HUMAN OBSERVATION PAPER

Human Observation Paper

Human Observation Paper

Introduction

One of the basic models to explain purchase intention and/or behavior in a non-contractual customer-firm relationship is the Satisfaction-Profit Chain or Relationship Quality Model (RQ): high levels of relationship quality result in accordingly high levels of purchase intention and behavior (Reichheld, 1996). Many authors have used relationship quality concepts such as trust (e.g. Morgan and Hunt, 1994), commitment (e.g. Pritchard et al., 1999) and satisfaction (e.g. Zeithaml et al., 1996) as antecedents of behavioral intention. Research does confirm the intuitive impact of these antecedents of relationship quality on behavioral intentions (e.g., Ebner et al., 2002).

The Relationship Quality Model

Anderson and Mittal (2000) have defined the most commonly used approach to predict customer behavior in customer-firm relationship contexts as the Satisfaction-Profit Chain. It is a chain of variables influencing each other, starting with product/service satisfaction, over overall/ relationship satisfaction, with additional influences of commitment and trust, onto purchasing/loyalty intentions and finally to behavior and profit (Reichheld, 1996).

Research method and data collection

Research method

The study uses a combination of behavioral and survey data gathered from a sample of customers from a Belgian apparel retailer. This retailer operates 71 shops throughout Belgium, situated in peripheral areas in cities and villages, and in the low- to mid-price range. The database provided by the retailer contains data on the buying behavior of all its customers between February 2004 and July 2004 (summer season). Variables measured include: amount spent, number of visits to a store, and number of different product types bought. Also the buying history of these customers is included. Data on the length of the relationship, buying frequency and monetary value are available for ten seasons.

During a 4-day period in February 2004 (beginning of the summer season) a questionnaire was distributed to consumers visiting 12 of the 71 stores of the retailer, selected to be a representative sample of the total range of shops. The shops are equally distributed over the country, located nearby cities as well as on the countryside, and large shops as well as smaller shops in terms of turnover are included. During this four-day period 1753 customers bought at least one item in one of the twelve shops, and the researchers distributed 2306 questionnaires. Evidently, there are more visitors than buyers. The fact that the number of questionnaires is 32% higher than the number of buyers indicates that the vast majority of visitors received a questionnaire. They also received a letter, stressing the academic nature of the study, and a prepaid response envelope. Nine-hundred and sixty customers returned the questionnaire, a response rate of 42%. As this recruitment method could have resulted in an overrepresentation of frequent customers of the retailer, the team made a selection of 2500 additional customers, classified by the retailer as 'cold customers'. They only had spent an amount ranging from 0 to 50 euro in the preceding winter season (August 2003-January 2004). They received exactly the same questionnaire by mail. Two-hundred and sixty-six customers returned a completed questionnaire (response ...