Direct and indirect influence of attachment in retaining wealth management customers

• Published in: Journal of Contemporary Management 2022-01, Vol.19 (1), p.219-241
• Main Authors: Spies, Hester, Eckardt, Falkor Frank Norman, De Beer, Leon T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attachment; retention; Satisfaction; Social Issues; trust; Wealth management
• ISSN: 1815-7440
• DOI: 10.35683/jcm21081.144

Orientation: The financial gain of retaining wealth management customers cannot be contested. In order to enhance customer retention rates, various researchers are of the opinion that organisations should focus their relationship marketing strategies on attached customers.Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study was to determine whether customer attachment can be valuable to wealth managers in enhancing customer retention.Motivation for the study: The relationship building construct attachment which might influence retention has received no scholarly attention. Attachment has also never been modelled together with key retention constructs (satisfaction and trust).Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative descriptive research design was used to collect data through online computer administered questionnaires from a sample of 1230 wealth management customers in South Africa. A structural equation modelling approach was used to the test the hypotheses.Findings: The results established that respondents' attachment directly influenced retention and indirectly influenced the relationships between satisfaction and retention as well as trust and retention. The results also indicated that satisfaction and trust was significantly related to both attachment and retention.Contribution/value-add: This study not only empirically confirms the direct effect of customer attachment on retention but also its indirect effect on satisfaction and retention as well as trust and retention. This is the first time that this combination of factors are modelled together, to assess the extent to which they are interrelated and collectively contribute to retention.Managerial implications: The findings could assist wealth managers in their efforts to retain customers, bu establishing customer attachment, satisfaction and trust.