The Wilson Group

The consequences of different paying methods towards financial advisors

Marketing Research project

Maastricht University School of Business andEconomics Maastricht, 12th of December Study: International Business Course code: EBC2009 Tutorial group: 12 Research group: C Balashov, K. Es, van R.A.R. Hoebert, M.J.J. Staats, P.R.W. 6003043 569550 6001467 6001760

Table of Contents

Executive summary ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... 3 Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..4 Research method and data collection ................................ ................................ .................... 5 Research Question 1 (Compare paying methods) ................................ .............................. 6 Research Question 2 (Trust towards the paying metho ds) ................................ .............7 Research Question 3 (Trust and likeliness) ................................ ................................ .........8 Research question 4 (Financial sector) ................................ ................................ .................9 Research Question 5 (Gender) ................................ ................................ .............................. 11 Research question 6 (Educational level) ................................ ................................ ........... 12 Research question 7 (Age) ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 14 Research Question 8 (Income) ................................ ................................ ............................. 16 Research question 9 (Nationality) ................................ ................................ ....................... 17 Limitations of the research ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 19 Conclusion and recommendations ................................ ................................ ...................... 20 Literature list ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 22 Appendix A ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 23 Research Question 1................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 23 Research Question 2................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 23 Research Question 3................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 24 Research Question 4................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 24 Research Question 5................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 25 Research Question 6................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 27 Research Question 7................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 28 Research Question 8................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 31 Research Question 9................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 31 Appendix B ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 33 Appendix C ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 35

Executive summary Thi research deals with the consequences for the financial advisors of the governments policy to change the provision based paying method towards a paying method where the customers directly pay the financial advisor for the advice.

In order to research this issue, nine research questions were developed and statistically tested for significance. Subsequently was set up with twelve questions, this questionnaire (Appendix B) was done by means of an online questionnaire. A total of 141 participants was achieved. Our respondents consisted mostly of two nationalities, namely Dutch and German.

In this research there are several limitations. It mostly consists of young people, which might not be the most suited target group for financial advisors in the short term. Additionally, only two testable nationality groups are considered. This is a weak aspect, since the culture of German and Dutch people do not differ that much.

The findings of this research are; first, people are more likely to turn to a financial advisor in the new case that he or she is paid by the customer, rather than by the provider of the financial products through provision. Second, perceived trust of the customer towards the advisor is bigger in case the advisor is paid by the customer, than paid by the provider of the financial products. Third, if the perceived trust of a customer towards a financial advisor is high, the likeliness to go to a financial advisor is high as well. Fourth,trust towards the financial sector is not an influential variable concerning the preference towards both paying methods.Fifth, contrary, to the old situation, in the new situation males are more likely, than females, to turn to a financial advisor. Sixth, that educational level does not make a significant difference in preference for any of the two paying methods. Seventh, age of the customer was an influential variable in the old situation, but is not anymore in the new situation. Eight, income was of influence in the old situation as well, but not anymore. Ninth, it is found that nationality does not make a significant difference in preference towards any of the two paying methods.

To conclude, the new policy towards the financial advisors does influence the sector in many ways, different customers, probably more customers, a chance to expand abroad, but the Wilson Group should pay special to retain and improve their trust image.

Introduction

The Wilson Group, in the beginning only an insurance company, was founded in 1976. Since then the company subsequently has developed from a one-man business into a medium-sized company with more than 5,000 acquaintances. Consumers can turn to the Wilson Group for a range of financial services, such as assurances and mortgages. In 2001, the Wilson Group expanded its business range of activities by acquiring a brokers office. The brokers office arised by an acquisition of Heijloo&Molkenboer Van GerwenMakelaars, in this way the company gained direct experience in this market and is therefore able to offer consumers reliable and high quality advice/services. (Wilson Groep) The main problem the research deals with is new regulations in the financial sector concerning financial advise in the Netherlands. A new police will be established in 2013, which enforces financial advisors now to charge their customers a payment per hour when they provide an advice. (Alphen, van F., 2010) Whereby, the financial advisors were paid previously by the provider of a financial product on a provision if the customer chose the specific financial product as a consequence of the received financial advice. The new policy is directed towards establishing a more objective environment in the financial sector of the Netherlands. This research assumes, this policy of payment should have an effect on the frequency of visiting a financial advisor for a customer. Consequently, the problem statement of this research is:

Whether the buyi

per hour opposed to by provisions paid by the provider of the financial product.

To investigate this statement nine research question have been developed. These research questions will deal with the issue of whether people are more willing to go to a financial advisor when he is paid by the hour or by a provider. Several other variables like education, income, trust and age are tested, in order to know if they have a significant impact. To be able to get the necessary data to statistically answer the research questions a questionnaire was conducted, which is included in the appendices.

Each of the nine research questions are dealt with in the following manner. First, there is a brief explanation why it is important for the research to have this research question. Second, the Alternative and the Null Hypothesis are presented. Third, a listing of the according
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preference of costumers changes, if their advisor charges the customer

questionnaire questions and their measurement scale is provided. Fourth, the used statistical test is stated. Fifth, the statistical output is described and last, the outcome is discussed and a short conclusion based on the outcome is drawn for the specific research question.

Research method and data collection

For a marketer there are two different types of researches available to gather the necessary information. Secondary research is the use of data which has been p reviously collected, but for another problem (Solomon et al., 2009). Since the data does not have to be collected this research method can save a lot of money and time. This research did not have the chance to use secondary data; consequently, this research solely consists of primary data. Primary research means that the data needed is specifically collected for this purpose. Primary research is divided into three categories: first, exploratory research, second, descriptive research, and last, causal research. This research is using the descriptive research method, since it uses much larger sample size than the other two methods. Also, most of the data collected with this method is of quantitative nature and therefore, more accurate to use. Descriptive research is divided into two categories cross-sectional design and longitudinal design. Longitudinal design monitors responses made from the same person over a period of time. This was not possible for the research. Hence, this research uses a cross-sectional design, which is characterized, by the use of a consumer survey instrument to systematically collect the responses (Solomon et al., 2009). For this research the consumer survey instrument was an online questionnaire. These questionnaires have some huge advantages for example they are basically for free, it is completely free of interviewer bias, it can be used everywhere so it is not limited in terms of geographic and the data is instantly available and ready to use. On the other hand there are also some disadvantages. The researchers can not completely control who is participating and thus can not be sure if the respondents do understand every question in the right way.

Research Question 1 (Compare paying methods)

The governments introduction of the new payment policy in the financial advisor sector may result in the change of customer`s behaviour in regard to visiting a financial advisor. A possible reason for the change might be, that in the case the financial advisor is paid by the provider, the consult is free of charge in a direct way and, thus lowers the boundary to go to a financial advisor. It can also be reasoned in another way, since the financial advisor paid by the customer, might be more independent and, thus customers could be more likely to go to a financial advisor. This research assumes that the last argument is stronger and thus comes up with the following research question: Is the customer more likely to go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the customer, than to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products?

From the research question the following Alternative Hypothesis can be stated: Ha: The customer is more likely to go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the customer, than to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products? Consequently, the null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between likeliness to go to a financial advisor. H0: The customer is less likely to go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the customer, than to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products?

For the input, the research stated two questions in the questionnaire, namely question 3 and question 4. (Appendix B) To check the hypotheses the research uses one tailed one-sample ttest for the stated interval questions. In order to find whether there is a significant relationship in the investigated data, we take the population mean of the output from question 4, namely 4.6241, which is applied as the test value for the output from question 3. (Table 1.1 and 1.2, Appendix A) Consequently, the test reveals a significance level with a p- value of 0,000, therefore it provides strong evidence for the alternative hypothesis.

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

The findings confirm in conclusion that the customer is more likely to go a financial advisor if the financial advisor is paid by the customer for the advice, instead of by the provider of the financial products. As stated earlier, a possible cause might be the differencein perceived trust
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towards both paying methods. In order to research this, the coming research questions deals with this issue.

Research Question 2 (Trust towards the paying methods)

Due to the changes in the policy towards financial advisors as described in the introduction, it is important to test whether there is a change in trust in the financial advisor. In case they will be paid by the customer and, thus whether the objective of the government; to increase trustworthiness towards the financial advisors, has been achieved. The research question is: Does perceived trust of the customer towards the advisor increase, when the advisor is paid by the customer, rather than paid by the provider of the financial products?

In the research it is assumed that the trust in a financial advisor is bigger, in the case when the financial advisor is paid by the customer, opposed to by the provider of the financial product. This is based on the assumption that financial advisors that are paid by the customer are more independent and objective. As a result the Alternative hypothesis is: Ha: Perceived trust of the customer towards the advisor is bigger in case the advisor is paid by the customer, than paid by the provider of the financial products. Consequently the null hypothesis will be the opposite: H0: Perceived trust of the customer towards the advisor is not bigger in case the advisor is paid by the customer, than paid by the provider of the financial products.

