The effects of stake, satisfaction, and switching on true loyalty: a financial services study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential influence of three drivers of loyalty on the dimensions of loyalty. The three drivers are stake, satisfaction, and the value of switching service providers. The dimensions of loyalty are behavioral response, commitment to the people providing the service, and commitment to the institution. An additional goal is to determine whether this pattern of influence is affected by the age or depth of the service relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of customers was analyzed to test a model using MANOVAs on the overall sample, and sub‐samples created based on age and depth of a financial service relationship. Findings – Overall, all three drivers exhibited differential influence on the three dimensions of loyalty. The behavioral response dimension was influenced by all three drivers. The commitment to people dimension was influenced by stake and satisfaction. The commitment to the institution dimension was influenced by value of switching and satisfaction. Age of the service relationship and depth of the service relationship affected the pattern of influence. Practical implications – Satisfaction is the key driver to develop true loyalty. This is important because true loyalty appears to emerge at a certain point in the relationship and/or with a certain amount of accounts held with a financial institution. It is therefore essential to determine that point in time or accounts held and keep one's best customers past that point in time (and number of accounts). Originality/value – This is the first study to determine the influence and pattern of effect of Value of Switching and Stake on the dimensions of true loyalty.