Although researchers and managers pay increasing attention to customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, and switching costs, not much is known about their interrelationships. Prior research has examined the relationships within subsets of these constructs, mainly in the business-toconsumer (B2C) environment. The authors extend prior research by developing a conceptual framework linking all of these constructs in a business-to-business (B2B) service setting. On the basis of the cognition-affect-behavior model, the authors hypothesize that customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between customer value and customer loyalty, and that customer satisfaction and loyalty have significant reciprocal effects on each other. Furthermore, the potential interaction effect of satisfaction and switching costs, and the quadratic effect of satisfaction, on loyalty are explored. The authors test the hypotheses on data obtained from a courier service provider in a B2B context. The results support most of the hypotheses and, in particular, confirm the mediating role of customer satisfaction.

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Although studies have provided evidence that characteristics of the physical environment (servicescape) affect employees' attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction), these studies were limited in the scope of the characteristics they examined. Furthermore, they did not delineate the processes through which (a) the servicescape affects the attitudes and (b) the attitudes generate outcomes beneficial to service firms. Specifically, this research considered the effects of three elements of the servicescape (pleasantness, safety, and convenience) upon service workers' job stress and job satisfaction and, subsequently, their commitment to the organization and referral intentions. The authors developed a model to embody these processes and tested this model by conducting a quasi-experiment with longitudinal data from nurses working in a hospital that added a new wing to its existing facility. Their analysis of responses from the nurses supports the model, and they suggest implications for service firms in managing the servicescape.

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