The questions from the questionnaire used to test these hypotheses are 5 and 6, their measurement scale is interval. (Appendix B) To test the question a one-sample t-test is used, as the result shows (Table 2.1 and 2.2 in Appendix A), the significance level is lower than 0,05 and, thus the null hypothesis can be rejected. Sig. 0,000 < 0,05. Therefore it can be stated that:

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

This would implicate for the Wilson group that there is more trust in a financial advisor that is paid by the hour.So the new policy is actually in favour of the Wilson Group. Therefore it can be concluded that the objective of the government is achieved.
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Research Question 3 (Trust and likeliness)

This research question tries to determine whether or not there is a significant influence of trust on the likelihood to go to financial advisor in general. It is based on the assumption that trust to any kind of advisor is quite important. The outcome is important for the financial advisors in order to know about the urgency for them to create a trustful image towards the potential customers and whether people are more likely to go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the customer, since it can be concluded from research question 2, that the perceived trust is higher in that case. Therefore the research question is as follows:

Is there a relationship between perceived trust in the financial advisor and the likeliness to go to a financial advisor?

The research assumes that there is a relationship between perceived trust in the financial advisor and the likeliness to go to a financial advisor. This relationship is based on the assumption that people share more and will more easily accept advice or information who the customer trust, rather than a person that is low in trust. Consequently, the alternative hypothesis is as follows: Ha: There is a relationship between perceived trust in the financial advisor and the likeliness to go to a financial advisor. Logically out of the alternative hypothesis follows the null hypothesis that states that there is no relationship. H0: There is no relationship between perceived trust in the financial advisor and the likeliness to go to a financial advisor.

The according questions from the questionnaire are 1 and 2 (Appendix B) The measurement scale of these questions are both interval. To check the hypotheses the research uses the twosample t-test, to check the data and test if there is a significant relationship. In order to have a sufficient test, the output of question two has been downgraded in the following manner: Old value 1,2,3,4,5 turned into new value 1. (do not trust, or unlikely) Old value 6,7,8,9,10 turned into new value 2. (do trust, or likely) A first look at the output (Table 3.1 and 3.2, Appendix A) already reveals quite a difference for the two groups in terms of the mean likelihood to go to a financial advisor. Further investigation of the output reveals that there is indeed a significant difference between the
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groups. Since equal variances can be assumed it can be seen that the two tailed significance is almost zero and therefore lower than 0,025. Thus, it can be stated that:

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

A plausible explanation for this outcome could be, like stated earlier, that people share more and will more easily accept advice or information from a person who the customer trust, rather than a person that is low in trust. This implicates for the Wilson Group that they have to be totally aware of their trust image and try to increase it and probably put in as a key objective for the following years.

Research question 4 (Financial sector)

This research question is based on the assumption that, due to the current crisis on the international financial markets, there has to be a reduction of trust in the market and its products. This research tries to find out if this distrust plays a significant role in whether a client chooses to go to a financial advisor who is paid by the customer himself and/or to a financial advisor who is paid by the provider of the financial product e.g. the bank. Therefore this research states the following research question: Does trust towards the financial sector influences the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer and/or to paid by the provider of financial products?

The assumption is that trust in the financial sector influences the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer. Consequently, this is stated in the alternative hypothesis. Ha: Trust towards the financial sector influences the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products. Therefore, the null hypothesis states trust in the financial advisor does not influence the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer. H0: Trust towards the financial sector does not influence the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer and a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products.
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The according questionnaire questions to answer this research question are questions 3, 4 and 7. (Appendix B)All three questions have answer options so that the resulting data is interval. Question 7 is downgraded so that there is distrust and a trust group. This is achieved by sorting out the neutral answers, add up the answer choices mostly distrust and somewhat distrust to get the distrust group and add up the answer choices mostly trust and somewhat trust to get the trust group. This is a necessity in order to perform the independent two-sample t-test, which is the test the research uses to test for significance.

The first test examines the relationship between questionnaire questions three and seven. (Appendix B) The output shows that there are 51 participants in the distrust group and 44 in the trust group. The means are 5,9804 and 6,3409, respectively. This seems to support the alternative hypothesis. The Levenes test for equality of variances suggests that equality of variances can be concluded. (Table 4.2, Appendix A) Consequently, it can be concluded from the data output that there is no significant influence of trust in the financial sector on the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer. The significance shown in the data output is 0.457, in order for the results to be significant this number should have been lower than or equal to 0.025. Therefore, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. The same applies for the case if the provider of the financial product pays the advisor. In this case the significance level is 0.994 this is again not lower or equal to 0.025 and therefore, not significant. (Table 4.4, Appendix A)

The null hypothesis can not be rejected and, thus the alternative hypothesis can not be confirmed.

