Customer Loyalty and Customer Satisfaction Essay

Customer Loyalty jakes be sticky to define given the assorted views that ar presented within the literature. Zithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996) congeal that loyalty includes a guests intention to stay with an giving medication and that loyalty includes four elements repurchase intentions, recommending the renovation provider to other nodes, slight complaints and tolerance of price increases. Oliver, (1999) provides a different definition and describes loyalty as a clients overall attachment to a product, advantage, grime or organisation.A better appreciation of the factors that influence the loyalty of nodes, in particular their attitudes and changing needs can help companies to develop strategies to prevent customer defection (Coyles & Gokey, 2002). Customer loyalty is important as it can stomach a powerful impact on a firms accomplishment and it is considered to be a source of competitive advantage ( run, et al., 2004). thither is a strong level of agreement th at customer loyalty and rapture are standoffed however, there is an absence of consensus as to what constitutes customer happiness (Caruana, 2002) in addition, despite the fact that many loyal customers are satisfied, this does non always translate into customer loyalty (Kuo & Ye, 1999, Jones & Sasser, 1995) and studies hand shown that satisfied customers whitethorn express a desire to switch to a competitor yet it may prove to be difficult due to a leave out of adaptable alternatives (Pantouvalkis & Lymperopoulos, 2008, citing Mittal & Lassar, 1998).In contrast however, Reicheld & Sasser, (1990), indicate that high customer joy should provide increased loyalty, which makes it less likely that a customer go forth decide to switch to a competitor. In addition to customer satisfaction, it has been suggested by numerous Researchers that there are other key antecedents to customer loyalty including comprehend value, service woodland, corporate image, reputation, trust and switching costs (Ishaqa, 2012, Lam et al, 2004, Bitner, 1995) however, although Researchers deliver posited that there is a connection, it can be argued that the connections is not fully understood, due to the number of potential antecedents (Wang & Wu, 2012) hence the relevance of this research. sensed value- Perceived value can be defined in simple terms as the benefits received and the sacrifices made by the customer, although some studies have in any case proposed that perceived value is multi dimensional (McDougall & Levesque, 2000). It is also important to consider how perceived value can be increased and this may be achieved by delivering a better service, providing customisation of services (Coelho & Henseler, 2012) or reducing the customers cost perceptions (Ravald & Gronroos 1996).A customers perception of value could actuate them to continue to utilise the services of a service provider (Wang, 2010) and customers may also stay loyal to a company if they feel they are receiving greater value than they would from a competitor (Lam, et al, 2004, citing Bitner & Hubbert, 1994, Bolton & Drew, 1991 Sirdeshmukh et al, 2002). Another consideration of wherefore a customer may stay loyal, rather than move to a competitor is the anticipated switching costs, including the cost involved in changing to an alternative, loss of loyalty benefits and developed routines and procedures (Lam, et al., 2004). In situations where switching costs are high, customers may stay with a service provider regardless of the perceived value (Wang, 2010)Service tonicity- Some studies have examined service musical note as an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Rust & Oliver 1994 Spreng & MacKoy 1996), which as indicated earlier, is posited by some studies to link to perceived value.Parasuraman et al, 1988, developed the SERVQUAL model which can be adapted to suit the needs of an organisation and defines service quality as comprising of five dimensions including reliability, r esponsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. As part of the model the customer will compare their expectations with the perceived performance of services, or according to Santos, (2003), where the customer will make an overall mind of the service offered. Whilst the SERVQUAL model is said to provide a good exponent of overall service quality (Buttle, 1996), it has been questioned whether or not the model can be applied to a range of industries and if the five dimensions are adapted (Hu, et al, 2009, citing Buttle, 1996, Carman, 1990, Cronin & Taylor, 1990).Some Researchers have also argued thatthe SERVQUAL model has shortcomings, as the model still measures the quality of interaction and tangibles such as dcor, etc., but not the actual quality of the service outcome (Sureschander, et, al, 2001). Brady & Cronin, (2001) proposed a model which includes the quality of interaction, physical environment and the outcome. Given the fact that for this study the outcome relates to the quality of homes, or the end product, it will be important to determine how this influences service quality perceptions, in addition to considering the SERVQUAL model.Also, according to Barber & Goodman, (2011), since the SERVQUAL model was developed, the struggle on how to define and measure customer expectations, perceptions and performance and to understand how to treat the gap has not been addressed. It is important to understand where gaps exist with the services provided and customer expectations, as meeting customer expectations is a significant driver of customer satisfaction, which can increase loyalty intentions (McDougall & Levesque, 2000). The reality is that different customers have different service needs and expectations (McKnight, 2009) and it is important that this research also provides an insight into how customer expectations can be met.Corporate image- Several authors propose that service quality is determined by an evaluation of the corporate image of the or ganisation (Martnez Garca & Martnez Caro, 2008) and the relationship between satisfaction and corporate image have been reported in a number of studies (Razavi et al, 2012, citing Lai et al, 2009, Leblanc, 2001 Kandamplully and Hu,2007) Gronroos, (1984), indicated that image, including corporate image is built mainly via the customers experience and the manner in which the service is delivered. Bitner, (1992), proposed that the physical environment is instrumental, yet in later years these views have been extended to include a wider definition, including the business name, architecture, products and services and general word picture of quality (Nguyen & Leblanc, 2001).