The impact of satisfaction and image on loyalty: the case of Alpine ski resorts

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Abstract
Purpose – Customer satisfaction is seen to be one of the main determinants of loyalty. However, the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty does not seem to be linear, many researchers have reported doubts about the predictability of loyalty solely due to customer satisfaction ratings which ignore image as predictor of loyalty. This paper aims to address the issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors report a study of ski resorts where they first established a causal model of customer satisfaction and image predicting customer loyalty, and then map the scores in a four-fields-grid. Additionally the authors conducted a moderator analysis to assess the relative importance of image and satisfaction for loyalty intentions between two different groups (first-time-visitors, and regular guests). Findings – The results show that those ski resorts with the highest satisfaction ratings and the highest image ratings have the highest loyalty scores. Among first-time-visitors overall satisfaction is more important than image, with increasing number of repeat visits the importance of overall satisfaction declines and that of image relatively augments. Practical implications – Besides measuring customer satisfaction, managers must assess also image ratings in order to get a realistic view of the loyalty intentions of their customer base. The scores can than be mapped together with the ratings of other ski resorts, and serve as a benchmark study. Originality/value – Second order analysis of image (comprising three different dimensions), the image-satisfaction-grid, moderating effect of experience to relative importance of satisfaction and image on loyalty.

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