WHAT KEEPS CLIENTS COMING BACK? RETHINKING LOYALTY THROUGH THE LENS OF SERVICE SUPERIORITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.n5.3522Palavras-chave:
Service Quality, Servqual, Service Superiority, Perceived Value, Contract Renewal, Third-Party MaintenanceResumo
As Malaysia's digital economy continues to expand, more organizations are turning to Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) providers for their flexibility and cost efficiency compared to traditional Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) services. Yet, existing studies on service quality based on the traditional SERVQUAL model fail to address modern drivers of Business-to-Business (B2B) loyalty, such as pricing transparency, privacy, and security. This study proposes an enhancement to service quality theories. It extended to the Service Superiority framework, which includes the traditional (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles) and modern factors (privacy & security, cost efficiency) to predict renewal intentions, with perceived value as a mediator. A survey of 352 TPM customers, which consists of participation from the industrial, telecommunications, and healthcare industries. It was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Service superiority factors significantly increased perceived value, with the most influence coming from cost-effectiveness and privacy & security. While the service renewal was mediated by perceived value, responsiveness and reliability were found to have the strongest direct influence. This indicates that the operation performance is important in any service industry. This research demonstrates that in digitally intensive Malaysian markets, TPM service providers capable of delivering secure, transparent, and cost-effective services without compromising reliability are best positioned to build and sustain long-term client relationships. In practice, the study enhances understanding of service quality theory in the context of TPM by integrating traditional and modern factors.
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