A possible explanation for this outcome could be that a financial advisor is not perceived as a part of the financial sector and consequently, the trust in this sector does not significantly influence the buying behaviour towards financial advisors paid by the customer and/or financial advisors paid by the provider of the financial product. Given this, it might be recommendable for the Wilson Group to actively work on the image that they are not part of the financial sector, in a way that it harms them.

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Research Question 5 (Gender)

Gender is a factor that could influence the willingness of a customer to go to a Financial advisor or not. In this research there is a focus at whether the likeliness of going to a financial advisor, when this one is paid by the hour or the provider, is influenced by gender Consequently the research question will be; Does gender of the customer influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor who is paid by the provider of the financial products?

The assumption here of the alternative hypotheses is that gender does influence the preference. This assumption is based on the fact that women might be less dealing with financial products and, thus have less experience. A possible effect of this lack of experience might be that they are more indifferent about it, because they never experienced any consequences of the different paying methods. As a result the alternative hypothesis is: Ha: Gender of the customer does influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products? Following, the null hypothesis will state the opposite: H0: Gender of the customer does not influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products?

To test used in the research is the Chi-square test for independence. The data for the test was obtained from the questionnaire questions 3, 4 and 10. Question threes and question foursmeasurement scale is interval and the measurement scale for question ten is nominal. The two categorical variables are gender (Male/Female) and likeliness to go

(Unlikely/Likely). First the scale of likeliness was downgraded from first being from 1 to 10 to now 1 being unlikely to go (former 1 to 5) and 2 being likely to go (former 6 to 10). As can be seen from the test we can reject H0, based on a p-value of 0,047, therefore, the conclusion is gender is a significant variable. As can be seen, males are more likely to go to a financial advisor, when he is paid by the hour, than females. Sig. 0,047 < 0,05 (Table 5.2 and 5.3, Appendix A)

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For the second part, the likeliness to go to a financial advisor who is paid by the provider of the financial products, the test is not significantSig. 0,850 > 0,05 (Table 5.4 and 5.5, Appendix A). So there is no significant difference of the likeliness between males and females, to go to a financial advisor who is paid by the provider of the financial product.

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

The results are strongly in favour of the initial idea of the research that men are actually more likely to go to a financial advisor. A possible explanation could be that historically speaking the men was always in charge of the households money. Since financial products increasingly become more and more complicated, it is only logical to see a financial advisor in order to obtain help in this field. The finding that there is no significant difference between men and women in the old situation can be explained when looking carefully at the outcome. It can be seen that both genders are really unlikely to go to a financial advisor in the old situation. Hence, it is no wonder that these low likelihood values are not of significant impact. From an historical point of view it only seems logically that males are more likely to go to a financial advisor due to the facts mentioned above. Consequently, this new policy is indeed a huge improvement for the Wilson Group since their target segment, males, is now much more likely to go to a financial advisor. This can be explained by the increased trust in the financial advisor operating under the new policy.

Research question 6 (Educational level)

The inquiry to research the difference in likeliness among groups with different educational background to go to a financial advisor is a valuable contribution for the Wilson group, as it can enhance the knowledge about its customer base. It is common knowledge that people from different groups of education level have different attitudes and maybe different stereotype perceptions towards the financial sector as a whole For this reason in order to . investigate whether the new regulation of payment policy might result in different perceptions among different education groups the following research question will be focused on: Does educational level of the customer influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products?
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This research assumes there is a relationship, between the customers` educational level and the preference to turn to a financial advisor. Furthermore this relationship is based on the assumption that people of different educational groups will have different preferences in their choice of payment policy of the financial advisor. Therefore, our alternative hypothesis is stated as follows: Ha: Educational level of the customer does influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor, paid by the provider of the financial products? Consequently the null hypotheses will state that there is no relationship between the customers` educational level and the preference to turn to a financial advisor in their choice of payment policy. H0: Educational level of the customer does not influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products?

