Situational Characteristics as Moderators of the Satisfaction-Loyalty Link: An Investigation in a Business-to-Business Context

Abstract

This paper researches moderating effects of the customer satisfaction-loyalty link with specific regards to situational characteristics. We develop hypotheses about moderating effects of perceived product importance, purchase uncertainty, switching costs and relationship duration and test them in an empirical study, using data from 425 business customers of a major European energy provider. The results of a multi-group causal analysis indicate that it is important to consider the effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty separately for each of the loyalty dimensions, as it is shown that the relationship is moderated by different factors for different loyalty dimensions. In substance, the results suggest that strategies for enhancing word of mouth and reinforcement behavior should focus on different customer groups than those for enhancing price resistance.