Staying the Consumption Course : Exploring the Individual Lock-in Process in Service Relationships

Benjamin Krischan Schulte develops a process-model of consumer lock-in in service relationships by connecting three areas of research: path dependence, consumer behavior and service relationship marketing. He defines consumer lock-in as a situation of a potentially unaware inability to switch from or exit a consumption process due to entrenchment with increasing barriers on the individual and/or social level. Switching barriers are elaborated as consumer lock-in mechanisms. The resulting process model is outlined and empirically examined in an explorative panel study of a service relationship process in higher education. The author´s findings support the presence of consumer lock-in in services as an idiosyncratic process of gradual entrapment. The phenomenon has relevance for researchers and practitioners in complex service relationships, where lock-in was found to be a likely occurrence but difficult to grasp. Contents Theoretical Foundation: Path Dependence, Consumer Behavior and Service Relationship Research Model of the Consumer Lock-in Process Longitudinal Study with Service Consumers in a Higher Education Service Target Groups Researchers, teachers and students of business with a focus on consumer behavior and relationship-marketing, particularly the process in complex service relationships Executives and consultants in services companies with the core areas strategy, CRM, and customer retention The Author Benjamin Krischan Schulte obtained a Doctoral Degree in Business from Freie Universität Berlin in 2014