Abstract
This paper addresses empirically two issues. One is whether or not basic marketing relationships at theestablishment level are robust to a substantial change in the market environment. Another one is whether afterthis event takes place the marketing relationships for new establishments are the same as those for existingestablishments. We rely on two data sets: a survey of gas stations in 1998 in Pamplona, Spain, when prices ofgasoline products were fixed by the government; and a similar survey in 2007, when gas retail prices weredetermined by market participants as a result of the price liberalization law. Briefly put, customer satisfactionand its determinants have a robust, stable relationship with respect to the law’s change in market environmentduring this nine year period. On the other hand, some aspects of the relation between future patronage intentionsand its determinants are substantially altered by the law’s change in market environment.
Highlights
One difficulty in analyzing the impact of one time events on behavioral relationships in any field is that they are usually accompanied by other changes at the same time
We rely on two data sets: a survey of gas stations in 1998 in Pamplona, Spain, when prices of gasoline products were fixed by the government; and a similar survey in 2007, when gas retail prices were determined by market participants as a result of the price liberalization law
We have established rather convincingly that the macroeconomic events affecting the market environment for gas stations in Pamplona, including passage of a law that affects the price of the main product sold by these retail establishments, had no effect on two of the distribution services or attributes that determine customer satisfaction for existing and new establishments: Namely on assurance and ambience
Summary
One difficulty in analyzing the impact of one time events on behavioral relationships in any field is that they are usually accompanied by other changes at the same time. P (i, k), by a consumer, i, with respect to an establishment, k, are determined as a function of customer satisfaction, Si (k), and a set of controls capturing characteristics of consumers that patronize an establishment (Z (i, k)), including perceptions of prices charged by the establishment, and objective characteristics of the establishments (Z (k, k)) These capture the main types of variables used in the retail literature as determinants of or direct effects on future patronage intentions. In the case of future patronage intentions we will focus first on the inter-temporal stability of the effect of customer satisfaction In both marketing relationships these variables are usually the ones directly subject to managerial control at the establishment level. We summarize the discussion of the conceptual framework presented here with the following figure
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call