Amidst technology, environment and human touch. Understanding elderly customers in the bank retail sector

Purpose – Using retail banking as a setting and focusing specifically on elderly customers (i.e. individuals aged 60 or more), this study aims to deepen the current understanding of how the physical context and the need for human interaction influence elderly customers’ attitudes toward self-service technologies (SSTs) and their behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Using face-to-face questionnaires, a sample of 505 elderly bank customers was collected. Data were analyzed using a multi-method approach, combining a moderated mediation analysis with a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings – The findings suggest that a pleasant retail space may result in a positive attitude toward SSTs, which increases their co-creation intention. It also highlights that need for interaction of elderly customers with employees has detrimental effects on their attitude toward SSTs. Research limitations/implications – The current analysis was carried out among Italian elderly banks’ customers. Thus, the results are highly dependent on the context of the analysis. In addition, it does not consider the different degrees of knowledge and experience the elderly may have with technology. Practical implications – This study suggests that providing access and support for using technology may be essential for banks to facilitate SSTs adoption in elderly customers. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to examine the influence of the physical context on elderly customers’ attitudes toward SSTs and their consequent behavioral intentions. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of the human touch for these particular customers.