TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine how three relational attributes – duration, context and trust – are subjectively perceived by bank customers, and how these affect their saving behavior, as defined by monthly flows to mutual funds and the financial products bought and held in stock.Design/methodology/approach The authors use a combination of unique bank register and subjective survey data, and a structural equation model for theory development. Four constructs are developed to estimate the structural model, i.e. saving behavior, duration, context and trust.Findings The authors find that all three relational attributes have positive effects on saving behavior. The authors also find that duration and context have the largest total effects, and that trust is a mediating variable channeling indirect effects from context and duration to saving behavior.Practical implications One implication for bank managers is that it takes time and understanding of customer context to gain customer trust, but that this increases customer savings. Another implication is that the authors confirm that relational attributes can be studied using subjective measures in surveys, and that these have an effect on objective savings behavior. The findings provide an understanding that could develop both the customer’s value and the banks’ business opportunities.Originality/value The impact of relationships between bank advisors and their customers in terms of costs and benefits has been studied, but a little research has focused on the attributes of the relationship and how these affect customers’ saving behavior. The study also uses unique objective bank register data, combined with customers’ subjective perceptions of the relationship.
VL  - 37
IS  - 1
SN  - 0265-2323
DO  - 10.1108/IJBM-09-2017-0194
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-09-2017-0194
AU  - Eriksson Kent
AU  - Hermansson Cecilia
PY  - 2018
Y1  - 2018/01/01
TI  - How relationship attributes affect bank customers’ saving
T2  - International Journal of Bank Marketing
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 156
EP  - 170
Y2  - 2024/09/20
ER  -