Antecedents of customer loyalty in the retailing sector: The impact of switching costs

Abstract

The objective of this work is to propose and test a conceptual framework that considers customer satisfaction, store image, perceived value and switching costs as antecedents of customer loyalty. In addition, we examine the moderating effect of switching costs in the relationship between loyalty and its antecedents. While customer satisfaction, store image and perceived value are important determinants of loyalty, switching costs have the same strong impact on customer loyalty as satisfaction. The findings prove that switching costs have a moderating effect on the relationship between store image and loyalty, as well as between perceived value and loyalty.