Attribute-Level Satisfaction, Overall Customer Satisfaction, and Performance Outcomes in Business-to-Business Firms

Abstract

Scholars have used the attribute-based model of overall satisfaction extensively in consumer markets. Yet, business-to-business (B2B) firms also strive to improve overall satisfaction and financial performance by improving satisfaction on key attributes. We develop an attribute-based model to link attribute-level satisfaction to overall customer satisfaction and its downstream outcomes, specifically loyalty intentions and financial performance in B2B firms. The key contributions of this research are to identify and validate four key strategic attributes used in B2B markets (i.e., quality, pricing, safety, corporate social responsibility), and to empirically test the attribute-based model of satisfaction. While extant research has primarily focused on negative asymmetry (i.e., losses loom larger than gains) in how the attributes are associated with overall satisfaction, our results also demonstrate complete symmetry and positive asymmetry. Moreover, our results offer insights into the role of safety and corporate social responsibility, two key attributes in B2B settings. Finally, we show that overall customer satisfaction not only affects behavioral intentions (repurchase intention, recommend intention, and positive word-of-mouth), but also affects short- and long-term financial outcomes (sales revenue, gross margin, Tobin’s q), which has implications for resource allocation across key attributes.