为什么客户会转变购买满意度与忠诚度的动态.docx

为什么客户会转变购买满意度与忠诚度的动态.docx

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为什么客户会转变购买满意度与忠诚度的动态

中文3832字

标题：

Whydocustomersswitch?

Thedynamicsofsatisfactionversusloyalty

原文：

Whydocustomersswitch?

Thedynamicsofsatisfactionversusloyalty

Introduction

CustomerloyaltyisincreasinglybeingrecognizedbyAmericanbusinessesasapathtolong-termbusinessprofitability.Considertwofirms,saytwohospitals,“A”and“B”,withidenticalfacilitiesandcapacity.Bothhavethesamepatientload,andconsequentlythesamedegreeoffacilityutilization.However,hospital“A”hasaloyalfollowingofpatients.Incontrast,hospital“B”fillsitsfacilitiesbyacquiringnewpatientseveryyearbecausetheoldpatientsneverreturn.Whichonehasgreaterprofitability?

Or,inthecaseofnon-profithospitals,whichoneisbeingrunmorecost-efficiently?

Theanswerisveryclear:

withoutquestion,itishospital“A”–theonewithaloyalpatientfollowing.Thisisbecausefindingnewcustomersanddoing

businesswiththemtakestime,effort,andmoney.Hospital“B”forexample,hastoinvestheavilyinadvertisingtoconsumersandinpersonalsellingtophysicians,soastoattractnewpatients.Then,ithastospendtheeffortandpreciousemployeetimeinsettingupnewpatientrecords,forexplainingthehospitalprocedures,andforunderstandingeachpatient’sindividualneeds,andguidingthemthroughthetreatmentprocedures.Thesameistrueforotherservicebusinesses.Insuranceagentsknow,forexample,howcumbersomeitistoobtainnewcustomersandtosetuptheirpolicies.Carmechanicswhohavehandledaparticularcarinthepastbecomemoreefficientindiagnosingnewproblems.Stockbrokersunderstandtheirestablishedclients’financialgoalsbetter.Andrepeatguestsinahotelarefamiliarwiththehotelfacilitiesandwillnotcalluponemployeetimetoseekinformation.

Althoughcompaniesarerealizingthevalueofkeepingcustomersloyal,nooneknowsforsurehowtodoit.Companiesmeasurecustomersatisfaction,andhopethatifthesatisfactionscoresaregood,thecustomerswillstaywiththefirm.Butevensatisfiedcustomersleaveforthelureofacompetitor’soffer.Companiessuchasairlinesandhotelsofferfrequentguestrewards,yetconsumerswillstillshoparoundandswitchcompaniesfromtransactiontotransaction.Accordingtosomeobservers,customerdefectionrunsashighas50percentinmanyindustries（Cannie,1992）.Weexploretheproblemofcustomerdefectioninserviceindustries.Serviceindustriespresentamoredifficultsettingforunderstandingcustomerdisloyaltyasopposedtomanufacturedgoodsindustries.Thisisbecause,forservicefirms,thebasisofconsumerchoiceandcontinuedpatronagearelessobvious.Servicesareintangible,andtheycannotbecompletelystandardized.Attheminimum,theyvaryaccordingtothemoodoftheserviceproviderandservicecustomeratthemomentofservicedelivery.Thus,inservicebusinesses,whatisgivenandreceivedisrelativelyintangible.Consequently,customerevaluativecriteriaarelesswellarticulated,andtheappraisalofthevaluereceivedismuchmoresubjective（Berry,1980;Keaveney,1995;Lovelock,1991;Zeithamletal.,1993）.Itwouldbeofinterest,therefore,tounderstandcustomerdisloyaltyforservicebusinesses.

ThesecondconceptionandmeasureofservicequalityisSERVQUAL.ProposedbyresearchersParasuramanetal.（1988）,SERVQUALmeasuresservicequalityasfivedimensions:

reliability,responsiveness,assurance,empathy,andtangibles.Thesedimensionsaredefinedasfollows:

（1）Reliability:

Abilitytoperformthepromisedservicedependablyandaccurately;

（2）Responsiveness:

Willingnesstohelpcustomersandprovidepromptservice;（3）Assurance:

Knowledgeandcourtesyofemployeesandtheirabilitytoinspiretrustandconfidence;（4）Empathy:

Caring,individualizedattentionthefirmprovidesitscustomers;（5）Tangibles:

Physicalfacilities,equipment,andappearanceofpersonnel.InmostresearchstudiesdonebySERVQUAL’sauthors,Reliabilityhasbeenfoundtobethemostinfluentialdeterminantofoverallservicequalityorofcustomersatisfactionwiththeservice.Butanimportantquestionremainsunanswered.Thisquestionis:

ArethedimensionsofSERVQUALthatinfluencesatisfactionalsotheonesthatinfluenceloyalty?

Weexaminethisquestionhere.

Wecollectedconsumerresponsesontheirexperiencewitheitherofthesetwoservices.Ourrespondentsansweredaquestionnaireeitherforahealthclinicoracarrepairservicefacility.RespondentswererecruitedfromPTAorganizations,mailboxdrops,andmallinterceptsintwoUScities.Onehundredandtencustomersansweredthesurveyforacarrepairservice,and123forahealthcarefacilitytheyutilizedwithinthepastoneyear.OperationalizationofmeasuresThequestionnairecontainedthemeasuresofoverallsatisfaction,intentiontoswitch,technicalquality,functionalquality,andtheSERVQUALscale.Satisfactionwasmeasuredbythisitem:

Overall,withthisfacility,Iam:

（1）Extremelydissatisfied.

