Correspondence: Jackie Tam, Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong kong. Tel: +(852) 27667951; Fax: +(852) 27650611; e-mail: msjackie@inet.polyu.edu.hk

¹Is an assistant professor in the Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research work has been published in International Marketing Review, Psychology and Marketing, The Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management and Journal of Business Research. Dr. Tam's research interests include services marketing and consumer behaviour.

Received 16 November 2006; Revised 16 November 2006.

Abstract

Although studies have been conducted to advance our understanding of the concept of expectations, a number of challenges have been created in relation to the nature, types and dynamics of these expectations, and the effects of expectations on subsequent evaluations, both of which need closer attention. The objectives of this paper are to examine these challenges in the context of financial services, and discuss how financial service providers can manage customer expectations to their advantage. A set of propositions is developed, and suggestions for future research are also discussed.