Personal characteristics as moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty—an empirical analysis

Previous empirical research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty has largely neglected the issue of moderator variables. In a consumer‐durables context the authors analyze the moderating effect of selected personal characteristics on the satisfaction–loyalty link. The empirical findings, which are based on multiple‐group causal analysis, show that the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty is strongly influenced by characteristics of the customer. Specifically, variety seeking, age, and income are found to be important moderators of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The moderating effect of on‐line experience on the antecedents and consequences of on‐line satisfaction

The purpose of the present study is to test the moderating effect of on‐line experience on antecedents to on‐line satisfaction and on the relationship between on‐line satisfaction and loyalty. A survey (n = 836) was conducted to test the differences between high and low online experience respondents. The relationship between on‐line satisfaction and on‐line loyalty is stronger for consumers with more online experience than for consumers with less on‐line experience. Another key finding is that antecedents to on‐line satisfaction also differ between high and low on‐line experience consumers. Implications indicate that organizations may develop and provide differentiated services to high‐ and low‐experience consumers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Brand switching in clothing: the role of variety‐seeking drive and product category‐level characteristics

The study explores the impact of internal factors such as variety‐seeking drive, loyalty, involvement, perceived risk, pleasure and similarity perceptions on brand‐switching propensity in clothing purchases using multiple regression. The model derived shows that five internal factors including involvement, perceived risk, loyalty and variety‐seeking drive have an impact on brand switching propensity. The findings highlight that highly involved and loyal consumers are likely to show brand‐switching propensities in their clothing purchases, thus buying from a repertoire of brands and stores. These findings imply that retailers should ensure that their clothing brands or stores are among those in the multi‐brand repertoire of the consumer.     

The Moderating Influence of Broad‐Scope Trust on Customer–Seller Relationships

Trust relates not only to customer trust in individual companies (i.e., narrow‐scope trust) but also to the broader business context in which customer–seller relationships may develop (i.e., broad‐scope trust [BST]). Based on two surveys comprising 1155 bank consumers and 817 insurance consumers, respectively, this study investigates the moderating influence of BST on relationships between satisfaction, narrow‐scope trust, and loyalty and also examines the direct influence of BST on these variables. The results indicate that whereas BST negatively moderates relationships between satisfaction and narrow‐scope trust and between narrow‐scope trust and loyalty, BST positively moderates the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, it is demonstrated that BST positively influences customer satisfaction and narrow‐scope trust. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring the customer's intention to switch firms: The role of customer‐related antecedents

This study examined the customer‐related antecedents of the customer's intention to switch firms. Customer citizenship behavior was a key element in this study. Scholars have extensively studied the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior. However, the way that customer citizenship behavior relates to other attitudinal variables and the intention to switch has scarcely been analyzed. The proposed hypotheses were verified using partial least squares variance‐based structural equation modeling applied to 947 users of beauty care service firms in five countries. The results suggest that customer citizenship behavior is an antecedent of satisfaction, trust, and attitudinal loyalty. Two of these variables influence customers’ intentions to abandon relationships with the service provider. The implications of these findings enhance managers’ and scholars’ understanding of the determinants of customers’ intentions to switch firms.     

Do Consumption Goals Matter? The Effects of Online Loyalty Programs in the Satisfaction‐Loyalty Relation

This study investigates the effects of online loyalty programs in the customer satisfaction‐loyalty relationship. It is proposed that loyalty programs may induce loyalty toward programs (program loyalty), which may then influence loyalty toward stores (store loyalty). According to the results of a two‐wave survey, consumption goals matter in the effects of program loyalty on online store loyalty. For consumers with hedonic goals, hedonic program loyalty (e.g., free gifts) has a significant effect on online loyalty. For consumers with utilitarian goals, however, utilitarian program loyalty (e.g., coupons) has a significant influence on online loyalty. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.     

Examining the Effectiveness of Fear Appeals in Prompting Help‐Seeking: The Case of At‐Risk Gamblers

With a sample of Australian at‐risk gamblers, this research examines the impact of gender and individual difference in experiential avoidance (EA; cognitive and emotional suppression) on the processing of fear appeals. Study 1, through thematic analysis, explores fear appeal perceptions among at‐risk gamblers. The results identify that relevant threats, such as social and psychological, should be integrated into fear‐inducing advertising stimuli. Study 2 uses multigroup comparisons in structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the robustness of the revised protection motivation model (RPMM) in predicting the effectiveness of fear appeals to induce help‐seeking intentions in at‐risk gamblers. This research examines the boundary conditions of the RPMM through the moderating roles of gender and EA. The results provide evidence that fear partially mediates the impact of perceived susceptibility (PS) on help‐seeking intentions in low experiential avoiders, whereas high experimental avoiders resist fear elicitation. Furthermore, evoked fear does not lead to help‐seeking intentions in male at‐risk gamblers. In female at‐risk gamblers, while fear prompts help‐seeking intentions, PS (i.e., probability of harm) does not translate to behavioral intentions via fear. For both genders and low and high experiential avoiders, cognitive appraisals of PS significantly and positively impact help‐seeking intentions. This research demonstrates the unique roles of gender and EA on fear appeal effectiveness in at‐risk gamblers.     

