Authors
Martin Mende, Ruth N Bolton
Publication date
2011/8
Source
Journal of Service Research
Volume
14
Issue
3
Pages
285-301
Publisher
Sage Publications
Description
Relational orientations vary across customers, so marketing activities should be customized to individual customers or market segments. However, little is known about the underlying processes that influence how customers bond with a service firm and its employees. This article explains customer-firm and customer-employee relationships using attachment theory. It provides theoretical and empirical evidence that customers with low levels of attachment anxiety and low levels of attachment avoidance perceive a service firm and service employee more positively—in terms of satisfaction, trust, and affective commitment—than customers with high levels. However, since a service firm and service employee are separate attachment targets, this study also tests whether customers have a similar propensity to bond with both. Insecurely attached customers who find interpersonal bonds with employees deficient …
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