Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
7-2026
Abstract
This study examines whether emphasizing non-financial functions of family trusts (asset protection, succession planning, commitment mechanisms) boosts adoption among Chinese private banking clients versus standard financially-focused pitches. Using a randomized field experiment with a major Chinese bank, the researchers tested this framing's effects on adoption, commitment size, speed, and heterogeneity across customer segments. Results show non-financial framing doesn't significantly raise overall adoption once baseline differences are controlled for, but it does increase trust fund size and speed decisions among adopters. Only prior estate planning experience moderated the treatment effect, while adoption itself was better predicted by customer traits—estate planning experience, female decision authority, longer investment horizons, inheritance concerns, and wealth—than by framing itself. The findings suggest framing effects have limits in complex financial decisions, and boosting trust adoption in China may require building clients' conceptual readiness rather than simply changing how advisors frame the pitch.
Keywords
family trust adoption, framing effects, behavioral finance, wealth management
Degree Awarded
SMU-SJTU Doctor of Business Administration
Discipline
Finance | Finance and Financial Management
Supervisor(s)
THAM, Tze Minn (TAN Zimin)
First Page
1
Last Page
102
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
SHU, Yu.
The non-financial value of family trusts: A field experimental study on sales framing and adoption in China. (2026). 1-102.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/932
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.