The Effect of Collectivism on the Importance of Relationship Quality and Service Quality for Behavioral Intentions: A Cross-National and Cross-Contextual Analysis

Abstract

The authors explore when and how collectivism influences the importance of service quality and relationship quality for behavioral intentions. Using goal and action identification theories, they argue that collectivist tendencies become salient depending on a buyer's particular goal in a given service context and that when collectivist characteristics are salient, they can influence the importance of service or relationship quality. In the first study, the authors demonstrate the moderation effect of collectivism in a high-social-interaction context, in which they argue that collectivist tendencies are salient, using data collected in countries characterized as high and low in collectivism, and find that collectivism increases the importance of relationship and service quality (contrary to the hypothesized negative effect) for behavioral intentions. In the second study, the authors find that collectivism does not moderate the aforementioned relationships in contexts in which social interaction is expected to be low. The cross-national and cross-contextual findings provide multinational retailers guidance in designing the customer retail experience on the basis of the collectivist tendencies of consumers in various markets.