Customer Commitment, Self-Enhancement and Customer Citizenship Behavior: Driving Mechanism and Moderating Effect from the Perspective of Social Exchange Theory

Abstract

Abstract:

Taking online retail industry as an example, this study jumps out of the horizon limitation of existing theories in explaining customer citizenship behavior and tries to apply a new theoretical view of Social Exchange Theory and Impression Management Theory to discuss the differentiated impact of customer commitment on customer citizenship behavior as well as explore the moderating effect of selfenhancement on customer citizenship behavior. The results indicate that affective commitment has stronger influence on all the three dimensions of customer citizenship behavior compared with that of calculative commitment. Calculative commitment is the motivating factor of customer citizenship behavior, whereas affective commitment is the hygiene factor of customer citizenship behavior. In addition, compared with low self-enhancement individuals, high self-enhancement individuals who fulfill customer citizenship behavior are based on impression management needs. Whereas, compared with high self-enhancement individuals, low self-enhancement individuals who fulfill customer citizenship behavior are based on reciprocal feedback needs. Based on the research results, this paper provides a decision basis for online retail service design in order to enhance customer citizenship behavior in practice.

Key words: customer commitment, customer citizenship behavior, self-enhancement

Sun Naijuan, Guo Guoqing. Customer Commitment, Self-Enhancement and Customer Citizenship Behavior: Driving Mechanism and Moderating Effect from the Perspective of Social Exchange Theory[J]. , 2016, 28(12): 187-197.

