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another restaurant that provides comparable prices, services, or benefits. In particular, positive
switching barriers refer to inhibiting factors that provide an affirmative reason to remain,
reflecting wanting to be in a relationship, and negative switching barriers refer to inhibiting
factors that provide a passive reason to stay, reflecting having to be in a relationship.
Switching Barriers in Consumer Research
In recent years, many studies have focused on inhibiting factors of customer switching
decisions. Table 2.3 represents the switching barriers identified and used in the previous
consumer literature. As shown in Table 2.3, the switching barriers can be easily divided into
positive and negative. While positive switching barriers provide a positive reason to remain
(wanting to be), negative barriers provide a negative reason to stay in a relationship (having to
be). Most of their findings showed that these barriers generally reduce the likelihood of
customer switching even when other factors (e.g., distrust, and low perceived quality) encourage
switching decisions. Table 2.3 also reveals that barriers in the previous research could be
generally organized into two negative categories (i.e., switching costs and lack of attractiveness
of alternatives) and two positive categories (i.e., relational benefits and service recovery).
Switching Costs
Based on previous research, switching costs, which were the major category of switching
barriers (Colgate & Lang, 2001; Jones et al., 2000), primarily consist of time/effort costs,
psychological costs (e.g., unfamiliarity, uncertainty and undesirable consequences), and
economic/financial costs. Porter (1980) described switching costs as the perception of the
magnitude of the additional required costs, such as termination costs from the current
relationship and joining costs with an alternative. Morgan and Hunt (1994) viewed switching
cost as economic only. In contrast, Jackson (1985) categorized switching costs as psychological,
physical, and economic in nature.
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