TY - JOUR
T1 - The relative strength of affective commitment in securing loyalty in service relationships
AU - Evanschitzky, Heiner
AU - Iyer, Gopalkrishnan R.
AU - Plasmann, Hilke
AU - Niesing, Joerg
AU - Meffert, Heribert
PY - 2006/11
Y1 - 2006/11
N2 - While commitment is an important antecedent to customer retention, a broad consensus has yet to emerge on the impacts of constituent dimensions of commitment on loyalty in service relationships. This study explores the impacts of affective and continuance commitment on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty in a service context. Since affective commitment is more positive and governed by free choice, whereas continuance commitment is more the result of perceived economic and psychological benefits of being in a relationship, the results of this study suggest that emotional bonds with customers provide a more enduring source of loyalty as compared to economic incentives and switching costs.
AB - While commitment is an important antecedent to customer retention, a broad consensus has yet to emerge on the impacts of constituent dimensions of commitment on loyalty in service relationships. This study explores the impacts of affective and continuance commitment on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty in a service context. Since affective commitment is more positive and governed by free choice, whereas continuance commitment is more the result of perceived economic and psychological benefits of being in a relationship, the results of this study suggest that emotional bonds with customers provide a more enduring source of loyalty as compared to economic incentives and switching costs.
KW - relationship marketing
KW - commitment
KW - loyalty
KW - service relationships
KW - emotional attachment
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296306001238?via%3Dihub
U2 - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.08.005
M3 - Article
SN - 0148-2963
VL - 59
SP - 1207
EP - 1213
JO - Journal of Business Research
JF - Journal of Business Research
IS - 12
ER -