The link between customer satisfaction and loyalty: the moderating role of customer characteristics

This research examines whether trust and commitment mediate the extent to which satisfaction influences loyalty, and whether such mediation is conditional on certain demographic or situational customer characteristics. The findings suggest that assuming homogeneity supports the general notion that trust and commitment partially mediate the extent to which satisfaction influences loyalty. FIMIX-PLS and PLS-MGA analyses substantiate that this mediation differs between two distinct customer segments. The two segments reveal heterogeneity in how trust and commitment partially mediate the link between satisfaction and loyalty. That is, the effect of satisfaction on loyalty is fully mediated by trust and commitment in the segment of customers with high education, whereas satisfaction is partially mediated by trust, but not by commitment, in the other segment of customers with less education.     

Exploring the relationship of perceived automotive salesperson attributes, customer satisfaction and intentions to automotive service department patronage: The moderating role of customer gender

This study examines the relationship of perceived automotive salesperson attributes and customer satisfaction behavior in the purchase experience leading to the patronage of a service department in an automotive dealership. Logistic regression analyses indicate that gender moderates the relationship of the perceived salesperson attributes and customer satisfaction as well as intentions for service department patronage. The model distinguishes users from non-users of the service department and does this better for females than for males. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications and directions for future research.     

Internal and external price search in industrial buying: The moderating role of customer satisfaction

Despite price's great relevance in organizational buying decisions, prior research primarily studies price search in business-to-consumer environments. This research conceptualizes both internal and external price search in a business-to-business setting and focuses on how price importance affects these two types as well as how customer satisfaction moderates the relationships. Results show that purchasing managers' satisfaction associates positively with the effect of price importance on internal price search. Also, their satisfaction negatively associates with the effect of price importance on external price search. Price search reduces the price premium paid by customers (especially external price search).     

The effect of service failure types and service recovery on customer satisfaction: a mental accounting perspective

Service failure recoveries play an important role in the service process. Previous research on service recovery has focused on the development of classification schemes, such as service failure types (e.g. outcome- or process-related failure), service recovery attributes (e.g. psychological or tangible recovery), and failure magnitude. Few studies in the literature have developed a theory-driven model of customer satisfaction that considers whether different types of service failure warrant different types of service recovery. This article, which reports the results of two studies, draws on mental accounting theory to examine the effect of the relationship between service failure and service recovery on customer satisfaction. The results of Study 1 show that customer satisfaction is greater when service recovery efforts truly make up for what customers have lost and that prior experience of service failure has a significant influence on the effectiveness of those efforts. The results of Study 2 indicate that the magnitude of a service failure also has an impact on the effectiveness of service recovery efforts.     

The nature of an apology: An experimental study on how to apologize after a service failure

Extant service recovery research treats apology as a dichotomy, in that it is either present or absent, but how it is conveyed is neglected. Based upon social psychological research, this study argues that an apology comprises three different components: empathy, intensity, and timing, which make each apology unique. It is shown that how well an apology is delivered across failure types (outcome vs. process) drives service recovery satisfaction, not its mere presence. Empathy, intensity, and timing separately impact satisfaction. The more empathic and intense the apology is given, the more satisfied respondents are. A late apology decreases satisfaction ratings. Effect sizes indicate that empathy has the strongest impact on service recovery satisfaction followed by intensity and timing. The effect of empathy is stronger for process failures than for outcome failures. Interestingly, the apology’s overall effect size is comparable to that of compensation in case of a process failure.     

Effect of social support on customer satisfaction and citizenship behavior in online brand communities: The moderating role of support source

Customers often join online brand communities to seek support from others when they encounter product problems. Some customers who receive good social support exhibit customer citizenship behavior. This study develops a theoretical model to investigate how social support influences customer citizenship behavior through customer satisfaction with firms in online brand communities. Moreover, the moderating role of support source (i.e., firms vs. other customers) is measured. The research model is tested by using the Partial Least Squares technique. The results show that informational and emotional support significantly affects the customer citizenship behavior of providing feedback to the firm, recommendations, and helping other customers through customer satisfaction in online brand communities. Moreover, informational and emotional support from firms and other customers exert different effects on customer satisfaction.     

