Emotional Satisfaction, Service Quality and Loyalty Model in Retail Sector - An Examination

Abstract

This  paper  is  to  develop  and  test  a  conceptual  model  of  the relationship among the constructs of service quality, customer loyalty  and  relationship  quality  and  role  of  emotional satisfaction  in  predicting  customer  loyalty  and  relationship quality  in  retail  industry.  The  study  utilizes  a  review  of literature  to  propose  a  conceptual  model  that  postulates relationship  between  service  quality,  emotional  satisfaction and customer loyalty. A four-item overall service quality scale developed  by  Dabholkar  et  al.  (2000)  was  employed.  The measure  adopted  by  Reynolds  and  Beatty  (1999)  to  capture emotional  satisfaction  as  well  as  four-item  customer  loyalty scale  developed  by  Parasuraman  et  al.  (1994)  was  used.  A retail  chain  departmental  store  of  India  was  chosen  as  the study  site.  The  result  shows  that  service  quality  is  positively associated with both customer loyalty and relationship quality. The  research  provides  valuable  insight  into  the  role  of emotional  satisfaction  in  service  firm  like  retail  experience. Emotional  satisfaction  makes  a  significant  contribution  to  the prediction of customer loyalty and relationship quality.