Service Quality and Repurchase Behaviour in the Spanish Automotive After Sales Business

摘要

Service quality has been traditionally considered the key to customer loyalty. This is also the case in Spanish automotive after sales service, a highly profitable business with yearly sales of more than €12 billion. This research questions this belief, based on a 17,000-customer sample for 2 brands. Perceived service quality and other variables are linked to customer behaviour through techniques such as partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results show other variables with a greater influence on behaviour, like the vehicle's warranty validity. Consequently, contractual retention strategies (e.g., service contracts, warranty extensions) gain importance versus service strategies. This article is the 1st longitudinal study on the service-loyalty link in the European automotive after sales retail business.