“I am Delighted!”: The Effect of Perceived Customer Value on Repurchase and Advocacy Intention in B2B Express Delivery Services

Carlos Correa,David Alarcón,Ignacio Cepeda

doi:10.3390/su13116013

Carlos Correa, David Alarcón + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116013

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Abstract

Express parcel delivery has increased significantly in recent years because of changes in technology and consumer habits, as has the number of express parcel delivery companies and the competitiveness among them. For an express parcel business to be sustainable, it must succeed in increasing customer perceived value (CPV). This study aims to investigate the business-to-business (B2B) performance between companies and their main express parcel service provider. The main objective was to analyze the impact of CPV on both the intention to repurchase services and the intention to recommend such services in the business-to-business (B2B) express parcel delivery sector. This study develops a research model that is analyzed in the express parcel sector in Spain using the variance-based structural equation technique, partial least squares (PLS-SEM), for data analysis. The findings reveal that with express parcel services in the B2B sector, perceived value was positively associated with the customer’s perceived satisfaction and trust, which in turn enhances the intention to repurchase and stimulates advocacy. In a market as competitive as the express parcel market in the B2B environment, customer perceived value is a critical factor in ensuring company sustainability.

Highlights

The express delivery services (EDS) sector, which includes the activities of collecting, transporting, and delivering documents, packages, and other goods from door to door in a limited time frame [1], is experiencing very significant growth worldwide due to changes in traditional consumption habits in the online consumption of both end customers (B2C)and businesses (B2B)
This study develops a research model that analyzes the effect of customer perceived value on the satisfaction, trust, and switching costs of express parcel services and how these variables predict repurchase intention and recommendation intention in the B2B sector
We find that the effect of customer perceived value (CPV) on repurchase intention and recommendation intention is mediated by the variables of satisfaction, trust, and switching costs within this B2B environment

Summary

Introduction

The express delivery services (EDS) sector, which includes the activities of collecting, transporting, and delivering documents, packages, and other goods from door to door in a limited time frame [1], is experiencing very significant growth worldwide due to changes in traditional consumption habits in the online consumption of both end customers (B2C)and businesses (B2B). This growth has been accentuated by the recent global pandemic caused by COVID-19 (acronym for coronavirus disease 2019), which has driven and entrenched this new type of consumption [2] These behavioral changes have been aided by information and communication technologies and the democratization of mobile devices, tablets, social networks, and B2B and B2C digital channels [3]. Due to this increased demand for express parcel delivery services, in recent years, the number of express parcel delivery companies and the competitiveness among them has increased significantly. Parcel delivery companies are increasingly taking into consideration the objective of enhancing efficiency and reducing their ecological footprint

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