Title: The importance of customer retention: perceptions of New Zealand accommodation managers

Authors: Shirley Barnett

Addresses: Department of Management, College of Business, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract: Since the publication of the service profit chain, a large body of research has focused on the various links within the chain. Recently, there has been an increase in the amount of research that is being conducted about customer loyalty as an individual concept. However, customer retention and its importance within service organisations has as yet, received little in depth attention. ||Customer retention is crucial to the success of every business, yet retention is often addressed only in passing, if at all|| (Zemke, 2000, p. 33). This area then, has not been adequately studied especially in relation to licensed accommodation properties in New Zealand. This paper presents preliminary findings from a mail survey sent to managers and owners of licensed accommodation properties in New Zealand to investigate their perceptions of customer retention. The sampling frame included 438 properties and 149 usable responses were received.

Keywords: service profit chain; customer retention; customer loyalty; customer satisfaction; New Zealand; service management; accommodation managers; licensed accommodation properties.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2005.006692

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2005 Vol.6 No.2, pp.103 - 119

Published online: 01 Apr 2005 *

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