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.