Antecedents of peripheral services cross-buying behavior

Abstract

This study is the first attempt to empirically investigate the determinants of a key type of relationship breadth extension strategy for retailers – buying of peripheral services. Assessing customers’ relationship and value perceptions, we find that convenience and social benefits significantly influence peripheral services cross-buying. Notably, our study demonstrates that the factors stimulating customers to cross-buy peripheral services in a retail setting differ from those previously found in other contexts. For instance, commitment and payment equity, considered crucial for stimulating cross-buying behavior in prior research, do not appear to be a significant driver for peripheral services cross-buying in the retailing context. The findings suggest that to increase the breadth of customer relationships, retailers should focus on strengthening the social benefits customers perceive from the relationship and increasing key antecedents of convenience.