Department of Business Administration2024-11-1020060960-452910.1108/096045206106634992-s2.0-33744796852https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09604520610663499/full/htmlhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/16443Purpose - 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.Business administrationCall center satisfaction and customer retention in a co-branded service contextJournal Articlehttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33744796852&doi=10.1108%2f09604520610663499&partnerID=40&md5=382e93b5aa5c03affd03b6b493f63497Q110882