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The purpose of this paper is to examine the service behaviours of highly committed consultants engaged in face‐to‐face service provision with customers in the financial‐services industry.

In‐depth interviews are conducted with 41 financial consultants (from 30 financial‐service firms) in Austria. The qualitative data are then rigorously analysed and coded to identify categories of behaviours of highly committed financial consultants.

In total, 15 behaviours of highly committed financial consultants are identified. These behaviours are shown to include both “in‐role” behaviours and “extra‐role” behaviours. The study also finds that service behaviours of highly committed financial consultants change over time. Employed and self‐employed financial consultants are found to have the same high‐commitment behaviours; however, employed consultants tend to experience conflicts between organisational commitment and customer commitment, whereas self‐employed consultants tend to experience conflicts between their own self interests and the interests of their customers.

The study did not examine whether age and experience influence behavioural differences. Nor did the study address the question of behaviours that are typical of low‐commitment service delivery. Future research could objectively record the behaviours (by audio‐recording and/or video‐recording) to reduce the possibility of self‐serving bias by respondents in reporting their behaviours.

The study provides guidance for managers who wish to encourage and reward highly committed service behaviours among employees.

Little research has been conducted into the actual behaviours of financial consultants while delivering services. Moreover, previous studies of organisational commitment have utilised quantitative methodologies to assess attitudes, whereas this study adopts a qualitative approach and examines actual behaviours of high work commitment.

In this introductory overview an indication of the range of financial services that is available will be presented, along with some examples of marketing practices in relation to these services and some observations about some of the suppliers of financial services. This coverage will then be followed by a brief review of research in the field of financial services marketing, a note on careers in this field, and a summary of courses in the field.

This study investigates the nature of customer‐supplier interaction that currently exists within Irish retail financial services. Specifically, issues relating to the role, meaning and importance of financial service interaction within the context of current demand‐ and supply‐side relationship marketing issues are explored. Although the literature proposes that the relationship marketing (RM) approach is particularly applicable to the financial services sector, the research findings raise questions as to the appropriateness of general RM theory to the current nature of interaction between consumers and their financial services providers. In an age of increased depersonalisation and automation impacting upon financial service quality and delivery, the paper questions the relevance of the “relationship” concept and proposes the notion of an “experience” as a far more relevant and meaningful construct. The nature and importance of this experience to consumers is explored and three levels of customer experience are conceptualised which are identified as brand, transactional and relationship experience.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used by banking services primarily to automate systems; however, this ecosystem does not work in emerging markets because human intervention is needed, and there are concerns related to infrastructure. There is plenty of research on AI-mediated banking services, but the existing discussions are cumbersome, and studies on AI's service features in banking for emerging markets are limited. Furthermore, the ongoing discussions are centred on developed markets where automation in banking services is noteworthy and accepted. Through this paper, the authors emphasise the relevance of AI mediation in emerging markets and the possible role of strategising AI in banking services for personalised experiences.

The authors' article followed an exploratory, inductive approach through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis. In total, 36 financial experts were interviewed, and the relevant perspectives were analysed to develop the research process and framework for a personalised banking experience.

The authors' paper introduced five key themes and presented those themes accordingly. The first theme details the importance of AI-mediated banking and the skills necessary for operational capacity. The second theme is on the relevance of AI-mediated banking awareness amongst users. The third is about channelling the importance of AI-driven interfaces through managers and employees. Fourth, the authors emphasised the relevance of human intervention due to users' demographic patterns. The fifth theme led to a discussion on personalised AI-mediated banking services.

The authors recommend that managers understand the relevance of quality service amongst users. The authors' paper discusses the relevance of AI and human intervention in banking services; however, the process for seamless, personalised banking experiences is not provided. Thus, this paper encourages managers to build a banking ecosystem that delivers a seamless banking experience through AI.

The authors' paper highlights the importance of human intervention in AI-driven banking by introducing personalised service experience elements and highlighting the role of customer experience in AI-driven banking services in emerging markets.

Prior studies examine the relationship between knowledge management (KM) enablers and KM effectiveness. However, the critical role of business process outcome is neglected. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mediating effect of business process outcomes. Based on knowledge-based view (KBV), two KM enabler variables, KM infrastructure (KMI) and KM capabilities (KMC), and one KM effectiveness variable, market relationships, are included.

A survey was conducted. The sampling frame was obtained from the database of the Bureau of National Health Insurance and Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan. After unusable questionnaires excluded, the usable respondents were 256 which are from 63 hospitals and 93 financial firms. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among KMI, KMC, business process outcome, and market relationships.

The findings indicated that both KMI and KMC have positive influences on market relationships through business process outcome. The authors also demonstrate how KMI and KMC improve market relationships through business process outcome to deliver the value of KM.

Based on KBV, KMI and KMC are as KM enablers to facilitate KM activities. In the light of professional service industries (i.e. hospitals and financial firms), the study highlights the mediating effect of business process outcomes between KM enablers and KM effectiveness. It furthers the understanding of how KM enablers can improve KM effectiveness.

