Mediators of the Customer Satisfaction-Loyalty Relationship

The rapid growth of online transactions in service industries raises important research questions about the levels of satisfaction and loyalty in the online environment, and this relationship with regard to other possible mediators that consumers might experience when they engage in e-shopping.

Online, a competing offer is just a few clicks away. Because of these properties of the Web, many managers fear that the online medium may induce lower customer satisfaction and loyalty compared to the offline medium, and that increased satisfaction with a service may not lead to higher loyalty when that service is chosen online compared to the offline environment, the online environment offers more opportunities for interactive and personalized marketing. These opportunities have direct influence customer satisfaction and loyalty and should be studied especially in conjunction with other factors that have an impact on a company's bottom line. Managers are concerned about how the online medium influences satisfaction and loyalty and the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty.

Typically, online customers can more easily compare alternatives than offline customers, especially for functional products and services, when utilitarian value can be emphasized. A new exciting offer can be presented on the Internet, and as consumers become fascinated in their buying experience, they experience hedonic value. Nowadays, consumers are bombarded with paid or organic marketing information about brands and companies especially in the online environment, and thus they can have their attitudes shaped in new and more diverse ways. Nonetheless, in this digital world, trust is a major aspect that needs consideration from marketers to explore the premises of this concept in e-shopping.

These issues lead to the development of the three research questions to be examined here: (1) Is customer satisfaction the only predictor of loyalty? (2) Is there a possible mediator between customer satisfaction and loyalty? (3) What is the effect of each possible mediator on the customer satisfaction–loyalty relation? (4) Does trust matter when considering an e-tailer or are consumers interested in various online retailers? (5) Is attitude a good mediator for customer satisfaction–loyalty relation? How do the hedonic and utilitarian values influence this relationship? Significantly, the consistent concluding remarks in the relevant studies state that these variables remain to be studied as mediators in terms of the customer satisfaction–loyalty relation. To answer these questions, we develop a set of hypotheses based on conceptual frameworks. To test the hypotheses, we use regression analysis with mediation in the e-shopping context, considering the satisfaction – loyalty relation.

Satisfaction and loyalty are not surrogates for each other. It is possible for a customer to be loyal without being highly satisfied (e.g., when there are few other choices) and to be highly satisfied and yet not be loyal (e.g., when many alternatives are available). Firms need to gain a better understanding of the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty in the online environment to allocate their online marketing efforts between satisfaction initiatives and loyalty programs.

Source: Alin Opereana and Simona Vinerean, https://marketing.expertjournals.com/23446773-201/
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