Exploring the Impact of Switching Costs on Customer Retention in the Technology Standard Competition Market

Yong Zhang, Xi Chen, Yuhong Zhao, Qiong Yao

Management School, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
The Bank of China, Pearl River Branch, Guangzhou, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jssm.2014.74024                

Abstract

As the competition in the market is increasingly fierce, increasing consumers’ switching cost has already become an important strategy for enterprises. However, existing research lacks discussion about switching costs in the standard competition market. This research develops a model of switching costs’ impact on customer retention in the standard competition market. The findings suggest that in the standard competition market, different factors that affect customer switching costs have different effects on switching costs. Technology standard complexity, technology upgradability, and customer investment have significant positive influences on switching costs, but the customer experience presents the negative correlation with switching costs. Furthermore, switching cost is positively related with customer retention, especially the lost benefit cost which has the largest impact on customer retention. This study improves the researches of switching costs antecedent influencing factors, and it is of much importance for enterprises in the standards competition to manage switching costs better and implement customer retention.

Keywords

Standard Competition, Switching Costs, Customer Retention, Technology Standard Complexity, Technology Upgradability

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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