Abstract

MILAN, Gabriel Sperandio  and  TONI, Deonir De. The construction of a model about customer retention and its antecedentes in an environment of services. REAd. Rev. eletrôn. adm. (Porto Alegre) [online]. 2012, vol.18, n.2, pp. 433-467. ISSN 1413-2311.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-23112012000200006.

This work approaches the strategy of customer retention by means of the practical of the relationship marketing in the environment of services. A Theoretical Model is proposed, with its respective hypothesis, in which the constructs Customer Satisfaction, Value, Reputation of the Services Provider and Trust are considered antecedents of Customer Retention. The central analysis of the data was implemented by techniques of multivariate statistics and the Structural Equations Modeling. The results indicate that the Respecificated Theoretical Model presents the best adjustment compared to initial Theoretical Model; even so it needs a theoretical and empirical evolution, despite of originality of the integrated model. The work propitiates relevant evidences, proving that the value perceived for the customers is one antecedent construct of the trust deposited in the services provider, and this relation is mediated by the reputation of the services provider; that the reputation of the services provider is important in the relational context in study; and that the customer retention is positively influenced by the trust deposited in the services provider.

Keywords : Relationships; Relationship Marketing; Customer Retention; Services; Structural Equation Modeling.