2020 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul

2020 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul Proceedings: 1262-1264 (November 2020)

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SATISFACTION AND

Emily H.T. Yapp, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia1

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Millennials are active users of e-hailing services partly due to their characteristic as
tech-savvy digital natives who value the versatility of smartphones and stay engaged to
the issues that are of personal importance to them (Cheng, 2019). Such characteristic
is especially prevalent among Malaysian Millennials. Furthermore, the environment
in Malaysia where there is high motorisation rate, traffic congestion, public parking
problems, inadequate public transport and poor taxi services (Brown, 2015) have
encouraged the use of e-hailing services. Currently e-hailing services in Malaysia
have grown dramatically with 42 e-hailing companies being legally listed with the
Malaysia Transport Ministry (Choong & Lai, 2019). Apart from competing among
themselves, e-hailing companies are still faced with competition coming from other
modes of transportation, indicating that consumers’ may have high switching intentions
if they find themselves dissatisfied with the service experienced. At the same time,
satisfaction does not necessarily guarantee that consumers will continue to stay with
and use the service. Even when users are satisfied with the e-hailing value, if e-hailing
competitor have other more attractive offers, then the chances for users to switch to
other mode of transportation will be higher as well. Though alternative attractiveness
has been examined for its moderating effect in other services such as in the hotel
industry, it has yet to be tested in e-hailing perspective. In addition, the types of value
that users derived from using e-hailing services has not been explored in depth in the
Malaysian context. In particular, the types of value that have an impact on users’
satisfaction with e-hailing services is an area that requires more elucidation.

Research Framework

Given the characteristics of the Millennials who are less loyal compared to other
generations (Reisenwitz & Iyer, 2009), the likelihood for them to switch to other
services is high if competitors offer an attractive alternative service. In addition, they
also have high expectations and accept the services that could provide them the best
value (Solomon, 2018). Therefore, in this study, alternative attractiveness is proposed
to moderate between users’ satisfaction and switching intention of e-hailing; and three
different types of value namely economic value, convenience value and hedonic value
are tested for their impact on users’ satisfaction with e-hailing services.

Method

1
[email protected]
1262
 2020 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul

Data was collected from 493 Millennials who are aged between 19-39 years old and
have experience in using e-hailing services. This segment uses e-hailing the most in
comparison to other segments. The measurement for alternative attractiveness was
adapted from Cheng, Fu, and Yin (2017); switching intention was adapted from Cheng
et al. (2017), satisfaction was adapted from Ruiz, Gremler, Washburn and Carrión
(2008); economic value was adopted from Tussyadiah (2016), convenience value was
adopted from Sigala (2006) and hedonic value was adopted from Sweeney and Soutar
(2001). The moderator was captured through seven-point Likert scale while switching
intentions, users satisfaction and all three value dimensions was captured through five-
point Likert scale.

Analysis and Results

From the 493 Millennials respondents, 64.3% are female and 35.7% are male. Most
of the respondents were Malay (66.5%), Chinese (19.1%) followed by other ethnics
group in Malaysia such as Dusun, Kayan, Iban, Bajau, Rungus (9.3%) and Indian
(5.1%). The mean age of the respondents was 23 years old. Majority of the
respondents have 1-2 years’ experience of using e-hailing services specifically GrabCar.
The research model of this study was tested using variance-based structural equation
modelling. Users’ Satisfaction exhibit a significant, negative impact on switching
intention (β = -0.119; t = 2.872). The moderator analysis showed that alternative
attractiveness does moderate between users’ satisfaction and switching intention (β =
0.056; t = 1.656). All the value dimensions do contribute towards users’ satisfaction.
Economic value contributed (β = 0.149; t = 3.99; f²=0.037), convenience value (β =
0.192; t = 5.161; f²=0.059) and hedonic value (β = 0.525; t = 14.601; f²=0.384). Based
on Cohen's (1988) rule of thumb, 0.35 is substantial effect size, 0.15 is medium effect
size and 0.02 is small effect size. In this study, hedonic value has a substantial impact
on satisfaction while convenience value and economic value has a small impact on
satisfaction.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that as users are satisfied with e-hailing services, their
switching intention is relatively low. However, in the present of alternative
attractiveness this relationship will change. The moderator testing has demonstrated
that the chances of satisfied users not switching to other competitors are more promising
when there are no comparable or attractive competitors in the transportation market. In
other words, if other transportation or competing companies offer attractive alternatives
to e-hailing services, this could influence users’ switching intention. Furthermore, e-
hailing organisations should focus enhancing users’ values because value contribute
towards users’ satisfaction. E-hailing organisations have to stay ahead of their
competitors by giving good services to their users that heighten the hedonic value. For
example, e-hailing organisations should emphasise hedonic value by providing users
much feeling of relaxation and pleasure during the ride as part of their marketing
communication strategies.

Keywords: e-hailing, alternative attractiveness, satisfaction, switching intention, value

References
1263
 2020 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul

Brown, V. (2015, July 3). KL cabbies the world’s worst, says UK website. Sta
r Online. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/07/03/
kl-cabbies-the-worlds-worst-says-uk-website-bad-attitude-earns-msian-taxi-drive
rs-top-spot-ahead-of/
Cheng, M. (2019, June). 8 characteristics of millennials that support Sustainable
Devleopment Goals (SDGs). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.co
m/sites/margueritacheng/2019/06/19/8-characteristics-of-millennials-that-support
-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/#5467f02a29b7
Cheng, X., Fu, S., & Yin, G. (2017). Does Subsidy Work? an Investigation of
Post-Adoption Switching on Car-Hailing Apps. Journal of Electronic Com
merce Research, 18(4), 317–329.
Choong, M. ., & Lai, A. (2019). 42 e-hailing firms licensed to operate. The St
ar Online. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/10/0
5/41-e-hailing-firms-licensed-to-operate
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural science (2nd e
d.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrance Elrbaum.
Reisenwitz, T. H., & Iyer, R. (2009). Differences in Generation X and Generati
on Y: Implications for the organization and marketers. The Marketing Man
agement Journal, 19(2), 91–103.
Ruiz, D. M., Gremler, D. D., Washburn, J. H., & Carrión, G. C. (2008). Servi
ce value revisited: Specifying a higher-order, formative measure. Journal of
Business Research, 61(12), 1278–1291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.200
8.01.015
Sigala, M. (2006). Mass customisation implementation models and customer val
ue in mobile phones services: Preliminary findings from Greece. Managing
Service Quality, 16(4), 395–420. https://doi.org/10.1108/0960452061067572
0
Solomon, M. (2018). For small business week: All about millennial consumers
and millennial - friendly customer experiences. Forbes. Retrieved from http
s://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2018/05/03/for-small-business-week-all
-about-millennial-consumers-and-millennial-friendly-customer-experiences/
Sweeney, J. C., & Soutar, G. N. (2001). Consumer perceived value : The devel
opment of a multiple item scale. Journal of Retailing, 77, 203–220.
Tussyadiah, I. P. (2016). Factors of satisfaction and intention to use peer-to-pee
r accommodation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 55(Octo
ber 2017), 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.03.005

1264