ice abou t? (P leasecirc le, 10 h ighes t likeliness)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.

On a sca le of 1 to 10, how much do you trus t a f inanc ial adv isor that is pa id by you for the adv ice? (P lease c ircle, 10 h ighes t trus t)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. On a sca le of 1 to 10, how much do you trus t a f inanc ial adv isor that is pa id by prov ider of the f inanc ial produc ts? (P lease c ircle, 10 h ighes t trus t)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


34/36

34

7. How much do you trus t the f inanc ial sec tor towards f inanc ial produc ts? mos tly d istrus t somewha t distrus t neu tral somewha t trust mos tly trus t

8. Wha t is your househo lds curren t mon thly ne t income? Be tween 0 and 1500

Be tween 1501 and 3000 Be tween 3001 and 4500 Be tween 4501 and 6000

More than 6001

9. Wha t is the h ighes t educa tiona l leve l that you f inished or curren tly do ing? Secondary schoo l Prac tica l educa tion (MBO, Ausb ildung) H igher educa tion (HBO, Fachhochschu le) Undergradua te un ivers ity (Bache lor) Pos tgradua te un ivers ity (Mas ter)

10. Wha t is your gender? Fema le Ma le

11. Wha t is your na tiona lity? Du tch German O ther, name ly: ___________________

12. Wha t is your age? ______ years


35/36

35

Appendi x C

Question nr. Variablename in P

Label in P Coding Instructions

ID I dentifica tionnumber Responden t nr . (N-1)1 Likfa L ikelihood to go to a

f inanc ial adv isor.1 = No t likely..10 = Rea lly likely

2 Trus tfa Trus t in F inanc ialadv isor 1 = Rea llydistrus t ..10 = Rea lly trus t

3 L ikph L ikelihood to go to af inanc ial adv isor, that is

pa id by you (per hour).

1 = No t likely..10 = Rea lly likely

4 Likprov L ikelihood to go to af inanc ial adv isor, that is

pa id by the prov ider of the f inanc ial produc t.

1 = No t likely..

10 = Rea lly likely

5 Trus t ph Trust in F inanc ial adv isor pa id by you (per hour).

1 = Rea lly distrus t ..10 = Rea lly trus t

6 Trus t prov Trust in F inanc ial adv isor pa id by the prov ider of the F inanc ial produc ts.

1 = Rea lly distrus t ..10 = Rea lly trus t

7 Trus tf in Trus t towards F inanc ial sec tor

1 = Mos tly d istrus t 2 = Somewha t distrus t 3 = Neu tra l 4 = Somewha t trus t

5 = Mos tly trus t 8 Ne tinc Mon thly ne t income 1 = Be tween 0 and 1500

2 = Be tween 1501 - 3000 3 = Be tween 3001 - 4500 4 = Be tween 4501 - 6000 5 = More than 6001

9 Educ H ighes t level of educa tion

1 = secundary schoo l 2 = Prac tical Educa tion3 = H igher educa tion4 = Undergradua te un ivers ity5 = Pos tgradua te un ivers ity

10 Gender Gender 1 = fema le2 = ma le

11 Na tion Na tiona lity 1 = Du tch2 = German3 = O ther

12 Age Age In years


36/36

wilson final project

Documents