Call center satisfaction and customer retention in a co‐branded service context

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine call center satisfaction in an escalated call center context where callers are organization members of the primary/leveraged brand and have purchased additional co‐branded services as part of their membership. It also aims to examine the relationship between call center satisfaction and actual retention of both the co‐branded service offered and the primary brand (call center operated by the membership organization).

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data used in the analyses involve a sample size of 88 respondents, all members of a large, national nonprofit organization in the USA. Factor analysis and logistic regression were used to test the propositions.

Findings

The results indicate that caller satisfaction has four dimensions similar to those found in SERVQUAL. Although call center satisfaction dimensions are not significant for co‐branded service retention, the empathy dimension is most important to primary/leveraged brand retention.

Research limitations/implications

One of the limitations of this research is that it tests the propositions within a single firm regarding calls concerning a single category (insurance). Future research should attempt to replicate these findings in other call center contexts.

Practical implications

Caller perceptions of service quality (specifically empathy) in the wake of a perceived service failure, while not very helpful to co‐branded service retention, actually mitigate primary/leveraged brand membership loss.

Originality/value

This study addresses the lack of research tying escalated call center satisfaction and both retention of the co‐branded service in addition to retention of the primary leveraged brand using actual retention data.

Citation

Keiningham, T.L., Aksoy, L., Wallin Andreassen, T., Cooil, B. and Wahren, B.J. (2006), "Call center satisfaction and customer retention in a co‐branded service context", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 269-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520610663499