The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality

TLDR

Service quality has been linked to customer retention, suggesting its impact on individual behavioral responses should be observable, and the study discusses how these findings can inform researchers and managers. The study proposes a conceptual model linking service quality to specific customer behaviors that signal retention or defection. The authors develop a conceptual framework mapping service quality to behavioral signals of customer retention or defection. Empirical evidence from multiple companies shows that service quality strongly influences customers' behavioral intentions, with variations across different intention dimensions.

Abstract

If service quality relates to retention of customers at the aggregate level, as other research has indicated, then evidence of its impact on customers' behavioral responses should be detectable. The authors offer a conceptual model of the impact of service quality on particular behaviors that signal whether customers remain with or defect from a company. Results from a multicompany empirical study examining relationships from the model concerning customers' behavioral intentions show strong evidence of their being influenced by service quality. The findings also reveal differences in the nature of the quality-intentions link across different dimensions of behavioral intentions. The authors' discussion centers on ways the results and research approach of their study can be helpful to researchers and managers.