Effects of customer expertise on spillovers between products and services: An exploratory study on mobile communications

Abstract

Purpose – Based on associative network theory and a service systems perspective, this study aims to investigate the spillover effects of quality and customer satisfaction between products and services and, in particular, the role of customer expertise in this process.Design/methodology/approach – Overall, 457 valid responses were collected through a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.Findings – Empirical support was found for spillover effects. For tech‐savvy users, spillover from network service quality has a positive impact on the formation of satisfaction with handsets; however, for non‐tech‐savvy users, spillovers only occur between satisfaction and loyalty.Research limitations/implications – The paper has extended understanding of the relationships between quality, satisfaction, and loyalty in a multi‐context setting. Future research could study spillovers longitudinally and examine such effects in other emerging mobile contexts.Practical implications –...