Human values and attitudes toward bank services in Brazil

Abstract

PurposeThe relationship between personal values and behaviour has been widely studied, and previous studies have demonstrated the mediating role of attitudes. The purpose of the study is to test the “values‐attitude” relation in banking services (car insurance, life insurance, home insurance and retirement plan) on a Brazilian sample and demonstrate the role of negative incidents with services on the relation between sellers' personal values and attitudes.Design/methodology/approachThe Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) and an attitude measurement developed for this research were used. The data were collected with 1,061 employers who sell these services and work in a large Brazilian bank. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that values of conservation were the best predictor of the attitudes, demonstrating that attitude towards bank services is explained mostly by the motivation to maintain the social tissue. However, the values showed little or no impact on the attitude of those who have had negative incidents with the services.Research limitations/implicationsResults can be used on the implementation of marketing strategies, pointing to the impact of values on attitudes when individuals have not had experienced a negative incident. The research limitations are related to its setting, data collection, sample and measurements used.Originality/valueThis is the first research in the field using a Brazilian population. It is also one of the very few studies in the field that examines the moderating role of negative incidents on the relationship between values and attitude with bank services.