Location has long been touted as an important competitive factor in retailing and services. However, since convenient, high‐traffic locations are costly, an examination of conditions under which locational convenience is more important and those in which it is less important is critical. Supplements the logic of prior research to examine the importance of location as a function of both customer satisfaction with the core service and service type. Finds that a convenient location is critical in more standardized, less personalized services when satisfaction falters, but is not important for less standardized, more personalized services regardless of satisfaction levels. Thus, a convenient location can act as a barrier to defection in more standardized, less personal services such as banks, making it an important strategic factor in minimizing defection when satisfaction with the core service drops. However, contrary to conventional wisdom, locational convenience appears less important to repurchase intentions for less standardized, more personal services such as hairstylists, thus negating its potential as a switching barrier for such services.
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