• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.158-164
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the structural relationship between customer's pleasure, customer satisfaction, switching cost, and relationship commitment using the fitness center and provide implications. Specifically, this study aims to investigate the effect of the degree of customer's awareness of pleasure on the relationship commitment through the medium of customer satisfaction and switching cost. For this purpose, the structural equation model was constructed based on the previous studies, and the exogenous variables were pleasure, and the endogenous variables were customer satisfaction, switching costs and relationship commitment. The subjects of this study were customers who used fitness centers in the metropolitan area. The sampling method for the sample survey was a total of 277 people using convenience sampling. 257 copies were used as final data except for 20 samples that were not appropriate for the study. The statistical program for data analysis was IBM SPSS Ver. 26.0 and Amos 21.0. The specific data processing method is as follows: First, frequency analysis was conducted to understand the general characteristics of the subjects. In order to verify the validity and reliability of the research tools, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted. In order to understand the theoretical relationship between each variable, structural equation model was conducted. The results of data processing on the research model are as follows: First, the pleasure of the fitness center customers had a positive effect on customer satisfaction. Second, customer satisfaction had a positive effect on the switching costs. Third, customer satisfaction had a positive effect on the customer commitment. Fourth, switching costs had a positive effect on customer commitment.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.45-71
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• 2012

The purpose of the study is to propose the plans promoting IS acceptances under the circumstances where the IS usage is semi-mandatory. Since the IS usage is critical to secure the organization's competitiveness, many researchers have endeavored to investigate the factors in promoting IS acceptance. While TAM(Technology Acceptance Model) has been generally applied under the voluntary circumstance, under the mandatory circumstance did many researchers come to realized the limit of applying the TAM on IS acceptance. This resulted in various research trials to identify the IS acceptance under the mandatory circumstance. However, no research to promoting IS acceptance under the recommend circumstance where the corresponding users are recommend to the IS rather than alternative systems exits. The study applied the concept of switching costs to the research model, identified users' acceptance variations, and finally proposed the promotion plans for IS acceptance. The findings illustrate that IS dependence levels tend to be increased when both user satisfactions from a psychological perspective and monetary benefits from an economic perspective make the switching costs higher. The study stresses that organizations should provide information systems which reduce users' time, costs, and endeavors in performing their tasks, rather than require to use them by compulsion.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.219-243
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• 2004

Generally, electricity market has monopoly market structure because of need of enormous investment for infrastructure. However, the introduction of competition in network industry as electricity is a tendency of the world with decreasing the effects of economy of scale due to the advancement of technology. Now, electricity industry restructuring is in progress but the competition in electricity retail market is not in force yet in Korea. Whether a effective competition exist or not is very important to policy decision maker who drive restructuring, but there are small numbers of quantitative researches on that. In this study, we estimated the effectiveness of competition in the electricity retail market through switching costs. If switching costs are high, consumers actually can be locked in incumbent firm in spite of introduction of competition. Therefore switching is a critical factor to determine effectiveness of competition and to estimate the size of switching costs quantitatively can proffer the information about whether the competition in the electricity retail market is effective or not in the future. We estimated switching costs using consumer' stated-preference data by conjoint analysis. In according to estimation results, the cost of switching process is not so high, but the relative brand loyalty of an incumbent company is significantly high. And the price is considered as the most important factor choosing an electric service commodity. Based on the empirical results, it is possible to analyze the relationship between suppliers' competitiveness resulted from management efficiency and customers' switching possibilities. The paper therefore provides guidance for suppliers in deciding to enter into retail competition and for policy makers in introducing retail competition. And it has a significance of estimating the switching costs directly.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.179-222
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• 2011

This research investigates the influence of relational characteristics on 'co-defection', customer defection following salesperson turnover, in the context of salesperson-customer relationship. Based on the social exchange theory, it was hypothesized that perceived relational benefits and switching costs affect directly the customer's intentions to defect. Key constructs in relationship marketing such as customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty were hypothesized to affect the customer's intention to defect as well as perceived relational benefits and switching costs. The results of structural equation modeling using a survey sample of 503 insurance customers who purchased life insurance policies through salespersons unveiled that the customer satisfaction with salesperson and the customer trust in salesperson strongly influence the salesperson-owned customer loyalty. However, they did not have significant direct effects on co-defection intentions. All paths from salesperson-owned customer loyalty to perceived relational benefits and perceived switching costs were also significant. Salesperson-owned customer loyalty did not have significant direct effects on co-defection intentions, but it had significant indirect effects on co-defection intentions through relational benefits and switching costs. Three sub-dimensions of perceived relational benefits had significant positive effects on co-defection intentions while the perceived switching costs had significant negative effects on co-defection intentions. The significance of our research findings were verified by comparing the hypothesized model and the rival model in the past studies.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2005

The object of this study is to explore factors affecting customer satisfaction and customer loyalty of instant messenger service. We propose that service qualities (tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability) affect customer satisfaction of instant messenger service, customer satisfactions do customer loyalty. As moderating factors of the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, switching costs are suggested. To accomplish the object of this study data are collected from instant messenger user by survey research. We analyse the research model using structural equation model and moderated multiple regression. The result are as follows: (1) tangibility and responsiveness affect customer satisfaction. (2) customer satisfaction affects customer loyalty. (3) switching costs moderated the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.935-945
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• 2003

