Personal characteristics as moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty?an empirical analysis

Abstract

Previous empirical research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty has largely neglected the issue of moderator variables. In a consumer-durables context the authors analyze the moderating effect of selected personal characteristics on the satisfaction–loyalty link. The empirical findings, which are based on multiple-group causal analysis, show that the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty is strongly influenced by characteristics of the customer. Specifically, variety seeking, age, and income are found to be important moderators of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.