The impact of motivation on customer satisfaction formation: a self-determination perspective

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine the way different motivational types from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) influence antecedents of customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – The findings in this study were generated with a quantitative design using path analysis on data collected at two stages during an extended service encounter. Findings – Each motivation type played a unique and important role in influencing the antecedents of satisfaction, namely, positive and negative emotions and perceptions of service quality. As hypothesised, motives associated with higher levels of autonomy were consistently stronger predictors of positive emotions and service quality. The influence of motives on the antecedents did not change significantly over time, whereas significant differences were noted between all antecedents and satisfaction. The model explained 54 and 63 per cent of the variance in satisfaction in times one and two, respectively. Originality/value – This is the first time that motivation as conceptualised from an SDT perspective has been applied to understanding the dynamic nature of customer satisfaction. The findings offer considerable opportunities for follow-up studies and the motivation types can provide practitioners with a stable and efficient segmentation option.