For the input, question 3, 4 and question 8 are used, (Appendix B) the independent variable education level is recoded into three categories with distinctions into: moderate education; secondary school, practical education and higher education, high education is the former undergraduate university and highest education is post-graduate university. The dependent variable is the likeliness towards either of the paying methods. To test the hypothesis the inquiry uses one-way ANOVA for the stated ratio questions. In order to find whether there is a significant relationship in the investigated data, the variance of the educational level is taken and compared with the variability within each of the educational groups, as presented in the descriptive output table below. In order to test the hypothesis the ANOVA test has been used. The ANOVA test has been chosen, since the input is ratio data, educational level, and the amount of groups is three. Furthermore, the three samples are independent of each other. It is a one-way ANOVA test,hence there is only one factor, educational level, influencing the preference towards the two paying methods (the continuous dependent variable).

The analysis of variance concludes that there is no significant difference in the likeliness to go to a financial advisor among different groups of education for both of the paying methods.

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Sig. 0,728 > 0,05 for the likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid per hour by the customer. (Table 6.2, Appendix A) Sig. 0,098 > 0,05 for the likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of financial product. (Table 6.2, Appendix A)Therefore;

The null hypothesis can not be rejected and, thus the alternative hypothesis can not be confirmed.

It can be concluded that there is no significance difference between groups differently educated. The implications are probably advantageous for the Wilson Group. The output shows that Wilson Group should not experience any changes in their customer base after the introduction of the new payment policy. Furthermore, these implications reveal that the Wilson Group can create a diversification in their customer composition, which is based on customers of different educational groups.

Research question 7 (Age)

This research question deals with the importance of age concerning the preference between the two paying methods for financial advisors. The variable age might be of some value for the Wilson Group in order to better target their clients. To research the prescribed issue, the following research question will be investigated:

Does age of the customer influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products?

One can reason that age could have a significant influence on the preference of the two paying methods. The first reasoning could be that people, older than 40 years have a better income. It could be argued that in the case in which the advisor is paid by the customer directly, for this age group this should not be an obstacle, since they are not that much limited in terms of money. So older people will be more likely to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the consumer itself per hour, than younger people will. Another reason might be that older people are more likely to have had experience in receiving financial advise. These experiences might influence the preference as well, though depending on the experience in which way it
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influences the decision. Only based on common knowledge the following alternative hypothesis can be stated:

Ha: Age of the customer does influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products.

The null hypothesis expects that the variable age has no significant influence:

H0: Age of the customer does not influence the preference to turn to a financial advisor who is paid by the hour and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of the financial products.

The input for this test consists of questionnaire questions 3, 4 and 12. (Appendix B) The measurement scale for question twelve is ratio, for question three and four it is interval. In order to be able to do the ANOVA test, the respondents were put into 3 age groups. The first consist of people that are 16-23 years old, adolescents, which of the majority still studies. The second group of people are 24-40 years old, in this group most people are graduated, might have children and are most likely employed. The last group consists of people that are 41-80 years old. They have the highest incomes and children that are already somewhat older.

To test the hypothesis the ANOVA test has been used. The ANOVA test has been used, since the input from questions three and four is interval and the respondents are divided into three age groups. Furthermore, the three samples are independent of each other. It is a one-way ANOVA test, hence there is only one factor (age) influencing the preference towards the two paying methods (the continuous dependent variable).

It can be concluded that there is a significant difference, Sig. 0,011 < 0,05, in the preference to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial product among the different age groups. (Table 7.2, Appendix A) There is no significant difference in preference in the new situation among the age groups, Sig. 0,257 > 0,05. (Table 7.2, Appendix A)

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

For the Wilson group it is probably more valuable to know in which age group the difference occurs, rather than knowing that there is a difference.
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Therefore this research also conducted a Tukey and Donnett test, in order to see where the preference differs. Based on that the following statement can be done:

People from the age group 16-23 are significantly more likely, than the age group 24-40 to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial product. (Table 7.3 Appendix A) These findings actually have no further implications for the Wilson Group, since the old payment method does not apply anymore.

Research Question 8 (Income)

This research question deals with the question whether or not the current monthly net income of the household is an influential variable. It is based on the assumption that wealthier individuals must have a greater need for more complicated financial advice opposed to lower income classes. They will buy more often a house and can take more care of pensions. Therefore the following research is stated: Does the current households monthly net income of the customer influence the buying preference towards a financial advisor paid by the customer and/or a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of financial products?

We assume that the current monthly net income is an influential variable and therefore this is our alternative hypothesis. Ha: The current households monthly net income of the customer influences the buying preference towards a financial advisor paid by the customer and/or a financial advisor paid by the provider of financial products.

