Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 
The marketing and tourism literature has associated numerous factors (e.g., satisfaction, quality, value, 
switching costs/investment, etc.) with loyalty. The primary purpose of this study is to find a potentially unifying 
explanation of loyalty development. Based on the Investment Model in social psychology (Rusbult, 1980a, 1980b, 
1983), this paper hypothesized that a cruise passenger’s attitudinal loyalty to the cruise line was weakened by the 
quality of alternative options (H1), while strengthened by his/her satisfaction with (H2) and investment in (H3) a 
brand. The present study found the relationships suggested by the Investment Model also work in a consumer-brand 
scenario, and that all three variables uniquely predict attitudinal loyalty.
Specifically, satisfaction was found to have a significant and positive effect on attitudinal loyalty. In 
addition to supporting the basic premise of the Investment Model, this finding is also consistent with studies on the 
relationship between satisfaction and loyalty in both the marketing (Anderson & Srinivasan, 2003; Beerli et al., 
2004; Bloemer & Kasper, 1995; Bloemer & Lemmink, 1992; Lam et al., 2004; Olsen, 2002; Ping, 1993) and 
leisure/tourism (Back, 2001; Bowen & Chen, 2001; Yoon & Uysal, 2005) literature.
Investment size was also found to positively predict attitudinal loyalty. This finding validates arguments in 
both the marketing and leisure/tourism literature that switching or sunk costs have a positive and direct effect on 
loyalty (Backman & Crompton, 1991; Beerli et al., 2004; Klemperer, 1995; Lam et al., 2004; Selnes, 1993; 
Wernerfelt, 1991). The finding also provides partial support to Morais and associates’ (2004) resource theory-based 
explanation of service loyalty development, which suggests that customer loyalty was positively influenced by the 
resource investments that customers and service providers made in each other.
Finally, this study found that quality of alternative options significantly and negatively influences one’s 
attitudinal loyalty. This is consistent with Ping’s (1993) study on the retailer-supplier relationship and Ganesh 
et 

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