Understanding the user satisfaction and loyalty of customer service chatbots

The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot is emerging as a significant corporate customer-facing application, potentially increasin customer service efficiency while reducing costs. However, little work has sought to assess the quality of service they provide consumers. This study applies the e-service quality by incorporating conversational AI quality to predict users' satisfaction and loyalty to customer service chatbots. The proposed model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 219 users responding about their perceptions of customer service chatbots. The findings indicate that AI chatbot service recovery quality and AI chatbot conversational quality significantly influence user satisfaction. On the other hand, core AI chatbot service quality and satisfaction significantly influenced chatbot user loyalty. This study contributes to researchers and practitioners by proposing and evaluating a more comprehensive chatbot e-service quality that combines both fundamental (core service and service recovery qualities) and human-like (conversational quality) aspects of e-service. The results are of value in devising future AI chatbot services and related strategies.     

Consumer shopping value, satisfaction and loyalty in discount retailing

To date, few researchers have conducted comprehensive examinations of the relationships between consumer shopping value, satisfaction and loyalty in retailing. Further, the majority of extant research has been limited to upscale retail sectors where the role of the salesperson is crucial and long-term relationships are common. In order to extend the findings of previous research to additional retail sectors, the current study investigates the complex interrelationships between utilitarian and hedonic shopping value and important retail outcomes for discount retailers. Utilitarian and hedonic shopping value are found to influence key outcome variables including satisfaction, loyalty, word of mouth communication and share of purchases in the highly competitive discount retail sector.     

Social commerce website design,perceived value and loyalty behavior intentions: The moderating roles of gender,age and frequency of use

Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, a model is tested that improves the understanding of customer loyalty toward social commerce websites. The results showed that: information and service quality are key antecedents of perceived value, whereas rewards and recognition, and customization are non-significant. Perceived value is an important driver of customer loyalty toward these websites. The model's relationships are affected by gender and frequency of use. Overall, the findings of this study extend the understanding in the social commerce context of: (i) the antecedents of customer perceived value and behavioral intentions; and (ii) the moderating effects of age, gender and frequency of social commerce use on the model relationships.     

The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust: a study of online service dynamics

A four-dimension scale of loyalty that reflects Oliver’s [Satisfaction, a Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997] conceptualization of a sequential loyalty chain is proposed, operationalized, and tested. Further, through both synthesizing and building on existing research into loyalty, trust, satisfaction, value, and service quality, a framework is proposed and tested that positions trust as a pivotal driver of loyalty. Data is collected and analyzed from two surveys of online customers, the first being purchasers of books and the second being a study of online flight purchasing. Analysis suggests that the hypothesized cognitive-affective-conative-action loyalty sequence is statistically most likely out of all possible variations. Although some differences emerge in the two studies, structural modeling largely supports the hypothesized framework and positions trust as central to service dynamics.     

M-commerce: The nexus between mobile shopping service quality and loyalty

Whilst M-commerce is having a major influence in the way businesses and consumers interact, mobile shopping service quality (MS-SQ) has been understudied in the literature. This paper examines MS-SQ within a conceptual model of customer satisfaction and loyalty surveying UK customers who bought fashion clothing via their mobile devices. The results of two empirical studies confirm four dimensions of MS-SQ: efficiency, fulfilment, responsiveness and contact. Using bootstrapping of 2000 resamples, SEM results showed a significant impact of MS-SQ on customer satisfaction, which in turn impacts loyalty. These results are robust across two samples. Only the dimension efficiency exhibits an indirect effect on loyalty via satisfaction in both studies whilst controlling for gender, age, income, value of clothing item, and m-shopping experience. These findings are discussed and have managerial implications for retailers operating m-commerce sites.     

Influencing factors of customer loyalty in mobile payment: A consumption value perspective and the role of alternative attractiveness

The rapid development of mobile payment has attracted many competitors and made customer retention a crucial issue for mobile payment service providers. This study examines the influencing factors of mobile payment loyalty from a multi-dimensional value perspective by extending and integrating the Cognitive-Affective-Behaviour (C-A-B) model and the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV). We also incorporate alternative attractiveness as a moderating variable to reveal the potential influence of the competitive market environment. This study collected 427 questionnaires from mobile payment users in China. The empirical study results show that customers’ loyalty is determined by satisfaction, and satisfaction is influenced by functional, emotional, epistemic, and monetary value. The findings also demonstrate that satisfaction has mediated the consumption values and loyalty relationship, and alternative attractiveness has weakened the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. This study shifts the focus in mobile payment research from adoption to the post-adoption stage and establishes a new research model by integrating two fundamental theories in explaining customer behaviour. Our study could guide mobile payment providers to cultivate customer satisfaction and loyalty by determining the values that are worth investing in their marketing strategies and help them notice and neutralise the weakening effect of competitor attractiveness.     

