Antecedents of customer loyalty in residential energy markets: Service quality, satisfaction, trust and switching costs

A conceptual framework is proposed that analyses the effect of perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, trust in the energy provider and perceived switching costs on customer loyalty in residential energy markets. Three distinct dimensions of perceived service quality are identified: techni...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Apaolaza Ibáñez, Vanesa, Hartmann, Patrick, Zorrilla Calvo, María Pilar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/64392
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/64392
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:energy markets
perceived service quality
customer satisfaction
customer loyalty
Descripción
Sumario:A conceptual framework is proposed that analyses the effect of perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, trust in the energy provider and perceived switching costs on customer loyalty in residential energy markets. Three distinct dimensions of perceived service quality are identified: technical quality of core services, technical quality of peripheral services and service process quality (functional service quality). The proposed model is tested within the scope of a representative survey of Spanish residential energy customers. Regarding the dimensions of service quality, the results indicate significant effects only of service process quality on satisfaction and, indirectly, on customer loyalty. Loyalty effects of further variables in the model are significant.