References

[1] Yi Y., Gong T. The Effects of Customer Justice Perception and Affect on Customer Citizenship Behavior and Customer Dysfunction-al Behavior[J]. Industrial Marketing Management, 2008,37(37):767-783
[2] Groth M. Customers as Good Soldiers:Examining Citizenship Behaviors in Internet Service Delivers[J]. Journal of Management, 2005,31(1):8-24
[3] Balaji M. S. Managing Customer Citizenship Behavior:A Relationship Perspective[J]. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2014,22(3):222-239
[4] Blau P. M. Exchange and Power in Social Life[M]. New Jersey:John Wiley & Sons, 1964
[5] Gouldner A. W. The Norm of Reciprocity:A Preliminary Statement[J]. American Sociological Review, 1960,25(2):161-179
[6] Gustafsson A., Johnson M. D., Roos I. The Effects of Customer Satisfaction, Relationship Commitment Dimensions and Triggers on Customer Retention[J]. Journal of Marketing, 2005,69(10):210-218
[7] Schwepker C. H. Improving Sales Performance Through Commitment to Superior Customer Value:The Role of Psychological Ethi-cal Climate[J]. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2013,33(4):389-402
[8] 黄文彦,蓝海林.西方顾客承诺研究述评[J]. 商业经济与管理, 2010,225(7):73-74
[9] Noble S. M., Esmark C. L., Noble C. H. Accumulation Versus Instant Loyalty Programs:The Influence of Controlling Policies on Customers' Commitments[J]. Journal of Business Research, 2014,67(3):361-368
[10] Ritter T., Anderson H. A Relationship Strategy Perspective on Relationship Portfolios:Linking Customer Profitability, Commit-ment and Growth Potential to Relationship Strategy[J]. Industrial Marketing Management, 2014,43(6):1005-1011
[11] Fullerton G. The Moderating Effect of Normative Commitment on the Service Quality-Customer Retention Relationship[J]. Euro-pean Journal of Marketing, 2014,23(3):657-673
[12] Fullerton G. When Does Commitment Lead to Loyalty[J]. Journal of Service Research, 2003,5(5):333-340
[13] Hansen H., Sandvik K., Selnes F. Direct and Indirect Effects of Commitment to a Service Employee on the Intention to Stay[J]. Journal of Service Research, 2003,5(4):356-368
[14] Gundlach G., Achrol R., Mentzer J. The Structure of Commitment in Exchange[J]. Journal of Marketing, 1995,59(1):78-92
[15] Homburg C., Bornemann T., Kretzer M. Delusive Perception-Antecedents and Consequences of Salespeople's Misperception of Customer Commitment[J]. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2014,42(2):137-153
[16] Ranaweera C., Menon K. For Better or For Worse? Adverse Effects of Relationship Age and Continuance Commitment on Positive and Negative Word of Mouth[J]. European Journal of Marketing, 2013,47(10):1598-1621
[17] Yi Y., Gong T., Lee H. The Impact of Other Customers on Customer Citizenship Behavior[J]. Psychology & Marketing, 2013, 30(4):341-356
[18] Anaza N. A., Zhao J. Encounter-Based Antecedents of E-Customer Citizenship Behaviors[J]. Journal of Services Marketing, 2013,27(2):130-140
[19] Revilla C., Maria A., Vega M. Customer Participation and Citizenship Behavior Effects on Turnover Intention[J]. Journal of Bus-iness Research, 2015,68(7):1607-1611
[20] Balaji M. S. Managing Customer Citizenship Behavior:A Relationship Perspective[J]. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2014,22(3):222-239
[21] Vecchione M., Alessandri G., Barbaranelli C., Caprara G. A Longitudinal Investigation of Egoistic and Moralistic Self-Enhance-ment[J]. Journal of Personality Assessment, 2013,95(5):506-512
[22] Kwang T., Swann W. B. Do People Embrace Praise Even When They Feel Unworthy? A Review of Critical Tests of Self-Enhance-ment Versus Self-Verification[J]. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2010,14(3):263-280
[23] Angelis M. D., Bonezzi A., Peluso A. M., et al. On Braggarts and Gossips:A Self-Enhancement Account of Word-of-Mouth Generation and Transmission[J]. Journal of Marketing Research, 2012,49(4):551-563
[24] Hideg I., Ferris D. L. Support for Employment Equity Policies:A Self-Enhancement Approach[J]. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 2014,123(1):49-64
[25] Engel J. F., Blackwell R. D., Miniard P. W. Consumer Behavior (8th Eds)[M]. New York:The Dryden Press, 1995
[26] Sundram D. S., Mitra K., Webster C. Word-of-Mouth Communications:A Motivational Analysis[J]. Advances in Consumer Re-search, 1998,25(25):527-531
[27] Bowen D. E. Interdisciplinary Study of Service:Some Progress, Some Prospect[J]. Journal of Business Research, 1990,20(20):71-79
[28] Vaughan B. J., Renn R. W. Customer Service Citizenship Behavior:Bridging the Employee-Customer Relationship[J]. Advances in the Management of Organizational Quality, 1999,11(4):151-186
[29] Bettencourt L. A. Customer Voluntary Performance:Customers as Partners in Service Delivery[J]. Journal of Retailing, 1997,73(3):383-406
[30] Bartikowski B., Walsh G. Investigating Mediators between Corporate Reputation and Customer Citizenship Behaviors[J]. Journal of Business Research, 2011,64(1):39-44
[31] Aherne M., Bhattacharya C. B., Gruen T. Antecedents and Consequences of Customer-Company Identification:Expanding the Role of Relationship Marketing[J]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2005,90(3):574-585
[32] Curth S., Uhrich S., Benkenstein M. How Commitment to Fellow Customers Affects the Customer-Firm Relationship and Custom-er Citizenship Behavior[J]. Journal of Services Marketing, 2014,28(2):147-158
[33] Celuch K., Robinson N. M., Walsh A. M. A Framework for Encouraging Retail Customer Feedback[J]. Journal of Services Mar-keting, 2015,29(4):280-292
[34] Dukerich J. M., Golden B. R., Shortell S. M. Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder:The Impact of Organizational Identification, Identity and Image on the Cooperative Behaviors of Physicians[J]. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2002,47(4):507-533
[35] 谢毅,彭泗清.品牌信任和品牌情感对口碑传播的影响:态度和态度不确定性的作用[J]. 管理评论, 2014,26(2):80-92
[36] 王林,曲如杰,赵杨.基于评论信息的网购情境线索类型及其作用机制研究[J]. 管理评论, 2015,27(4):156-167
[37] Bolino M. C. Citizenship and Impression Management:Good Soldiers or Good Actors?[J]. Academy of Management Review, 1999,24(1):82-98
[38] Nunnally J. C., Bernstein R. H. The Assessment of Reliability, Psychometric Theory[M]. New York:McGraw-Hill Inc, 1994
[39] 温忠麟,张雷,侯杰泰,刘红云.中介效应检验程序及其应用[J]. 心理学报, 2004,36(5):614-620
[40] Hair J. F., Anderson R. E., Tatham R. L., et al. Multivariate Data Analysis(5^th ed)[M]. New Jersy:Prentice Hall, 1998
[41] Henning-Thurau T., Gwinner K. P., Walsh G., et al. Electronic Word-of-Mouth Via Consumer-Opinion Platforms:What Moti-vates Consumers to Articulate Themselves on the Internet?[J]. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2004,18(1):38-52
[42] Kwan V. S. Y., John O. P., Kenny D. A., et al. Reconceptualizing Individual Differences in Self-Enhancement Bias:An Inter-personal Approach[J]. Psychological Review, 2004,111(1):94-110