Emotional experiences in customer relationships – a telecommunication study
International Journal of Service Industry Management
ISSN: 0956-4233
Article publication date: 20 June 2008
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at deepening understanding of the role of emotion in customer switching processes and identifying the relative frequency of negative discrete emotions in terms of different triggers.
Design/methodology/approach
Customers of Swedish telecommunications services were interviewed about their switching processes. The interviews were analyzed according to switching path analysis technique, which divides relationships into different stages in accordance with their relevance to the relationship strength. The ultimate focus is on self‐reported emotions embedded in the switching process.
Findings
The main finding was that the identified emotions were located in the trigger part of the relationship, and was expressed by the respondents during the switching process in form of annoyance, anxiety, disappointment, dissatisfaction, distress, depression, rage, stress and tension.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical study is conducted within the telecom industry which may influence the switching frequency because of the deregulations in the beginning of this decade. This interpretation of valence and activation was based on theoretical assumptions about where various discrete emotions are located on a continuum.
Originality/value
The paper offers insight into the role of emotion in customer relationship.
Keywords
Citation
Roos, I. and Friman, M. (2008), "Emotional experiences in customer relationships – a telecommunication study", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 281-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230810874986
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited