Strengthening Customer Loyalty through Intimacy and Passion: Roles of Customer–Firm Affection and Customer–Staff Relationships in Services

May combine two claims.

Postings about high-involvement categories tend to reveal relatively high commitment, whereas postings about low-involvement categories are relatively higher in passion, though both achieve similar ratings on intimacy.

“Postings about high-involvement categories tend to reveal relatively high commitment, whereas those about low-involvement categories are relatively higher in passion, though both achieve similar ratings on intimacy.3”

May combine two claims.

H1a is supported in both service contexts and H1b is supported in the hair salon context.

“Overall, H 1a in both service contexts and H 1b in the hair salon context are supported.”

May combine two claims.

The difference in the path from staff trust to firm trust between hair salons and fast food is not significant (χ2 diff(1)=.10, p>.10), so H3c is not supported.

“This difference is not significant (χ 2 diff. (1) = .10,p > .10),so H 3c .isnot supported.”

May combine two claims.

Customers' trust and loyalty toward staff directly influence their firm trust and firm loyalty, respectively, with one exception.

“Consistent with our hypotheses, customers' trust and loyalty toward the staff directly influence their firm trust and loyalty, respectively, with one exception.”

May combine two claims.

Customer-firm affection complements satisfaction and trust in affecting customer loyalty, and each exerts significant direct effects.

“First, customer-firm affection complements satisfaction and trust in affecting customer loyalty; each exerts significant direct effects.”

May combine two claims.

Of all mediation tests in both contexts, only the effect of customer satisfaction on firm loyalty in fast food indicates full mediation by customer-firm affection; the remaining tests indicate partial mediation.

“Of all the mediation tests in both service contexts, only one (effect of customer satisfaction on firm loyalty in the fast food context) implies a full mediation effect of customer-firm affection; the remaining test results suggest a partial mediating effect (see the Web Appendix for details).”

May combine two claims.

The extant model of customer-firm and customer-staff relationships is confirmed in both service contexts, except the direct effect of staff trust on staff loyalty is not significant in fast food.

“Our results confirm the extant model of customer-firm and customer-staff relationships in both service contexts, except that the direct effect of staff trust on staff loyalty is not significant in the fast food context, though it fits our hypothesized direction.”

May combine two claims.

Service quality perceptions and customer satisfaction, along with social rapport with staff, significantly contribute to trust development, which significantly impacts customer loyalty and share of purchase.

“service quality perceptions and customer satisfaction built through product and service experience, parallel with the personal relationship developed through social rapport with staff, significantly contribute to the development of trust, which has a significant impact on customer loyalty (and share of purchase).”

May combine two claims.

No significant gender differences exist between male and female subsamples except customer-firm affection in fast food (female 3.30 > male 3.16, p<.10) and staff loyalty in hair salon (female 3.62 > male 3.39, p<.05).

“The results indicate no significant differences between male and female subsamples, except for customer-firm affection in the fast food restaurant context ( female (3.30) > male (3.16), p < .10)and staff loyalty in the hair salon context ( female (3.62) > male (3.39), p <.05 ).”

May combine two claims.

Customer-staff relations affect customer-firm relations in hair salon but not fast food.

“customer-staff relations affect customer-firm relations in the hair salon but not the fast food context”

May combine two claims.

Nested model comparisons yielded the same results as the regression analyses, supporting the proposed partially mediated model.

“The results are the same as those revealed by regressions, in support of our proposed partially mediated model.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Both attachment theory and Sternberg's love theory treat people's affectionate bonds with people, objects, or brands as multifaceted, with intimacy and passion as core elements.

“In summary, both attachment theory and Sternberg's love theory define people's affectionate bonds with people, objects, or brands as a multifaceted construct with intimacy (connectedness) and passion as its core elements.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Sternberg's triangular theory of love defines love as having three constituent components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.

“Sternberg (1986Sternberg ( , 1988) ) synthesizes previous attempts and defines love according to three constituent components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.”

• cites Sternberg 1986 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Sternberg 1988Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

In transactional services, staff play a minor role and provide less salient service quality indicators; these services focus on exchange outcomes and involve lower interdependence.

“In contrast, staff plays a relatively minor role and provides less salient indicators of service quality in transactional services, which tend to focus on exchange outcomes and involve lower interdependence levels (Macneil 1980).”

• cites Macneil 1980Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

If customer-staff relations dominate, a potential hostage situation emerges in which service staff can kidnap customers.

“However, if customer-staff relations dominate, a potential”

• cites Bendapudi and Leone 2002 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Most services can be classified along a relational-transactional continuum.

“Most services can be classified along a relational-transactional continuum (Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987;Macneil 1980).”

• cites Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Macneil 1980Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Extant research suggests building models that contain distinctive, separate consumer evaluation processes of service employees and firms.

“In summary, extant research suggests we must build models that contain distinctive, separate consumer evaluation processes of service employees and firms.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Consumption affect includes both positive and negative feelings.

“In contrast, consumption affect includes both positive and negative (e.g., distress) feelings (Westbrook and Oliver 1991).”

• cites Westbrook and Oliver 1991 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Hairstyling involves interactions and customization, compels intimacy, and requires cooperative actions and adjustments by both parties who share benefits and burdens and feel motivation to engage further.

“Hairstyling involves interactions and customization, compels intimacy (McCracken 1995), and requires cooperative actions and adjustments by both parties, who then share the benefits and burdens of the exchange and feel motivation to engage further.”

• cites McCracken 1995Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

If an employee leaves the firm, the customer may leave with them, and firms have limited responses.

“If the employee leaves the firm, the customer may leave with him or her (Bendapudi and Leone 2002), and firms have limited responses.”

• cites Bendapudi and Leone 2002 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Customers who are passionate about firms have substantially lower attrition rates and higher spending levels than those who are not.

“Fleming, Coffman, and Harter (2005) report, on the basis of case studies of a large U.S. retail bank and a Japanese luxury retailer, that customers who are passionate about firms have substantially lower attrition rates and higher spending levels than those who are not.”

• cites Fleming, Coffman, and Harter 2005Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

As interdependence and commitment grow, customers ignore other alternatives, willingly sacrifice for the relationship, and display prorelationship behaviors.

“Second, as interdependence and commitment grow, customers ignore other alternatives, willingly sacrifice for the relationship, and display prorelationship behaviors (Gonzaga et al. 2001).”

• cites Gonzaga et al. 2001 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Bowen cites hair salons and fast food restaurants as exemplary of the first and third groups, respectively.

“Bowen cites hair salons and fast food restaurants as exemplary of the first and third groups, respectively.”

• cites Bowen 1990 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Customer-firm affection is an affectionate, enduring bond often formed through multiple favorable experiences and interactions.

“First, customer-firm affection reflects an affectionate, enduring bond, often formed through multiple favorable experiences and interactions.”

May combine two claims.

Consumers attribute staff behavior to firm management, so better service prompts consumers to give credit to the firm, facilitating affect transfer across customer-staff and customer-firm levels.

“Moreover, according to attribution theory, consumers attribute the staff's behavior to firm management (Bitner, Booms, and Tetrault 1990), so better service prompts consumers to give credit to the firm, which facilitates affect transfer across the customer-staff and customer-firm levels.”

• cites Bitner, Booms, and Tetrault 1990 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Fast food is often standardized with limited customer contact and attracts customers through price, speed, consistency, and convenient location.

“Fast food is often standardized with limited customer contact (Bowen 1990) and thus attracts customers with price, speed of service, consistency, and convenient location (Kasdan 1996).”

• cites Bowen 1990 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Kasdan 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

In retail sales, there is a need to distinguish relationship selling from relationship marketing because the former accrues benefits to staff, perhaps at the expense of the firm.

