Gordon R. Foxall

In this study, we deal with the existing debate related to the establishment of switching barriers retaining customers in the relationship with a provider. In particular, we demonstrate that ‘positive’ switching barriers (relational benefits) play a greater role that the ‘negative’ ones (switching costs and availability and attractiveness of other providers' offers) in determining customer satisfaction and retention. On the other hand, we include customers' need for variety in the proposed model, in order to demonstrate that a higher level of this psychological trait will lead to a lower perception of the existence of switching barriers. The hypotheses proposed have been tested for a services context on a sample of 800 individuals, using the technique ‘Partial Least Squares’ (PLS). Our findings lead to some interesting managerial implications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Buyers of consumer non-durables tend to buy several brands of a product category in the course of a year, though a few are exclusive buyers of particular brands. The present research investigated the dynamics of successive repeat-buying and penetration levels of groups of brands belonging to similar levels of brand differentiation. It examined the probability of buying brands belonging to the same level of differentiation on successive shopping occasions. Consumer panel data for 80 consumers for weekly purchases of eight product categories over a period of 16 weeks were analysed. Since the number of exclusive buyers of a brand decreases as the duration of sales increases, we hypothesized a decrease in the probability of sequential repeat-buying of brands belonging to the same level of brand differentiation with increases in the number of successive shopping occasions. Similar analysis was undertaken to examine the penetration level of groups of similar brands, which were expected to increase with the period chosen for analysis. Two equations, constructed to describe the dynamics of repeat-buying for groups of brands, were applied to the description of the dynamics of repeat-buying and penetration level of particular brands. The results suggest several managerial applications including the estimation of the proportion of sequential repeat buyers and non-repeat buyers during the product shopping cycle.

Matching theory predicts choices on concurrent variable ratio schedules on which consumers' brand selection occurs will show maximization via exclusive choice of the richest schedule. However, aggregate studies of consumer choice indicate two modes of consumer brand purchase within a product category: either exclusive purchase of one brand or multibrand purchasing. This article uses brand‐selection data from individual consumers to determine whether, at this level of analysis, (a) consumers' purchasing patterns show matching, (b) consumers maximize returns, and, if so, (c) what they maximize. Consumer behavior for fast‐moving goods exhibits matching, but in the form of multibrand purchasing rather than exclusive choice. Moreover, for substitutes, brand selection is price sensitive, suggesting both melioration and maximization; for nonsubstitutes, choice is not price sensitive but still appears consistent with maximization of price‐ and nonprice‐related sources of value.