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Sense or Sensibility?: How Commitment Mediates the Role of Self-Service Technology on Loyalty

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Book cover Self-Service in the Internet Age

Part of the book series: Computer Supported Cooperative Work ((CSCW))

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Abstract

It has been well documented that employing self-service technology (SST) results in considerable cost savings but few studies have examined its impact on consumers’ behavior. We apply a well-recognized model from the field of services marketing in an SST context. We examine how the established relationships between satisfaction, affective and calculative commitments, and loyalty are affected when the service is provided through a technology interface as opposed to service personnel. We then present two alternative perspectives on the role of SST. The first is based on the predominant assumption that SST is a moderator of the relationship between customer loyalty and its drivers, while the other rests on the assumption that SST is just another context and that its role in affecting customer loyalty is mediated by drivers of loyalty. A cross-sectional study conducted in the banking industry shows that SST does not change everything. The classical model of how customers evaluate services and the predictors of loyalty are replicated in the SST setting. Interestingly, SST does not have a direct influence on loyalty by itself but its effects are mediated by commitment. However, it is the affective commitment that is more important in forming loyalty toward the service provider.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer at the Norwegian School of Management-BI for its help in providing the data that made this study possible.

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  1. BI Norwegian School of Management, Oslo, Norway

    Sangeeta Singh

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  1. Sangeeta Singh
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  2. Line Lervik Olsen
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Correspondence to Sangeeta Singh .

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    © 2009 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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    Singh, S., Olsen, L.L. (2009). Sense or Sensibility?: How Commitment Mediates the Role of Self-Service Technology on Loyalty. In: Sudweeks, F., Romm Livermore, C., Oliver, D. (eds) Self-Service in the Internet Age. Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-207-4_11

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-207-4_11

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    • Publisher Name: Springer, London

    • Print ISBN: 978-1-84800-206-7

    • Online ISBN: 978-1-84800-207-4

    • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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