This study attempts to understand perceived switching barriers of customers and fashion stores service quality as a core of store loyalty. Medium variations of switching barriers are interpersonal relationships, attractiveness of alternatives and switching costs. Date were collected from 485 subjects who finished their shopping with a self-administered questionnaire. The results were as follows: 1. Classified service quality of clothing stores into 4 ways: VMD of stores or atmosphere, store policy which are involved in store service, sales persons respond and sales persons conviction which are involved in sales service. 2. Service quality of fashion stores is related with switching barrier medium variations. 3. Service quality have an influence on switching barrier medium variations. Its mutual influences increase switching barriers and it gets to be related to the store loyalty. 4. Compared influences of variations to store loyalty between the H department store and the L department store which are research objects. The main difference is that the H department store evaluated personal relationships among service quality, customers and sales persons high compared with the L department store. As the results showed, service quality consists of store service of nonpersonal service area and sales service of personal service. Service quality is related with interpersonal relationships, attractiveness of alternatives and switching costs. It also affects switching barriers and store loyalty.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.453-465
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• 2012

The major purpose of this study is to examine the effects of customers' perceptions toward service quality of mobile music service on customer loyalty and switching intention. For this purpose, this study posited three service quality characteristics including interface, service, price quality as key determinants of customer loyalty and switching intention based on relevant literature reviews. A research model and hypotheses concerning the relationship between these variables were constructed. Moreover, this study explored the moderating effects of attractiveness of alternative and switching costs on the relationship between customer loyalty and switching intention. An online survey was administrated on 433 mobile music service users and a simple, multiple, and hierarchical regression analysis were employed. The results indicated that all of interface, service, price quality have significant positive influences on customer loyalty, and both of service quality and attractiveness of alternatives have influences on the switching intention in a positive way. On the other way, it was shown that switching costs have a negative influence on the switching intention. The moderating effect of attractiveness of alternatives on the relationship between customer loyalty and switching intention was also found. The implications of these results are discussed.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.61-85
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• 2018

Open innovation is based on a different knowledge landscape, with a different logic about the sources and uses of technologies. It implies that firms increasingly rely on external sources of innovation by emphasizing these ideas and resources. Using datasets from the UK biotechnology industry, this paper explores firms' willingness to participate in open innovation. The results indicate that the switching cost is identified as the direct predictor of the willingness to participate in open innovation. While high commitment based on the trust with partner increases switching costs, IT infrastructure within the firm decreases switching costs to open innovation. Taken together, this research broadens the study on open innovation by applying the switching cost as a medium of knowledge transfer in the biotech industry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.341-356
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• 2007

We study factors that affect consumers' switching behaviors among service providers in Korean mobile telecommunications service market. For empirical analysis, quarterly time series data from the first quarter of 2004 through the second quarter of 2007 were used. We chose the number of switchers to each mobile service provider in each quarter as dependent variables. Independent variables include acquisition costs per subscriber, which play the role of subsidy to mobile handset, switching costs, time trend, structural change effect, and standby demand effects. Through the empirical analysis, we found that different providers' churn-in customers are affected by different factors. Specifically, the number of chum-in customers into SK Telecom is explained mainly by SK Telecom's customer acquisition costs and standby demand from KTF, while the number of customers switching into KTF is better explained by switching costs from the previous service provider and standby demand from SK Telecom. Those who chose LG Telecom as their new provider, on the other hand, were mainly attracted by LG Telecom's high subscriber acquisition cost.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.79-88
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• 2012

Purpose - The objective of this paper is to suggest that a company's CRM activities have an effect on customer loyalty in the Korean retail industry. Typically, Korean customers use large local marts with convenience in the absence of any other choice. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the fact that customers do not break away from their preferred retail stores, either owing to their stringent loyalty (the lie loyalty) or difficulty in turning to alternative choices. Research design, data, methodology - By surveying a sample of 200 hyper-markets through a questionnaire, and excluding dubious and missing responses, I obtained 181 samples to be included in the empirical analysis. The survey was conducted for two weeks during October 2011. AMOS and SPSS18 statistical packages were used for conducting statistical analysis for this study. This paper was developed using the concept of customer equity on CRM, which is known to have a positive impact on customer loyalty through the satisfaction and switching-barrier parameters. The hypothesis of this paper is that customer equity is composed of relationship equity, value equity and brand equity, and that the relationship equity variable has positive effects on the value equity and brand equity amongst other types of customer equity. Moreover, customer equity influences customer loyalty through parameters including customer satisfaction and switching costs in the Korean retail industry. Results - According to the results of the analysis, it was confirmed that relationship value had a positive effect (+) on all variables, including the perceived QoS (Quality of Service), store brand images, economic value, and store convenience. It was also confirmed that the assumption that the perceived QoS (Quality of Service), economic value, and store convenience had a positive effect on customer satisfaction was shown to be statistically significant, with a p-value below 0.05. Only the store brand value variable had an effect on the switching-cost variable with respect to the causal sequence of the variables, including the perceived QoS, store brand value, economic value, and store convenience. The remaining variables did not seem to influence the switching-cost variable. On the other hand, another effect showed that customer satisfaction had a statistically significant influence on the switching-costs variable. Moreover, the customer satisfaction and switching-cost variables also had a statistical influence on customer loyalty. Conclusions - The CRM activities had an influence on various variables (including perceived QoS, perceived economic value, store brand value, and store convenience) pertaining to customer values. Customer satisfaction and switching-cost had some effects on customer loyalty as a parameter. This confirms that stringent loyalty exists with respect to customer loyalty in the retail industry. The fact that the variable had such a statistically significant influence on the switching-cost and store brand equity variables means that consumers react to the reputation of a brand, confidence about the store, and quality confidence. The implications of this study in the retail industry should be further extended to devise strategies for customer retention.