Abstract

The chapter focuses on why customers do and do not switch. Switching is when a customer leaves a service provider for another one. The research presented looks at how customers perceive equity-related aspects, such as economic fairness, on the one hand, and more psychological determinants, such as cognitive and affective aspects, on the other hand. A review of the literature shows why customers sometimes switch and highlights the need to identify and understand how barriers and triggers affect them in this sense. By understanding barriers and triggers, switching processes are either facilitated or stifled and thus affect the likelihood of a customer adopting a new service innovation or not.