Best-worst scaling approach to predict customer choice for 3PL services

This study describes a simple, theoretically based methodology to analyze the nature of customer demand for third-party logistics provider service components. The method overcomes limitations in prior studies and enables us to examine the relative importance of product and service attributes as they pertain to the choice of third-party logistics providers. Two distinct types of customers populate our data: those professing operational attributes and those seeking relational attributes. The theoretical and practical implications are that improved supply chain models can be developed when separate demand structures are taken into account.