The Impact of Service Satisfaction, Relational Satisfaction and Commitment on Customer Loyalty in Logistics Outsourcing Relationship

Abstract

This research explores the impact of service satisfaction, relational satisfaction, price satisfaction, and commitment on customer loyalty in logistics outsourcing relationships in Indian scenario. 254 users of logistics services from India were selected for investigating the potential linkages among the aforementioned satisfaction aspects and loyalty. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the reliability and validity of the measurement and structural model developed to study the relationship among the linkages. Findings from the study supports that logistics service satisfaction, price satisfaction, relational satisfaction and commitment do influence loyalty positively. The analysis suggests that service satisfaction is the most important antecedent having primary influence in the formation of customer loyalty. Service satisfaction also has secondary influence on loyalty by acting as a strong driver in both relational satisfaction and commitment aspects of the service dimensions. Price satisfaction though positively been driven by service satisfaction, was found to have less significant effect as a predictor of loyalty in this context. The present study suggests that relational satisfaction is the second major predictor of loyalty which also drives commitment. This research is not an end-point but an attempt to establish the linkages and the effect among the antecedents driving the building and retention of good buyer-seller relationship in logistics outsourcing.