Car lubricant brands switching behaviour in Malaysia: the role of customer satisfaction as mediator

This study attempts to study the car lubricants brand switching intention among consumers which has received less attention among researchers, probably because it is considered as exclusive and a much-focused business segment. This paper highlights the mediating role of customer satisfaction on the relationship between price, promotion, brand image and brand trust, and the brand switching behaviour among car lubricant consumers. Data were collected through survey questionnaires which were distributed to a sample of 155 car lubricant consumers from all over Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. The results showed that customer satisfaction does mediate the relationship between price, brand image and brand trust, and brand switching intention. In contrast, no mediation effect of customer satisfaction was observed for the relationship between promotion and brand switching behaviour. The novelty of this study is that it significantly contributes towards the existing literature on brand switching behaviour from the perspective of the less-studied industry, and at the same time provides clues to marketers on the factors that can attract the intention of the consumers to switch to a different car lubricant brand. Finally, this paper discussed the implications, limitations and some suggestions for future research.