A critical examination of service loyalty measures

Abstract

Service loyalty is attracting growing interest as a result of the important role that services play in today’s global economy. Advances in technology have increased the demand for a services-based economy and prompted a shift from a product-centred logic to a service-centred logic. Despite general agreement between researchers and practitioners of the strategic importance of service loyalty, and growing acceptance of a dynamic or processual perspective, scales used to measure the dynamic view of service loyalty can be criticised for their lack of methodological robustness. This paper contributes both theoretically and practically by critically examining these service loyalty scales and proposing a new multi-item scale based on Oliver’s (1997) conceptualisation using a mixed-method study. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from UK retail bank customers using in-depth interviews and an interviewer-administered survey. A two-step structural equation modelling strategy was used to validate the measurement and structural models. The results provide support for a four-dimensional scale of service loyalty. This study provides service researchers and managers with a better understanding of service loyalty and presents them with a robust scale for its measurement, in turn improving their ability to draw accurate conclusions.