What Do 'Switched-On' Customers Really Value?

Improvement in web technologies has increased the visibility of competitors' offerings, which improves the customer's ability to compare these offerings. Despite the comparability of service offerings, only very few studies include competitor-oriented information. Therefore, this study proposes a framework that concurrently incorporates the drivers of customer evaluations for their existing and next best alternative offering. This research found evidence of the dual impact of switching costs, and hence they should not be considered in isolation. This study supports the enhanced role of relationships and financial barriers in building and destroying customer value, respectively, and further, their reversed effect on the attractiveness of alternative offerings.