Incorporating Customer Advocacy in the Customer Satisfaction Model

Abstract

There is a significant research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Fornell, Johnson, Anderson, Cha and Bryant 1996; Aydin and Ozer 2005). But there is limited research relating the concepts of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy. The literature is replete with the satisfaction index studies and their application viz. the ACSI model (Fornell et al. 1996); the European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model, etc. Ball et al. (2004) states that the explanatory power of these models will increase if both the dimensions of customer loyalty i.e. attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty are considered as the ultimate dependent variables in the satisfaction models. However, Urban (2005) states that the advent of newer technologies like the Internet and the easy access to information has enabled the customers to go for informed purchases. Companies are opting to advocate for the customers to build the long term relationships. Urban (2005) states that companies should represent the best interests of the consumers by becoming advocates for them. According to the author, if a company advocates for the best interests of the consumer, they will reciprocate with trust, loyalty and spread positive word-of-mouth for the company. The author terms this as the customer advocacy strategy. This study has incorporated the customer advocacy paradigm of Urban (2005) because the marketing paradigm is shifting from traditional push-based marketing to relationship marketing to trust-based advocacy marketing.A comprehensive model relating the antecedents of customer satisfaction, two dimensional customer loyalty and customer advocacy is proposed and tested empirically in this study which can address this gap in the existing literature.To empirically test the conceptual model and the related hypotheses, a survey method was employed and the model was tested using the partial least square method (PLS) of structural equation modeling. Primary data were collected for this study by using structured questionnaire. The respondents were requested to choose their most frequently used mobile phone service provider. Their perception regarding the most frequently used mobile service provider was elicited. The respondents were requested to answer questions on an eleveninstruments of the constructs used in the study. Data was collected between June 2009 to November 2009 using a questionnaire survey in cities of Hyderabad and Kolkata in India using snowball sampling technique. Unidimensionality of the constructs used in the study was examined using factor analysis. The research model in the study was estimated using SmartPLS 2 (Ringle, Wende, and Will 2005). The constructs were found to have adequate reliability and validity. The results of hypotheses indicated that: path coefficients between customer expectation and perceived quality; customer expectation and customer satisfaction are insignificant; between customer expectation and perceived value is significant; between perce...

Pengurusan Kontrak Melalui Teori Remedi

“…Taniaji & Puspitasari The Influence of Brand Image and Brand Personality on Brand Loyalty, Mediating by Brand Trust: An Empirical Study 2012; Sondoh et al 2007) while others did not(Roy & Chakraborti 2015;Zhang et al 2014). There are a limited number of inquiries that have examined the relationship between brand image and brand loyalty in automobile brands.…”

Linking home–work interface, work engagement and psychological capital to customer advocacy

“…Exploring the predictors of work engagement and the PsyCap level of the liquid workforce and its impact on customer (patient) advocacy will provide a new avenue to keep liquid workers positive and engaged while embracing the best interests of the customer (Shaheen et al, 2017;Roy and Chakraborti, 2015). This not only advances the literature of work engagement and PsyCap, but also suggests the measures needed for keeping the liquid workforce engaged, positive and resilient towards the volatile, stressful and demanding nature of the healthcare sector.…”

“…Past studies have confirmed that customer advocacy behaviours create conducive environment, where customers are willing to pay extra for the services rendered, buy other products/services of the company, advise other customers in favour of the company's products/services and help the company in designing better products/services (Roy, 2013). Furthermore, Roy and Chakraborti (2015) stated that such a strategy positively impacts the retention rate of existing customers, the acquisition cost of new customers and the firm's performance.…”

“…The interface between employees and patients is highly critical for the success of healthcare organisations as it is the employees who are required to go beyond the requirements of their job to represent the best interests of the patients by providing them truthful and transparent information about healthcare services (Shaheen et al, 2017). The prosocial, transparent and compassionate behaviours of healthcare employees can win over the hearts and encourage faith in patients (Shaheen et al, 2017) who then become advocates for the employees and their organisations (Alrubaiee and Alkaa'ida, 2011;Roy and Chakraborti, 2015;Roy, 2013). When the patients become an advocate, they will not only continue to use the healthcare services from the same organisations, but also will recommend, advise and spread positive the word-of-mouth to friends, family or others who are looking for similar kinds of services (Alrubaiee and Alkaa'ida, 2011;Roy, 2013).…”

“…However, the authors have not examined the intention of employees to become true representatives and advocates of the customers. In today's dynamic and competitive environment, one of the ways to compete and remain sustainable is to retain customers, which is possible only when they are kept closer to the organisation through advocacy (Roy and Chakraborti, 2015). Thus, this study endeavours to understand the antecedents of the prosocial behaviours of employees towards customers and the ways in which employees act as patient advocates and help them in selecting the best healthcare services available.…”