The purpose of this study is to examine post-purchase evaluation factors influencing repurchase intention of credence products, and develop a model of consumer’s post-purchase evaluation for the repurchase intentions. The credence products in this case are dietary supplements, with a focus on consumers in Thailand. The study classifies a conceptual model and hypothesised relationships into two consumer perspectives: product; and brand. This research assumes that trust, expectations, satisfaction factors may relate to repurchase intention for the consumer product perspective. Also, brand trust, brand experience, expectation, and satisfaction factors are correlated with repurchase intention from the consumer brand perspective. The research adopts a hypothetico-deductive method to enable the testing of hypotheses and also a structural equation modelling (SEM) to measure the constructive relationship and regression analysis that evaluates the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Both simple regression and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to examine the effect of post-purchase evaluation factors on repurchase intention. These analyses are based on a sample of 504 dietary supplement users of vitamins, minerals, and herbs or other botanical products in four regions of Thailand through face-to-face structured interviews. Findings indicate that from consumers’ product perspective, consumer trust has no significant direct effect on consumer repurchase intentions whereas the relationship between consumer trust and consumer repurchase intentions of credence products are related, when it is mediated by consumer expectation and consumer satisfaction. In terms of consumers’ brand perspective, the study leads to a better understanding of consumer brand trust and consumer expectation, both of which have no significant direct effect on consumer repurchase intentions. Consumer brand trust, consumer brand experience and consumer repurchase intentions are not correlated when mediated by consumer expectation. Other findings reveal that brand experience has a direct impact on repurchase intentions whereas consumer satisfaction is a significant mediating factor when connected with: (1) the relationship between consumer brand trust and repurchase intention; (2) the relationship between consumer brand experience and repurchase intention. The study makes a contribution to a post-purchase evaluation for repurchase intentions of credence products from both consumers’ product and brand perspectives in Thailand. This study also suggests that consumer brand experience is the strongest factor and consumer satisfaction is the strongest mediator for consumers’ P-PE for the repurchase intention of credence products. From a managerial perspective, the findings of this study provide evidence for both the public and private sector in Thailand in terms of devising marketing strategies in accordance with this model.

M. Tech. (Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Internet and online shopping are gaining more attention and momentum, and businesses are moving online, not as a matter of choice, but as a matter of necessity. Online shopping satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intentions are now at the forefront for most online shops’ strategies. Investigating this phenomenon within a South African context is crucial, considering the fact that online shopping is a recent trend in the country. Most studies have investigated the determinants of satisfaction and loyalty in online shopping. Very few studies examined the factors that entice consumers to repurchase using online channels. Businesses discovered the importance of online shopping as a key success factor. Thus, customer satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intentions are the topics that have received much attention since the 1990s, as relationship marketing has become a popular marketing scheme. The purpose of this study was to examine online shopping satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intentions of Generation X consumers to better understand the development of the online shopping sector. There is an absence of research conducted in this direction, resulting in a lack of existing literature. To assist in filling this gap, this study attempted to measure the relationships between these variables. Previous research has shown that consumers’ intent to repurchase online is highly driven by their satisfaction; several articles were reviewed. The target population comprised of Generation X online consumers in southern Gauteng (Vaal region). A snowball sampling method was employed to identify the respondents fitting the predetermined sample criteria. A total number of 326 questionnaires were received. Topical areas, research methods and data acquiring procedures were described. This study develops a model, which aims to describe the degree to which the three variables relate to each other; satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intentions. The model describes the extent to which online repurchase intention is affected by satisfaction and loyalty, and the degree to which loyalty is influenced by satisfaction. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses and the relationships. A key contribution of the SEM is the incorporation of the variables under analysis. The analysis finds that satisfaction has a positive significant relationship with repurchase intention, satisfaction also affects loyalty, and loyalty has a positive relationship with repurchase intentions. Lastly, based on the findings of this study, limitations were discussed along with the recommendations and concluding remarks