Consequently, the null hypothesis states that the current monthly net income is not an influential variable. H0: The current households monthly net income of the customer does not influence the buying preference towards a financial advisor paid by the customer and a financial advisor paid by the provider of financial products.

The according questionnaire questions for this research question are 3,4 and 8. (Appendix B)
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All these questions have an answer option so that the measurement scale is interval. To check for significance, a two-sample t-test has been used. In order to use this test there had to be formed two groups from the results of question eight. One group with monthly net income per household of under 3000 euro, which represents the lower income class and one group with more than 3000 euro to represent the higher income class. The statistical output shows that for one case, the customer pays the advisor, current monthly net income per household is not an influential variable. (Table 8.1 and 8.2, Appendix A) For the case, the provider of the financial product pays the advisor, the output confirms the alternative hypothesis. Since the test is two-tailed the significance level on each side is 2,5%. The output shows a significance level of 1,1% which strongly supports the alternative hypothesis. (Table 8.1 and 8.2, Appendix A) It shows that the lower income class is significantly more likely to go to a financial advisor who is paid by the provider of the financial product, compared to the higher income class. Therefore:

The Null hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative hypothesis is confirmed.

A possible cause for this outcome could be that the lower income group is actually in need of financial advise, but can not afford this kind of service if they have to pay for it directly. Examining this output further reveals a different picture. Looking at the means of Likelihood to go to a financial advisor, that is paid by the provider of the financial product it can be seen that both groups are rather unlikely to go, since they both are below five on a scale of one to ten. Wilson group could in order to deal with this fact, make their advice cheaper for poor people that are most likely seeking for basic advice, which can be given by a financial advisor that is less experienced and, thus less costly.

Research question 9 (Nationality)

The European market is getting more homogeneous due to EU regulations. Therefore, it might be interesting for the Wilson group to expand abroad. Another fact that enhances this possible movement is the fact that much Dutch people move to Germany close to the border of the Netherlands. Hence, by having an office it can serve this market as well. In order to investigate the impact of nationality the following research question is stated: Does nationality influence the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the
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customer and/or a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products?

This research assumes that there is a difference between the nationalities. Reasons might be different culture, experiences or economic factors of the country. Consequently, this research states the following hypothesis: Ha: The nationality of the customer does influence the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer and/or a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products. The null hypothesis expects that nationality of the customer does not have an influence: H0: The nationality of the customer does not influence the buying preference towards financial advisors paid by the customer and/or a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial products.

To test the null hypothesis the research conducted a Chi square goodness-of-fit test. The input data are the answers on questionnaire question 3,4 and 11. Answers on questions 3 and 4 are interval data, data received from question 11 is nominal, namely nationality. (Appendix B) The grouping variable is nationality, the group other has been left out, since the size was only 7 and, thus not representative. The only two groups are Dutch and German. In order to have a sufficient test variable, there has a to be a new variable. The new variables are called nationlikeph and nationunlikeprov. The first variable has the values of 1 and 2, where 1 is Dutch and 2 is German. The numbers only were assigned to respondents that were likely to go to a financial advisor (if case, variable likphnew). (Appendix C) The second variable is similar, but since the group that were unlikely to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider is bigger, the respondents only received a number in case they were unlikely to go, instead of likely in the variable before. Because of this we had a bigger group and, thus a more reliable test than in case we only looked at the people that were likely to go, since that group was smaller.The test itself did not provide outcomes that were significant for either of the paying methods. First test: 0,719 > 0,05 (Table 9.1 and 9.2 Appendix A) and second test: 0,118 > 0,05 (Table 9.3 and 9.4 Appendix A). Therefore:

The null hypothesis can not be rejected and, thus the alternative hypothesis can not be confirmed. It can be concluded that nationality, or at least the nationalities Dutch and German do not
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make a sufficient difference for both paying methods. The reason can be that the culture of both countries is quite similar. For the Wilson group it means that for a possible expansion to Germany differences in the buying preference is not a substantial problem.

Limitations of the research

This research has some limitations. The first and most important one is that the sample might not be very well suited for this research. Since the research deals with a quite narrow range of products, e.g. financial advise, it could be a pitfall that the sample mostly consists of younger people, due to the fact that this age group in most of the cases is not in need of financial advise, yet. Also younger participants might not have a lot of experience with financial advisors. One of the reasons for the low mean age is that for obtaining the questionnaire answers the research solely relied on online questionnaires. This more or less excludes some older age groups. The sample not only mostly consists of younger participants, but also mostly of well educated and low income participants. This leads to the conclusion that the majority of the participants are students and this again might not be the most important group for a research about financial advise. However, they are probably the future customers and, thus important for the future of the Wilson Group.

