Comparative evaluation and the relationship between quality,satisfaction, and repurchase loyalty

This study evaluates alternative measurement approaches to examining the relationship between perceived quality performance, customer satisfaction, and repurchase loyalty. The authors define and measure the constructs within a relative attitudinal framework and compare these results to a noncomparative or individual evaluation of products. In addition, loyalty is measured and defined as self-reported repurchase behavior instead of purchase intention. The proposed model, with satisfaction as a mediator between quality and repurchase loyalty, was found to be an acceptable representation of the data across four products and for both comparative and noncomparative evaluations. The use of relative attitudes, however, indicated a much stronger relationship between quality, satisfaction, and loyalty than the attitudes toward a product when they are performed as an individual evaluation. With respect to predictive ability, the study findings suggest that quality, satisfaction, and loyalty should be defined and measured within a relative attitudinal framework.