Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty Behaviors, and Firm-Financial Performance : What 40 Years of Research Tells Us

The authors synthesize research on the relationship between customer satisfaction (CS) and customer- and firm-level outcomes in a meta-analytic framework based on 535 correlations from 245 articles representing a combined sample size of 1,160,982. Overall, the results point to positive associations of CS with customer-level outcomes and firm-level outcomes (i.e., product-market, accounting, and financial-market performance). However, the magnitude of the relationship between CS and firm-level outcomes is smaller than that between CS and customer-level outcomes. Moderator analysis shows substantial variability in the effect sizes reported across customer-level studies due to contextual factors and measurement characteristics. The authors conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these effects and propose future research directions. Specifically, the differential strength of the association with CS across customer behaviors can be understood by simultaneously examining multiple customer outcomes within a study. There is also an opportunity to specify mechanisms that drive the differences in effect sizes across contexts. Finally, the still-emerging literature on the impact of CS on financial performance would benefit from a systematic investigation of moderators and the means through which CS affects firm financial performance