Engagement behavior and financial well-being: The effect of message framing in online pension communication

Wiebke Eberhardt, Elisabeth Brüggen*, Thomas Post, Chantal Hoet

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

People spend very little time planning for retirement, which could have negative effects on their financial well-being. To address this troubling lack of engagement, the authors posit that the use of goal framing, a marketing practice that involves making strategic adjustments to wording of marketing communications, in technology-facilitated communication (e.g., email) is effective for stimulating consumers’ behavioral engagement with pension information that is relevant for their long-term financial well-being. Field, online, and laboratory studies consistently show that a prevention-oriented assurance frame in technology-facilitated communication is twice as effective as a promotion-oriented investment frame for increasing participants’ engagement behavior. The findings have important implications for marketers and policy makers who seek to increase consumers’ retirement engagement behavior and financial well-being.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)448-471
Number of pages24
JournalInternational Journal of Research in Marketing
Volume38
Issue number2
Early online date2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2021

Keywords

  • Engagement
  • FINANCIAL SERVICES
  • Framing
  • Information acquisition
  • Pensions
  • SCALE DEVELOPMENT
  • INFORMATION
  • RETIREMENT
  • Financial services
  • BRAND ENGAGEMENT
  • CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
  • INCREASE
  • FRAMED MESSAGES
  • FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSITIONS
  • LOSS AVERSION
  • CONCEPTUALIZATION

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