The Effect of Relationship Quality between Senior Customers and Service Providers on Word-of-Mouth in the Service Industry

As the number of older people increases, many companies no longer see older people as socially disempowered, but instead as new target customers. This senior market is expected to be attractive and provide new opportunities to companies. Senior consumers sometimes consider the relationship with the salesperson as more important than the quality of the product. Thus, this study aims to explore the process of how senior consumers have a relationship with service providers and how this relationship affects the output of the store. To find this relationship, this study used relationship quality with satisfaction, trust, and commitment. The commitment aspect is further classified into a difference between affective and calculative commitment in this study. Relationships between satisfaction and trust, satisfaction and the two dimensions of commitment (affective and calculative), and between trust and affective and calculative commitment are all examined. Data were collected from 303 senior people who had experienced visiting a store and getting help from service providers. Respondents were randomly intercepted and recruited to participate in the survey. After conducting a survey, these hypotheses were supported through structural equation analysis using PLS. As a result, theoretical and practical implications for the invigoration of the senior market were derived.