Buyer Loyalty Development Through Seller Education of Service Buyers

ABSTRACT The present paper develops a model where service buyer loyalty can be achieved by seller education of the service buyer. Buyer education implies both offering services and development of the service buyer's capability to use the service. Service buyer education is facilitated by seller competence on the service offering and the buyer's context. The reason for this is that the more embedded the service seller is in the buyer's context, the better able are they to educate the service buyer. Antecedent to seller competence, at any given point of time, or level of relationship development, is the service buyer's current understanding of seller resources. The model is tested and confirmed on 255 small firms. The model identifies that education can align the service offering, buyer resources, and seller resources in buyer-seller relationships.

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