The impact of customer satisfaction and relationship quality on customer retention: A critical reassessment and model development

✍ Scribed by Thorsten Hennig-Thurau; Alexander Klee

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 364 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0742-6046
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199712)14:8<737::aid-mar2>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

Customer satisfaction with a company's products or services is often seen as the key to a company's success and long-term competitiveness. In the context of relationship marketing, customer satisfaction is often viewed as a central determinant of customer retention. However, the few empirical investigations in this area indicate that a direct relationship between these constructs is weak or even nonexistent. The overall purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual foundation for investigating the customer retention process, with the use of the concepts of customer satisfaction and relationship quality. The article involves a critical examination of the satisfaction -retention relationship, and the development of a more comprehensive view of the customer's quality perception. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Instincts aside, do you have any rational proof that satisfying customers is worth the effort, and, in fact, pays off? (Kordick, 1988, p. 3)