Achieving brand and dealer loyalty: the case of the automotive industry

The analysis shows that customer satisfaction can be considered the central determinant in all phases of the contact chain. Multi-dimensional recording of customer loyalty reveals clear differences in the interactions, first, with brand loyalty and, second, with dealer loyalty. In contrast to the opinion widely held in practice, customers in the automotive sector definitely do not perceive the brand and the dealer as one unit. Since similar studies in different countries come to almost the same conclusions, it can be argued that the results are valid in several cultural settings. The results obtained are so fundamental that they can be translated into implications even by internationally operating companies.     

Festivalscapes and patrons' emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty

Despite the enormous impact of major festivals, very little theory exists addressing exactly what makes a festival a marketing success. Linking festivalscapes, patron emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty in a theoretical model, this study employs an on-site survey of more than 500 visitors attending a major international festival to test the theory. The results suggest that controllable environmental characteristics, such as food quality and planned program content, affect patron emotions including consumer satisfaction, and these emotions mediate the impact of the festival environment on loyalty to the festival.     

The relationship between satisfaction and loyalty: A mediator analysis

This study proposes a multiple mediation model to analyze the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. The study's contribution to the literature is to examine, empirically, the main antecedents and determinants of this endogenous variable in greater depth. Thus, the research fills a gap in the literature through its analysis of the mediating role of perceived switching costs and the perceived lack of attractiveness of alternative offerings. This study applies variance-based structural equation modeling via partial least squares to a sample of 785 customers from 74 insurance companies in the service sector. The results show that perceived switching costs – to a greater extent – and the perceived lack of attractiveness of alternative offerings – to a lesser extent – are significant mediators in the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty.     

Importance of offline service quality in building loyalty of OC service brand

Customer management becomes increasingly important as consumers have more flexible shopping process and options and competition become intensified in omni-channel (OC) retail environment. OC retailer can facilitate customer communication of OC service with OC service brand. This study evaluates an OC service brand (i.e. SSG OC service brand) to explore the effectiveness of integrated OC service platform which has a standing brand identity, and to determine the importance of selected offline characteristics of OC service on loyalty of OC service brand. Survey of 127 respondents was collected to test Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings show that tangibility and empathy of offline OC service directly affect customer satisfaction and attitude toward overall OC service brand, confirming the importance of offline service quality of OC in the OC service brand management.     

Managing customer loyalty through the mediating role of satisfaction in the DIY retail loyalty program

The focus of this study is the determinants of customer loyalty among members of retail loyalty programs. With data collected from a DIY loyalty program in a Central European country (a preliminary sample of 116 club members and a representative sample of 416 members), the study empirically tests the nature of the effect of the quality of personal interactions and perceptions of the quality of the loyalty program on customer loyalty through the mediating variable of customer satisfaction. Although the findings suggest that the quality of personal interactions bears no direct influence on members’ loyalty, it has a stronger influence on members’ satisfaction than the perceived quality of the loyalty program does. Influence on members’ loyalty is stronger from the mediating variable of customer satisfaction than from perceived quality of the loyalty program. This finding confirms the role of customer satisfaction as an important determinant of customer loyalty in the DIY setting. Offering a diagnostic tool in terms of selected direct and indirect determinants influencing customers’ loyalty, the paper also contributes to comprehension of loyalty programs’ effectiveness and members’ responses to the quality of loyalty programs, which contribution provides important implications for management and development of retail loyalty programs.     

Do reward programs build loyalty for services?: The moderating effect of satisfaction on type and timing of rewards

While reward programs have been widely used as a means to engender customer loyalty, it is not clear if the ends are justified. Some researchers argue that we do not fully understand the mechanism underlying reward programs and how it affects consumer acceptability of such programs. In this study, we examine two variables; timing (immediate vs. delayed) and type (direct vs. indirect) of rewards in two service conditions (satisfied vs. dissatisfied). We conduct the experiment in two service settings and the results indicate that when consumers are satisfied, they prefer delayed, direct rewards (of higher values) to immediate, direct rewards. However, when consumers are dissatisfied, they prefer immediate, direct rewards to delayed, direct rewards (of higher values). Interestingly, the preference for direct over indirect rewards is apparent only if the rewards are delayed (for the satisfactory service experience) or immediate (for the dissatisfactory service experience).     

How quality, value, image, and satisfaction create loyalty at a Chinese telecom

This study proposes and tests an integrative model to examine the relations among service quality, value, image, satisfaction, and loyalty in China. Analysis of survey data from 118 customers of a Chinese mobile communications company reveals that service quality directly influences both perceived value and image perceptions, that value and image influence satisfaction, that corporate image influences value, and that both customer satisfaction and value are significant determinants of loyalty. Thus, value has both a direct and indirect (through satisfaction) impact on customer loyalty. Other variables mediate the impact of both service quality and corporate image on customer loyalty.     

Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores

This research investigates the consequences for retailers and their stores of a new sustainable consumption trend—the purchase and consumption of bulk products. It examines the effects of offering packaging-free products on three subdimensions of perceived proximity (identity, process, and relational) and on transactional loyalty (satisfaction–loyalty) and relational loyalty (satisfaction–trust–loyalty). A total of 1407 buyers and consumers of bulk products at a convenience store (of a university cooperative style) filled out an online questionnaire. These consumers were then divided into three subgroups (convinced, pragmatic, and wary). This research empirically establishes that unpacked products are a strategic tool for retailers and their stores to create or strengthen the relationships established with their customers. Unpacked products and the proximity they create between a consumer and a store are the first link in the development or preservation of a relational chain between the consumer and the store. Moreover, the step reached by the consumer in his process of purchasing and consuming packaging-free products (from the discovery stage to the already well-established habit) has a direct impact on the relational chain built.     

A risk worth taking: Perceived risk as moderator of satisfaction,loyalty, and willingness-to-pay premium price

This research investigates the moderating role of perceived risk in the relationship between satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness to pay premium price (WTP). A total of 364 respondents were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk panel. Financial, social, performance, and psychological risks have significant negative effects on the relationship between satisfaction and WTP, whereas only financial risks have significant negative effects on the relationship between loyalty and WTP. Using moderated mediation analysis, we found that the mediating effects of loyalty diminish significantly in high social risk conditions and diminish completely in high financial risk conditions.     

The financial impact of loyalty programs in the hotel industry: A social exchange theory perspective

With increased competition across the hotel industry for frequent travelers, who generate a disproportionate portion of revenue, loyalty programs appear to be a rational response to the competitive environment. The question remains, however, as to whether these programs are effective at increasing the profitability of hotel operators. This study analyzes the impact of customer loyalty programs on the industry specific performance metrics of occupancy rate, revenue, and operating margin. Utilizing a comprehensive database of 36 different hotel brands (e.g., Marriot, Hilton) encompassing 31 loyalty programs and 435 different hotel properties, we examine whether a loyalty program is indeed an effective tool to increase operating margin. In summary, empirical results suggest that investment in hotel loyalty programs has a positive impact on occupancy rates and profitability. And although the overall effect is modest, these results have several managerial implications for the hotel industry.     

Satisfaction,loyalty and repatronage intentions: Role of hedonic shopping values

Today the Indian traditional retail shopper visiting various hypermarkets formats for purchasing and enjoying their valuable time with their family members and friends, as these formats offer hedonic shopping values. Therefore, this research paper focused on hypermarket shoppers of central India and the main objective of this study is to identify the role of hedonic shopping values on creation of satisfaction, loyalty and repatronage intentions with the help of proposed research framework based on 329 responses. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) is use to analyze and validate the proposed research framework. The result supports the relationship between hedonic shopping values with customer satisfaction, loyalty and repatronage intentions. The study also demonstrate the moderating role of gender on these relationship, which shows that both male and female consumer have different level of shopping behavior when it comes to see the influence of hedonic shopping values. Therefore, this research paper would help hypermarket retailers to design their retail store environment more attractively to maintain the optimum customer satisfaction level that enhance the loyalty and repatronage intentions in the customer in this current competitive retail scenario.     

Linking service climate to customer loyalty

The present study evaluates the effect of service climate on customer loyalty by incorporating resident perceptions of service quality regarding their interaction with staff members in a nursing home. The study also explores the mediating role of service quality between service climate and customer loyalty. A conceptual two-level model linking service climate to customer loyalty was developed and analyzed using data collected from 197 nursing staff members and 477 residents in 44 nursing homes in Taiwan. The results show that service climate improves service quality and customer loyalty and provide empirical support for the mediating role of service quality between service climate and customer loyalty. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as future research directions.     

The study of service innovation for digiservice on loyalty

Advocates of management of service innovation see this area as a new and promising research field. As services are increasingly becoming driving forces of economies, the introduction of new services to satisfy customer needs is becoming a critical issue for managers. This research attempts to address the consumer issue of service innovation. The research entails a comprehensive study of the impacts of service innovation on consumer loyalty in the digiservice context. The study examines service innovation loyalty from the consumer perspective; namely, technology leadership, service leadership, switching cost, brand equity, and customization. Personal interview data from 475 consumers provides the data for empirical hypothesis testing of the relationships between variables. The conceptual model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings from the research sample support the argument that technology leadership, service leadership, brand equity, and customization are the key determinants of loyalty. The paper also includes a discussion on the theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings.     

A study on factors affecting service quality and loyalty intention in mobile banking

Mobile banking (MB) is one of the most recent innovations for financial sectors which could have practical value to both users and banks. This study aims to explore the dimensions affecting mobile banking loyalty intention and examine their interrelationships and effects on service quality and loyalty. By referring to service quality model, customised factors affecting mobile banking service quality and loyalty intention were proposed. Survey data were collected from 224 mobile banking users and were analysed based on structural equation modelling (SEM). The results of SEM analysis directly or indirectly highlight the importance of the interface design, system quality, security assurance and service quality in mobile banking loyalty intention. Meanwhile, the implications of the findings on both theoretical and managerial are discussed, as well as the limitation of this study.