Diverging Views: How Clients and Planners Value Financial Planning Attributes and Virtual vs. In-Person Meetings

Obs.	%/Mean	Std. dev.	Min	Max	Obs.	%/Mean	Std. dev.	Min	Max	Diff Sig.
Responsiveness
Personability	424	45.99%				313	74.44%				***
Personability	424	3.373	0.858	1	5	313	3.962	0.850	1	5	***
Friendly services	424	52.83%				313	84.66%				***
Friendly services	424	3.415	0.998	1	5	313	4.339	0.851	1	5	***
Promptness in responding	424	40.80%				313	84.66%				***
Promptness in responding	424	3.285	0.987	1	5	313	4.351	0.791	1	5	***
Assurance
Knowledge and expertise	424	42.22%				313	78.91%				***
Knowledge and expertise	424	3.182	1.118	1	5	313	4.089	0.831	1	5	***
Empathy
Attentive listening	424	27.59%				313	84.03%				***
Attentive listening	424	2.974	1.062	1	5	313	4.406	0.967	1	5	***
Care and interest	424	41.27%				313	85.94%				***
Care and interest	424	3.113	1.116	1	5	313	4.447	0.835	1	5	***
Reliability
Help decision-making	424	61.08%				313	87.86%				***
Help decision-making	424	3.594	0.923	1	5	313	4.358	0.788	1	5	***
Quality investment	424	39.39%				313	65.81%				***
Quality investment	424	3.200	1.034	1	5	313	3.840	0.913	1	5	***
Tangible
Virtual meeting productivity	424	53.07%				313	73.80%				***
	424	3.481	0.833	1	5	313	3.859	1.031	1	5	***
Demographic
Age	424	36.554	9.118	22	74	313	45.636	13.762	21	81	***
Age categories						313
Age 21 to 30	424	26.42%				313	13.74%				***
Age 31 to 40	424	51.65%				313	30.35%				***
Age 41 to 50	424	15.09%				313	20.77%				*
Age 50 and above	424	6.84%				313	35.14%				***
Female	424	46.46%				312	35.90%				**
Married	424	83.25%				312	80.13%
White	424	84.67%				313	86.58%
Degree holder	424	70.28%				313	91.37%				***
Income level
less than $100,000	424	27.12%				309	13.59%				***
$100,000 – $150,000	424	50.24%				309	23.95%				***
$150,000 – $250,000	424	19.34%				309	22.33%				***
higher than $250,000	424	3.30%				309	40.13%				***

Table 2.

Results of seemingly unrelated regressions on SERVQUAL attributes

		Coefficient	Std. err.	z	P>z
Personability
	Client group	−0.383	0.070	−5.46	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.445	0.107	−4.18	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.114	0.093	−1.23
	Age 41 to 50	0.010	0.102	0.09
	Female	0.033	0.060	0.56
	Married	−0.120	0.082	−1.47
	Whites	−0.185	0.086	−2.14	*
	No college degree	−0.352	0.076	−4.62	***
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	0.016	0.108	0.15
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.231	0.100	−2.32	*
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.178	0.103	−1.73
	Intercept	4.423	0.132	33.52	***
	R-squared = .192
Friendly services
	Client group	−0.633	0.077	−8.26	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.605	0.116	−5.20	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.569	0.101	−5.62	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.165	0.112	−1.48
	Female	−0.090	0.065	−1.37
	Married	−0.207	0.089	−2.33	*
	Whites	−0.206	0.094	−2.19	*
	No college degree	−0.246	0.083	−2.96	**
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	0.068	0.117	0.58
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.161	0.109	−1.48
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.061	0.112	−0.54
	Intercept	5.064	0.144	35.15	***
	R-squared = .274
Promptness in responding
	Client group	−0.670	0.076	−8.79	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.567	0.116	−4.90	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.624	0.101	−6.19	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.339	0.111	−3.05	**
	Female	−0.049	0.065	−0.76
	Married	−0.125	0.089	−1.41
	Whites	−0.104	0.094	−1.11
	No college degree	−0.066	0.083	−0.80
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	−0.283	0.117	−2.43	*
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.407	0.108	−3.76	***
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.232	0.112	−2.08	*
	Intercept	5.046	0.143	35.22	***
	R-squared = .301
Knowledge and expertise
	Client group	−0.668	0.085	−7.90	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.546	0.128	−4.26	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.565	0.112	−5.06	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.251	0.123	−2.04	*
	Female	0.049	0.072	0.67
	Married	−0.077	0.098	−0.79
	Whites	−0.150	0.104	−1.44
	No college degree	−0.161	0.092	−1.76
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	0.014	0.130	0.10
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.281	0.120	−2.34	*
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.066	0.124	−0.53
	Intercept	4.697	0.159	29.56	***
	R-squared = .236
Help decision-making
	Client group	−0.388	0.069	−5.62	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.743	0.105	−7.09	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.460	0.091	−5.03	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.156	0.101	−1.55
	Female	−0.058	0.059	−0.98
	Married	−0.173	0.080	−2.16	*
	Whites	−0.203	0.085	−2.39	*
	No college degree	−0.206	0.075	−2.75	**
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	−0.236	0.106	−2.23	*
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.415	0.098	−4.23	***
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.128	0.101	−1.27
	Intercept	5.142	0.130	39.58	***
	R-squared = .280
Quality investment
	Client group	−0.378	0.082	−4.61	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.893	0.125	−7.16	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.584	0.108	−5.38	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.356	0.120	−2.97	**
	Female	−0.058	0.070	−0.82
	Married	−0.128	0.095	−1.34
	Whites	−0.252	0.101	−2.49	*
	No college degree	0.041	0.089	0.46
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	0.090	0.126	0.72
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.088	0.117	−0.75
	Income $150K to $250K	0.043	0.120	0.36
	Intercept	4.521	0.154	29.31	***
	R-squared = .161
Attentive listening
	Client group	−0.786	0.079	−9.92	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−1.016	0.120	−8.45	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.866	0.105	−8.27	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.423	0.116	−3.67	***
	Female	−0.077	0.068	−1.13
	Married	−0.288	0.092	−3.13	**
	Whites	−0.179	0.097	−1.84
	No college degree	−0.394	0.086	−4.58	***
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	−0.435	0.121	−3.58	***
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.640	0.113	−5.69	***
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.361	0.116	−3.11	**
	Intercept	5.594	0.149	37.56	***
	R-squared = .459
Care and interest
	Client group	−0.973	0.080	−12.21	***
	Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
	Age 21 to 30	−0.894	0.121	−7.39	***
	Age 31 to 40	−0.749	0.105	−7.11	***
	Age 41 to 50	−0.254	0.116	−2.19	*
	Female	−0.004	0.068	−0.05
	Married	−0.180	0.093	−1.94
	Whites	−0.159	0.098	−1.62
	No college degree	−0.320	0.087	−3.70	***
	Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
	Less than $100K	0.070	0.122	0.57
	Income $100K to $150K	−0.314	0.113	−2.77	**
	Income $150K to $250K	−0.093	0.117	−0.79
	Intercept	5.281	0.150	35.24	***
	R-squared = .425

