The research investigated non-transactional customer engagement value to firms in the financial services sector of a developing economy, Jamaica. The problem at hand is that Jamaica’s financial services sector has become highly competitive with firms struggling to find ways to gain, retain and increase customer value. Firms implemented initiatives focused on their servicescape and technological options hoping that customers would experience greater levels of satisfaction and loyalty and would therefore act as value co-creators, adding non-transactional value to the firm. This problem has an impact on the ability of firms to gain competitive advantage in this technologically driven and very dynamic financial landscape.
After a review of the relevant literature, four research questions and hypotheses were formulated. Both data and methodological triangulation were used. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its “new normal” of reduced face-to-face contact, resulted in the use of primarily online data collection approaches. The survey respondents were selected from two primary groups, customers and selected Senior Managers. Both open and closed-ended questions were asked and SPSS and Excel were used to conduct the descriptive, factor and regression analyses. Findings are discussed in the context of the existing body of knowledge and show that the model that we developed and tested largely supports the research questions and hypotheses that the study sought to answer. The results suggest that the greatest impact of the research is in its applicability to the services sector in a developing economy like Jamaica. Limitations of the study were also highlighted. Finally, the research accentuated areas of future research or research gaps that the study was able to uncover.