Relationship marketing and consumer switching behavior

The authors attempt to explain the relationships among relational bonds, customer value, and customer loyalty in three different consumer groups (stayers, dissatisfied switchers, and satisfied switchers) in the retail banking industry. Data were obtained from a sample of 613 Taiwanese bank customers. The findings are threefold. First, for stayers, three types of bonds (financial, social, and structural) improve customer utilitarian and hedonic values, thus leading to enhancement of customer loyalty. Second, for dissatisfied switchers, only the structural bond has a significant impact on customer's utilitarian value, which significantly improves customer loyalty. Third, for satisfied switchers, the social bond significantly affects the hedonic value, whereas the structural bond significantly affects the utilitarian value. Furthermore, both utilitarian and hedonic values have significant effects on customer loyalty. The authors discuss the managerial implications and directions for further research.