The impact of ethical cues on customer satisfaction with service

This study examines the effects of ethical and unethical cues on customers’ evaluations of the ethics of a service provider and their subsequent satisfaction with the service. The results of a disguised, laboratory experiment are used to suggest that customers respond to unethical cues in the environment through lower ethical assessments and satisfaction ratings, but that ethical cues may not necessarily increase satisfaction scores when compared to a neutral situation. The implications suggest that ethical cues and an honest service provider may be the expected norm, and thus will lead to (or maintain) satisfaction with the service encounter, while unethical cues will create dissatisfaction.     

Airline customer satisfaction and loyalty: impact of in-flight service quality

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the in-flight service quality on airline customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study analyzed the data from passengers of two classes: prestige (business) and economy. The results suggest that there are different factors of in-flight service quality that are important according to the customer seat class. In the case of the prestige class, there were six service quality factors of importance: alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage, responsiveness and empathy, reliability, assurance, presentation style of food, and food quality; while the economy class showed five important service quality factors: responsiveness and empathy, food quality, alcoholic beverage, non-alcoholic beverage, and reliability. These findings imply that airline companies’ in-flight service should have different delivery strategies based on the customer seat class.     

The relationship between informational justice, recovery satisfaction, and loyalty: the moderating role of failure attributions

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between informational justice, recovery satisfaction, and customer loyalty, as well as the moderating role of failure attributions, concerning the link between informational justice and recovery satisfaction. Data were gathered by means of survey from airline passengers who experienced a failure and, subsequently, a recovery within the past 1 year. The current study extends previous research by incorporating informational justice, as well as investigating the impact of stability and controllability attributions, within the existing framework of customers’ post-recovery evaluations. The results of this study found that failure attributions (stability, the frequency of failures, and controllability, whether the airline is responsible for the situation) moderate the relationship between informational justice and recovery satisfaction. The findings also confirmed that there is a positive and significant relationship between recovery satisfaction and loyalty.     

Perceived controllability and service expectations: Influences on customer reactions following service failure

Endeavors to address issues surrounding service failure have centered mainly on the topic of service recovery. In particular, perceived fairness and organizational responses to service failures are highly popular topics in the literature. Yet the vast majority of customers fail to voice their dissatisfaction to the firm. Consequently, it is important to understand how consumers process service failures regardless of the recovery outcome. This study examines the impact of perceived controllability over service failures and service quality expectations on customer reactions to those failures. Findings indicate that customers react quite negatively when they believe the service firm could have easily prevented the failure. Conversely, when customers feel partly responsible for the failure or are ambiguous about its cause, the negative effects of poor performance are somewhat mitigated. Finally, high service quality expectations also buffer the firm from the negativity effect. Managerial implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

Public service quality and customer satisfaction: exploring the attributes of service quality in the public sector

Beyond the existing SERVQUAL-based research, the authors develop an alternative model of public service quality. The various sources of public service quality are explored and a new classification scheme formulated by using critical incidents technique. Four main qualities of public service are identified: process quality, outcome quality, design quality, and relationship quality. The findings suggest that the critical attributes of public service quality for customer satisfaction differ according to the types of customers in the public sector. Final customers (beneficiaries) give priority to the process and outcome qualities, whereas intermediary customers (social workers) have high regard for the design and relationship qualities.     

The interrelationships among service quality,customer satisfaction,and customer loyalty: Examination of the fast-food industry

The purpose of this study was to use customers’ perspectives to develop a conceptual model for improving service quality and enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The 197 samples were selected from customers of leading fast food franchise enterprises in Taiwan. The research results indicate that service quality positively influences customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Service quality positively influences customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. The research findings indicate that managers need to ensure they have efficient service quality to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty levels.     

The effect of organizational responses to service failures on customer satisfaction perception

This paper explores how organizational responses to service failures affect perceived justice and recovery satisfaction using responses from 410 customers who experienced service failures in Hong Kong. The results indicated that the acknowledgement of and prompt action to fix service failures were positively linked to perceived justice, which in turn affects recovery satisfaction. Moreover, customer relation orientation moderated the relationship between acknowledgement of service failure and justice perceptions of service recovery, while customer task orientation moderated the relationship between prompt action for service recovery and justice perceptions of that recovery.     