The sample limits the research in two more ways. First, the vast majority of the participants are either Dutch or German. These two groups account for more than 95% of all participants. Since the Dutch and the German culture do not differ a lot from each other it is not a surprise that nationality is not a significant influential variable. To confirm this outcome the research should be performed again with a broader range of nationalities. Second, there are less than 20 participants in two of the three age groups. Consequently, the results from the ANOVA test are not that powerful anymore. It can be concluded that there are several limitations, but this research is still valuable for the Wilson Group.

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Conclusion and recommendations

According to this research the governments policy to change the paying method for Financial advisors has much impact on the financial advice market.

From the first research question it can be stated that people are more likely to go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the customer, rather than paid by the provider of the financial products, which they ask advice about. This is actually a positive conclusion for the Wilson Group. The second research question concludes that people perceive a higher trust towards financial advisors, that are paid by the customer, rather than paid by the provider of the financial products. According to this there could be a relation between these two findings and, thus that higher trust is positively correlated with higher likeliness to go to a financial advisor. The third research question tests this issue. Indeed, it is correlated. Higher trust towards the financial advisor, does increase the likeliness to go to a financial advisor. According to these three findings, it can be concluded that the main objective, namely increase the trust in the financial advisors had been accomplished. Whether the financial advisors are re ally more trustable and if they are more independent will be seen in the future. Therefore, this research highly recommends the Wilson Group to pay attention to the perceived trust of the customers towards them and try to improve their trust image.

In line with the issue stated before, one could wonder if trust in the financial sector as a whole is of importance to the Wilson Group. Contrary to this thought this research shows that trust in the financial sector does not influence the preference for the two paying methods and does not change the likeliness to go to a financial advisor. That is a good message for the Wilson group, since in the last years the trust towards the financial sector has declined, but according to the findings of this research it had no effect on the likeliness to go to a financial advisor. Therefore the Wilson group should stress the point that they are not a part of the Financial sector that has the bad image, but that they are more willing to advice you in an honest manner.

In order to provide some more information about the customer base for financial advisors, this research posed several questions concerning demographic aspects of customers, namely gender, educational level, age, households net income and nationality. According to the results, only educational level did not show a significant difference towards preference for the
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two paying methods. Furthermore, it can be concluded that nationality of the customer does not have an effect either, though the test was only done for the Dutch and German nationality. Therefore, it is highly recommendable for the Wilson Group to analyse the possibilities to expand their activities to Germany, since the preference for the paying method is not different in Germany opposed to the Netherlands.Furthermore, it can be concluded that males are more likely to go to a financial advisor if the financial advisor is paid by the customer. This means that the Wilson Group should even more focus their marketing efforts towards this target group. Other results from the research are that people in the age-group 16-23 are more likely to go to financial advisor, who is paid by the provider, than the age-group 24-40. But both groups are still more likely to go to a financial advisor in the new situatio and, thus the n Wilson Group should not pay special attention to this finding. Additionally, the research provides evidence that people with lower incomes, opposed to people with higher incomes, are more likely to go to a financial advisor, who is paid by the provider. This is probably because they are less likely to afford the financial advice if it has to be paid directly. Therefore, it is recommendable for the Wilson Group to make some special tariffs for people from the lower income group, so the Wilson Group can also serve this segment. Probably, their questions are less complicated, since they are in need of only the basic products. For these consults, younger, less experienced employees can be used because they are less costly and will have sufficient knowledge about the basic products.

The main finding of this research is that trust plays a major role in the likeliness to turn to a financial advisor and consequently should try to pay special attention to this issue.

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Literature list
Alphen, van F. (2010).In 2013 verbod op provisiehypotheken.Volkskrant. Retrieved 30 November 2010 from: http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2680/Economie/article/detail/1032478/2010/10/12/In-

2013-verbod-op-provisie-hypotheken.dhtml Department of marketing & supply chain management, (2010), Marketing Research and Cases( 4th ed). New York: McGraw- Hill.

