service quality) and key attitudinal explanatory constructs such as perceived value and trust. Using a principally online survey to sample UK PR Consultancy clients, the Convergent Model incorporates a total of 13 provisional hypotheses of which 12 are supported initially. In the competing Uni-Conative model, four out of five final hypotheses are supported. These relate perceived value, a functional dimension of perceived service quality and (indirectly) trust to the level of a client’s goodwill (loyalty-satisfaction).
A postulated direct link between trust and loyalty-
satisfaction is unsupported. The findings make three principal contributions to the marketing discipline by: (1) providing a theoretical framework that explains both the nature of loyalty in PBS and furthers our understanding of the factors motivating client loyalty behaviour; (2) supplying empirical evidence to validate the final ‘Uni-Conative’ model; and (3) facilitating the development and validation of scales for perceived service quality, perceived value and loyalty-satisfaction that will be beneficial to PBS marketing management. More broadly the analysis will interest all those seeking to: manage loyalty; determine an appropriate balance between acquisition and retention marketing expenditures; and, finally, assess the financial value of the ‘goodwill’ asset.
© Bill Nichols 2009 – Page iii