The Mediating Role of Psychosocial Benefits in the Satisfaction Formation Process

In this paper we investigate the mediating role of psychosocial benefits in the customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction formation process. Most research on this subject deals with the causality direction of psychosocial benefits and satisfaction, sometimes preceded by an overall functional benefit construct. We focus on the relationships of specific functional benefits and psychosocial benefits within a customer satisfaction framework. Knowledge of which functional benefit can control which psychosocial benefit directly enables the management of customer satisfaction and indirectly purchase intention. Using Partial Least Squares, we find interesting relationships in the restaurant business.