The Different Roles of Satisfaction, Trust, and Commitment in Customer Relationships

TLDR

Relationship marketing theories describe a continuum from transactional to highly relational bonds, yet few studies have segmented customers into low and high relational groups to examine how evaluations differ. The authors used structural equation modeling to examine how satisfaction, trust, and commitment relate to component satisfaction attitudes and future intentions among patrons of a New York off‑Broadway repertory theater. For low‑relational customers, satisfaction mediates the link between component attitudes and future intentions, whereas for high‑relational customers, trust and commitment serve as the mediators.

Abstract

Several theories of relationship marketing propose that customers vary in their relationships with a firm on a continuum from transactional to highly relational bonds. Few empirical studies have segmented the customer base of an organization into low and high relational groups to assess how evaluations vary for these groups. Using structural equation analysis, the authors analyze the relationships of satisfaction, trust, and commitment to component satisfaction attitudes and future intentions for the customers of a New York off-Broadway repertory theater company. For the low relational customers (individual ticket buyers and occasional subscribers), overall satisfaction is the primary mediating construct between the component attitudes and future intentions. For the high relational customers (consistent subscribers), trust and commitment, rather than satisfaction, are the mediators between component attitudes and future intentions.