The Role Of Consumers' Need For Uniqueness On Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty

Chinese people's consumption patterns and lifestyle are changing to the direction of self-extending. Fashion and self-expressing become the need of the new generation of customers. As a result, to understand customers' needs and purchase motivations is a necessary way for enterprises to maintain and gain more market share. It is theoretically and practically significant to study the role of consumer's need for uniqueness on the customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.On the basis of theoretical and empirical studies in previous research, this paper mainly investigates the relationship among consumers' need for uniqueness, perceived product quality, brand differentiation, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in the China mobile industry. A conceptual model, including perceived product quality and brand differentiation as independent variables, customer satisfaction as mediate variable, consumers' need for uniqueness as modulating variable, brand loyalty as dependent variables, was built up and also empirically tested. Finally, some exploratory research was also conducted.The author finds that consumers' need for uniqueness is three-dimensional variable, including creative choice, unpopular choice and avoidance of similarity. The scale developed by Tian in 2001 is valid in this study. Perceived product quality and brand differentiation have significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, and the effect of perceived product quality is bigger. The direct effects of perceived product quality, brand differentiation and customer satisfaction on brand loyalty are supported, and perceived product quality and brand differentiation indirectly affect brand loyalty through customer satisfaction. In groups of customers with different levels of needs for uniqueness, the formations of customer satisfaction are different. The more need for uniqueness, the more influence of brand differentiation on satisfaction, and the less influence of perceived product quality. There is no difference in brand loyalty among groups with different needs for uniqueness, but the antecedences of brand loyalty are different. The more need for uniqueness, the more influence of brand differentiation on loyalty, and the less influence of perceived product loyalty. Only in group with low need for uniqueness, the customer satisfaction directly affects brand loyalty.At last, the paper compared the antecedences of satisfaction and loyalty between Chinese mobile phones and foreign mobile phones. The paper suggests that the domestic mobile phones enterprises should set brand differentiating strategy based on technology innovation and solid quality improvement, and that enterprises should enhance quality and create more customer value to satisfy customers, and further drive brand loyalty.