When Satisfied Consumers Do Not Return: Variety Seeking's Effect on Short‐ and Long‐Term Intentions

Even satisfied consumers frequently do not come back, which challenges loyalty theory and marketing practice. It is reasoned that variety‐seeking tendencies will significantly affect short‐term revisit intentions, whereas satisfaction and regret will mostly determine long‐term revisit intentions. Thus, the influence of satisfaction on loyalty is hypothesized to be critically dependent on the time perspective of the intentions, now or later, and variety seeking. A representative survey (N = 400) in eight Spanish cities supported these predictions. Multivariate moderated‐mediation analyses revealed that indeed the influence of satisfaction, regret, and variety seeking critically depends on the time perspective of the behavioral intentions.