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ABSTRACT
Intentions are usually included as dependent variables in satisfaction models, but satisfaction researchers have paid little attention to the discussion in psychology and philosophy in which different intention constructs are distinguished. In this paper, we examine - empirically and conceptually - the satisfaction-intention link with respect to three different intention constructs. The main result is that satisfaction is not equally correlated with these three intentions, and it suggests that satisfaction researchers should be concerned with the particular intention constructs they use: the selection of one particular intention indicator over another will generate different conclusions about the role of satisfaction as a determinant of intentions. Since behavioral data are seldom collected by satisfaction researchers (intentions are often used as a proxy for behavior), different conclusions about the satisfaction-intention link are also likely to affect conclusions about customer behavior.
INTRODUCTION
Despite a frequently made assumption that customer satisfaction is affecting customer behavior, empirical studies of satisfaction's consequences seldom include data on behavioral outcomes. Instead, focus is on behavioral intentions. Repatronizing intentions, repurchasing intentions, and word-of-mouth intentions are examples of intentions often appearing as dependent variables in satisfaction research. There are reasons, however, to believe that satisfaction researchers have not paid enough attention to intentions. One particular deficiency is dealt with in this paper: satisfaction researchers have ignored the existence of different theoretical intention constructs. Yet scholars outside the field of customer satisfaction show that different types of intentions are not always strongly correlated with each other (Sheeran and Orbell, 1998) and that they produce different strength in associations with other variables (Fishbem and Stasson, 1990; Netemeyer and Burton, 1990; Norman and Smith, 1995; Sheppard et al, 1988; Warshaw and Davis, 1985). Moreover, at a conceptual level, scholars in psychology (e.g., Sheppard et al, 1988; Warshaw and Davis, 1985) and philosophy (e.g., Audi, 1973; Kenny, 1966) argue that several different intention constructs exist. To date, satisfaction research has not been informed by this development, since satisfaction researchers seem to merely select one particular operationalization of intentions without much explicit consideration.
Attention to different intention constructs, however, has not been completely absent from satisfaction research; Soderlund (2002, 2003) shows that satisfaction is affecting different intention constructs with unequal strength. Basically, Soderlund (2002) examined one specific satisfaction...