“In retail sales, Beatty and colleagues (1996) confirm the need to distinguish between relationship selling (i.e., locking customer and sales associate together) and relationship marketing (i.e., connecting customer to firm), because the former accrues benefits to the staff, perhaps at the expense of the firm.”

• cites Beatty and colleagues 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Customer-firm affection represents positive feelings, with its lower bound defined as the absence of any particular feelings for a service firm.

“Fourth, customer-firm affection represents positive feelings; its lower bound is defined as the absence of any particular feelings for a service firm (Shimp and Madden 1988).”

• cites Shimp and Madden 1988Not checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Customers develop love-like attachments to a service firm when the firm enables them to define or express themselves, whereas consumption affect requires no such condition.

“Second, customers develop”

May combine two claims.

Relational services focus on the exchange process and require higher interdependence.

“Second, relational services focus on the exchange process and thus require higher levels of interdependence (Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987;Macneil 1980).”

• cites Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Macneil 1980Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

Customer-firm affection consists of three components whose different combinations result in distinctively different types of love.

“Third, though all three constructs are multidimensional, customer-firm affection consists of three components, whose different combinations result in distinctively different types of love (Sternberg 1988), unlike either satisfaction or consumption affect.”

• cites Sternberg 1988Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

Relational services require longer duration, help customers understand firm aims and operations, and prompt stronger commitment.

“Relational services demand longer duration, help customers gain a better understanding of the aims and operations of the firm, and prompt stronger commitment (Hut and Speh 1995).”

• cites Hut and Speh 1995Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Consumers form dual trust and loyalty toward frontline employees and firm policies and practices.

“Sirdeshmukh, Singh, and Sabol (2002) take this perspective further and propose that consumers form dual trust and loyalty toward frontline employees and firm policies and practices.”

• cites Sirdeshmukh, Singh, and Sabol 2002 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

The netnography study achieved a very high level of interrater reliability (> .90) among judges.

“Third, the two judges independently and formally coded the remaining 190 postings and reached a very high level of interrater reliability (> .90).”

May combine two claims.

For hair salon, exploratory factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution explaining 72.89% of variance, with all items loading on appropriate factor except firm trust and employee trust, which load on same factor.

“For the hair salon, the results indicate a five-factor solution that explains 72.89% of the variance, with all items loading on the appropriate factor except for firm trust and employee trust, which load on the same factor.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

The salience of intimacy indicates that firms must restrategize or redesign their customer-staff interactions.

“The salience of intimacy indicates that firms must restrategize or redesign their customer-staff interactions”

May combine two claims.

Consumers of relational services experience commitment-dominant customer-firm affection, whereas consumers of transactional services develop passion-dominant customer-firm affection.

“Consumers of relational services experience commitment-dominant customer-firm affection, whereas those of transactional services develop passion-dominant customer-firm affection.”

• Also stated in: § DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS · hedged

  “As to the nature of customer-firm affection, relational services tend to be commitment driven, whereas transactional services are more passion driven.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Customers in transactional services have lower involvement and seek more variety to fulfill excitement-seeking motivations.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

The cumulative satisfaction measure has proved a valid indicator of a firm's past, current, and future performance.

“We use a cumulative approach to measure customer satisfaction, which has proved a valid indicator of a firm's past, current, and future performance (Bitner and Hubbert 1994).”

• cites Bitner and Hubbert 1994 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

For fast food, exploratory factor analysis yielded a six-factor solution explaining 71.47% of variance, with all items loading on appropriate factor; two crossloadings > .35 were deleted.

“For fast food, the results indicate a six-factor solution that explains 71.47% of the variance, and all items load on the appropriate factor; the two crossloadings greater than .35are deleted from further analysis.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

All measures were professionally translated through back translation between Chinese and English to ensure conceptual equivalence.

“All measures were professionally translated through back translation (Chinese and English) to ensure conceptual equivalence.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The contention that referral is a strong indicator of loyalty intentions remains controversial.

“the contention that referral is a strong indicator of loyalty intentions remains controversial”

• cites Reichheld (2003)Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• cites Morgan and Rego (2006) sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

All factor loadings are highly significant, composite reliabilities exceed .75, and AVE estimates except hair salon firm trust exceed .50, demonstrating adequate convergent validity and reliability.

“All factor loadings are highly significant (p < .001),composite reliabilities of all constructs are greater than .75, and all variance extracted (AVE) estimates (except hair salon firm trust) are greater than .50(Fornell and Larcker 1981); therefore, the measures demonstrate adequate convergent validity and reliability.”

• cites Fornell and Larcker 1981Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

The measurement models fit the data well and demonstrate adequate reliability, good convergent validity, and acceptable discriminant validity.

“In summary, the measurement models fit the data well and demonstrate adequate reliability, good convergent, and acceptable discriminant validity.”

May combine two claims.

The consistent salience of the proposed causal paths suggests the model is reasonably parsimonious and there are more commonalities across services than may be realized.

“Although the size of the coefficients may differ because of the contexts, their consistent salience suggests that our model is reasonably parsimonious and that there are more commonalities across services than we may realize.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Morgan and Rego (2006) found that referral intention or behavior metrics have little or no predictive value for future business performance.

“Morgan and Rego (2006) find that metrics based on referral intentions or behaviors have little or no predictive value for future business performance.”

• cites Morgan and Rego (2006) sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Customers develop loyalty to a hair salon because of loyalty to hairstylists, who are prominent firm agents and whose performance is a key service characteristic; in fast food, staff play a minor role and contribute less to service quality.

“Customers develop a loyalty to a hair salon because of their loyalty to hairstylists, who function as prominent firm agents and whose performance represents a key characteristic of the service, but in fast food contexts, staff plays a minor role and contributes less to service quality.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Service staff in relational services are prominent firm agents and their performance is a key service characteristic.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

The questionnaire items were pretested and modified with a sample of 35 consumers.

“We pretested and modified the questionnaire items with a sample of 35 consumers.”

May combine two claims.

Chi-square difference tests for all construct pairs showed the restricted model was significantly worse than the freely estimated model, supporting discriminant validity.

“All chi-square differences are significant, in support of discriminant validity.”

May combine two claims.

Relational services (hair salons) exhibit a greater amount of customer-firm affection than transactional services (fast food), with more intimate, passionate, and committed relationships, though the passion difference is not significant.

“which suggests that customers maintain more intimate, passionate, and committed relationships with hair salons than fast food restaurants”

• Also stated in: § DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS · plain

  “In general, relational services exhibit a greater amount of affection than do transactional services.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Customers in transactional services have lower involvement and seek more variety to fulfill excitement-seeking motivations.

May combine two claims.

The measurement model of customer-firm affection achieved good fit for fast food and adequate fit for hair salon.

“The measurement model of the construct achieves a good fit, and the GFI, CFI, and IFI of the measurement model for fast food (χ 2 (17) = 54; p < .01)are .96,.97,and .97,respectively.For the hair salon (χ 2 (17) = 48; p < .01), the model demonstrates adequate fit: GFI = .97,CFI = .98,and IFI = .98.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Firms' simultaneous intentions to standardize services and develop good social rapport may backfire.

“Firms' intentions to standardize services and develop good social rapport simultaneously may backfire.”

May combine two claims.

The customer-firm affection measure has adequate reliability and validity.

“Overall, the measure of customer-firm affection possesses adequate reliability and validity.”

May combine two claims.

The non-significant staff loyalty to firm loyalty effect in fast food is reasonable because staff play a relatively minor role and are less salient service quality indicators for fast food than hairstyling.

“This result is reasonable because staffs play a relatively minor role and represent less salient indicators of service quality for fast food than for hairstyling services.”

May combine two claims.

All constructs in fast food and most in hair salon pass all three discriminant validity tests, and all pass at least two.

“In conclusion, all constructs in the fast food and most constructs in the hair salon contexts pass all three tests of discriminant validity, and all of them pass at least two tests.”