TY - JOUR
T1 - Strengthening Customer Loyalty through Intimacy and Passion
T2 - Roles of Customer-Firm Affection and Customer-Staff Relations in Services
AU - Yim, Chi Kin Bennett
AU - Tse, David K.
AU - Chan, Wa Kimmy
PY - 2008/12/1
Y1 - 2008/12/1
N2 - This study extends the existing satisfaction–trust–loyalty paradigm to investigate how customers’ affectionate ties with firms (customer–firm affection)—in particular, the components of intimacy and passion—affect customer loyalty in services. In a bilevel model, the authors consider customer–staff and customer–firm interactions in parallel. Through a netnography study and survey research in two service contexts, they confirm (1) the salience of intimacy and passion as two underrecognized components of customer–firm affection that influence customer loyalty, (2) the complementary and mediating role of customer–firm affection in strengthening customer loyalty, (3) significant affect transfers from the customer–staff to the customer–firm level, and (4) the dilemma that emerges when customer–staff relationships are too close. The findings provide several implications for researchers and managers regarding how intimacy and passion can enrich customer service interactions and how to manage customer–staff relationships properly.
AB - This study extends the existing satisfaction–trust–loyalty paradigm to investigate how customers’ affectionate ties with firms (customer–firm affection)—in particular, the components of intimacy and passion—affect customer loyalty in services. In a bilevel model, the authors consider customer–staff and customer–firm interactions in parallel. Through a netnography study and survey research in two service contexts, they confirm (1) the salience of intimacy and passion as two underrecognized components of customer–firm affection that influence customer loyalty, (2) the complementary and mediating role of customer–firm affection in strengthening customer loyalty, (3) significant affect transfers from the customer–staff to the customer–firm level, and (4) the dilemma that emerges when customer–staff relationships are too close. The findings provide several implications for researchers and managers regarding how intimacy and passion can enrich customer service interactions and how to manage customer–staff relationships properly.
U2 - 10.1509/jmkr.45.6.741
DO - 10.1509/jmkr.45.6.741
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-2437
VL - 45
SP - 741
EP - 756
JO - Journal of Marketing Research
JF - Journal of Marketing Research
IS - 6
ER -