141 Copyright © Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures ISSN 1923-841X[Print] ISSN 1923-8428[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org A Model for Explanation of Customer Satisfaction Consequences in Banking Industry: Evidence from Iran Mohammad Reza Hamidizadeh 1 ; Nasrin Jazani 2 ; Abbasali Hajikarimi 3 ; Abolghasem Ebrahimi 4,* 1 Associate professor of Business Administration Department, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran Email: m-hamidizadeh@sbu.ac.ir 2 Associate professor of Business Administration Department, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran Email: nasrin-jazani@cc.sbu.ac.ir 3 Associate professor of Business Administration Department, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran Email: a-hajikarimi@cc.sbu.ac.ir 4 Ph.D candidate of Marketing, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran * Corresponding author. Address: 12 Jam Alley; Zafar; Dr.Shariati St.;Tehran; Iran Email: a-ebrahimi@sbu.ac.ir Received 17 July 2011; accepted 22 August 2011 Abstract In recent years, customer satisfaction has come to be used not only as a performance indicator for individual firms but also an aggregate for economic analysis. In particular, it has been reported that changes in customer satisfaction are a leading, positive indicator of other financial and economic indicators such as GDP growth and customer spending. In our research, we have examined consequences of customer satisfaction by analyzing the relationships among variables such as customer complaints, loyalty, trust, switching costs, and corporate image. A sample of 551 respondents took part in this study. A cluster-sampling plan was used to collect data from estimated sample. Findings indicate that customer satisfaction appears to be linked to customer loyalty. Findings also indicate that customer satisfaction has a positive and signifcant impact on customer trust and complaints. In addition, as trust increases, the switching costs decreases. Similarly, when customer complaints decrease, the customer loyalty will increase. Finally, corporate image and switching costs have a signifcant impact on customer loyalty. Key words: Customer satisfaction; Loyalty; Trust; Corporate image; Switching cost Mohammad Reza Hamidizadeh, Nasrin Jazani, Abbasali Hajikarimi, Abolghasem Ebrahimi (2011). A Model for Explanation of Customer Satisfaction Consequences in Banking Industry: Evidence from Iran. International Business and Management, 3 (1), 141-147. Available from: URL: http://www.cscanada. net/index.php/ibm/article/view/j.ibm.1923842820110301.102 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/ j.ibm.1923842820110301.102 INTRODUCTION According to both marketing theory and practical experience, firms should improve their performance by satisfying customers, so as to obtain and sustain advantage in the intensively competitive business environment. This is because the main output of customer satisfaction is customer loyalty, and firms with a bigger share of loyal customers proft from increasing repurchase rates, greater cross-buying potential, higher price willingness, positive recommendation behavior and lower switching tendency (Bruhn and Grund, 2000). Owing to the crucial role of customer satisfaction and loyalty, it is generally accepted that the relationship between these variables must be analysed and be compared across frms, industries, sectors and nations (Fornell et al., 1996). A stream of research has argued that customer satisfaction judgments are casual antecedents of customer loyalty and complaints (Cassel and Eklof, 2001). A review of the literature also suggests that customer satisfaction is likely to influence customer trust and switching costs (Aydin and Ozer, 2005). Finally, the literature indicated that corporate image could directly infuence customer loyalty (Ciavolino and Dahlgaard, 2007). Corporate image is a result of a customer’s overall consumption experiences (Nguyen and Leblanc, 2001). Since customer satisfaction and corporate image measures are collected simultaneously, customers’ consumption experiences, which can be summarized as satisfaction, naturally affect the evaluations of corporate image (Johnson et al., 2001). The current paper aims to propose a model for explanation of factors infuenced by International Business and Management Vol. 3, No. 1, 2011, pp. 141-147 DOI:10.3968/j.ibm.1923842820110301.102