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ERIC Number: ED548815
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 159
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-2676-8237-6
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Factors Related to Choosing between the Internet and a Financial Planner
Son, Jiyeon
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University
In this dissertation, I aim to clarify the factors affecting a consumers' choice between the Internet and a financial planner for making saving and investment decisions, based on household production theory. Moreover, I explore the likelihood of an individual being an Internet user (vs. a non-user), a financial planner user (vs. a non-user), a mixed user (vs. a non-user), an Internet user (vs. a mixed user) or a financial planner user (vs. a mixed user). First, using the data from the combined set of 2001, 2004, and 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), I investigated the proportion of U.S. households using the Internet, a financial planner, both, or neither. I found that Internet usage for making saving and investment decisions grew from 12% in 2001 to 20% in 2007. In contrast, financial planner usage statistics for the same purpose slightly decreased during the same period, from 18% to 15%. More interestingly, the proportion of mixed users, who use the Internet in addition to a financial planner, increased from 4% to 7%. Extending these results to multivariate analyses, I tested whether or not time constraints, monetary constraints, and human resource constraints affect a consumer's choice between using the Internet and a financial planner. I found that monetary constraints and human resource constraints affected consumer decisions in choosing between the Internet and a financial planner, which supports household production theory. Unlike my hypothesis, however, time constraints (e.g., working hours per week, presence of a young child under the age of 5) did not bear any significant relationship in making a choice between the Internet and a financial planner. Moreover, the effects of time constraints were not found to be significant on the likelihood of being an Internet user, a financial planner user, and a mixed user. Overall, these results suggest that younger consumers with a Bachelor's degree and less financial assets are more likely to use the Internet, instead of a financial planner or in addition to the financial planner. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A