The influence of hospitable design and service on patient responses

ABSTRACT

A study of 216 respondents examined a medical center environment’s influence on patient responses. A stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model was adapted to the theory that more hospitable healthcare servicescape elements will affect patients’ overall satisfaction with healthcare experience, loyalty intentions, and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. Servicescape elements included atmospherics of the healthcare environment, service delivery by healthcare staff, physical design of the healthcare environment, and wayfinding. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that the four servicescape elements – had a significant impact on patients’ overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience. Furthermore, overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience predicted patients’ loyalty intentions and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. The study makes a significant contribution to the empirical modeling of patients’ behavioral responses to hospitable healthcare environments.     

Loyalty program rewards and their impact on perceived justice,customer satisfaction,and repatronize intentions

This study examines three types of rewards in a retail loyalty program context (under-reward, equity-reward, and over-reward) and their impact on perceived distributive justice, customer satisfaction, and repatronize intentions. The results from a between-subjects experiment showed that equity-reward produced higher levels of perceived distributive justice than both under-reward and over-reward. Moreover, equity-reward and over-reward produced higher levels of both customer satisfaction and repatronize intentions than did under-reward. Yet there were no differences in satisfaction and repatronize intentions for equity-reward and over-reward. These outcomes suggest that loyalty programs have the potential of not boosting members' loyalty, at the same time as they may reduce loyalty among non-members.     

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.     

Growth Intentions and Board Composition in High‐Growth Firms

This paper examines the influence of board composition on growth intentions of high‐growth firms. We hypothesize that gender diversity and a high proportion of independent directors on the board will reduce a firm's growth intentions, whereas founder duality will increase a firm's growth intentions. Using survey data from 773 high‐growth Norwegian firms, we find that gender diversity has a negative effect on growth intentions. A high proportion of independent directors do not facilitate further growth in high‐growth firms. Furthermore, our results indicate that the founder's presence in the decision‐making group increases a firm's growth intentions.     

The effect of spicy gustatory sensations on variety‐seeking

Can spicy gustatory sensations increase variety‐seeking in subsequent unrelated choices—and if so, how? The present research explores these questions. Based on the metaphor “variety is the spice of life,” and drawing on research on metaphors and embodied cognition, the authors propose that spicy gustatory sensations may activate a desire to be interesting that leads to greater variety in subsequent unrelated choices. Specifically, the first study demonstrates that tasting spicy vs. mild potato chips results in greater variety‐seeking in candy bars—but only when there is a time delay between the gustatory sensation and the variety‐seeking choice task, suggesting an underlying motivational process. Further, the effect of spicy gustatory sensations on variety‐seeking strengthens as the time delay increases, consistent with a motivational account. The second study provides evidence for a metaphor‐based explanation of the effect by demonstrating that while there is no difference in variety‐seeking among consumers who have tasted a spicy candy and those merely primed with the metaphor “variety is the spice of life,” variety‐seeking is lower among consumers who have tasted a mild candy. This study also rules out taste‐related factors as an alternative explanation.     

An integrative model of consumer satisfaction in the context of e‐services

This research examines how customer satisfaction affects its antecedent and outcome variables such as expectation, performance, disconfirmation, word‐of‐mouth, brand loyalty, attribution and repurchase. This research also takes the important integrative step of understanding the consumer behavioural constructs of consumer satisfaction. Although researchers have focused on the antecedents of consumer satisfaction, our integrative model has extended the outcomes of consumer behaviour on consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, this model strongly suggests a positive view of the inter‐relationships between the antecedent variables and outcome variables of satisfaction. In particular, our model is not consistent with Oliver's attribution models in which satisfaction is a consequence of attribution processing. All hypothesized variables were supported by our empirical study. The findings present a variety of guides to formulating marketing strategies for both practitioners and academics.     

Effects of the number of advertised brands in a choice set: A metacognitive process

When product shelves feature more advertised brands, such that the choice set likely contains some familiar options, this subjective experience of familiarity could influence consumers' evaluations of chosen products and shopping experiences, through a metacognitive process. The findings of this study suggest that (a) a product shelf displaying some advertised brands, as opposed to no advertised brands, generates greater subjective familiarity, more favorable attitudes toward the purchased items, more shopping satisfaction, and greater intentions to revisit the store; and similarly, (b) a product shelf displaying more, as opposed to fewer, advertised brands generates greater subjective familiarity, more favorable attitudes toward the purchased items, more shopping satisfaction, and greater intentions to revisit the store. These outcomes result from a three‐step metacognitive process, whereby the subjective familiarity triggered by the presence of advertised brands influences judgments, through the effect of shopping pleasure. These results are robust for high‐ and low‐involvement products, as well as in contexts in which the prices of the advertised brands are higher than, lower than, or the same as those of the nonadvertised brands.     