O presente estudo aborda os efeitos dos custos de mudança no setor de serviços, medindo seu reflexo no comprometimento, intenção de recompra e boca-a-boca (positivo e negativo). Conceituado por Burnham, Frels e Mahajan (2003), custos de mudança significam custos que os clientes associam com o processo de troca de um fornecedor para outro. Estudos com base nesse construto se fazem presentes de forma crescente na literatura, passível de ser ampliada. Assim, essa dissertação busca preencher a lacuna referente aos efeitos dos diferentes tipos de custos de mudança. Para tanto, além da revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema, foi conduzida uma pesquisa do tipo survey com alunos do ensino superior, tendo como objeto a verificação do papel dos custos de mudança e seus efeitos positivos e negativos no contexto de serviço educacional em nível de graduação. A análise dos dados foi realizada através de modelagem de equações estruturais, a partir de uma amostra de 467 casos. Os resultados demonstram uma influência dos custos de mudança relacionais, financeiros e processuais no comprometimento afetivo, normativo e calculativo, respectivamente. Por sua vez, comprometimentos afetivo e normativo demonstraram estar associados a efeitos positivos, como intenção de recompra, sendo que o primeiro se destaca por obter também uma relação com o boca-a-boca positivo. Por outro lado, o comprometimento calculativo gera efeitos negativos – maior boca-a-boca negativo e menor nível de intenção de recompra. Efeitos moderadores das relações interpessoais e da atratividade da concorrência nas relações estabelecidas não foram confirmados. Os resultados são discutidos, bem como suas implicações para futuras pesquisas e prática gerencial. / This study addresses the effects of switching costs in the services sector, measuring their reflection on commitment, repurchase intention and word-of-mouth (positive and negative). According to Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003), switching costs are the onetime costs that customers associate with the process of switching from one provider to another. Studies based on this construct are present in literature, but can be expanded. Thus, this work seeks to bridge the gap regarding the effects of different types of switching costs. A survey was conducted in the higher education sector aims to verify the role switching costs and their positive and negative effects. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling, from a sample of 467 cases. As expected, the switching costs (relational, financial and procedural) have a significant and positive impact on affective, normative and calculative commitment, respectively. Furthermore, affective and normative commitments are positively associated with repurchase intentions, and the first one also obtained is related to positive word-of-mouth. In the other hand, calculative commitment creates negatives effects - higher negative word-of-mouth and lower levels of repurchase intentions. The moderation effects of interpersonal relationships and attractiveness of competitors in some relationships of the model was explored as well, but none was confirmed. The results, academic and managerial implications are discussed in the final part of this work Finally, suggestions for future studies are provided.

O presente estudo aborda os efeitos dos custos de mudança no setor de serviços, medindo seu reflexo no comprometimento, intenção de recompra e boca-a-boca (positivo e negativo). Conceituado por Burnham, Frels e Mahajan (2003), custos de mudança significam custos que os clientes associam com o processo de troca de um fornecedor para outro. Estudos com base nesse construto se fazem presentes de forma crescente na literatura, passível de ser ampliada. Assim, essa dissertação busca preencher a lacuna referente aos efeitos dos diferentes tipos de custos de mudança. Para tanto, além da revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema, foi conduzida uma pesquisa do tipo survey com alunos do ensino superior, tendo como objeto a verificação do papel dos custos de mudança e seus efeitos positivos e negativos no contexto de serviço educacional em nível de graduação. A análise dos dados foi realizada através de modelagem de equações estruturais, a partir de uma amostra de 467 casos. Os resultados demonstram uma influência dos custos de mudança relacionais, financeiros e processuais no comprometimento afetivo, normativo e calculativo, respectivamente. Por sua vez, comprometimentos afetivo e normativo demonstraram estar associados a efeitos positivos, como intenção de recompra, sendo que o primeiro se destaca por obter também uma relação com o boca-a-boca positivo. Por outro lado, o comprometimento calculativo gera efeitos negativos – maior boca-a-boca negativo e menor nível de intenção de recompra. Efeitos moderadores das relações interpessoais e da atratividade da concorrência nas relações estabelecidas não foram confirmados. Os resultados são discutidos, bem como suas implicações para futuras pesquisas e prática gerencial. / This study addresses the effects of switching costs in the services sector, measuring their reflection on commitment, repurchase intention and word-of-mouth (positive and negative). According to Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003), switching costs are the onetime costs that customers associate with the process of switching from one provider to another. Studies based on this construct are present in literature, but can be expanded. Thus, this work seeks to bridge the gap regarding the effects of different types of switching costs. A survey was conducted in the higher education sector aims to verify the role switching costs and their positive and negative effects. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling, from a sample of 467 cases. As expected, the switching costs (relational, financial and procedural) have a significant and positive impact on affective, normative and calculative commitment, respectively. Furthermore, affective and normative commitments are positively associated with repurchase intentions, and the first one also obtained is related to positive word-of-mouth. In the other hand, calculative commitment creates negatives effects - higher negative word-of-mouth and lower levels of repurchase intentions. The moderation effects of interpersonal relationships and attractiveness of competitors in some relationships of the model was explored as well, but none was confirmed. The results, academic and managerial implications are discussed in the final part of this work Finally, suggestions for future studies are provided.

