Satisfaction and word-of-mouth moderated by choice: a service industry perspective

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how the number of choices consumers have influences provider satisfaction, plan satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) in the health insurance industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SmartPLS) was used to conduct multi-group analysis to analyze the structural models. Data were collected online using Amazon mechanical turk, resulting in 425 respondents.

Findings

This study finds that the number of choices consumers have impacts the strength of provider and plan satisfaction and positive WOM. Also, this study finds that provider satisfaction is generally more impactful than plan satisfaction when generating positive WOM.

Originality/value

This study extends reactance theory, satisfaction and WOM based on choice options to the health insurance industry where credence attributes are prevalent and the analysis includes two satisfaction constructs in the structural model, whereas multiple satisfaction constructs are often overlooked.

Citation

Leon, S. and Choi, H. (2020), "Satisfaction and word-of-mouth moderated by choice: a service industry perspective", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 7, pp. 869-881. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-08-2019-3369