Service quality and satisfaction in business‐to‐business services

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the effects of service quality and service satisfaction on intention in a business‐to‐business setting.

Design/methodology/approach

This research addresses three unanswered questions regarding satisfaction and service quality: the distinction between customer satisfaction and perceived service quality; their causal ordering; and their relative impact on intentions. The data were collected using a large survey of buyers in a business setting.

Findings

The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that service quality has a larger impact on intentions than does customer satisfaction. The results also show that the effects of individual transactions on intentions are mediated by corresponding cumulative constructs.

Research limitations/implications

The primary implications for theory include demonstrating the distinction between satisfaction and service quality; specifying, based on theory and logic, the causal ordering between transaction constructs and cumulative constructs, and between service quality and satisfaction; and assessing their relative impact on behavioral intentions.

Originality/value

The results show that one negative transaction outcome may not be sufficient to cause the customer to switch if the cumulative levels are sufficiently positive. Thus, a negative outcome may be discounted by the user if it is seen as a unique occurrence. However, a series of successive negative transaction outcomes may cause the cumulative constructs to become less positive, resulting in lower intentions to repurchase from the same supplier.

Citation

Spreng, R.A., Hui Shi, L. and Page, T.J. (2009), "Service quality and satisfaction in business‐to‐business services", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 537-548. https://doi.org/10.1108/08858620910999411