Problem
Read the scenario below and answer the following questions.
Professor Safwan is interested in investigating factors that affect customer satisfaction which in turn, causes their loyalty toward a particular mobile phone brand. He would like to know what makes a student in Universiti Utara Malaysia constantly buy the same brand for their smartphones.
Fatin, his research assistant suggests that both perceived value and perceived usefulness of the mobile phone directly influence customer satisfaction which in turn affects the customer's level of loyalty towards the mobile phone brand. Another research team, Dr. Atiqah, realizes that a satisfied customer does not always stay loyal to a brand. As long as the switching cost is not high, customers will opt to switch to other mobile brands.
Hence, Professor Safwan and his research team concluded that while perceived value and perceived usefulness do lead to a satisfied customer, the tendency of a satisfied customer to stay loyal to a mobile phone brand is contingent on the level of switching cost.
Task
1. Identify the broad problem in the above scenario.
2. Draw a research framework based on the above scenario.
3. Develop two research objectives and two research questions based on the above scenario.
4. Develop one set of directional hypotheses that involve moderating variable and one set of directional hypotheses that involve mediating variable.