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Paper info: Drivers of One-stop Shopping Behaviour Among Business Customers in the Financial Industry

Title


Drivers of One-stop Shopping Behaviour Among Business Customers in the Financial Industry

Authors


Irinja Maenpaa

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 27th IMP-conference in Glasgow, Scotland in 2011.

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Abstract


ABSTRACT
Purpose of the paper and literature addressed: This paper investigates the extent of and
the key determinants for financial service provider usage by business customers from the
small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector in Finland with the aim to identify the drivers
of one-stop shopping behaviour in this customer segment. Literature on cross-buying and
one-stop shopping of financial services are addressed in the study.
Research method: A qualitative research approach was employed in the study. The data was
collected through semi-structured interviews among key decision makers from 22 SMEs
within one country. Content analysis was used to systematically evaluate the interview data.
Research findings: Split banking, i.e. use of more than one bank, appears to be norm in the
SME segment, whereas insurances are dominantly purchased from a single provider. On the
contrary, the level of switching between insurance companies is notably higher than among
banks. Personal relationships and service-orientation are strongly associated with using a
particular bank, as competitive prices and the overall insurance coverage are key
determinants in the primary choice of an insurance company.
Majority of the SMEs seem to prefer having separate providers for their banking and
insurance services, although some indication towards growing interest on cross-buying was
identified in the study. Image conflicts, non-existent customer loyalty programs,
unfavourable pricing of the total offering and switching costs were identified as the main
factors limiting one-stop shopping behaviour among small business customers.
Main contributions: By describing the dimensions based on which SMEs discriminate
among competing service providers, this study offers important marketing implications for
financial institutions operating in business-to-business context in Finland and comparable
European markets. Our results show that in order to succeed in the cross-selling of banking
and insurance services, financial service providers need to pay special attention to the
recognition of customer requirements, such as receiving loyalty benefits from one-stop
shopping, to adequately serve the needs of their small business customers.
Keywords: Cross-buying, one-stop shopping, financial services, SMEs