The effect of after-sales services on customer retention: The case of the Turkish smartphone market

Customer retention success affects continuity and operational strategies of companies. Since the competition increases in global markets, companies diversify their services to keep longer customer engagements. There are several customer retention tools, including post sale services. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effect of after-sales services on customer retention in the smartphone market while contributing to the literature by providing a theoretical framework related to the discussion of the use of after-sales services as a customer retention strategy. The after-sales services in Turkish smartphone market is analyzed as a case to explore and explain the findings of the thesis. Servqual model is adopted to investigate the antecedents, behaviors and outcomes associated with consumer interaction at certain technical service centers. In order to test the model, paper and online-based survey method were used. Questionnaires were selected among those who used a smartphone and previously sent their smartphones to a technical service for repair. The service quality impact on intention of repurchasing the same brand was investigated in terms of Servqual model. The findings reveal that previous after-sales services quality in terms of reliability, responsiveness, empathy and tangibles dimensions are valid and meaningfully affect the repurchasing the same brand smartphone decision. A final report is developed with the set of recommendations to guide manufacturers in adjusting their business strategy for after-sales service portfolio.