This document summarizes Yi-Ching Wu's presentation on female consumption in the financial services industry. The presentation included an introduction, literature review on factors influencing female investor behavior like risk aversion and trust, methodology describing qualitative interviews of 5 female investors, findings that relationships and life stage more than expertise influence investment decisions and attitudes, and conclusions about addressing relationships and experience to better market to female investors.

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RESEARCH OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:
Female Consumption
in the Financial Service Industry
Presented by: Yi-Ching Wu
October 18, 2012

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Agenda
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Findings & Discussion
Conclusion
Q&A

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INTRODUCTION

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Research Interest
The Behavioral
Pattern of
Female
Investors
What can be
What factors
offered for
influenced the
better
behavior
satisfaction

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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Gender Makes Differences
Mostly related to the difference between
genders in process of decision-making
(Barber & Gender difference affects attitudes toward
Odean, 1999) financial decisions
Female investors can be seen as a
(Stendari et al., separate market segment that requires
2006)
different marketing strategies

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Trust Has to Be Positively Perceived
Influences from friends and family members
(Beckett et al., appeared significant in relation to the
2000) perception of the image and reputation of
the product or service providers
Personal financial advisers are always
(Beckett et al., preferable because of the trust in
2000)
professionalism for reassurance

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Lower Acceptance of Risk-Taking
Female investors tend to be more risk
(Hulbert, 1985)
averse in investment
(Lascu et al., The preferred portfolio is lower risk and
1997) lower growth assets

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Lower Level of Confidence
Female investors tend to more
(Graham et al., comprehensively process the available
2002)
information and are more detail-oriented
(Chung & Female investors tend to be less confident
Monroe, 1998; in their financial decision-making due to
Estes &
Hosseni, 1988; their detail-orientation resulting in higher
Mcgregor, 2003) level of post-purchase worry

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METHODOLOGY

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Qualitative Approach
• To avoid the ambiguous generalization of female
financial behavior
• To provide a more in-depth understanding
• To explore new variables or linkages that affect
their behavior
• To propose positive experience and product
offerings

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Methods
5 interviews held by both face-to-face and online conversation
Participants were approached through persona network
Participants were selected by their investment experience
and different stages of life cycle they represent
Participants are all Asians in order to compare with the
western literature
Conversation of interview was recorded and saved as audio file
and chat logs.

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Questions
Perception
Motivation
Attitude and Persuasion
Decision-Making
Purchase and Post-
Purchase Experience
*The questions in each interview
varied depending on the progress and
direction of the conversation.

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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

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Overview of Participants
Nick Marital Highest Years of
Age Nationality Occupation
Name Status Education experience
Hong
Lilian 42 Single Master Senior VP 16
Kong
Project
Harriet 35 Taiwan Married Master 15
Manager
DBA student of
Fon 34 Thailand Single Master 5
AIU
Sales
Phoenix 28 Taiwan Married Bachelor 4
Representative
Banking
Yvonne 26 China Single Bachelor Service 2
Associate

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Behavior Pattern
• Female investors perceive financial products or services
in a positive manner; however, the perception is
profoundly influenced by their specific environmental
conditions, such as people surrounding them, the social
and economic factors, and stages of life cycle.

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Behavior Pattern (Cont’d)
• Motivation mostly was initiated by people they trust,
especially from closer relationship; the group of people
usually have either connected to the financial product or
service providers or had experiences in investment
• The level of motivation was also determined by how
strong their personal fulfillments are
• The level of risk-taking depends on the stages of life cycle
as well as their personal fulfillments

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Behavior Pattern (Cont’d)
• Their attitudes toward financial product or service were
shaped and developed by the information source they
trust, but the attitudes later would be affected: either
giving higher credit or avoiding influences
• Close relationship does not increase the level of
confidence, female investors are still reluctant to make
their “own” decisions

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Behavior Pattern (Cont’d)
• Failure in investment or negative experiences under a
tolerate level does not seriously affect the relationship,
repeating purchase will continue sooner or later

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Discussion: Unexpected Findings!
The Source of Trust
• Reassurance is based on the relationship rather than
Professionalism
The Importance of Relational Ties
• Friends and family members showed much more
power
The Cause of Less Confidence
• Lack of confidence in themselves, not because of
detail-orientation

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CONCLUSION

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Marketing Implications
A well-recognized market segment but requires
more sophisticated marketing strategies
Relational ties should be addressed in obtaining
and retaining female investors for loyalty
establishment
Customer satisfaction should be further
developed by creating positive experience

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Limitations
It is an exploratory research, not an empirical work,
there is no direct indication to statistical significance
of female investors’ financial behavior.
Cultural difference of female consumption in financial
service industry is not sufficiently proved. The
differences in this research comparing to existing
literature should be only seen as a new perspective
when conducting further research in cultural context.

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Suggestions for Further Research
New variables and Comparative analysis with
linkages were explored: quantitative approach
• Source of Trust under a cultural context
• Relational Ties would be suggested for
• Cause of Confidence further research

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Q&A, or Any Comments?
Thank You for Your Attention!