Impact of value congruence on affective commitment: examining the moderating effects

Purpose – Value congruence (VC) (the similarity between personal and object‐relevant values (such as a product or service)) rarely appears in studies of services, despite its importance for affective commitment. Existing research also neglects moderator variables. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of VC on affective commitment to service brands and examine the moderating effects of selected psychological, situational, and demographic characteristics in two services contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Four retail clothing brands and four major bank brands provide input for the empirical research. In total, 1,037 respondents completed an online questionnaire with items pertaining to VC, affective commitment, preference for consistency (PFC), switching costs (SC) and demographics. Findings – The positive impact of VC on affective commitment is stronger when the levels of PFC and SC are higher. Demographic characteristics of consumers, including gender, age, and education, do not moderate the effect of VC on affective commitment. Practical implications – Increasing VC for all consumers may not be sufficient to secure consumer affective commitment. Instead, service providers should focus on consumers with high levels of PFC or create situations with high SC. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates how PFC, SC and demographics moderate the relationship between VC and affective commitment.