Not all elderly are the same: fostering trust through mobile banking service experience

Abstract

PurposeThis study seeks to examine the impact of mobile service experience on trust of elderly consumers in their financial institution and assess whether age (55–64 years vs 65+ years) exerts a moderating influence.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire was completed online by 390 panelists (aged 55 years or more) who use their mobile devices to conduct banking activities. A multigroup analysis was conducted to assess the moderating role of age.FindingsResults confirm the presence of links between four out of five dimensions of the mobile banking service experience (cognitive, positive affective/sensory, negative affective and social) and trust. Findings further point to age-specific variation in the impact of mobile service experience dimensions on trust, thus supporting the notion that the elderly represents a clientele with different experiential needs. More specifically, whereas the social dimension has a greater influence on trust in individuals 65 years of age and over (seniors), the positive affective/sensory dimension exerts a deeper marked impact on trust in individuals 55–64 years of age (pre-retirees).Research limitations/implicationsAlthough generations and chronological age are powerful segmentation variables, it might be interesting to consider perceived age. Redoing the study in a post-COVID context would also be an interesting avenue of research.Practical implicationsThe ageing market is important for banks. This study highlights, in an m-banking context, which dimension of experience to focus on in order to improve trust in banks for pre-retirees (emotional/sensory dimension) and seniors (social dimension).Originality/valueThis study is the first to consider mobile service experience of elderly individuals as well as the impact of each of the experience dimensions on an important relational variable, namely trust. By considering the age of individuals as a moderating variable, this study also provides an in-depth examination of age-related links and presents a number of relevant recommendations for financial institutions.