Evaluating Group Difference in Gender During the Formation of Relationship Quality and Loyalty in ISP Service

abstraCt This study examines the moderating role of gender during the formation of relationship quality and loyalty in the context of IT service. In the proposed model, expertise, relational selling behavior, perceived network quality, and service recovery indirectly influence a customer's loyalty through mediation of relationship quality. Gender moderates each model path. The moderating effects are examined simultaneously using data from customers of Taiwan's leading Internet service provider. Test results indicate that the influences of perceived network quality on relationship quality and of relationship quality on loyalty are stronger for males than females, while relational selling behavior influences relationship quality more for females than for males. Furthermore, service recovery influences relationship quality for both the male and female groups, but its influence does not differ significantly between the two groups. Finally, expertise exerts an insignificant influence on relationship quality for both groups. Implications of the empirical findings also are discussed.