Notes that the literature on personal selling and advising on services stresses the importance of analysing the actual client‐adviser interaction process. Explores this process of interaction in a mortgage setting by observing 42 conversations between advisers and 26 clients. The exact content and characteristics of interactions were recorded and coded using a category system based on consultative selling. The results show vast differences between advisers in their selling approach. In most cases, the sequence of problem‐solving phases that advisers employed differed from those of the ideal model. Advisers generally did not probe for the wishes of clients but instead started by presenting alternative product solutions, a typical feature of a hard selling approach. Demonstrates the effectiveness of direct observation for the study of client‐server interaction in financial services.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and investigate how intensified regulatory requirements related to outsourcing have influenced and changed the outsourcing activities of German financial institutions.

The study involved interviewing 11 outsourcing experts in the German financial sector, including four of the five largest banks in Germany. In coding and analysing the collected data, this study adopted the approach of a qualitative content analysis framework.

The study found that the revised legal requirements have had a significant and potentially negative impact on the efficiency of outsourcing, leading to a necessity for German financial institutions to internally realign their outsourcing managements. The study further revealed practical realigned methods German financial institutions executed to meet the legal requirements.

The impact, meaning and relevance of legal requirements in the outsourcing environment of German financial institutions has been relatively under-researched from a qualitative perspective and focused on other primary fields of investigation like outsourcing decisions and outcomes. This study has, by adopting a qualitative approach, addressed the identified gap by providing first-hand insights and new knowledge.

The paper examines a financial service innovation process, which is referred to as financial product innovation: improvements to existing services. This study conducts a critical analysis of the operational process of opening a Lloyds TSB Student Account at a local branch.

The process of opening a student bank account is documented in a flowchart/flow network, which highlights operational steps and the visibility line between front‐end and backroom staff. This process mapping technique/flowchart allows for the diagnosis and identification of both potential and actual bottlenecks in the existing process, which prevented a quality service encounter for the customer. After outlining these problematic areas/non‐value added activities, the adopted qualitative triangulated methodological approach yields a redesigned flowchart illustrating these changes. Furthermore, this paper proposes a re‐engineered process (i.e. e‐process or virtual process), which removes these bottlenecks systematically.

The results show the increased efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction levels that are the key to innovation process performance. The study concludes with evidence of non‐financial performance results of this type of financial service innovation.

The study does not quantify the performance of e‐process operations, and it does not examine customer concerns related to complexity, trust security and safety issues. However, it provides useful managerial recommendations for improving the process of opening a student account. Numerous key learning points and invaluable insights gathered during this project are practical contributions both to managers involved in innovation process and researchers interested in this domain.

This paper provides a re‐engineered process which is simpler, more economical and faster than the original process. It presents principles to diagnose appropriate service operation processes for re‐engineering using action mapping programmes and review their innovation performances. Managers will learn new frameworks, diagnostic tools and analysis techniques to better understand and improve their firm's service operations. This study is designed to give service innovation managers and e‐marketers instantaneous and continuous improvement in the quality of their e‐service designs.

One of its contributions lies in increasing the ability of managers to improve their knowledge and skills for responding to the e‐service innovation process. It adds to the growing literature on the innovation process for financial services. While the study answers a number of salient questions, it also produces a stimulus for further investigation of service innovation through the provision of future research directions in this area.

This study examines the effect of a regulatory-focused prime (i.e. a brochure with a picture and message) on the recommending behavior of investment advisers in the context of an investment decision.

Three experiments were conducted with 468 participants, mostly from the financial services industry. Study 1 examined the direct effect of a regulatory-focused prime on an investment adviser's recommending behavior, whereas Study 2 examined the moderating role of regulatory fit on such behavior. Study 3 validated the findings.

The results provide evidence that a message using visual and textual cues based on a promotion and prevention regulatory focus may trigger a preference in an investment adviser's product recommendation. A promotion (prevention)-focused framed message will trigger the recommendation of an investment plan with a higher but riskier (safe and stable) potential return. However, when the same prime is presented with details of a performance incentive scheme, the effect of the prime is reduced when there is a regulatory nonfit between the prime and the message relating to the performance incentive scheme.

The findings highlight the importance of understanding how regulatory-focused stimuli may subconsciously influence the recommendation of investment advisers as heuristics used in decision-making, thereby influencing their clients' investment decisions.

Past studies have focused on how regulatory-focused visual and message cues influence consumer decision-making. This study provides empirical evidence regarding the influence of regulatory-focused prime on an investment adviser's behavior when providing investment advice.

Professional service organizations are finding themselves increasingly involved with marketing in order to develop and maintain relationships with their clients. Restricted by professional standards, and hindered by a lack of experience, firms are struggling to understand marketing and implement marketing programs. Nowhere is this struggle more evident that in the accounting profession, where firms are regulated by professional standards and guidelines. Based on a series of one‐on‐one interviews with accounting professionals, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants standards and guidelines, and information from both practitioner and academic literature, this research identifies the extent to which firms are following the prescriptive advice. Discussions of initiatives are provided as guidelines for further implementation of marketing strategies in the accounting profession and other professional service firms that are following in the accountants’ footsteps.