Determinants of loyalty to public transit: A model integrating Satisfaction-Loyalty Theory and Expectation-Confirmation Theory

Abstract Understanding passenger loyalty to public transit is important because it is a major determinant of urban and transport sustainability. An integrated framework to investigate loyalty by integrating Satisfaction-Loyalty Theory with Expectation-Confirmation Theory (ECT) is conceptualized and empirically examined in this study. A hierarchical structure is established to characterize the multidimensional features of public transit services from the passengers’ point of view, which might help service providers obtain a systematic picture of public transit services by measuring overall service performance through sub-dimensional service domains. The rationale for developing this comprehensive framework for customer loyalty is justified by the significant relations between constructs, an excellent model fit, the greater share of variance explained for loyalty than that of the model without the two ECT concepts, as well as the difference regarding the confirmation-satisfaction-loyalty paradigm between male and female groups. It is expected to contribute to an improved understanding of customer loyalty in the public transit services context.

[1]  Kees Maat,et al.  Measuring Attitudes in Research on Residential Self‐Selection and Travel Behaviour: A Review of Theories and Empirical Research , 2009 .

[2]  Xuemei Fu,et al.  Understanding public transit use behavior: integration of the theory of planned behavior and the customer satisfaction theory , 2017 .

[3]  R. Oliver.  A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions , 1980 .

[4]  Ray W. Coye,et al.  Managing customer expectations in the service encounter , 2004 .

[5]  Tung Lai Lai,et al.  Service Quality and Perceived Value's Impact on Satisfaction, Intention and Usage of Short Message Service (SMS) , 2004 .

[6]  Juan de Oña,et al.  Perceived Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions , 2015 .

[7]  T. Andreassen,et al.  Customer loyalty and complex services: The impact of corporate image on quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty for customers with varying degrees of service expertise , 1998 .

[8]  Lawrence A. Crosby,et al.  Relationship Quality in Services Selling: An Interpersonal Influence Perspective: , 1990 .

[9]  V. Ratanavaraha,et al.  Factors influencing customer loyalty to educational tour buses and measurement invariance across urban and rural zones , 2015 .

[10]  William J. Doll,et al.  A multi-group analysis of structural invariance: an illustration using the technology acceptance model , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[11]  Szu-Yuan Sun,et al.  Usability, quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions , 2005, Comput. Educ..

[12]  L. Festinger,et al.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance , 2017 .

[13]  Paul Jen-Hwa Hu,et al.  Extending the two‐stage information systems continuance model: incorporating UTAUT predictors and the role of context , 2011, Inf. Syst. J..

[14]  Ching-Fu Chen,et al.  Behavioral intentions of public transit passengers--The roles of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement , 2011 .

[15]  Candace Brakewood,et al.  Sharing riders: How bikesharing impacts bus ridership in New York City , 2017 .

[16]  R. Oliver.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective On The Consumer , 1996 .

[17]  F. Witlox,et al.  Going soft: on how Subjective Variables Explain Modal Choices for Leisure Travel , 2011, European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research.

[18]  Xuemei Fu,et al.  Exploring the psychosocial factors associated with public transportation usage and examining the “gendered” difference , 2017 .

[19]  Shirshendu Ganguli,et al.  Conceptualisation of service quality for hybrid services: a hierarchical approach , 2013 .

[20]  Jin-woo Park,et al.  The effect of airline service quality on passengers' behavioural intentions: a Korean case study , 2004 .

[21]  E. Anderson,et al.  The Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Satisfaction for Firms , 1993 .

[22]  R. Ramanathan,et al.  Retail service quality, corporate image and behavioural intentions: the mediating effects of customer satisfaction , 2012 .

[23]  Jin-Woo Park,et al.  Modelling the Impact of Airline Service Quality and Marketing Variables on Passengers’ Future Behavioural Intentions , 2006 .

[24]  Anol Bhattacherjee,et al.  Understanding Information Systems Continuance: An Expectation-Confirmation Model , 2001, MIS Q..

[25]  Christian Fernando Libaque Saenz,et al.  An expectation-confirmation model of continuance intention to use mobile instant messaging , 2016, Telematics Informatics.

[26]  Luigi dell’Olio,et al.  Modelling user perception of bus transit quality , 2010 .

[27]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Encounter Satisfaction versus Overall Satisfaction versus Quality: The Customer's Voice , 1994 .

[28]  C. Fornell,et al.  The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, Purpose, and Findings , 1996 .

[29]  R. Worcester.  Managing the image of your bank: the glue that binds , 1997 .

[30]  Rujirutana Mandhachitara,et al.  A model of customer loyalty and corporate social responsibility , 2011 .

[31]  T. Andreassen,et al.  The Effect of Corporate Image in the Formation of Customer Loyalty , 1998 .

[32]  Sheng-Hsun Hsu,et al.  Application of customer satisfaction study to derive customer knowledge , 2006 .

[33]  P. Kotler,et al.  A framework for marketing image management. , 1991, Sloan management review.

[34]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Service value revisited: Specifying a higher-order, formative measure , 2008 .

[35]  Laura Eboli,et al.  Structural Equation Modelling for Analysing Passengers’ Perceptions about Railway Services , 2012 .

[36]  Juan de Oña,et al.  A classification tree approach to identify key factors of transit service quality , 2012, Expert Syst. Appl..

