Too much of a good thing: curvilinear effects in the evaluation of services and the mediating role of trust
Purpose - The satisfaction-trust paradigm has been recently criticized regarding its ability to deliver positive consumer behavioral outcomes. This study aims to argue that - amongst others - a reason for this unpleasant situation may be the failure of service managers to account for non-linearities...
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Published in | The Journal of services marketing Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 440 - 450 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Santa Barbara
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
13.09.2011
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Purpose - The satisfaction-trust paradigm has been recently criticized regarding its ability to deliver positive consumer behavioral outcomes. This study aims to argue that - amongst others - a reason for this unpleasant situation may be the failure of service managers to account for non-linearities in the satisfaction-trust paradigm.Design methodology approach - The setting for this study was the supermarket retail channel. A total of 942 respondents were "intercepted" in supermarket stores, employing a face-to-face personal interviewing method. For the detection of curvilinear effects the study employed the two-step single indicant method of Ping.Findings - It is posited that consumer trust is an important intervening variable through which non-linear service evaluation effects translate into word-of-mouth. Findings imply that investing resources in satisfaction programs do not do a good job in building positive word-of-mouth from a point on. Economic value evaluations and trust judgments seem to be both necessary and sufficient conditions for building consumer relationships.Research limitations implications - Theoretically, the work extends the relationship marketing research stream suggesting that curvilinear mechanisms are likely present in the well accepted satisfaction-trust paradigm. Limitations of the study relate to the generalization of the findings in other sectors besides grocery retailing and its cross-sectional nature.Practical implications - The findings of this study suggest that relationship marketing managers would be ill-advised in their investment decisions should they use a linear-only terms trust model.Originality value - This article extends the trust literature in that it investigates whether consumer trust suffers from diminishing returns. Service providers who strive to build long-term relationships with their customers may not do a good job if they continue to invest in trust determinants that present diminishing returns to scale. |
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ISSN: | 0887-6045 2054-1651 |
DOI: | 10.1108/08876041111161032 |