Investigation of the factors affecting behavioral responses in service firms

Past activities of service firms have a major role in creating behavioral responses for customers. Behavioral responses can be expressed as the reactions of customers such as customer attitude, loyalty, word of mouth communication and satisfaction as a result of their experiences towards the company. Management of behavioral responses is very important for firms. Behavioral responses should be examined in order to make developments and improvements in the service sector and to provide important feedbacks for differentiation in the sector. Determining the strengths and weaknesses of the firms in the sector with these measurements will contribute to the formulation of effective strategies and tactics. The aims of this study is to investigate the factors that affect behavioral responses for firms in the service sector. The study was structured as a relational causal research model. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Participants who were bank customers were selected as the research unit. Data were obtained from 407 participants. The obtained data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods. According to the results of the research, it was determined that reliability, physical conditions, product innovation, employee competence variables affect customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction positively affects customer loyalty and negatively affect intention to switch.. Keywords: Behavioral Responses, Customer Loyalty, Intention to Switch, Customer Satisfaction, Reliability, Physical Evidence, Product Innovation, Employee Competence