A conceptual model of the antecedents of behavioural loyalty of dissatisfied business services customers

This paper presents a conceptualisation of the factors that lead dissatisfied business-to-business (B2B) customers to stay with their existing service providers. While studies in a B2B context have addressed some important barriers to switching, they have not discussed all of these, and not necessarily under conditions of dissatisfaction. A literature review of previous research, both theoretical and empirical, identified that a gap in the body of knowledge exists regarding the reason that dissatisfied customers are behaviourally loyal, and results from a previous qualitative study unearthed additional barriers that exist. Hence, this paper proposes a model of the deterrents to switching amongst dissatisfied business services customers, including moderators and meditators that are postulated to influence the relationship.