Mediating, Interactive, and Non-linear Effects in Service Quality and Satisfaction with Services Research

Abstract This study examines a number of different hypotheses about the relationship between service quality and satisfaction with services and some important loyalty-related consequences of these constructs. The study confirms the general position in the service quality literature that satisfaction mediates the relationship between service quality and switching intentions, advocacy intentions, and willingness to pay more for the service. In particular, satisfaction is a strong mediator of the effects of service quality on customer retention. The study also finds good support for the existence of a non-linear relationship between satisfaction and these loyalty intentions. The nature of this non-linear relationship is such that the effect of satisfaction on these loyalty-related intentions is more positive at higher levels of satisfaction than it is at lower levels of satisfaction. This is consistent with emerging findings on the nature and consequences of customer delight. Resume Cette etude examine un certain nombre de differentes hypotheses concernant le rapport entre la qualite de service et la satisfaction des clients, et passe en revue quelques consequences importantes des ces hypotheses qui illuminent la loyaute des consommateurs envers produits et services. L'etude confirme la validite de la theorie dominante de la qualite de service, a savoir que la satisfaction reglemente le rapport entre la qualite de service et l'intention de commuter de service, comme entre la propensite de recommander un produit ou service et la volonte de supporter un prix plus eleve pour le meme service. En particulier, la satisfaction regit les standards de la qualite de service et la retention de la clientele. L'etude confirme egalement l'existence d'un rapport non-lineaire entre la satisfaction et la fidelite. Ce rapport indique que l'effet de la satisfaction sur la fidelite est proportionellement plus fort a des niveaux de satisfaction plus eleve qu'a des niveaux plus bas. Cette tendance par ailleurs est conforme a d'autres etudes recentes sur la nature et les consequences de la satisfaction des clients.

[1]  W. Wells.  Discovery-oriented consumer research. , 1993 .

[2]  Stephen W. Brown,et al.  Consumer satisfaction and perceived quality: Complementary or divergent constructs? , 1994 .

[3]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  An assessment of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the formation of consumers' purchase intentions , 1994 .

[4]  Jagdip Singh.  Voice, exit, and negative word-of-mouth behaviors: An investigation across three service categories , 1990 .

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

[6]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Servperf versus Servqual: Reconciling Performance-Based and Perceptions-Minus-Expectations Measurement of Service Quality , 1994 .

[7]  R. Teas,et al.  Expectations, Performance Evaluation, and Consumers’ Perceptions of Quality , 1993 .

[8]  Steven A. Taylor.  Assessing regression-based importance weights for quality perceptions and satisfaction judgements in the presence of higher order and/orinteraction effects , 1997 .

[9]  V. Zeithaml,et al.  A Dynamic Process Model of Service Quality: From Expectations to Behavioral Intentions , 1993 .

[10]  R. Oliver.  Customer delight: Foundations, findings, and managerial insight☆ , 1997 .

[11]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension , 1992 .

[12]  R. Rust,et al.  Should we delight the customer? , 2000 .

[13]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[14]  E. Anderson.  Customer Satisfaction and Word of Mouth , 1998 .

[15]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality , 1996 .

[16]  H. Bansal,et al.  The Service Provider Switching Model (SPSM) , 1999 .

[17]  C. Judd,et al.  Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. , 1993, Psychological bulletin.

[18]  R. Ping.  A Parsimonious Estimating Technique for Interaction and Quadratic Latent Variables , 1995 .

[19]  I. Roos.  Switching Processes in Customer Relationships , 1999 .

[20]  Linda L. Price,et al.  Commercial Friendships: Service Provider–Client Relationships in Context , 1999 .

[21]  E. Anderson,et al.  Strengthening the Satisfaction-Profit Chain , 2000 .

[22]  Susan M. Keaveney,et al.  Customer Switching Behavior in Service Industries: An Exploratory Study , 1995 .

[23]  C. Fornell,et al.  Customer Satisfaction, Market Share, and Profitability: Findings from Sweden , 1994 .

[24]  Richard A. Spreng,et al.  An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction , 1996 .

[25]  R. Peterson,et al.  Measuring customer satisfaction: Fact and artifact , 1992 .

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

[27]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Self-Service Technologies: Understanding Customer Satisfaction with Technology-Based Service Encounters , 2000 .

[28]  John O. Summers,et al.  Relationship Marketing Activities, Commitment, and Membership Behaviors in Professional Associations , 2000 .

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

[30]  R. Oliver.  Cognitive, affective, and attribute bases of the satisfaction response. , 1993 .

[31]  G. McClelland,et al.  Misleading Heuristics and Moderated Multiple Regression Models , 2001 .

[32]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[33]  Gordon L. Fullerton,et al.  Waiting for Service: Perceptions Management of the Wait Experience , 2000 .

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

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

[36]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  Customer satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the empirical evidence , 2001 .

[37]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. , 1990 .

[38]  R. Bagozzi.  A Field Investigation of Causal Relations among Cognitions, Affect, Intentions, and Behavior , 1982 .

[39]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature , 1993 .

[40]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Service Changes on Customer Attitudes , 1991 .

[41]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[42]  R. Rust,et al.  Return on Quality (ROQ): Making Service Quality Financially Accountable , 1995 .