The importance of customer satisfaction in explaining brand and dealer loyalty

The positive influence of customer satisfaction on brand and dealer loyalty is often taken for granted. In this study we attempted to prove whether this relationship really exists. In order to do so we examined the case of an automobile‐dealer network. Three different types of customer satisfaction were distinguished: (a) satisfaction with the car; (b) satisfaction with the sales service and (c) satisfaction with the after‐sales service. It was expected that all three types of satisfaction would have an influence on brand loyalty as well as on dealer loyalty. More specifically, it was expected that satisfaction with the car would be the major determinant of brand loyalty and that satisfaction with the service (both sales‐ and after‐sales service) would be the major determinant of dealer loyalty. Furthermore, a study of the literature revealed that dealer loyalty might also significantly affect brand loyalty.

In the empirical part of the study, customers (n = 416) of different automobile‐dealers of the same brand were asked to fill in a mailed questionnaire. The three different types of customer satisfaction and the intention to buy the same brand of car again, as well as the intention to buy from the same dealer again were measured. The customers were also asked why they would buy the same brand (again) or from the same dealer. In general, the analyses of the results revealed that: customer satisfaction with the car, as well as dealer loyalty are major determinants of brand loyalty; customer satisfaction with the sales service as well as with the after‐sales service are major determinants of dealer loyalty and dealer loyalty is an intervening variable in the relation between satisfaction and brand loyalty. Furthermore, it was found that the strength of the relationship between different types of satisfaction and loyalty indicators differs markedly between various market segments (private/business use of car and new/used car buyers). Several marketing implications are presented. A distinction may be made between the implications for the manufacturer of the physical product and the automobile dealer rendering the service.     

Consumer Trust and Satisfaction in the Formation of Consumer Loyalty Intentions in Transactional Exchange: The Case of a Mass Discount Retailer

Marketing relationships can be placed on a continuum from short, discrete transactions to ongoing brand relationships. The majority of recent work has focused on relational exchanges, with some scholars even suggesting early on that the marketing discipline was undergoing a paradigm shift from a transaction-based marketing perspective toward a relational exchange perspective. However, there has been a growing recognition that not all customers seek relational exchanges. Consequently, the current research considers customer relationship management from the less studied, but oft seen, perspective of transactional exchange. A study is presented using recent advances in structural equation modeling analyses, including Bayesian estimation methods and mediation analyses. We further consider the psychological processes underlying the formation of consumer loyalty based on pre- and post-purchase measurements taken over multiple time periods. We specifically hypothesize that consumer satisfaction judgments will fully mediate any influences of post-purchase trust judgments on future loyalty intentions. With American consumers’ trust in businesses at an all-time low, coupled with the recent trend that more and more brick-and-mortar retailers are at risk of “showrooming” for online retailers, there is an apparent need to also consider retail customers who see the value of relationship marketing only selectively.     

A Cross-national Investigation of the Satisfaction and Loyalty Linkage for Mobile Telecommunications Services across Eight Countries

Improving customer satisfaction has become a strategic imperative for managers and researchers given the benefits of developing customer loyalty for long-term financial success. Creating these linkages becomes even more important in the context of mobile telecommunications due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones and the potential this creates to engage in interactive marketing for firms. Further, with increased global penetration of mobile telecommunications, examining cross-national differences in consumer attitudes and behaviors has become critical. Most studies that examine customer satisfaction and loyalty linkages however have traditionally focused on single countries and/or single industries. This study extends the literature by testing the moderating impact of cultural variables on the impact of satisfaction on loyalty intentions using data from 3,393 mobile telecommunications customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Spain, UK, and USA. Our findings reveal that the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in the mobile telecommunications context depends on cultural differences. The results demonstrate non-linear threshold effects where managers operating in countries characterized by self-expressionist values will have an easier time creating satisfaction and loyalty with mobile customers compared to those operating in cultures dominated by high survivalist values.     

The Role of Private Label Brands in Enhancing Service Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry: Comparing Luxury and Boutique Hotels

ABSTRACT

This research proposes private label branding as a strategy that can have a positive effect on guest satisfaction and loyalty in hotels that cater to travelers seeking a special hotel experience. We test this using a sample of guests in two hotels: a five-star luxury hotel (N = 225) and a boutique hotel (N = 101). Findings show that in the luxury hotel but not the boutique hotel, perception of a private label had a direct impact on loyalty, and an indirect impact on loyalty through its effect on guest satisfaction. The theoretical implications and recommendations for hoteliers based on the findings are discussed.