Suspicious Minds (can be a good thing when saving for retirement)

A.M.J. Deetlefs (), H. Bateman (), Loretti Dobrescu, B.R. Newell (), Andreas Ortmann and Susan Thorp
Additional contact information
A.M.J. Deetlefs: School of Marketing, UNSW Business School, UNSW
H. Bateman: School of Risk & Actuarial Stidies, UNSW Business School, UNSW
B.R. Newell: School of Psychology, UNSW Business School, UNSW

No 2015-06A, Discussion Papers from School of Economics, The University of New South Wales

Abstract: Retirement saving is an area now jam-packed with defaults meant to address delayed or absent decision making. Yet, getting individuals engaged with retirement saving decisions is critical to avoid unsuitable one-size-fits-all defaults and optimise accumulated wealth. We apply a market-segmentation approach to the problem based on two attitudinal motivators of behavioral engagement: trust and interest. Our research sheds new light on why and how engagement occurs. Engagement grows with interest, yet engagement can also be motivated by low levels of trust. However, when interest is lacking, trust is related to reducing monitoring behaviour. This increases the vulnerability of individuals to exploitation exposing the “dark side of trust” (Gargiulo and Ertug 2006). Based on this interaction of trust and interest and how it feeds into engagement, a personalised approach by pension plan providers that addresses members’ diverse needs and means in terms of time, knowledge, and financial resources seems desirable.

Keywords: pension defaults; trust; engagement; retirement savings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J26 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2015-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-cbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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