Elsevier

Journal of Retailing

Volume 76, Issue 2, Summer 2000, Pages 193-218
Journal of Retailing

Original article
Assessing the effects of quality, value, and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(00)00028-2Get rights and content

Abstract

The following study both synthesizes and builds on the efforts to conceptualize the effects of quality, satisfaction, and value on consumers’ behavioral intentions. Specifically, it reports an empirical assessment of a model of service encounters that simultaneously considers the direct effects of these variables on behavioral intentions. The study builds on recent advances in services marketing theory and assesses the relationships between the identified constructs across multiple service industries. Several competing theories are also considered and compared to the research model. A number of notable findings are reported including the empirical verification that service quality, service value, and satisfaction may all be directly related to behavioral intentions when all of these variables are considered collectively. The results further suggest that the indirect effects of the service quality and value constructs enhanced their impact on behavioral intentions.

Section snippets

Conceptual background: quality, value, and satisfaction

A review of the services marketing literature reveals several waves of conceptual research. Although there are many areas of pursuit, these waves seem to begin with the study of service quality, then carry through to satisfaction research, which has more recently given way to the study of service value. The interest in these topics is due to the practical significance of the constructs as each has been tied to either national awards or strategic paradigm shifts. The Baldridge Award, Total

H1

The research model yields a significantly better fit to the data and accounts for a greater share of the variance in behavioral intentions than the three competing models.

H2

Consumers’ service quality and value perceptions have a positive, indirect influence on behavioral intentions.

Data collection

To ensure the cross-validation of results, two studies are reported that investigates six service industries and utilize different samples. The six industries were chosen so that the samples varied on 1) the degree to which the service can be characterized as hedonic (Study 1) versus utilitarian (Study 2), 2) the prominence of tangible (Fast Food) versus intangible (Long Distance) attributes, and 3) the primary (Health Care) versus secondary (Sporting Events) role of the service employees.

The studies were conducted in the same medium-sized metropolitan area; however, different interviewers and subjects were used for each study

Study 1:Study 2:
Spectator Sports1 n = 401Health Care n = 167
Participation Sports n = 396Long distance Carriers n = 221
Entertainment n = 450Fast Food n = 309

Data collection procedures were managed by one of the authors. To improve the representativeness of the sample, surveys were gathered in numerous locations in the area and the interviewers were given demographic guidelines to follow. Specifically, quota sampling was used to control for age, gender, and ethnic background. Given the cumulative

Model tests

The first hypothesis predicts that the research model outperforms the three competing models drawn from the literature. We argue that the competing models are constrained only as an artifact of the literature and that a more connected approach to predicting and/or explaining the variance in behavioral intentions should be considered. In comparing the SEM models, we followed the procedures outlined by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). As such, the comparison of the models is determined by calculating

Discussion

The results presented in the preceding section indicate that the research model fits well and outperforms the competing models. They also support the heretofore-untested indirect effects that service quality and values have on behavioral intentions. Collectively, the results both support and build on the extant literature. As to the former, our findings indicate that both service quality and service value lead to satisfaction. Thus, these findings add weight to Bagozzi’s (1992) suggestion that

Conclusion

“Companies increasingly look to quality, satisfaction, and loyalty as keys to achieving market leadership. Understanding what drives these critical elements, how they are linked and how they contribute to your company’s overall equity is fundamental to success.” (AC Nielsen, 2000).

Our objective for this study was to clarify the relationships between quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. We suggest that the consumer decision-making process for service products is best modeled

Limitations

As is the case with any research project, the studies presented exhibit limitations that should be considered. First, we stress that this model is not designed to include all possible influences on consumer decision-making for services. We limit our consideration to the identified variables simply because the focus of the investigation is on the composite set of links between consumers’ service quality and value perceptions, the satisfaction they attribute to the service provider, and their

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