Correspondence: Robert Rugimbana, Department of Marketing, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Queensland 4111, Australia. Tel: +61 0738757352; Fax: +61 0738757126; e-mail: r.rugimbana@griffith.edu.au

¹is Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at the Griffith Business School. His main research focus is in the areas of Consumer Psychology, Diffusion of Innovations in Markets and Marketing Education and Management. He has published extensively by way of refereed journal articles and conference papers, books and book chapters. In addition, he has and continues to consult for several large organisations as well as Federal and State Government Departments. He is also a senior associate of several International Marketing professional bodies.

Received 16 November 2006; Revised 16 November 2006.

Abstract

Young consumers' decision-making influencers in regards to financial services are well documented in the financial services literature. Research on the role of influencers of choice behaviour is also prominent in the literature. An important lacuna in financial services is an understanding of the young consumers' underlying motives for their choices and the relative importance of these motives as predictors of choice. This paper presents findings from a quantitative study, whose main objective is to determine the most reliable influencer variables for predicting the personal banking services preferred by a sample of generation Y consumers. Using several quantitative techniques, the study generates empirical evidence which suggests that cultural variables at the individual level are as reliable as, and in cases more reliable than other proven predictors when predicting generation Y's electronic banking product preferences. As such the study highlights the probability that an understanding of the more enduring motives for generation Ys' personal banking choices may present a useful alternative for targeting this demographic.