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Psychological comfort in service relationships: A mixed-method approach

Author

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  • Radia, Karan Nilesh
  • Purohit, Sonal
  • Desai, Shachi
  • Nenavani, Jitendra

Abstract

Psychological comfort reflects the customer's peace of mind and a sense of ease during a service encounter that helps in maintaining strong relationships. However, the role of psychological comfort (PC) in retail service relationships is not fully explored. To fill this research gap, this study presents a unique conceptual model grounded in the stimulus organism response (S–O-R) framework to empirically explore the stimulating effect of customer experience on psychological comfort (PC), which influences relationships quality and customer retention as the response. To evaluate the model a quantitative survey was administered on 432 bank customers followed by in depth interviews of 10 bank employees. It was found that customer experience stimulates customer's PC that leads to relationship quality and retention as the response. It was also found that relationship duration influences the customer experience-PC relationship. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Radia, Karan Nilesh & Purohit, Sonal & Desai, Shachi & Nenavani, Jitendra, 2022. "Psychological comfort in service relationships: A mixed-method approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:64:y:2022:i:c:s0969698921003908
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102824
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