Note:

* p <.05,

** p <.01,

*** p <.001.

The responsiveness factor encompasses personability, friendly services, and promptness in responding. The assurance factor covers knowledge and expertise, while the reliability factor involves help with decision-making and quality investment. The empathy factor includes attentive listening, as well as care and interest.

Table 3.

Results of OLS regression on viewing virtual meetings being equally productive as in-person meetings

	Coefficient	Std. err.	t	P>t
Client group	−0.248	0.081	−3.05	***
Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
Age 21 to 30	−0.159	0.119	−1.33
Age 31 to 40	−0.182	0.104	−1.75
Age 41 to 50	−0.035	0.115	−0.31
Female	0.087	0.069	1.27
Married	−0.041	0.092	−0.45
Whites	−0.168	0.098	−1.73
No college degree	−0.208	0.087	−2.38	*
Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
Less than $100K	0.001	0.125	0.01
Income $100K to $150K	−0.063	0.112	−0.56
Income $150K to $250K	0.112	0.115	0.97
Intercept	4.084	0.148	27.66	***

Note: R-squared = .061.

* p <.05,

** p <.01,

*** p <.001.

Table 4.

Results of Multinomial Regression Analysis on Meeting Format Preferences.

RRR	Std. err.	z	Sig	RRR	Std. err.	z	Sig
Attributes
Personability	0.304	0.093	−3.91	***	0.665	0.187	−1.45
Friendly services	2.312	0.676	2.87	**	0.938	0.260	−0.23
Promptness in responding	1.284	0.385	0.83	1.226	0.339	0.74
Knowledge and expertise	1.928	0.579	2.19	*	1.530	0.443	1.47
Help decision-making	1.487	0.447	1.32	1.148	0.327	0.48
Quality investment	1.520	0.461	1.38	0.950	0.281	−0.17
Attentive listening	2.274	0.828	2.26	*	1.799	0.632	1.67
Care and interest	1.183	0.364	0.55	1.137	0.328	0.45
Age categories (ref: Age 50 and above)
Age 21 to 30	1.362	0.840	0.50	1.173	0.719	0.26
Age 31 to 40	2.756	1.612	1.73	1.671	0.986	0.87
Age 41 to 50	2.051	1.273	1.16	1.703	1.071	0.85
Female	0.944	0.250	−0.22	1.143	0.289	0.53
Married	2.007	0.846	1.65	0.533	0.176	−1.90
Whites	0.885	0.334	−0.32	0.711	0.249	−0.97
No college degree	2.810	0.852	3.41	**	3.404	0.995	4.19	***
Income categories (ref: Income >$250,000)
Less than $100K	0.259	0.306	−1.14	0.129	0.147	−1.80
Income $100K to $150K	0.180	0.211	−1.46	0.080	0.090	−2.24		*
Income $150K to $250K	0.254	0.301	−1.15	0.130	0.148	−1.79
Intercept	0.238	0.342	−1.00	4.701	6.389	1.14

Note: Base outcome is in-person meetings. N = 424. Pseudo R2 = 0.1145.

* p<0.05,

** p<0.01,

*** p<0.001

Ranking of SERVQUAL Attributes among Clients and Planners.

References

Authors

Metrics

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fprj-2026-0008 | Journal eISSN: 2206-1355 | Journal ISSN: 2206-1347

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Language: English

Published on: Jun 29, 2026

Published by: Financial Advice Association of Australia

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

Client satisfaction,

planner–client relationship,

SERVQUAL,

virtual meetings

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Political economics,

Economic theory, systems and structures,

Business management,

Business management, other,

Industries,

Banks, financial service provider, insurers

© 2026 Yu Zhang, Megan McCoy, LaMindy Brandon-Joseph, published by Financial Advice Association of Australia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 12 (2026): Issue 3 (September 2026)

Diverging Views: How Clients and Planners Value Financial Planning Attributes and Virtual vs. In-Person Meetings

Figures & Tables

Table 1.

Table 2.

Table 3.

Table 4.

Figure 1.

Paradigm

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