International Journal of Information Management 31 (2011) 71–79 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Information Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt The effects of relationship quality and switching barriers on customer loyalty Chung-Tzer Liu a,∗ , Yi Maggie Guo b,1 , Chia-Hui Lee a,2 a Department of Business Administration, Soochow University, 56 Kuei Yang St., Sec. 1, Taipei 100, Taiwan, ROC b Department of Management Studies, University of Michigan – Dearborn, 19000 Hubbard Dr., Dearborn, MI 48141, USA article info Keywords: Loyalty Relationship quality Switching barrier Mobile telecommunication service abstract Because the cost of attracting new customers is much higher than the cost of retaining old customers, keeping customers loyal is a crucial issue for service firms. This research explores how relationship quality and switching barriers influence customer loyalty. Relationship quality consists of two aspects: satisfaction and trust. Antecedents of satisfaction and trust are explored. To test the proposed research model, a survey research methodology was used. Paper survey was distributed to mobile phone users in Taiwan. A total of 311 valid questionnaires were returned. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Satisfaction, trust, and switching barriers have positive effects on loyalty. In terms of antecedents, it was found that playfulness and service quality impact satisfaction while service quality and intimacy affect trust. From a managerial perspective, this research suggests that practitioner should not only keep improving service quality, but also provide playfulness to ensure customer satisfaction. Service providers should also build relationship quality and switching barriers to reduce the possibility of defection and enhance customer loyalty. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Customer loyalty is not a new research question and prior research has studied an array of factors leading to customer loy- alty, such as service quality, customer trust, satisfaction, and switching barriers. Retaining current customers is imperative for saturated service industries such as mobile telecommunications. Thus customer loyalty is an extremely important issue for mobile service providers. However, in mobile marketing consumer behav- ior research, excessive attention has been paid to initial adoption and acceptance while little has to post-purchase constructs, such as satisfaction and loyalty (Varnali & Toker, 2009). In this research, we focus on customer loyalty in mobile communications. From the perspective of the customer, two aspects of service affect the decision to remain or defect: what makes a customer want to stay, and the tangible and intangible costs of switching to another provider. The first is a pull-in force, while the second is a push-back force. The pull-in force in the model is relation- ship quality, including satisfaction and trust. Satisfied and happy customers normally have no reason to leave. Customer trust is important in that customer privacy and data exchange security ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Business Administration, Soochow Uni- versity, 56 Kuei Yang St., Sec. 1, Room 2438, Taipei 100, Taiwan, ROC. Tel.: +886 2 23111531x3605; fax: +886 2 23822326. E-mail addresses: kevinl@scu.edu.tw (C.-T. Liu), magyiguo@umich.edu (Y.M. Guo), as8573@yahoo.com.tw (C.-H. Lee). 1 Tel.: +1 313 593 5578. 2 Tel.: +886 2 23111531x2691. are issues with mobile telecommunication. The push-back force explored is switching barriers. Although prior research has inves- tigated the effects of relationship quality on loyalty (e.g., Lin & Wang, 2006; Rauyruen & Miller, 2007) and that of switching bar- riers on loyalty (e.g., Hu & Hwang, 2006; Jones, Mothersbaugh, & Beatty, 2000), less often they are studied at the same time. Our approach is to examine their relative effects on customer loy- alty. Two-factor theory of customer satisfaction adapted from Fred- erick Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation into marketing research (Herzberg, 1968, 1987; Naumann & Jackson, 1999) is applied to help identify and theorize antecedent factors of rela- tionship quality. Two categories of factors are identified in the two-factor theory, “hygiene” factors and “satisfiers”. Hygiene fac- tors are those attributes that are expected by the customers as minimum requirements. Lack of hygiene factors will lead to dissat- isfaction while having them will not necessary enhance customer satisfaction. Some general hygiene factors are credibility, delivery, and accuracy. On the other hand, satisfiers are those attributes that are little “extra,” such as courtesy and empathy. Service quality is a hygiene factor for both customer satisfaction and trust since it is the bare minimum and expected. Playfulness of services and intimacy with the provider are considered satisfiers that provide customers with something above normal expectations. This study investigates the relative strength of these factors as antecedents of satisfaction and trust, which has been rarely done in prior research. Furthermore, relationship quality research has mostly done in business-to-business markets and products use contexts (Athanasopoulou, 2009). The current study uses data collected from 0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.05.008