hh.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Nonlinear antecedents of customer satisfaction and loyalty in third-party logistics services
Regional University of Blumenau, Blumenau, Brazil.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7430-562X
Halmstad University, School of Business, Engineering and Science, Centre for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Learning Research (CIEL).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2427-3148
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
2017 (English)In: Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, ISSN 1355-5855, E-ISSN 1758-4248, no 5, p. 1116-1135Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the nonlinear impact of quality dimensions of third-party logistics (3PL) services on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach: By interviewing 167 small-size companies, and using penalty and reward contrast analysis, the paper explores the nonlinear impact of seven dimensions of 3PL services (safety, fault’s recovery, reliability, speed, flexibility, communication, and friendliness) on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Findings: The results confirm the existence of the dimensions’ nonlinear impact on customer satisfaction. It also shows that some quality dimensions have a direct and nonlinear impact on loyalty. The dimension “friendliness” has a direct impact on loyalty if the company has a below market average performance, which may lead customers to switch service providers. “Flexibility on collection and delivery” has a direct impact if the company has a higher performance, contributing to customers’ intention to continue using the service. Another finding is that, if the company delivers good service recovery after the customer found faults in the service, and if customers trust the company service, they say they intend to continue to work with the company. Research limitations/implications: The present research focused only on small companies in one country (Brazil). Further studies should be carried out to explore different countries, with different realities, and different size of companies. Practical implications: 3PL companies should not only deal with customers’ satisfaction, but also with other quality aspects that directly affect customer intention to continue doing business with the 3PL service provider. These are friendliness, flexibility regarding time and frequency of collection and delivery and faults’ recovery. Originality/value: The present research confirms that the personal relationship is a crucial aspect to be managed in order to keep customers in the long term. In addition, as opposed to most research looking for the antecedents of satisfaction and loyalty of 3PL customers, the present research shows that there is a direct nonlinear impact of the dimensions’ performance on customers’ loyalty, what should be taken in consideration by 3PL managers. It also shows how penalty-reward contrast analysis may reveal nonlinear antecedents that could be used for better understandings companies’ success in the long term. © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2017. no 5, p. 1116-1135
Keywords [en]
Service quality, Kano model, Customer defection, 3PL services, Customer dissatisfaction, Failed service quality
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-37538DOI: 10.1108/APJML-09-2016-0173ISI: 000416349000012Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85035151765OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-37538DiVA, id: diva2:1232001
Available from: 2018-07-10 Created: 2018-07-10 Last updated: 2018-07-10Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Tontini, GersonSolberg Søilen, Klaus

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Tontini, GersonSolberg Søilen, Klaus
By organisation
Centre for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Learning Research (CIEL)
In the same journal
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
Business Administration

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 202 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf