The Moderating Effect of Switching Costs on the Customer Satisfaction-retention Link: Retail Internet Banking Service in Hong Kong

The objective of this research was to develop a model that examines the direct effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer retention as well as the moderating effect of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in the segments of basic and advanced Internet banking users. This empirical research was conducted within the context of the retail Internet banking industry in Hong Kong. An online questionnaire was employed as the means of data collection. This research confirms the significant positive effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer retention in both segments of basic and advanced Internet banking users. It is interesting that switching costs play a significant moderating effect on the customer satisfaction-retention link only for the segment of basic Internet banking users. For the segment of advanced Internet banking users, the moderating effect of switching costs does not significantly affect satisfaction-retention link.