Influence of Share Ownership on Repeat Patronage

Abstract

Business researchers have begun to pay attention to how an individual’s share ownership in a publicly-listed company may influence his/her repeat patronage towards the company’s products and services. This article investigates the influence of share ownership on repeat patronage, in conjunction with the influence of customer satisfaction. Survey data of a large sample of customers of a retail bank is examined. The results of the study suggest that an individual’s share ownership in a company positively motivates his/her repeat patronage towards the company’s services, independently of customer satisfaction. The results also suggest that customers who are simultaneously share-owners of the company will, on average, accept a lower level of customer satisfaction to repeatedly patronize the company and its services than non-share-owning customers.

Keywords: stock ownership, repeat patronage, customer satisfaction, switching behaviour, individual investor, customer loyalty