Technology Adoption
Discover what Technology Adoption is and how advisers can use our four dimensions of Technology Adoption to tailor their service offering to match the expectations of those with different Technology Adoption profiles.
What is Technology Adoption - a definition
Technology Adoption is a measure of The Advisable Australian's current usage of, and value they place in, technology and digital services. It considers the frequency of usage of digital services, how comfortable they are using technology, and how keen they are on adopting new services.
Technology Adoption can be explained as:
1. Confidence in technology
An individual’s confidence, savviness and trust in new technologies.
Which of the following best describes your attitude towards adopting new technologies?
2. Technology usage
The frequency and variety in using different digital online services.
How frequently do you typically do/use the following?
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To learn what financial advice firms can do to take advantage of technology and evolve their value proposition, download our special report, The Advisable Australian Volume 1 - A new way to think about Australian investors.
How Technology Adoption in Australia affects customer experience
Higher levels of Technology Adoption will drive greater expectations that digital tools and services be offered by financial advice firms across both mobile and desktop devices. These individuals want advice firms to invest in their online capabilities, such as their mobile app, client portal, website and social media presence.
8 in 10 (82.6%) of those in the very high Technology Adoption group and 6 in 10 (62.4%) in the high group say online capabilities play a critical or major role in delivering a positive customer experience.
Delivering on this promise of an enhanced client experience can translate into real benefits for advice firms with clients in the higher Technology Adoption groups. Those higher technology focused clients are more likely to recommend their financial planner to family friends or colleagues (93.8% of the very high group and 82.2% of the high group).
Online capabilities play a critical or major role in customer experience
A brand or firm’s digital or online capabilities is critical or plays a major role in delivering a positive customer experience?
Levels of Technology Adoption influence recommendations
I am extremely likely to recommend my financial planner to family friends or colleagues
However according to the 2020 AdviceTech Report where Netwealth investigated the technology uptake and behaviours of advice firms, we found that most advice firms were not focused on delivering excellent customer experiences using digital services, with only 8.9% of advice firms saying “technology was pervasive in all client engagement interactions their business offered”.
For financial advice firms this should be a wake-up call. Technology is more than making the back-office administrative processes more efficient, it should extend to how technology can be used to enhance communications and advice services to deliver a better customer experience.
Understanding the Technology Adoption groups in Australia
The Advisable Australian universe falls into four naturally occurring Technology Adoption groups, with the largest group being the high group with 3.54 million people. Both medium and low groups combined are slightly larger (4.29 million) with the smallest group being the very high Technology Adoption group (780,000 people).
Technology Adoption Profile groups
|
Group |
Percent |
Number of people* |
|
Very high |
9.1% |
0.78m |
|
High |
41.1% |
3.54m |
|
Medium |
31.0% |
2.67m |
|
Low |
18.8% |
1.62m |
* Figures derived from ABS statistics based on survey responses
Younger generation far more confident in Technology Adoption
Not surprisingly, age is the most important factor in an individual’s Technology Adoption. The younger generation has grown up with technology and digital services, is very familiar using it and likes to be on the cutting edge. We see that almost 8 in 10 (64.8%) of Gen Ys are in the very high or high Technology Adoption group – this group also known as “digital natives”, have grown up utilising technology in their everyday lives.
There is a gender bias towards Technology Adoption
Interestingly, males tend to have higher Technology Adoption profiles. More than three quarters (76.3%) of the very high Technology Adoption group are males.
How advisers can use our four dimensions of Technology Adoption to tailor their service and communications
The dimension of Technology Adoption is an attribute of The Advisable Australian that is important to understand to adjust the service offering to match the expectations of those with different Technology Adoption profiles.
This is particularly important as the client-base of advice firms shifts to Gen X and Y who have grown up with technology and fit into the higher Technology Adoption groups, and who place more importance on a firm’s digital or online capabilities.
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To learn what financial advice firms can do to take advantage of technology and evolve their value proposition, download our special report, The Advisable Australian Volume 1 - A new way to think about Australian investors.
Explore the other dimensions of the Advisable Australian
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