Employee display of burnout in the service encounter and its impact on customer satisfaction

This study examines if employee display of burnout symptoms in service encounters has an impact on customer satisfaction. An experimental approach was used in which the employee's display of burnout (absent vs. present) and the service performance level (low vs. high) were the manipulated factors. The results show that employee display of burnout had a negative impact on customer satisfaction, that this effect was mediated by customers’ appraisals of the employee's emotional state, and that the effect was stronger under the condition of low service performance.     

Integration of standardization and customization: Impact on service quality,customer satisfaction,and loyalty

The basic objective of this study is to analyse the direct and indirect impacts of standardization and customization on customer satisfaction and loyalty through service quality. The service quality has two dimensions: technical quality and functional quality. A framework is developed by extending Grӧnroos’ model of service quality by including the antecedents of service quality. A questionnaire-based survey collected data from 315 customers of three service industries: healthcare, hospitality, and education. The data was analysed and the model validated using PLS-SEM. The findings show that: (1) integration of standardization and customization of service offerings is critical for improved service quality; (2) standardization has higher impact on service quality when compared to customization; (3) functional quality has higher impact on customer satisfaction when compared to technical quality; and (4) customer satisfaction has a significant effect on customer loyalty. The contribution of this study is the development of an integrated framework to analyse the roles of standardization and customization on service quality.     

Understanding the psychological process underlying customer satisfaction and retention in a relational service

This paper reexamines the psychological process underlying the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in a relational service context. It is based on a composite model of the attitude-behavior relation, which takes both attitude toward target and attitude toward behavior into account. Data were collected from a survey with a sample of 209 clients from a major credit counseling organization in the USA. Account data indicating those clients' actual retention behavior were matched with the survey data. A two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure was employed to establish the construct validity and test the hypotheses. The results revealed that the effect of customer satisfaction on retention is mediated by the more proximal determinants of the actual retention behavior. Specifically, customer satisfaction has both direct and indirect effects on customers' attitudes toward remaining in the Debt Management Program (DMP), which is the proximal predictor of customer retention. In addition, satisfaction alone cannot guarantee customer retention. Customers' perceived behavioral control exerts direct effects on their intention to remain and retention.     

Reaching the customer: Strategies for marketing and customer service

The author suggests that logistics and marketing can combine to provide a sustainable means of competitive advantage. Many marketing executives never consider the very substantial contributions which effective logistics management could make to success in the marketplace. “Marketing Logistics” can lead to success by securing a cost advantage through increased efficiency and by maximising added value through customer service, providing high levels of service at lower cost.     

The impact of expectation of future negotiation interaction on bargaining processes and outcomes

This research conceptualizes and experimentally tests differences in pre-negotiation behavioral influences, negotiation processes, negotiation outcomes, and post-negotiation dispositions involving buyers and sellers negotiating under the expectation of future negotiation interaction (EFNI) versus no expectation of future interaction (Non-EFI). EFNI bargainers have lower aspiration levels, expect the negotiations will be friendlier, and predominantly use a problem-solving bargaining style compared to Non-EFI bargainers. Perforce, EFNI appears to have a strong moderating effect on satisfaction as Non-EFI bargainers' satisfaction is strongly predicated on their monetary outcomes (expectation-disconfirmation paradigm), while EFNI bargainers' satisfaction is not. Further, while EFNI negotiations take longer than Non-EFI negotiations, they also produce greater parity between buyers' and sellers' satisfaction, which leads to fewer bargainers being dissatisfied. Thus, compared to one-time negotiations, bargainers in EFNI contexts are more likely to be disposed to bargain again, to enter into negotiations with a harmonious disposition and seek solutions that benefit both parties.     

Physical attractiveness of the service worker in the moment of truth and its effects on customer satisfaction

This study assesses if the service worker's physical attractiveness has an impact on customer satisfaction in the moment of truth. An experimental approach, involving two different service settings (visiting a bookstore and traveling with an airline), was used to manipulate the level of the service worker's physical attractiveness. The results, for both experiments, show that a high level as opposed to a low level of physical attractiveness of the service worker produced a higher level of customer satisfaction. In addition, the results indicate that exposure to an attractive service worker set in motion a process in which an attractiveness appraisal affected the attitude toward the service worker, which in turn had a positive impact on customer satisfaction.