Solomon, M.R., Marschall, G.W., Stuart, E.W., Mitchell, V., Barnes, B., (2009). Marketing Real People. Real Decisions. First European edition, Pearson education Wilson Groep. Retrieved 11 December 2010, from: http://www.wilsongroep.nl/page/18

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Appendix A esearch Questi n 1

Table 1.1

Table 1.2

esearch Questi n 2

Table 2.1

Table 2.2

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Research Questi n 3

Table 3.1

Table 3.2

Research Questi n 4

Table 4.1

Table 4.2

Tabl

24

Table 4.4

Research Questi n 5

Table 5.1

Table 5.2: Gender * Li eliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by you per hour

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Table 5.3: Gender * Likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by you per hour

Table 5.4: Gender * Likeliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the provider of the financial product

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Table 5.5: Gender * Li eliness to go to a financial advisor that is paid by the pr ovider of the financial product

Research Question 6

Table 6.1

Table 6.2

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Research Question 7

Table 7.1

Table 7.2

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Table 7.3: Post Hoc Test

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Table 7.4

Table 7.5

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Research Question 8

Table 8.1

Table 8.2

Research Question 9

Table 9.1: Chi-S uare Test, Frequencies

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Table 9.2

Table 9.3

Table 9.4

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Appendix B
Questionnaire Maastricht University

urvey: Before we start, we would like to thank you for your participation in our survey. The data that we obtain from you is anonymous and will not be used for other purposes than the Maastricht University survey. Ditonderzoekwordtuitgevoerdvoorniet-commerciledoeleinden en kadert in eenonderwijsopdracht. The Wilson Group was founded in 1976. It started as an insurance company. Since then the company has grown from a one-man business into a medium-sized company with more than 5,000 acquaintances. Consumers can make an appeal to the Wilson Group for different financial services, including assurances and mortgages.

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you go to a financial advisor? circle, 10 highest likeliness) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(Please

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you trust a financial advisor? circle, 10 highest trust) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(Please

Imagine your government is planning to change the policy towards financial advisors. In the old situation the financial advisors were paid by the provider of the financial products, in the new situation the advisor has to be paid by the consumer that is asking for advice. 3. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you go to a financial advisor if he is paid by you for the advice? (Please circle, 10 highest likeliness) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you go to a financial advisor if he is paid by the provider of the financial products that you ask advice about? (Please circle, 10 highest likeliness) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you trust a financial advisor that is paid by you for the advice? (Please circle, 10 highest trust) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you trust a financial advisor that is paid by provider of the financial products? (Please circle, 10 highest trust) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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7. How much do you trust the financial sector towards financial products? mostly distrust somewhat distrust neutral somewhat trust mostly trust

8. What is your households current monthly net income? Between 0 and 1500 Between 1501 and 3000 Between 3001 and 4500 Between 4501 and 6000 More than 6001

9. What is the highest educational level that you finished or currently doing? Secondary school Practical education (MBO, Ausbildung) Higher education (HBO, Fachhochschule) Undergraduate university (Bachelor) Postgraduate university (Master) 10. What is your gender? Female Male 11. What is your nationality? Dutch German 12. What is your age? ______ years

Other, namely: ___________________

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Appendix C Question nr. Variable name in P ID Likfa Label in P Identificationnumber Likelihood to go to a financial advisor. Trust in Financialadvisor CodingInstructions Respondent nr. (N-1) 1 = Not likely .. 10 = Really likely 1 = Reallydistrust .. 10 = Really trust 1 = Not likely .. 10 = Really likely 1 = Not likely .. 10 = Really likely

Trustfa

Likph

Likprov

Trustph

Trustprov

Trustfin

Netinc

Educ

10 11

Gender Nation

12

Age

Likelihood to go to a financial advisor, that is paid by you (per hour). Likelihood to go to a financial advisor, that is paid by the provider of the financial product. Trust in Financial advisor 1 = Really distrust paid by you (per hour). .. 10 = Really trust Trust in Financial advisor 1 = Really distrust paid by the provider of .. the Financial products. 10 = Really trust Trust towards Financial 1 = Mostly distrust sector 2 = Somewhat distrust 3 = Neutral 4 = Somewhat trust 5 = Mostly trust Monthly net income 1 = Between 0 and 1500 2 = Between 1501 - 3000 3 = Between 3001 - 4500 4 = Between 4501 - 6000 5 = More than 6001 Highest level of 1 = secundary school education 2 = Practical Education 3 = Higher education 4 = Undergraduate university 5 = Postgraduate university Gender 1 = female 2 = male Nationality 1 = Dutch 2 = German 3 = Other Age In years

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