Sharon E. Beatty

Switching barriers and repurchase intentions in services

Abstract The current study moves beyond satisfaction and proposes that switching barriers are important factors impacting a customer’s decision to remain with a service provider. Switching barriers make customer defection difficult or costly and include interpersonal relationships, perceived switching costs, and the attractiveness of alternatives. We propose and find support for a contingency model between core-service satisfaction and switching barriers. The results indicate that the influence of core-service satisfaction on repurchase intentions decreases under conditions of high switching barriers. Although switching barriers had no influence on repurchase intentions when satisfaction was high, switching barriers positively influenced repurchase intentions when satisfaction was low. Implications of the results are discussed.

External Search Effort: An Investigation Across Several Product Categories

Utilizing an involvement perspective and Punj and Stewarts (1983) interaction framework of decision making, the relationship between external search effort and a number of motivating antecedent variables is investigated and evaluated across five related consumer electronic products. The findings confirm four of five hypothesized relationships between total search effort and the following variables: purchase involvement (+), attitudes toward shopping (+), time availability (+), and product class knowledge (−). The relationship between ego involvement and total search effort was not significant. The influence of these variables upon a number of subindices of external search, including retailer search, media search, interpersonal search, and neutral sources search, is also investigated and reported.

Customer benefits and company consequences of customer-salesperson relationships in retailing

Building customer relationships is a top priority in many firms. This study examines the benefits customers receive from relationships with clothing/accessories salespeople. We found that relationship benefits are positively associated with satisfaction, loyalty, word of mouth and purchases. Implications and directions for future research are given based on these findings.

Customer-sales associate retail relationships

Abstract We examine one-on-one relationships between customers and sales associates, which we refer to as relationship selling to differentiate it from relationship marketing, using a qualitative research approach. We conducted observations of and interviews with a successful group of retail sales associates and a set of their “call customers.” Based on our data, a relationship formation/enhancement model emerged, which focused on: (1) commitment and orientation to customer service by top management and employees, as well as a desire for a relationship by the customer; (2) augmented personal service and team playing by employees; (3) repeat customer-employee interactions based on trust, friendship, and functionality; and (4) development of customer loyalty to the sales associate and firm, and employee reinforcement and loyalty to the company and customer.

Why customers stay: measuring the underlying dimensions of services switching costs and managing their differential strategic outcomes

Abstract Although switching costs are increasingly finding their way into models of customer loyalty, a lack of consistency and clarity exists regarding the appropriate conceptualization and measurement of this critical strategic construct. To address this deficiency, the following six dimensions of switching costs were proposed: (1) lost performance costs; (2) uncertainty costs; (3) pre-switching search and evaluation costs; (4) post-switching behavioral and cognitive costs; (5) setup costs; and (6) sunk costs. Support for these six dimensions was obtained across two studies and two service industries (banks and hairstylists). The multidimensional scale (24 items) evidenced reliability, discriminant validity, and convergent validity. In addition, individual dimensions related to various constructs in predictable and sometimes differential ways. For example, while all switching cost dimensions were positively and significantly associated with repurchase intentions in the overall sample, the association was strongest with lost performance costs. Industry differences also emerged both in the mean level of perceptions across switching cost dimensions, as well as in the strength of relationships between switching costs and outcomes such as repurchase intentions. For example, perceptions of setup costs and pre-switching search and evaluation costs were higher for hairstylists than banks and were also more strongly associated with repurchase intentions for hairstylists than banks. Strategic implications and areas for future research are discussed.

Impulse buying: Modeling its precursors

Abstract A model of the precursors of impulse buying is presented and empirically tested with data drawn at two points in time (during pre- and post-shopping interviews) from a regional shopping mall setting. Analysis of the data, utilizing LISREL 8, supported most of the predictions. Situational variables (time available and money available) and individual difference variables (shopping enjoyment and impulse buying tendency) were found to influence a set of endogenous variables, including positive and negative affect, browing activity, felt urge to buy impulsively, and ultimately, whether or not an impulse purchase occurred. Future research and managerial implications are addressed.

Alternative measurement approaches to consumer values: The List of Values (LOV) and Values and Life Style (VALS).

This article compares and contrasts two methods of measuring consumer values: the List of Values (LOV) and Values and Life Style (VALS). LOV apparently has some advantages: it is in the public domain and it relates more closely to consumer behavior.

Customer Engagement: Exploring Customer Relationships Beyond Purchase

Using qualitative studies involving executives and customers, this study explores the nature and scope of customer engagement (CE), which is a vital component of relationship marketing. We define CE as the intensity of an individuals participation in and connection with an organizations offerings and/or organizational activities, which either the customer or the organization initiate. We argue that it is composed of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social elements. Finally, we offer a model of CE, in which the participation and involvement of current or potential customers serve as antecedents of CE, while value, trust, affective commitment, word of mouth, loyalty, and brand community involvement are potential consequences.

The involvement--commitment model: Theory and implications

Abstract An involvement–commitment model is proposed and empirically assessed with LISREL. The results are consistent with the theoretical predictions that ego involvement influences purchase involvement, which influences brand commitment. The model proposed and the composites representing the three stages appear reasonably valid. Managerial implications are derived from this model.

Celebrity spokesperson and brand congruence: An assessment of recall and affect

Abstract Conventional wisdom regarding the matching of spokesperson and brand in advertising is empirically tested. Within the theoretical framework of social cognition, celebrity-brand congruence is found to enhance effectiveness of advertising. a) Recall is found to be enhanced when the celebrity and brand are matched, as predicted by the filtering model. b) Transfer of affect from spokesperson to brand is found to be facilitated when the two are matched. c) Affect toward the brand is also found to be higher when brand and spokesperson are matched. The usefulness and importance of schemas in information processing of advertising are discussed.