Helping or Hindering? How Clients’ Experiences Relate to Their Robo Advisory Use

Abstract

Firms are increasingly introducing new business models based on digital technologies in knowledgeintensive, risky contexts that were long immune to them. In the financial industry, banks are opening themselves to robo advisory, an algorithm-based service supporting private clients' investment decisions. Based on our access to a recent data set of 11,302 clients from a leading German robo advisory provider, we have the unique opportunity to analyze how clients react to algorithm-based services in contexts with high uncertainty and risk. Guided by theorical foundations of knowledge and routines, we find clients' personal and business experiences with the focal bank to both, help and hinder their robo advisory use.