O presente estudo aborda os efeitos dos custos de mudança no setor de serviços, medindo seu reflexo no comprometimento, intenção de recompra e boca-a-boca (positivo e negativo). Conceituado por Burnham, Frels e Mahajan (2003), custos de mudança significam custos que os clientes associam com o processo de troca de um fornecedor para outro. Estudos com base nesse construto se fazem presentes de forma crescente na literatura, passível de ser ampliada. Assim, essa dissertação busca preencher a lacuna referente aos efeitos dos diferentes tipos de custos de mudança. Para tanto, além da revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema, foi conduzida uma pesquisa do tipo survey com alunos do ensino superior, tendo como objeto a verificação do papel dos custos de mudança e seus efeitos positivos e negativos no contexto de serviço educacional em nível de graduação. A análise dos dados foi realizada através de modelagem de equações estruturais, a partir de uma amostra de 467 casos. Os resultados demonstram uma influência dos custos de mudança relacionais, financeiros e processuais no comprometimento afetivo, normativo e calculativo, respectivamente. Por sua vez, comprometimentos afetivo e normativo demonstraram estar associados a efeitos positivos, como intenção de recompra, sendo que o primeiro se destaca por obter também uma relação com o boca-a-boca positivo. Por outro lado, o comprometimento calculativo gera efeitos negativos – maior boca-a-boca negativo e menor nível de intenção de recompra. Efeitos moderadores das relações interpessoais e da atratividade da concorrência nas relações estabelecidas não foram confirmados. Os resultados são discutidos, bem como suas implicações para futuras pesquisas e prática gerencial. / This study addresses the effects of switching costs in the services sector, measuring their reflection on commitment, repurchase intention and word-of-mouth (positive and negative). According to Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003), switching costs are the onetime costs that customers associate with the process of switching from one provider to another. Studies based on this construct are present in literature, but can be expanded. Thus, this work seeks to bridge the gap regarding the effects of different types of switching costs. A survey was conducted in the higher education sector aims to verify the role switching costs and their positive and negative effects. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling, from a sample of 467 cases. As expected, the switching costs (relational, financial and procedural) have a significant and positive impact on affective, normative and calculative commitment, respectively. Furthermore, affective and normative commitments are positively associated with repurchase intentions, and the first one also obtained is related to positive word-of-mouth. In the other hand, calculative commitment creates negatives effects - higher negative word-of-mouth and lower levels of repurchase intentions. The moderation effects of interpersonal relationships and attractiveness of competitors in some relationships of the model was explored as well, but none was confirmed. The results, academic and managerial implications are discussed in the final part of this work Finally, suggestions for future studies are provided.

Globalisation and stiff competition have changed the landscape of doing business. Decrease in customer loyalty and increase in customer expectations have challenged businesses to come up with unique methods of enhancing their quality of service. The same is true for airlines industry too. As a result, many airlines have transformed their marketing strategies, especially with regard to service quality, in order to compete efficiently in the global market. The marketing literature has introduced models of service quality, e.g.: SERVQUAL and AIRQUAL to help organisations measure and enhance customer experiences. SERVQUAL has been extensively researched and applied in many industries. Similarly, AIRQUAL, a model for the airline industry, has been developed but applied only in Cyprus. Moreover, the AIRQUAL scale lacks validity, as its development process is incomplete. This research, therefore, adapted 30-items of AIRQUAL and assessed and validated this revised scale. The validated scale was then applied to the airline industry of Saudi Arabia. Further, a comprehensive model is proposed, where the impact of the validated scale of service quality is tested with its impact on customer satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, word of mouth, repurchase intentions and complaining behaviour. The assessment and validation process is divided into two main stages: first, qualitative; where four focus group interviews were undertaken that generated 46 items for the adapted scale. These items describe the perceptions of airline customers regarding service quality and were classified on the bases of the scheme proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988). Second, a three-phase two sample, quantitative, research was performed to derive a validated 30-item scale comprising five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Further, the improved scale was tested in a new market (Saudi market) in order to assess the service quality of Saudi Airlines. A total of 500 self-administered questionnaires were distributed among airline customers. The returned questionnaires underwent thorough screening and cleaning. The reliability of the scale was tested through Cronbach’s Alpha, followed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which emerged with five dimensions. The content, convergent and discriminant validities were established. Further scale confirmation was conducted on a sample of US airline passengers. Finally, the proposed model with nine hypotheses was tested, which resulted in statistically significant results for all the proposed hypotheses.

