Satisfied customers may pass on positive comments

Satisfied customers may pass on positive comments about the firm and its offerings

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and recommend the company to others. The gratified customers can be powerful
influences if they disseminate favorable word-of-mouth and sometimes attract new
patrons as a result (Bearden and Teel, 1983). This development is particularly likely
for Internet commerce since the breath and depth of spread afforded by the Internet
is far beyond that of traditional word-of-mouth. Further, satisfied customers
generate high patronage frequency. They tend to remain loyal to the firm,
repurchase or spend more with it, and be willing to pay a price premium (Bearden
and Teel, 1983; Zeithaml et al., 1996).
Dissatisfied customers may take actions detrimental to the firm, including
spreading negative word-of-mouth, switching patronage to another company,
complaining to internal and external agencies, and reducing purchases from the
company (Zeithaml et al., 1996). Moreover, the effects of negative experiences on
customer behavioral consequences are often more severe than those of positive
experiences (Mittal et al., 1998). However, dissatisfied customers may return to the
organization if the service provider accepts the responsibility for the action and
resolves the underlying problem(s) (Hart et al., 1990).
Various studies have attempted to uncover the behavioral consequences of
customer satisfaction in the conventional channels of distribution. Zeithaml et
al.(1996) proposed four types of behavioral intentions: word-of-mouth
communications, repurchase intention, price sensitivity, and complaining behavior.
After conducting a factor analysis of the behavioral intentions of consumers of retail
chains, automobile insurers, computer buyers, and life insurers, they uncovered five
dimensions: loyalty to the company, willingness to pay more, propensity to switch,
external response to problems, and internal response to problems. However, this
five-factor model has not been confirmed and hence has been controversial (Bloemer
et al., 1999). Instead, Bloemer et al.(1999) noted that the original four factors model
performs better. Internal and external responses to problems are condensed into the
complaint factor. Other studies have found that overall satisfaction impacts
significantly on one or more behavioral consequences such as patronage, repurchase
intention, and recommendations to others (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Boulding et
al., 1993; Woodside et al., 1989). Nevertheless, very few studies on behavioral
consequences have been conducted in the setting of electronic commerce. One
exceptional inquiry, conducted by Choi et al.(2000), employed an exploratory factor
analysis to extract three dimensions: loyalty, tolerance, and complaining, in the
internet retail store context. Overall satisfaction significantly affected only the first
two factors.