质量属性变化对满意与忠诚关系的调节作用

The Moderating Effect of Quality Attribute Perceptual Change on Satisfaction-loyalty Relationship

本研究从时间视角出发探讨了顾客满意与顾客忠诚的概念区别,提出满意是基于过去效用的评价,而忠诚是基于未来效用的判断。当驱动满意形成的质量属性保持稳定时,过去效用可以推断未来效用,满意信息对忠诚判断非常有效,这时满意对忠诚的影响增强。反之,当驱动满意形成的质量属性发生变化时,过去效用不能推断未来效用,满意信息对忠诚判断的有效性降低,这时满意对忠诚影响减弱。本研究将重点放在产品或服务质量属性的变化上,从静态的属性易变性到动态的属性变化幅度,深入剖析了质量属性的变化对满意与忠诚关系的影响:(1)横贯调查数据的结果显示,当满意主要被容易变化的质量属性驱动时,满意与忠诚的关系变弱。(2)两次测量的纵贯调查数据结果显示,质量属性的变化削弱了满意对忠诚的影响,随着变化幅度加大,满意向忠诚的转化效率降低。

Although customer satisfaction has been regarded as the key determinant of customer loyalty, growing evidence shows that the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is surprisingly weak under certain conditions. In order to better understand the boundary conditions under which the link between satisfaction and loyalty is weakened, much research attempts to investigate important moderators. However, due to the lack of solid theory foundations to distinguish the difference between satisfaction and loyalty, the research of moderator is rather limited. This research proposes that satisfaction differs from loyalty from the temporal perspective. Satisfaction is an evaluation of past （experienced） utility, and loyalty is a judgment of future （predicted） utility. If the driving factors of satisfaction （past utility） are stable and not changed, the satisfaction information is valid for loyalty judgment, then the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty will be strengthened. On the contrary, if the driving factors of satisfaction are changed, the satisfaction information is not valid any more for loyalty judgment. As a result, the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is weakened. Thus, the gap between satisfaction and loyalty origins from the change of the driving factors of satisfaction （past utility）. This research focuses on the moderating role of quality attributes perception change and examines its effect on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty link by two studies. （1） By cross-sectional survey data in retailing setting, we find that when satisfaction is driven by stable （unstable） quality attributes, the correlation between satisfaction and loyalty is increased （decreased）. （2） By longitudinal survey data in automobile setting, we measure the quality attributes perception for two times for the same respondents in 2-wave surveys, and we find that when quality attributes perceptual change during 2-wave measurement, the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is weakened. With the increase of change magnitude, the correlation between satisfaction and loyalty decreases.