SST and the Consumer Behaviour in Portuguese Financial Services

Financial services, especially commercial banking has been introducing new self-service technologies (SST), in the contact with customers, which allows the customer to accede service in an autonomous and timeless form. This paper discusses the behaviour of users and non-users of self-service technologies (namely, ATMs, call center/telephone, and internet) in Portuguese banking services. An empirical study was carried out by means of a questionnaire. Data were collected on 300 individuals, representing a sample, by region, gender and age group, of the Portuguese population, age 18 and over, and living in mainland Portugal. The results call for a user’s profile and consumer’s behaviour of SST. The SST users reveal a higher intention of repurchase, propensity to complain and higher price sensibility than the non-users. They are younger and middle-aged individuals, with a medium and high level of education. The main contribution of the paper is that banking managers that invest in SST may expect more sales (as a result of consumers with higher intention of repurchase), more opportunities of recovering the service (as a result of consumers with higher propensity to complain), but more price competitiveness (as a result of a consumer behaviour more price sensible). The paper put in evidence that SST use is not sufficient to determine consumer satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth, and it is not a barrier to bank switching.