（2）Somewhatdissatisfied.（3）Feelneutral.（4）Somewhatsatisfied.（5）Extremelysatisfied.

Inthemarketingliterature,consumerloyaltyhasgenerallybeenmeasuredaspreponderanceorbiasofpastbehavioralfrequencyinfavorofaspecificbrand（e.g.DickandBasu,1994）.However,suchameasureismoresuitedtoconsumergoods.Forservices（particularlyforhighinvolvementservicesthatareexaminedinthisresearch）,themeasurelikelytobemostusefultomanagersistheonethatquestionsrespondentsontheirpredispositiontoswitchingsuppliersorserviceproviders.Weusedthismeasuretoassesstheloyaltytherespondentsfelttowardtheirpresenthealthcareandcarrepairserviceproviders.Afurtherpointofclarificationisthatweusedonlythreeresponsecategoriesbecauseofthesmallsamplesize;amoregraduatedscalewouldhaveyieldedarathersmallcellsizeofswitchers.Moreover,we

wouldhavehadtosubsequentlyuseanarbitrarydividinglinetoregrouprespondentsintoloyalandnot-loyalcustomers.Thethree-pointscale,withfewerin-betweencategories,reducestheneedforsucharbitraryregroupingbyresearchers.Nevertheless,ourmeasureofcustomerloyaltymustbeviewedasimperfect.Inthediscussionsection,wesuggestimprovementinthemeasureforfutureresearch.

Thedynamicsofsatisfactionversusloyalty。

Theforegoingstatementaboutwhatdrivesloyaltyshouldbeunderstoodwiththeprovisothatloyaltyisnotentirelydivorcedfromsatisfaction.Thedisloyalty/loyaltygroupscontrastedarefromasubpopulationthatisalreadysatisfied.Dissatisfiedcustomersarealmostalwayspronetoswitch（asourdatashow）.Thatishardlynews.Whatisnewsisthatevensomesatisfiedcustomerswouldswitch.Inseparatingdisloyalversusloyalcustomers,therefore,managershavetoaskwhatdrivesloyaltybeyond

satisfaction.

Evenmoreimportantly,thedriversof“loyaltybeyondsatisfaction”aredifferentfromwhatdrivesdissatisfactionversussatisfaction.Inourdata,thepotencyoftechnicalquality（“thequalityoftheworkperformed”）andfunctionalquality（“thequalityoftheservice”）indeliveringsatisfactionandloyaltydiffered.Anditvariedbetweenalowcontactandahighcontactservice.Foralowcontactservice（e.g.carrepair）,technicalqualitywasneededtofirstobtainsatisfaction,andthenfunctionalqualitywasneededtodriveloyaltybeyondsatisfaction.Theconversewasthecaseforahighcontact（e.g.healthcare）service.Thispatternoffindingsshouldguidemanagersindesigningsatisfactionandloyaltymeasurementresearchintheirparticularfirms.Theanalysisweemployedcanalsoserveasaprototype.Managerscananalyzethesatisfactionandloyaltydatatoidentifywhetherthetechnicalorthefunctionalqualityimprovementisthecriticalneedfortheirfirmsataparticularjunctureintheirserviceoperations.Thisanalysisshouldhelpguideaservicefirm’sinvestmentinappropriatequalityinitiatives.

SatisfiedcustomersarethestartofyourloyaltycampaignnottheendHere’sadilemmaformanagers.Evenwhenyourcustomerssaythey’resatisfiedtheystillswitchtoothersuppliers.Whatdotheseconsumerswant?

Blood?

Wegotogreatlengthsmakingsurewehavesatisfiedcustomersandtheyrewardoureffortsbyswitchingtoourcompetitor!

Thetruthiswhatwe’vealwayssuspected.Satisfiedcustomersaren’tnecessarilyloyalcustomers.Indeedloyaltyrequiresacommitmentfromthecustomerthatmeresatisfactioncannotbring.MittelandLassarconsiderthisdilemmabylookingatwhetherthesamefactorsinfluenceloyaltyasinfluencesatisfaction.Theyconfirmthatcustomers“…whoreportahighsatisfactionratingstillpossessapredispositiontoswitchservicesuppliers.”Andwealsoseethat（notsurprisingly）dissatisfiedcustomerswilldefinitelyswitchsoyoucan’tignoresatisfaction.ButMittelandLassar’smostimportantfindingisthatthe“type”ofqualityaffectingsatisfactiondiffersfromthataffectingloyalty.Ifsatisfactionfollowsfromfunctionalquality（empathy,responsiveness,assurance）thenloyaltycomesfromtechnicalquality（reliability）.Similarlysatisfactionderivedfromtechnicalqualitymeansloyaltyresultsfromfunctionalquality.Theimplicationsofthesefindingsareenormous.Firstittellsusthatcustomersatisfactionmeasuresareinadequateontheirownandneedsupplementingbyameasureofloyalty（inthisstudythepropensitytoswitchsupplier）.Andsecondlyitmeansthatwecannotfocusonthoseelementsofqualitycreatingsatisfactionbecausetheydon’tencourageloyalty.Thefindingsprovideclarity–andanswertheswitchingdilemma–buttheymakeservicemanagers’jobharderstill.InthespiritofthisdiscoveryIintendtosetout