Too much of a good thing: curvilinear effects in the evaluation of services and the mediating role of trust

• Published in: The Journal of services marketing Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 440 - 450
• Main Authors: Vlachos, Pavlos A, Vrechopoulos, Adam P, Pramatari, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Santa Barbara Emerald Group Publishing Limited 13.09.2011
• Subjects: Brand loyalty; Consumers; Health care industry; Hygiene; Marketing; Multiple trusts; Perceptions; Relationship marketing; Studies; Supermarkets; Economic value; Satisfaction; Supermarkets; Grocery retailing; Trust; Word-of-mouth; Consumer behaviour; Curvilinear mechanisms
• ISSN: 0887-6045; 2054-1651
• DOI: 10.1108/08876041111161032

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.