[37]  J. J. Cronin,et al.  Assessing the effects of quality, value, and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments , 2000 .

[38]  Rungting Tu,et al.  Managing passenger behavioral intention: an integrated framework for service quality, satisfaction, perceived value, and switching barriers , 2011 .

[39]  Thanika Devi Juwaheer,et al.  Relationships and impacts of service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and image: an empirical study , 2009 .

[40]  G. Özer,et al.  The analysis of antecedents of customer loyalty in the Turkish mobile telecommunication market , 2005 .

[41]  L. Eboli,et al.  Service Quality Attributes Affecting Customer Satisfaction for Bus Transit , 2007 .

[42]  H. Raghav Rao,et al.  A study of the effect of consumer trust on consumer expectations and satisfaction: the Korean experience , 2003, ICEC '03.

[43]  Mohammad Alamgir Hossain,et al.  Expectation–Confirmation Theory in Information System Research: A Review and Analysis , 2012 .

[44]  Barry J. Babin,et al.  How Quality, Value, Image, and Satisfaction Create Loyalty at a Chinese Telecom , 2009 .

[45]  Tom J. Brown,et al.  The Company and the Product: Corporate Associations and Consumer Product Responses: , 1997 .

[46]  R. Oliver.  Effect of expectation and disconfirmation on postexposure product evaluations: An alternative interpretation. , 1977 .

[47]  Thomas F. Golob,et al.  Structural Equation Modeling For Travel Behavior Research , 2001 .

[48]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[49]  Kenneth A. Bollen,et al.  Structural Equations with Latent Variables , 1989 .

[50]  Gilbert A. Churchill,et al.  An Investigation into the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction , 1982 .

[51]  Emin Babakus,et al.  An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale , 1992 .

[52]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research , 1985 .

[53]  Ming-Chi Lee,et al.  Explaining and predicting users' continuance intention toward e-learning: An extension of the expectation-confirmation model , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[54]  Constantinos Antoniou,et al.  Public transit user satisfaction: Variability and policy implications , 2008 .

[55]  Gabriela Beirão,et al.  Market Segmentation Analysis using Attitudes toward Transportation , 2008 .

[56]  Haemoon Oh,et al.  Diners' Perceptions of Quality, Value, and Satisfaction , 2000 .

[57]  Ipek N. Sener,et al.  Relationships between the online and in-store shopping frequency of Davis, California residents: A copula-linked bivariate ordinal response model , 2015 .

[58]  Kai Kristensen,et al.  Measuring the impact of buying behaviour on customer satisfaction , 1999 .

[59]  C. Flavián,et al.  Corporate image measurement , 2004 .

[60]  Yu-Hern Chang,et al.  Corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty in intercity bus services , 2017 .

[61]  Ching-Fu Chen.  Investigating structural relationships between service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions for air passengers: Evidence from Taiwan , 2008 .

[62]  Raymond R. Burke,et al.  Expectation Processes in Satisfaction Formation , 1999 .

[63]  Kar Yan Tam,et al.  The Effects of Post-Adoption Beliefs on the Expectation-Confirmation Model for Information Technology Continuance , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[64]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[65]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[66]  Changwan Kim,et al.  A structural equation analysis of the QSL relationship with passenger riding experience on high speed rail: An empirical study of Taiwan and Korea , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[67]  Hui-Tzu Min,et al.  Understanding continuance intention of knowledge creation using extended expectation–confirmation theory: an empirical study of Taiwan and China online communities , 2010, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[68]  Byoungsoo Kim,et al.  An empirical investigation of mobile data service continuance: Incorporating the theory of planned behavior into the expectation-confirmation model , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[69]  Simon Washington,et al.  Factors influencing bike share membership : an analysis of Melbourne and Brisbane , 2015 .

[70]  Sheng Wu,et al.  The integration of value-based adoption and expectation-confirmation models: An example of IPTV continuance intention , 2012, Decis. Support Syst..

[71]  Shanyong Wang,et al.  Predicting consumers’ intention to adopt hybrid electric vehicles: using an extended version of the theory of planned behavior model , 2016 .

[72]  Juan de Oña,et al.  Quality of Service in Public Transport Based on Customer Satisfaction Surveys: A Review and Assessment of Methodological Approaches , 2015, Transp. Sci..

[73]  J. Kandampully,et al.  Do hoteliers need to manage image to retain loyal customers , 2007 .

[74]  Sumeet Gupta,et al.  Understanding group-buying websites continuance: An extension of expectation confirmation model , 2015, Internet Res..

[75]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage , 1997 .

[76]  J. Carman.  Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions , 1990 .

[77]  Jerry C. Olson,et al.  Disconfirmation of consumer expectations through product trial. , 1979 .

[78]  Haemoon Oh.  Service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer value: A holistic perspective , 1999 .

[79]  V. Zeithaml.  Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence: , 1988 .

[80]  Yu-Ching Chiao,et al.  Perceived quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty: the case of lexus in Taiwan , 2005 .

[81]  C. Grönroos.  A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications , 1984 .

[82]  Ahmed M El-Geneidy,et al.  Better Understanding of Factors Influencing Likelihood of Using Shared Bicycle Systems and Frequency of Use , 2012 .

[83]  Gary Klein,et al.  Measuring Information System Service Quality: SERVQUAL from the Other Side , 2002, MIS Q..