Understanding the antecedents of customer loyalty in the Chinese mobile service industry: a push-pull-mooring framework

Abstract

This study examined factors influencing customer loyalty in a mobile communication service context. First, we conducted an exploratory study of 226 responses to identify important factors driving customers to retain or switch. On the basis of the findings from the exploratory study and push–pull–mooring (PPM) theory, we developed an integrated framework to incorporate network quality, satisfaction and value–added service quality as push factors, price advantage of competitors as pull factor, and switching cost and referent network size as mooring factors. Then we undertook a confirmative study on the respective salience of these factors in determining customer loyalty. The results of this study indicate that satisfaction, switching cost and referent network size positively influence customer loyalty, while price advantage of competitors negatively affects customer loyalty. Further, we found the effects of push, pull and mooring factors on customer loyalty are different among customers with different relationship ages.

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