D. Tech. (Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / In recent years, the concept of relationship-marketing earned eminence in academia with associated implications for marketing strategy. The aim of this study was to examine relationship intentions in the business-to-business (B2B) context from the concrete product environment within the construction industry of South Africa. Literature reviewed reveals that empirical studies for concrete product environment and the construction industry is limited, principally in South Africa, concerning the dimensions of relationship intentions. As deliberations on relationship-marketing intentions carry on maturing, there are imperative concerns yet to be clarified, one of which relates to customer’s buying behaviour in relation to the dimensions and outcomes of relationship intentions. Given the increasing prominence of customer buying patterns in modern marketplaces, the study intends to empirically analyse the dimesions and outcomes of buyer-seller relationship intentions, with reference to the civil and building concrete product users in a B2B setting within the South African construction industry. The civil and building engineering contractor segments were selected as research sites owing to their scope and size, which signify a productive market segment with prospects of influencing future behavioural intentions in the construction environment. The the study was underpinned by the relationship-marketing theory and social exchange theory, which clarified the dimensions and outcomes of relationship intentions of the civil and building constructs that underlie concrete products. As the study intended to determine the dimensions and outcomes of relationship intentions of civil and building contractors (customer) towards their concrete product manufacturer (supplier) organisations, a descriptive research method was chosen. The objective being to confirm and expand the dimensions of buyer-seller relationship intentions in the B2B industry context and to examine the explanatory power of the indetified dimensions. The current study employed a quantitative research method that is entrenched in the post-positivist paradigm, which also underpins this study. Data were collected using probability sampling in the form of systematic random sampling. A sample size of 560 respondents returned fully completed questionnaires. As the study was descriptive in nature, the reliability and validity of data were analysed, correlation analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were performed. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were also conducted to confirm and expand the factor structure of the relationship intention dimensions. Preceding the main study’s data collection process, a pilot survey was undertaken to examine the correctness and accuracy of the questionnaire. The data collected were examined with the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 25.0. The preliminary data analysis included the procedure of coding and examining the distribution of scores. In addition, the normality test results revealed that data were normally distributed. To confirm the consistency of the measuring instrument and its items, the reliability and validity tests were carried out. The results of the consistency of measures demonstrated that the measuring instrument was reliable. The correlation analysis disclosed a weak relationship between expectations, involvement and feedback towards relationship quality, whereas a moderate association was revealed between forgiveness and trust towards relationship quality, while a strong association was discovered between fear of relationship loss, information sharing and flexibility towards relationship quality construct. The suitability of the measurement and structural models were evaluated prior to testing the hypothesised relationships. The suggested relationships were verified by structural equation modelling (SEM). The hypotheses testing findings revealed that concrete product repurchase intentions by the study respondents were significantly and positively motivated by the supplier’s relationship quality and commitment that leads to customer satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intentions. A framework of relationship marketing intentions for the concrete product environment of the South African construction industry was developed. It was anticipated that the proposed framework will contribute towards addressing the insufficiencies in the application of relationship marketing strategies. The empirical study results advocated that concrete product manufacturer-suppliers (CPM) must invest in methods of increasing their levels of relationship quality and commitment to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty, which will lead to customer repurchase intentions. The study results revealed that unlike previous relationship intention studies that found five dimensions, this study proposed and found eight (involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback, fear of relationship loss, trust, flexibility and information sharing/exchange) dimensions of relationship intentions within the B2B concrete product environment. Furthermore, the study results revealed that customer satisfaction can be upheld by concentrating on relationship building strategies, which fuel customer loyalty and repurchase intentions by meeting or exceeding customer needs and requirements. One of the study contributions is the investigation of the order of the dimesions of relationship intentions in a B2B context for the concrete product environment within the construction industry. Therefore, the study pens down both the theoretical and practical contributions to the relationship marketing literature. Paths for additional research is offered. The outcome of this study advanced a framework of the dimensions of relationship intentions, which may possibly benefit future researchers. Future studies must consider the application of a cohesive research model, which includes supplementary variables using a larger sample size utilising a longitudinal study with the purpose of increasing generalisability of the results.