**Conflict of interest**

environment in which customers can, at least for a few minutes, escape their routine and

Another unavoidable issue for a financial institution is its ability to provide the customer with symbolic benefits. Marketing executives should take care to know the profile of their customers so as to offer them financial services that can reinforce the diversity of self-concepts that compose their identity. For customers, self-image is very important, as is others' image of them, and both of these concerns lead customers to seek the necessary reinforcement through the connection established with the bank. Customers will thus seek an institution whose financial services provide them with greater status, reflect the best possible image of themselves, grant them prestige, and express their lifestyle. From the results of this study, demonstrating the close connection established between affective evaluation and functional, hedonic, and symbolic benefits constitutes very important information, which shows that any financial institution should make the effort to generate the satisfaction the customer

As to this study's implications for managing financial entities, marketing executives should consider the important role of delivering the functional, hedonic, and symbolic benefits as antecedents of satisfaction and a consequence of affective evaluation. Fulfilling this role is of vital importance in establishing marketing strategies for financial services that guarantee

For academics, it is proposed to continue to develop more in-depth knowledge of the relationship between affective evaluation—benefits—customer satisfaction through new studies, as this research will surely make a significant contribution to the banking industry. It is also

The particular cultural characteristics of the sample, Chilean consumers of banking services, can constitute a limitation when extrapolating from the results of this study to other financial

The conclusions derived from this study must also be taken with the caution inherent in a pioneering application in the banking sector, where the connection between affective evalua-

It is recommend analyzing the effects of functional, hedonic, and symbolic benefit on other variables inherent in consumer behavior in the area of finance, such as loyalty to a bank.

It is proposed replicating this study in the area of finance using probabilistic sampling, such

suggested that this relationship be measured through a multidimensional scale.

tion—benefits—customer satisfaction has as yet received little attention.

should help them to discover "what really matters."

desires.

108 Marketing

customer satisfaction.

**7. Limitations**

service markets located in other countries.

**8. Future lines of research**

as simple random sampling.

I do not have conflicts of interest.
