Are Moderators of the Customer Satisfaction–Repurchase Intention Relationship Contingent on the Service Category? An Exploratory Investigation

Abstract

This study posits that the presence of variables that moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention is contingent on the service category. Two broad service categories are evaluated: discrete services offering experiential benefits and continuous services offering functional benefits. Switching costs and variety seeking are investigated as moderators. The data for empirically addressing the research hypotheses were collected from over 180 customers. The findings suggest that moderators are contingent on the service category. Switching costs was significant for continuous services with functional benefits, whereas variety seeking was significant for discrete services with experiential benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• customer satisfaction
• moderator
• classification of services
• repurchase intentions